Graffiti Art as a Solution to Graffiti in Riverside

graffiti art 687

Passing by 687 Queen Street East (just west of Queen/Broadview) on December 17th, one couldn’t help but notice the graffiti artist installing a piece on the west wall.  He was covering up the offensive graffiti that has been lingering on that wall since October. Turns out he’s from a group called Home Base Toronto – which sells graffiti inspired/decorated paraphernalia and custom art. They also do graffiti art projects across the city – like this new one in Riverside.

Upon a little investigation, we found that the City of Toronto and the building owner made an agreement to do graffiti art in lieu of graffiti removal. It’s part of a program where the City has pre-approved a number of graffiti artists, of which Homebase Toronto is one.  This is under the City’s StART Support Mural Program and their motto is: “Inspiring neighbourhoods one wall at a time”.

Voila! The finished product:

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The Results are In! #RiversideTO #QueenStEast #WindowWonderland Contest

(Ok, first off, sorry for all the hashtags – this was the first contest of the like that Riverside BIA has run and we might have overdone the hashtags a little 😉

This contest was fun and a learning experience for us all…Riverside joined forces with other Queen Street East BIAs (Leslieville and The Beach) and ran this Queen Street East-wide contest for a few weeks with awesome easy-to-win prizes ($100-250 gcs!).  In the end we had an amazing showing of holiday spirit from the neighbourhood and some keen folks on the street took note and shared their images and thoughts on social media.

Before announcing the big winner – we’d like to show off all the amazing windows from all the fantastic Riverside businesses that took part. Shout outs to: Mary Macleod’s Shortbread, Quince Flowers, Empire by Bullet, Little Peeps, Dimensions Custom Framing, macFab sews, Here & Now, Bergstrom Originals, Sash & Bustle, Mazz Japanese Bistro, Tabule, Common Sort, Tiny Record Shop and Irish Design House…

windows Nov 26

 

window wonderland pics

Second, we’d like to do a shout out to folks on the street that stopped to snap and share pics of some of the windows: Jaqueline got the ball rolling with her share of macFab Sews photo on Twitter, then Linda shared a couple of her fav windows Empire and Mary Macleod’s (she said she preferred MM’s – just because of the shortbread though!). Then Mary shared a pic of Quince Flowers’ regal greenery…and then Eric came along. Drumroll please…

And the #QueenStEast #WindowWonderland Contest Winner is…

Known as shotbyeric online, Eric is an Artist and Top Sales Manager in Toronto.  He took this photo of Oma Chiropractic’s Window Art, put his own spin on it, and posted it up on Instagram on Dec 14 (the last day of the contest). The pic got over 100 likes almost instantly (yes it helps that he has over 2000 followers!). For his amazing pic, Eric is the Riverside contest winner and will enjoy $100 of services or products at none other than Oma Chiropractic and Wellness Centre.

Contest winner

And there was no question about it, Oma Chiropractic’s Window Wonderland is something special – designed and painted by local artist Katherine Hartel – the window is a fun and whimsical winter scene that reflects the character of this family-friendly wellness centre and of the Canadian winter (well, most years anyway!). It also meshes well with the permanent Riverside sports murals along the west wall of Oma’s building, which was completed just this past summer as a mural project of the Riverside BIA.

So why not take a walk by Oma’s this holiday to check out the now famous work, and stop in for holiday treats and a wellness treatment too if you wish!

Riverside Holiday Edition: Secret Santa Gifts (You’d Rather Keep for Yourself!)

You know it – the gift that you’re waiting until last to wrap, because you keep hoping to find something else reasonable for that person, so you can keep that gem of a gift for yourself…. Or you’re making mental notes to go back in early January to get another one for yourself…read on for a quickie Riverside tour of your must haves (and can’t give aways!)

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As soon as you’re over the bridge, stop in at Mary Macleod’s Shortbread (639 Queen E) – where you’ll have to buy at least one extra tin of cookies just for you!  Need a last minute gift for a dinner host? Something sweet for your granny? Or maybe you just don’t have the time to bake cookies for Santa. Mary Macleod’s Shortbread has you covered! Their baker’s boxes are perfect for the holidays-you can choose from 12 flavours to customize your box and get exactly what you want (p.s. they also deliver!)

Just a few blocks east and across the street are Empire by Bullet and Keep Me Posted (724 ½ Queen E), a two-in-one store bringing you the best gifts and home furnishings from both the United Kingdom and France (and Keep Me Posted has products that are 90% all-Canadian products!).  Empire is the perfect place to find stocking stuffers and gifts for British expats and fans of British culture.  Keep Me Posted features a variety of Canadian made product including customizable throw pillows, scented candles and reed diffusers, and even an exclusive new line of Canadian-made bath bombs called “Drop an F Bomb in Your Bath” (of course after you’ve bought for your Secret Santa, you’ll have to get one to drop in your bath!)

Walk east to the Irish Design House (756 Queen E) –  the place for unique + beautiful + handcrafted gifts. From the stylish pebble candles, to the wood-crafted snow house, and luxurious scarves – your Secret Santa will love their gift (but unfortunately you won’t be able to let it go!)

Next up, for something to soothe the body, is UNTITLED Hair Salon (792 Queen E) with personalized gift packs that make your hair, hands, and home smell so nice – and are good for the planet! They have gift boxes of clean, healthy beauty products, and candles in the ‘Davines’ memorable, uplifting, signature scents as well! These products are super eco-friendly too (Davines will actually break down to nothing in drain water, in about 50 days). So you’ll need to pick some up just for you 🙂

Then, for the ladies, just pop across the street to Bergstrom Originals’ (781 Queen E) which has their 2015 Holiday Collection bringing you ‘Bond-girl Glamour’! You simply won’t be able to give away the Kashmir Tunic Dress, so you’d better just pick one up for yourself now.

Last stop, for your ‘healthy foodie’ Secret Santa gift, is Pulp Kitchen (717 Queen E) has trays of healthy yummy treats, and while you’re in you can purchase a gift certificate and a nice green juice for yourself, to fuel the rest of your shopping ;).

Happy shopping & Happy Holidays from Riverside neighbourhood!

Uncovering Riverside Blog #3: The Holiday Season in Riverside Past & Present

–by Barry Slater, Guest Blogger and Historian of the Royal Canadian Curling Club

(Read all the Uncovering Series)

Being asked for a sense of what the Holiday Season was like in Riverside, got me searching “December” in the newspaper files I’ve collected. A Globe article of December 27, 1880, describes the holiday festivities at a five year old “little” church that would grow.  That day the church was decked out in elegant festive décor (courtesy of Mrs. Potter), and had a good crowd come out for the service and hearty singing (led by Mr. Staples – not related to the famous Canadian painter, Owen Staples). The townsfolk were also feeling generous: the Reverend Ed. Ransford & lay reader C.J. Agar having collected $5.55 from the congregation that day, apparently “a large sum for so poor a parish.”

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This was the first St. Matthew’s Church, built in 1875 on the north east corner of DeGrassi Street and Grover (now Cumming Street).  From the history page of the church’s web site, “At the Easter Vestry Meeting of 1889 it was decided to build and move to a new location. The Church Wardens at the time were Mr. John Benjamin Vick and Mr. Noel Marshall, both of Riverdale Avenue and prominent Toronto businessmen.” I had seen the name Vick before. I went looking further through my files and there it was, a photo of the 1901 Royal Canadian Baseball team with George Vick sitting on the right of President John Maxwell and leaning on the right shoulder of Manager Bill Entwhistle.

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This thrilled me, to find a Royal Canadian thread to follow. Who was Mr. John Benjamin Vick?  In 1880 the only Vick listing in the city directory is a John Vick living in a boarding house at 33 Duke St (now southeast corner of Frederick & Adelaide St E). The following year he is listed as a stonecutter, working for Lionel Yorke, in a house at 48 McGee. Yes! This could be our Riverside man. From 1883 to 1889 he is listed as foreman at Lionel Yorke, still at 48 McGee, his brother James boards there and works at Lionel Yorke as a stonecutter.

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From Adam Mercer’s history, “Toronto, old and new”. . . , issued in 1891 as a memorial to the 100th anniversary of the founding of Upper Canada, speaks of Mr. Yorke and supplies a photo of the house he built on Smith Street in 1885 for Noel Marshall.  Lionel Yorke died around the time of the Easter Vestry Meeting of 1889, Warden Vick found new lodgings with Rev. Wm. Cleland on Winchester St.  Bells went off in my head when I read the name Cleland for it too is associated with the Royal Canadian.

Now having wandered from the main theme of this article…I invite you to come out and enjoy a Riverside Neighbourhood Holiday tradition in the present day: the Antler Breakfast Dec 18, this Friday at An Sibin Pub from 8 am to 11 am, where Santa will try to explain why Smith Street would be renamed Riverdale Avenue in 1907 and what this has to do with the Royal Canadian.     

Oh yes, and the Christmas Present you are waiting for is (drumroll)…the first newspaper article mention of the newly formed Royal Canadian Bicycle Club, in The Toronto World from December 25, 1891.

Ho, Ho, Ho! See you at the Antler Breakfast!

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(Read all the Uncovering Series)

Super Six For Kids Presents Goldibox: A Book Drive To Benefit The Children’s Book Bank!

 

Goldiboxes

 

GOLDIBOX is the first fundraising initiative produced by Super Six For Kids. Gold boxes will appear in various businesses, community centres and stores at selected locations around Toronto for the next two weeks. Super Six For Kids will be asking for new or gently used books for children from birth to twelve years of age from the public to support our goal of 500 donated books to The Children`s Book Bank. For anyone who is able to donate large quantities of books, in-person pickup will be available. Please support this tremendous charity and help us achieve and exceed our goal.
About The Children`s Book Bank:
“The Children’s Book Bank collects gently used children’s books from families who have finished with them and from publishers and retailers who cannot use them and distributes them through a storefront book bank in the Regent Park area of Toronto.
A visit to The Children’s Book Bank is much like a visit to a favourite children’s bookstore, except that the books are free of charge. The Children’s Book Bank has a large inventory of beautiful books suitable for children from birth to age twelve. Families are welcome to visit as often as they wish and every person is permitted to take and keep one book per visit. The Children’s Book Bank is staffed by child literacy experts who assist the customers in selecting appropriate books and who provide advice and support on literacy issues. The Children’s Book Bank offers literacy support programs including its popular Stories for Students Program and its Books Beyond Berkeley Street Program.”

About Super Six For Kids:
We are six first-year George Brown College students who are studying to become Child and Youth Care Counsellors. In order to give back to our community, our program has all of its students create locally-based fundraisers that support children and youth in the Toronto area.

Participating Riverside businesses include:
  • Pulp Kitchen: 717 Queen Street East
  • Common Sort: 804 Queen Street East
  • Appetite: 722 Queen Street East
  • Common Sort: 804 Queen Street East
  • Dark Horse Espresso Bar: 630 Queen Street East
  • Dimension Framing: 732 Queen Street East
  • Riverside BIA: 761 Queen Street East

 

For more information and locations of the Goldiboxes, visit Super Six For Kids or e-mail Michael Lamore-Robins at: supersixforkids@gmail.com