West Toronto Junction Amalgamation Celebration: Reliving the Historic Night of 1909

Poster: Come Home to the Junction!
West Toronto Junction Amalgamation Celebration 1909 - 2009
Credit: West Toronto Junction Historical Society

Toronto festivals and events

Junction Amalgamation Celebration: Reliving the Historic Night of 1909

Date: Friday, May 1, 2009

Time: 6 pm - 11 pm

Address: Humberside Collegiate Institute
280 Quebec Avenue
Quebec and Annette Streets

TTC: From High Park subway station, take the #30 Bus to Annette.

Description: The Junction Historical Society and West Toronto Paper and Wallpaper present:

Amalgamation Celebration 1909-2009

Come Home to the Junction and Celebrate the Union of Two Great Cities

with

[ V ] 2nd Annual Junction Homecoming

[ V ] Free Family Activities presented by Junction businesses and Community Organizations

[ V ] Boom Times Cabaret Amalgamation Talk Show

[ V ] Dance and Mingle to 100 Years of Canadian Music

[ V ] Live Music featuring Sam Martin and the Boom Times Band

[ V ] Countdown to Amalgamation with Neighbours, Family and Friends!

Cost: Free

On the 100th anniversary of Amalgamation -- amid music, dancing, and cabaret-style comedy -- Mayor David Miller will accept the Key to the Junction to mark the historic date when the City of West Toronto Junction joined the City of Toronto as an equal partner. The May 1st celebration will be a recreation of a similar countdown in 1909 when reportedly thousands of Junction residents gathered to mark this important municipal amalgamation with various festivities and "squeals of delight".

For more information contact:
Phone: 416-546-6136
web: www.wtjhs.ca
email: junctionamalgamation@gmail.com

links:
Toronto festivals and events calendar: Junction Amalgamation Countdown: Reliving the Historic Night of 1909
insidetoronto.ca: 2009 marks anniversary of Junction City, Toronto amalgamation
By Lisa Rainford
insidetoronto.ca: Celebrating the 100 years after amalgamation in The Junction
By Lisa Rainford
City of Toronto: Toronto's 175th Anniversary: Events: West Toronto Junction Historical Society

Junction Historical Society Exposition: The Evening Telegram
Originally uploaded by IT Ceremony.

The Junction Amalgamation Celebration, May 1, 2009: a Brilliant Folk Art Rendering of Democracy in the Junction

Photo: The Junction Amalgamation Celebration, May 1, 2009
2009 @ artjunction.blogspot.com

On May 1, 2009, we created a brilliant folk art rendering of Democracy in the Junction in our celebration of the centennial of West Toronto joining the City of Toronto in 1909. At that moment in time, Lismer Hall at Humberside Collegiate was, indeed, the centre of the universe.

With the wisdom, leadership and artistic talent all rolled up in good humour and time- honoured tradition, complete with bells and singing, flags bunting and balloons, ribbons and flowers under the great mural in Lismer hall, I think a fair argument could be made for the beauty of the concept. Sam Martin did us proud with the Junction Bell song and Junction Bound. The toasts for the Future from characters from our Past were marvelous, and Madeleine MacDowell's tribute to the library, literacy and culture did us all proud.

Neil Ross as the mastermind behind and ring master for this carnival celebration incorporated all the elements from the exact same event at Humberside 100 years ago and recreating them for posterity. The polish of the characters of the Legends of the Junction played by members of the Junction Historical Society for two years now is a brilliant legacy to have created. We told our history well and have it recorded for posterity thanks to Cris Senjug and Olga Goubar.

Doris Moxam was a wonderful community liaison, and by aligning the Homecoming as part of the Amalgamation celebration, made the event viable and contributed enormously to its success. Vandra and Volker Masemann were wonderful logistical co-ordinators, and Vandra's assistance with the Boom Times Cabaret was invaluable. Kristen Buckley as Chair oversaw and implemented the event with grace, extraordinary efficiency and boundless energy, with David Wencer taking up the tech and a myriad other tasks in great enthusiastic strides. Pat Trusty also helped to make the slide show into a visually and historically effective backdrop to the Cabaret. The Junction BIA and community members and Humberside staff and students who helped to create this event have made a wonderful contribution to culture in the Junction.

The central event was the Key Ceremony. The Spirit of the Junction dressed in roses and asparagus fern by Martins the Flower People handed the key to the Mayor of the town of West Toronto (played by WTJHS president Gib Goodfellow) to the Mayor of the City of West Toronto (played by Councillor Bill Saundercook), to the current Mayor of Toronto (local resident, David Miller) to the member of Provincial Parliament (Cheri DiNovo) and then to the Spirit of Toronto, also dressed by Martins Flowers in roses and palm fronds. She scampered off to take the key back to Post and Beam at Dundas and Keele-- which is now full of wonderful architectural inheritance, and is the historic site of the meeting of art and culture in the Junction 100 years ago. We proved that we held true to our cultural roots in this place and we know where to find the key for the foreseeable future.

Through the auspices of Latitude 44 Gallery, award-winning local artist Reid English created a community sculpture during the 2009 Arts Festival as part of the 2008 Centennial Celebrations. Members of the community contributed bits and bobs, odds and ends of interest to add to the sculpture which represents the Spirit of the Junction. A large sculpture was part of the original amalgamation celebrations 100 years ago: it was unveiled at midnight.

When the veil came off the new Spirit of the Junction statue on May 1st this year, the force of the swirling of the cloth turned its head to the side, and the bicycle fender and the profile of his face looked like a depiction of an Egyptian, Greek or Roman God. It was a great spring tribute to bring to the student body. The statue was presented to Humberside by Reid English and Janet DiBernardo of Latitude 44 Gallery to commemorate the centennial and inspire budding artists in the community..... During the evening of the Amalgamation celebration, Reid and Latitude 44 facilitated a second, smaller sculpture to be created in the same way during the evening. That sculpture has been donated to the Historical Society and will be on display at the Annette St Library in the near future.

It was a wonderful evening with lovely memories of everyone helping out and enjoying themselves. Bea Mozdzanowski magically appeared with a perfect door stop to allow me to free myself from holding the front door open to allow fresh air into the crowded foyer and Janet DiBernardo headed home with a wonderful smile and great bunches of balloons for her neighbour's children. The next day Vandra and Volker’s grandsons were also recipients of bunches of balloons to their great delight. The older, age 4, seeing the Canadian flag in the bunch, had the family all stand up whilst he sang “O Canada" eight or nine times.

The Junction Historical Society continues its Amalgamation celebrations with 'The Junction Centennial Contemporary Art Tour' on May 16th 2009. We will tour the Galleries at 401 Richmond St, The Power Plant and the Distillery District. The tour will be led by Jen Morin, a junction resident who is currently interning at the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Art. The tickets are $25 - including 2 TTC rides and admission to the Powerplant. We meet at 401 Richmond St. at 11 am and finish in the Distillery District at about 5:30pm. There are about 10 tickets left:available through wtjhs.ca or at Latitude 44 Gallery 2900 Dundas St. W., ph. 416-769-2900.
Become part of history by supporting this fundraiser for the Junction Historical Society and create new memories for the future.

2009 © Cara Reeves

Photo-collage: The Junction Amalgamation Celebration, May 1, 2009

2009 @ artjunction.blogspot.com

Press-Release: Junction Community Countdown Reviving the Historic Night of 1909

Press-Release: Junction Community Countdown Reviving the Historic Night of 1909
Credit: Junction Historical Society

For Immediate Release

Junction Community Countdown
Reviving the Historic Night of 1909

Who: Mayor David Miller
Samantha Martin and the Boom Times Band
The Boom Times Cabaret
Junction Historical Society
West Toronto Paint and Wallpaper, celebrating its 100th year in the Junction

What: Amalgamation Celebration - West Toronto Junction joins the City of Toronto
Mayor David Miller accepts the Key to the City on the 100th Anniversary

Where: Humberside Collegiate Institute, Gymnasium, 280 Quebec Avenue

When: Friday, May 1, 2009 6 pm - 11 pm

Junction Community Countdown
Reviving the Historic Night of 1909

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Junction Historical Society - April 23, 2009) On the 100th anniversary of Amalgamation -- amid music, dancing, and cabaret-style comedy -- Mayor David Miller will accept the Key to the Junction to mark the historic date when the City of West Toronto Junction joined the City of Toronto as an equal partner.

The May 1st celebration will be a recreation of a similar countdown in 1909 when reportedly thousands of Junction residents gathered to mark this important municipal amalgamation with various festivities and "squeals of delight".

The May 1st anniversary celebration is organized by the Junction Historical Society and sponsored by West Toronto Paint and Wallpaper, which has been adding colour, spirit and prosperity to the Junction since 1909. The Second Annual Junction Homecoming and the Humberside Alumni Association are inviting current and former residents to come and have a hysterical time under the historical murals of Arthur Lismer, of the Group of Seven.

The Junction anniversary and countdown to Amalgamation features cabaret-style comedy, live music by Roots rising star Samantha Martin, a community art sculpture created under the direction of artist Reid English and Latitude 44 and displays of spring floral splendour by Martin’s Flowers - another local business with over 110 years of history in the Junction.

Door prizes will be given away each hour with a grand prize drawn at countdown. The evening will end with dancing to music of the last 100 years and the countdown to amalgamation!

Free! Everyone is Welcome.
Join in Community and Old-Fashioned Fun!

Contact: Kristen Buckley, Chair, Amalgamation Celebration
Tel: 416 5466136
junctionamalgamation@gmail.com

Cristina Senjug, Volunteer
Cell: 647-885-1247

link:
eventful.com: West Toronto Junction Amalgamation Celebration: Reliving the Historic Night of 1909 in Toronto, Canada at Humberside Collegiate Institute

All Welcome at Humberside HOOPLA on Thursday, June 3, 6-9 pm

Poster: Boom Times Spring Fling at Humberside HOOPLA on Thursday June 3, 6-9 pm
Poster Art by Rhonda Nolan Design
Credit: JunctionRA.ca Culture Committee
Click on the image to listen on YouTube The Junction Suite, Main Theme, Music by Isaias Garcia - Film Composer
The Junction Suite Compositions: Original Music for the upcoming theatre production. Composed by Isaias Garcia.
Each of the compositions represent a variety of cultures and nations.
URL: http://www.youtube.com/user/canargentinemusic#grid/user/DF853D3C8996A911
Credit: canargentinemusic

Welcome to and Experience!

Boom Times Spring Fling
at the first annual Humberside HOOPLA
Local artists / mentors working with Humberside C. I. students
to co-create new Visual Art & Theatre

Thursday, June 3, 2010
Time: 6 - 9 pm

Location:
Humberside Collegiate Institute
280 Quebec Avenue, Toronto, ON
(Just north of High Park)
Admission is $2

SPRING FLING 2010

The West Toronto Junction Historical Society and the Junction Residents Association are sponsors of the Boom Times Spring Fling, a community driven art project. Humberside Collegiate students, mentored by local artists in traditional and non-traditional media, create original art and theatre that will be showcased at Humberside HOOPLA on Thursday June 3, 6-9 pm.
A Silent Auction will be held in support of the Local Option Art Project.

Come and experience the world debut of Junction History Mash-up featuring stand up/sketch comedy, archival photographs, comic book art, and original orchestral music by young composer Isaias Garcia, with direction by Neil Ross.
They will be appearing at historic Lismer Hall, HCI HOOPLA at 8 pm.

Artist/mentors Christopher Sears, Rhonda Nolan, Carol Barrett and Cathy Thorne have been working with students to create original cedar sculpture, textile sculpture, altered book and comic zines for the Local Option Art Exhibit.

The art will be on display at the HOOPLA and at Wise Daughters Craft Market during the month of June, starting Saturday June 5 at 2 pm. A Roving Exhibit will be in the Junction throughout the summer at patron businesses.

Poster: All welcome at Humberside HOOPLA on Thursday June 3, 6-9 pm
Credit: Humberside Collegiate Alumni Association

Spring Fling originated at the 2009 Amalgamation Celebration at Humberside C. I., a collaboration between Boom Times Cabaret, The WTJHS, the JRA, students, historians, artists, businesses and community groups.

Photo: The Junction Amalgamation Celebration, May 1, 2009
2009 @ artjunction.blogspot.com

Please read more about it in Cara Reeves's article:
The Junction Amalgamation Celebration, May 1, 2009: a Brilliant Folk Art Rendering of Democracy in the Junction.

May Events and Workshops at Wise Daughters' Craft Market

Screenshot: Wise Daughters Craft Market Newsletter, May 2009

Special May Events at Wise Daughters

Mother’s Day Clothing Swap
Sat, May 9, 2 – 6 pm
Bring your gently used women’s/teen’s clothing to Wise Daughters anytime between May 1 – 8 and come back May 9 to build your wardrobe with treasures from somebody else’s closet. All items $1, proceeds to benefit the Redwood Shelter. From 4 – 6 pm, take advantage of a free body type analysis from creative image consultant Wendy Woods of The Refinery.

Bloor West Village Art Tour
May 29 - 31
2009 marks the 12th annual Bloor West Village Art Tour, a free community event that offers a view inside art studios, galleries and shops. Work by Mary Sims-Morey will be on exhibit at Wise Daughters.
See www.arttour.info for full tour information.

More Marvellous May Events

Toronto Junction Amalgamation Celebration
Fri, May 1, 6 – 11 pm, Humberside Collegiate
Wise Daughters will demonstrate century old crafts with a new twist at the Junction’s Amalgamation Celebration, 6 pm - 11 pm at 280 Quebec Ave. See www.wtjhs.ca for details.

Wise Daughters is sponsoring A Handmade Market, May 16 at the Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W.
This craft fair showcases talented Etsy (online) craft vendors in the GTA. For more information, visit www.handmademarkettoronto.blogspot.com.

May Workshops - Please pre-register

Wise Daughters presents the 3rd in a series of interactive talks on home design.
Wo-Built Home Design Series
Wed, May 13, 7 – 9 pm
Topic: Kitchens and bathrooms
Series continues every 3rd Wednesday.
Each session $10.

Beginner Knitting Workshop
Tues, May 5, 7 – 9 pm
Learn the basics while you knit a face cloth.
$50 includes needles and yarn.

Felt Moose Trophy Head Workshop
Sun, May 24, 1 – 4 pm
Back by popular demand! Learn to needle felt a moose trophy head.
$60 includes all materials.

Felt Flirt Workshop
Tues, May 26, 7:30 – 8:30pm
Needle-felter extraordinaire Wendo Van Essen will be back to share how to make a voluptuous felt flirt.
$30 includes all materials.

Every Thursday is Sit 'n' Stitch night from 7 - 9 pm.
No charge. Drop in to knit, needlepoint, crochet or whatever you like to do, in the company of other crafty people! BYO mug for tea/coffee.

Visit www.wisedaughters.com for more workshop info, call 416-761-1555 to register for workshops.

Wise Daughters Craft Market
Local handicrafts and do-it-yourself workshops
3079B Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON, M5P 1Z9
(facing Quebec Ave, just south of Dundas, behind Crema Coffee)
There is ample street parking on Dundas and Quebec.
Via TTC: Junction bus from Dundas West Stn,
Lambton bus (or 15 min. walk) from High Park Stn.
www.wisedaughters.com
wisedaughters@sympatico.ca
416-761-1555

links:
Toronto Junction Arts & Crafts Neighbourhood: Wise Daughters' Story
Mother’s Day Clothing Swap at Wise Daughters: Update your wardrobe, recycle and support the Redwood Shelter!
April Events and Workshops at Wise Daughters' Craft Market
March Events and Workshops at Wise Daughters' Creative Place

The d1g1t0l Junction: Junction Residents' Association Meeting

Collage: Junction Residents Association 2.0: Collaborate with other people in the Junction
Credit: MS Office Clip Art + JunctionRA Social Network + JunctionRA Twitter + JunctionRA Wiki + junctioneer

The Junction Public Space meeting (May 14) is postponed.
Please visit the Junction Public Space Site for updates.

The next Junction Residents' Association meeting will take place on May 14 at 7pm at the West Toronto Baptist Church, 3049 Dundas St. W.

Live stream of the Junction Residents' Association meeting you could view on the JRA Channel<http://www.ustream.tv/channel/junction-residents-association>.


Credit: Your Fab VA
Expertise To HELP You Manage Your BUSINESS

More info:
http://www.junctionra.ca
info@junctionra.ca

Please attend, it's your/our Junction.

Photo: The Junction Residents' Association
at the Junction Amalgamation Celebration, May 1, 2009

L-R: Renee, Louis and Eleanor
2009 @ artjunction.blogspot.com

links:
Junction Residents Association: News, Events, Webcasts
Junction Residents' Association Meeting Tonight LIVE on Webcast!
The Junction Rocks @ the Toronto Web 2.0 Summit

West Toronto Junction Historical Society Events: September - October 2009

Screenshot: West Toronto Junction Historical Society Events: September - October 2009
Credit: West Toronto Junction Historical Society

Schedule of Events
All WTJHS (West Toronto Junction Historical Society) meetings take place at the Annette Street Public Library, Committee Room 1, (Downstairs) unless noted otherwise.

Thursday September 10, Annette Street Library
7:30 p.m. Business Meeting

8:15 p.m. to 10:00 p.m."Library Service in West Toronto Junction, 1887-2009"
An illustrated presentation by Barbara Myrvold, Toronto Public Library, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Western/Annette Street Branch.


September 9 - 13
Junction Arts Festival

The WTJHS will be there with its historical display and membership details. Come join in the fun.

September 12, Annette Street Library
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Celebrate One Hundred Years of the Annette Street Library on Saturday September 12 beginning at 10:00 a.m.

10:30 a.m. Historical Walking Tour Led by Miss Elizabeth McCallum (Madeleine McDowell) and A.B. Rice (Neil Ross), the tour will encounter the Legends of the Junction in their natural habitat.

2:00 p.m. Book Launch and signing The Most Attractive Resort in Town by Barbara Myrvold

3:00 p.m. A Trip Down Memory Lane With A.B. Rice and Miss McCallum, taking tea and reminiscing about books and buildings in the Junction.

September 13, WTJHS Booth
2:00 p.m.

On the Sunday of the Junction Arts Festival join Neil Ross who will lead an Arts and Letters tour of the Junction leaving from the WTJHS booth.
Meet the swashbuckling poets and pioneer painters who gave the Junction its voice.


Thursday, October 1, Annette Street Public Library
7:30 p.m. Business Meeting

8:15 p.m. to 10:00 p.m."A Scenic Tour and Short History of Newfoundland", an illustrated talk by Ruth Dobb.


Sunday October 25
2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Wild Wild Junction, an historical Mystery Tour

West Toronto Junction Historical Society fall fund raiser and pub crawl. Chief Josiah Royce investigates the "Death of Joe Curly"; "Harlotry, Iniquity, and Vice"; the "Heydon House Brawl" and "Last Call in the Junction".

Get your tickets for a fascinating glimpse of the other side of Junction history , beginning at the Troubadour Tavern, 3071 Dundas Street West at Quebec Avenue. Route and times may vary, please check wtjhs.ca for details.

To obtain tickets for this event send a cheque or money order to: WTJHS, 145 Annette Street, Toronto,ON. M6P 1P3. Or drop by our booth at the Junction Arts Festival, Sept 12 and 13.

Tickets are $25.00 each.

Cover: The Most Attractive Resort in Town: Public Library Service in West Toronto Junction, 1888 - 1989
Barbara Forsyth & Barbara Myrvold
Credit: Toronto Public Library

"Established in 1888 as the West Toronto Junction Mechanics' Institute, it was renamed Toronto Junction Public Library in 1895, then West Toronto Public Library in 1908/09. Upon West Toronto's 1909 annexation to the City of Toronto, it becomes the Western Branch of Toronto Public Library (TPL). In 1962, the TPL board renamed the library Annette Street."

links:
The Arts Junction: Junction Literary Pub Crawl with Glen Downie
The Arts Junction: The Junction Amalgamation Celebration, May 1, 2009: a Brilliant Folk Art Rendering of Democracy in the Junction
The Arts Junction: Toronto Junction presents Free Centennial Walking Tours
cnw.ca: Media Advisory - Another Toronto Library to Mark 100 Years of Service!
keeptorontoreading.ca: Where the Author Lives: A History of the Junction
By Barbara Myrvold, Senior Service Specialist, Local History, Toronto Public Library
City of Toronto: Toronto's 175th Anniversary: Special Events

Take a Virtual Tour of the Toronto Heritage Showcase with the Junction Historical Society

Flickr's Slideshow: Heritage Showcase at Toronto City Hall on February 20, 2009
2009 @ artjunction.blogspot.com

The Junction Historical Society recently took part in the Toronto Heritage Showcase at Toronto City Hall. You may take a short slideshow tour of the Heritage Showcase at Toronto City Hall on February 20, 2009, and read comments.

Junction Historical Society Exposition: News
2009 @artjunction.blogspot.com

"Close ups of the Boom Times notice, the map and a poster for our Amalgamation Celebration at Humberside Collegiate Institute on May 1 between 6 and 11pm. We are inviting the Junction and the greater Toronto community to celebrate once again with us as to commemorate our joining the city of Toronto as an equal. There will be community booths with family games, a historical recreation of the original night, which was pretty hysterical in itself, the unveiling of the Community Spirit of the Junction, and dances from a hundred years of Canadian life. What was the event of 1909 is shaping up to be the event of 2009!"
CanConMan

Just a reminder: next meeting of the Junction Historical Society will be:

Thursday, April 2
7:30 pm
Annual General Meeting
8:15 pm
Barbara Myrvold, Toronto Public Library's local history services specialist, presents an illustrated talk about the decorative murals at the Dufferin/St.Clair Branch painted between 1925 and 1932 by George A. Reid, Lorna Claire and Doris Mc.Carthy, and the community-led campaign to restore them.

links:
insidetoronto.com: Celebrating the 100 years after amalgamation in The Junction: Historical society organizing events for May 1
By LISA RAINFORD
thestar.com: THE CRAFTSMAN BUNGALOW
YourHome: A throwback to a simpler life: Barbara Myrvold owns an 89-year-old Arts and Crafts house in the Beach and followed the style's dictates when renovating it. Such houses often feature wide porch overhangs.
Published on Nov 10, 2007 by Alex Newman

Call for Junction Artists and Businesses for Boom Times Spring Fling 2010!

Poster: Call for Junction Artists and Businesses for Boom Times Spring Fling 2010
Credit: JunctionRA

CALL FOR JUNCTION ARTISTS AND BUSINESSES
FOR BOOM TIMES SPRING FLING 2010

Background
The Boom Times Spring Fling originated at the 2009 Amalgamation Celebration at Humberside Collegiate Institute, collaboration between Boom Times Cabaret, the Junction Historical Society, the Junction Residents Association, students, historians, artists, businesses and community groups. Building on its momentum, the Junction Residents’ Association’s new Cultural Committee is spearheading the coordination of a 2nd and bigger, more inclusive, multi-disciplinary event in 2010.

2010 Plans

There are two key components to the Spring Fling.

The JUNCTION HISTORY MASH-UP will offer a mix of modern and traditional storytelling techniques from native drums to video images, from mime to rap. This theatre piece will be researched, dramatized and performed by local high school students working collaboratively with local historians for performances in early June and at the arts festival in September.

The second element of Spring Fling involves local artists who will mentor secondary students, supported by local businesses, in consultation with local historians, to create original art which will be exhibited in storefronts in June and ideally right through next summer and into Junction Arts Festival week.

This multi-disciplinary visual arts piece of Boom Times Spring Fling is envisioned to include photography, textile art, sculpture, mapping, painting, cartooning and anything else our artist/student teams can imagine.

If you are a Junction-area artist, working in any one of a number of disciplines /media, and would like to mentor participating high school students, here is what you need to do:

• Send us your bio and tell us where you live (must be Junction, but boundaries are fluid)
• Share your idea for a student-driven arts project on the theme of Junction history and culture
• Tell us how you will mentor the creative process
• Include a budget for equipment/materials
• Find yourself a Junction-area business partner to exhibit the students’ work in June (and preferably through September, though logistical constraints may have to be accommodated)*

*If you are an artist and need help to find a business partner, please be in touch.
*If you have a business and want to get involved in the project but need an artist to partner with, we will help find you a match.

Here is what the overseeing JRA Cultural Committee/Boom Times Team will do:

• Apply for funding to cover artists’ fees, student honoraria, materials and promotion
• Match artist/business pairs with students from the participating high schools
• Provide historians to act as resource people, and access to the Junction archives
• Promote the activities and culminating exhibitions in the community

PLEASE APPLY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE – FINAL DEADLINE SEPTEMBER 18 TO: culture@junctionra.ca

links:
breakingprojects.com: CALL FOR JUNCTION ARTISTS AND BUSINESSES FOR BOOM TIMES SPRING FLING 2010
rogerscentre.com: Rogers Centre - Fun - Spring Fling 2009: Traditional Midway Magic!
HGTV Canada: Party Planner: Spring Fling
By: Christine Walewski
yalespringfling.com: Yale Spring Flint 2009: for all Yale undergraduate and graduate students

Toronto Junction Arts & Crafts Neighbourhood: Wise Daughters' Story: Part 3

Screenshot: Wise Daughters has joined the new millennium with a Facebook page.

This article follows Part 1 – It’s the Story, posted March 31 and Part 2 – In the Zone, posted April 17.

Part 3 - A Genetic Predisposition

When the Junction-area Wise Daughters vendors and I got together in March to discuss our craftiness, many related their initial impulse to make things to what they saw their mothers, grandmothers, aunts and even one uncle doing. As with everything else, what we see modeled has a big influence. Those of us growing up in the 60s and 70s - the last, hippy-inspired wave of handicraft fever - were exposed to a lot of maternal macramé, and a great many projects involving gold and silver felt, sequins, podgy and other materials that strike us as quite tacky today. One of the artisans described her mother as "spray-painting the bejezus out of bulrushes". Remember all those latch hooked rugs of owls and embroidered floral arrangements from a kit? I worked at the now defunct Lewiscraft chain of craft supply shops and learned to make these and many more such homey items. To me, Lewiscraft was a candy store. I couldn’t believe my luck when I got paid to work there - $2.25 an hour!

My mother, a talented artist, wanted to be a fashion designer when she was young. Her father thought that was frivolous and frowned on the idea. At university in the 40s, a biology class happened to fill a spot in her schedule on Tuesday afternoons. The rest was history... she became one of a handful of women scientists at that time, graduating with an MSc in bacteriology and earning a great deal of respect in the lab at Sick Kids’ hospital for many years. Her beloved White sewing machine (weighing roughly 100 pounds, now on display at Wise Daughters) was relegated to the odd curtain project or the production of highly unusual and unappreciated dresses for me.

On our dining table, for special occasions, there were always hand-embroidered (and very difficult to iron) linens made by my various great and great-great aunts in England and sent along with my grandmother when she arrived to marry my grandfather in 1916. I have a set of china hand-painted by my Aunt Annie in 1913, who also produced exquisite painted cameos. Aunt Mary knit me a baby blanket even though she was well over 80 when I was born. Babies in our family always had intricately smocked dresses. Basically, none of the women in my family ever dared sit down without a needle of some sort in her hand – to sew, embroider, needlepoint or knit. This is pretty much still the case. Call it a genetic predisposition.

Two of my most prized possessions are samplers made by my great-great spinster aunts, Susan and Emma, in 1880. These and other heirlooms from my artistic foremothers will be on display at the Amalgamation Celebration this Friday night, where Wise Daughters volunteers will demonstrate a variety of century old crafts with a modern twist.

2009 © Mary Breen
Owner of the Wise Daughters Craft Market

Wise Daughters Craft Market
Local handicrafts and do-it-yourself workshops
3079B Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON, M5P 1Z9
(facing Quebec Ave, just south of Dundas, behind Crema Coffee)
There is ample street parking on Dundas and Quebec.
Via TTC: Junction bus from Dundas West Stn,
Lambton bus (or 15 min. walk) from High Park Stn.
www.wisedaughters.com
wisedaughters@sympatico.ca
416-761-1555

Still to come... Part 4 - The Junction Vibe.

Part 1 - It’s the Story
Part 2 - In the Zone
Part 3 - A Genetic Predisposition
Part 4 - The Junction Vibe

Celebrate Toronto Heritage: Wild, Wild Junction, Historical Mystery Tour

Poster: Wild, Wild Junction, a Historical Mystery Tour:
West Toronto Junction Historical Society Fall Fundraiser and Pub Crawl
2PM, Sunday, October 25, 2009
beginning at the Troubadour, 3071 Dundas West (south side just east of Quebec.)
Poster Design by Mark @ MasterEnglish.ca
Credit: wtjhs.ca

WTJHS presents fall fund raiser and pub crawl:
Wild, Wild Junction, an Historical Mystery Tour.
Sunday, October 25, 2009 at 2 pm - 4 pm
Chief Josiah Royce investigates the “Death of Joe Curly”;
“Harlotry, Iniquity and Vice”;
the “Heydon House Brawl”
and “Last Call in the Junction”.
Get your tickets for a fascinating glimpse
of the other side of Junction history,
beginning at the Troubadour tavern.
Route and times may vary.
Tickets $25 available at Pandemonium, 2862 Dundas W..
Please check wtjhs.ca for details.
City of Toronto continues to celebrate its 175th anniversary

WILD, WILD, JUNCTION
HISTORICAL MYSTERY TOUR
By Neil Ross

It’s gonna be fierce up there,
Ten thousand men out on a tear,
CPR boys loaded for bear.
Last call before the Junction goes dry.
There’s mud in the street;
Here’s mud in your eye.
Great Canadian party, eh?
It’s the Local Option Fling!
You hear ‘Up the Rebellion’
But ‘God Save the King.’
From Last Call (Before the Junction Goes Dry)

It was a night of Legend, the night they closed the bars in the Junction. The newspapers claimed ten thousand men in the streets. The women weren’t even counted although they’d made their voice heard. The Junction was about to embark on a dry sea of temperance: the Local Option. The hotels were closing their bars and the neighbourhood blind pigs were just thinking about opening.

These days your true historian, will pooh pooh the notion of ten thousand in the Junction, although no less a source than the New York Times will tell you that 250, 000 show up annually for the Junction Arts Festival. The Toronto papers were right there, one on one on the action, and if they happened to be counting double by the end of the night, they were barely half there by the next morning so that evened things out.

We’ll be making a moderate return to that night as we follow the path to temperance with what else, a pub crawl. Our fall fund raiser, Wild, Wild, Junction, a Historical Mystery Tour will tackle some of the great mysteries of the Junction. Chief of Police Josiah Royce (Ron Clark) will lead a group of adventurous souls from tavern to saloon as the Legends of the Junction return to regale us with tales of the wide open railway town that was. Perhaps the most intriguing mystery we’ll be following is what led the Junction to ban the sale of alcohol for almost a hundred years.

We’ll begin with the suspicious death that led the town to its appointment with abstinence. Once again, Chief Royce will investigate and ask Who Killed Joe Curley? that night outside the Subway Hotel just north of Keele and Dundas.

We’ll sit wide eyed and just a little prurient as the Reverend Shore preaches his famous sermon in which he castigates the Junction as a "Cesspool of Harlotry Iniquity and Vice."

We’ll shudder at tales of a weekend long dispute over a prostitute (See: Harlotry, above) between cattlemen from Union Station and railway workers from the CPR that ended in the Brawl at Heydon House.

We’ll end the night where the Local Option began as we relive Last Call Before the Junction Goes Dry in which all the mysteries will be solved. Or dismissed as too murky to understand.

Now, the logistics of the thing are very simple. Tickets are just $25 and you purchase your own libations. For a ticket, just send a cheque or money order to: WTJHS, 145 Annette Street, Toronto ON, M6P 1P3. Or drop by our booth at the Junction Arts Festival, Sept 12 and 13.

Or join us at the beginning of our "wetting" at the Troubadour bar at 2:00 pm on Sunday, Oct. 25 as we begin an historical, musical, poetic, architectural and libatious tour of the town that is dry no more.

We’ll be joined on the tour in protest by members of the Women’s Temperance Movement who will make a strong case for reconsidering.

On the tour we will be joining various drunks who drink a case against it.

NOTE: The poem at the start of this piece can be found on video at wtjhs.ca. Just scroll down on the homepage to Last Call (Before the Junction Goes Dry.)

Wild, Wild Junction, an Historical Mystery Tour. 2PM, Sunday, Oct. 25, beginning at the Troubadour, 3071 Dundas West (south side just east of Quebec.)

YouTube: LAST CALL (Before the Junction Goes Dry)
At 7:00 pm, April 30 1904, the railway town of West Toronto Junction, having voted to adopt the Local Option and forbid the selling of alcohol in public places, shut down its bars. As it happens, there was en election in the larger city of Toronto that day and bars were closed in that jurisdiction as well. This coincidence, the unavailability of drink in Toronto and the last chance to "get a wet" in the wide open Junction, drew an estimated crowd of 10,000 (figure agreed on by The Toronto Star and the Toronto Daily News) for one last drink. Former North West Mountie, Chief or Police Josiah Royce had a force of ten men to keep the peace. This poem, although fanciful, is a fairly accurate rendering of press reports from the night. For further and better particulars see The Leader and Recorder History of the Junction published by the West Toronto Junction Historical Society, or go to wtjhs.ca, click Celebrating the Centennial of West Toronto, Legends of the Junction, and Local Option.
Produced by: Muddy York Films

links:
City of Toronto continues to celebrate its 175th anniversary
West Toronto Junction Historical Society Events: September - October 2009
Fundraiser at the 2009 Junction Arts Festival: Dunking Dignitaries for Art and Youth in the Junction
Call for Junction Artists and Businesses for Boom Times Spring Fling 2010!
Another "Carnegie" Library, Toronto Public Library’s Annette Street Branch, Celebrates Its Centennial
An Exploration of Contemporary Art Scene in Toronto: Reflections on Life and Art
The Junction Amalgamation Celebration, May 1, 2009: a Brilliant Folk Art Rendering of Democracy in the Junction
Annette Street Public Library: Junction Literary Pub Crawl with Glen Downie
Toronto Junction: Jazz Beats, Raw Bites, Historic Bits and More