Toronto Junction presents Free Centennial Walking Tours: Press Release

Press Release: The Junction Forum for Art and Culture, in association with the West Toronto Junction Historical Society, present Centennial Walking Tours of Junction City

JUNCTION FORUM FOR ART & CULTURE
www.thejunctioncity.com

Media Information – For Immediate Release
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CENTENNIAL WALKING TOURS OF "JUNCTION CITY":
SATURDAYS, FROM JUNE 21 TO AUGUST 2, 2008

Walk the streets of the Junction
with the men and women who built it

Toronto, ON, June 18, 2008 – The Junction Forum for Art and Culture, in association with the West Toronto Junction Historical Society, present free 'Centennial Walking Tours of "Junction City"', which will take place every Saturday at 1:30 p.m. from June 21 to August 2, 2008 at the "Junction City" square at 2960 Dundas Street West at Pacific Avenue.

Each Saturday, after the noon 'Summer Concerts in the Junction', meet Legends of the Junction at the "Junction City" train platform in "Junction City" square, and join them in a factual fun-filled series of walks through history.

WTJHS Centennial Committee Chair Neil Ross explains, "For the month of June, we will investigate the seamier side of Junction life, north of the railway tracks. Each tour will provide approximately an hour and half of entertainment, and in July we’ll be exploring Indian Road."

Excerpt from the June walk:

"In Carlton-Davenport, two families held the balance between vice and virtue. On this corner: the Heydons of Heydon House; their red brick frontier palace the site of a battle between workers at Canadian Pacific and the Union Stockyards. The brawl, started over a prostitute, launched local prohibition and brought 10,000 into the Junction for “last call.” On the opposite corner: the Bulls of Tipperary; fervent Methodists who carved a village from the wilderness. And in the middle, brilliant reformer Dr. John Taylor Gilmour, who brought Carlton-Davenport into the Junction, and laid the foundation for an independent city."

Legends of the Junction journalist A. B. Rice (1858-1950), editor of J. T. Gilmour’s weekly York Tribune, leads the tours and contributes many personal anecdotes. Joining Mr. Rice (played by Neil Ross) will be more Legends of the Junction including, Mayor G. W. Clendenan, Principal Mary Cherry, pioneering librarian Elizabeth McCallum and others.

June highlights include:

• Dr. Jackson and the Miracle of Roman Meal
• George Heintzman: Transcontinental Piano Player
• A Funeral on Keele
• Murder at the Subway Hotel
• "Stonehenge of the Junction"
• "The Most Efficient and Cleanest Locomotive Ever Built"
• Underground Railroad to the Junction
• Final Resting Place of the Bulls
• A Mayor’s Mansion

For more information visit, www.wtjhs.ca.

The West Toronto Junction Historical Society works out of their archives in the Annette Street Library. The WTJHS preserves and promotes Junction history.

The Junction Forum for Art and Culture (JFAC) is an arts presenting organization whose main project is the annual Junction Arts Festival. JFAC was incorporated as a non-profit group in February 2004. The people who make up the Board of Directors of the Junction Forum for Art and Culture are dedicated cultural producers, artists, residents, business owners and politicians all of whom are connected in some way to the Junction.

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For historical walk information please contact:
Neil Ross,
Centennial Committee Chair
West Toronto Junction Historical Society
Tel: 416-760-9057
Email: neilr@auracom.com
Web: www.wtjhs.ca

For general information contact:
Junction Forum for Art and Culture
Tel: 416-767-5036
Email: junctionartsfest@on.aibn.com
Web: www.thejunctioncity.com
Councillor Bill Saundercook (Ward 13, City of Toronto), JFAC Chair