I watched this video this afternoon and it pretty much stopped me in my tracks. I heard that Mr. Bromberg has mostly retired from performing – he’s 78 now. He’s given us so much fabulous music during his lengthy career, which was interrupted by a 20 year break from performing, when he became an expert on American made violins.
In today’s vlog we poke around New Toronto. This area was designed as an industrial hub with a subdivision to house workers. Early companies that set up shop in the area included Menzies’ Wallpaper Factory, the Interior Wood Decorating Company, Ritchie and Ramsay, which made coated papers, DuPont’s Fabrikoid Factory, Donnell and Mudge, a leather firm, and Goodyear Tire. Goodyear closed in 1987. 1350 people were once employed there. From 1987 to 1991 numerous industries relocated, though a lot of industry remains active in the area. Campbell’s announced in 2018 they were closing their New Toronto facility after 90 years,ceasing soup production in Canada. It has been replaced with a massive warehousing space.
For more detailed info about New Toronto, check out etobicokehistorical.com.
Today’s walk is from the Islington Ave. bridge over the CNR tracks, and east along New Toronto Street to Dwight Ave. The communities along Lake Ontario from east to west are Mimico, from Humber River to Dwight Ave., New Toronto, from Dwight to Twenty Third Street, and Long Branch, from Twenty Third Street to Etobicoke Creek. These communities stretch north to the tracks. Today they are all part of the amalgamation of municipalities into the megacity we now have.
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It was very hot. We were walking and shooting video and sweating a lot, when we chanced upon a Firkin pub on Yonge St. We popped in for a cool beer and some fried calamari.
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In Today’s vlog, Stagg sets up his paintings for sale in front of an empty storefront in Kensington Market, here in Toronto.
College Station to Massey Hall.
Today’s vlog passes through the newly dubbed Sankofa Square. With all the fuss about the name, I had thought that the space had changed since I was last there and had become a city focal point with a variety of activities. There really wasn’t anything going on there except for a lot of weed smoking. Do you think the Mayor and company should spend the better part of a million dollars to change the name from Yonge/Dundas Square, considering the City isn’t going to touch the street name Dundas? I haven’t looked deeply into who this Dundas character was, but I’ve read he was associated with the slave trade. Sankofa is supposed to offer a healing alternative. It is an African word from Ghana, apparently, meaning “it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.”
There is a strange fenced off area that seems to be just empty in the square. I suspect that between that and the mini-water features, the City is possibly trying to keep tent cities out. If there is another reason, I’d like to know.
In my opinion, it is good to have a place where people can hang out in the urban core, but does it even need a name? I might cost a lot less to just tell everyone the name has changed and then do nothing else.
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Here’s Shovels and Rope…
When I took up the fiddle, I thought it was all blue jeans and seed company caps, but look at Reg Bouvette. Man, that guy had some swell fashion sense!
Then there was Graham Townsend in the early 80s. That guy went all-out-Elvis.
You know now I need to get me a fancy glittery shirt and an outrageous belt buckle just like Graham. And yes, I do understand that improving my fashion sense isn’t going to make me play anywheres as good as him hahahahahahaah.
I hope you enjoy these videos!
We lived in this area for several years, in a tiny house on Blackthorn Ave. When we left, there was a great deal of discussion about the dedicated street car right-of-way. Many small businesses that have been in the area for a long time suffered due to the lengthy construction.
What’s it like on St. Clair these days, several years later? Has the area lost its character? Are there many new businesses? Has there been overwhelming change as there has been on Ossington Ave? I returned to an area I was once very familiar with. This vlog documents a walk from St. Clair and Oakwood west to Ally’s Creative Bakeshop.
27th Street 