Danforth Secord Community Blog

Skating Party!

danforthsecord — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 02:14:39 +0000

Councillor Janet Davis is hosting her annual Skating Party this coming Sunday, February 26th. The event will kick off with a Figure Skating Demo, and will also include face painting, a kids craft table, prizes and cookies.

Deets!

Sunday, February 26

11:30am – 1:30pm

East York Memorial Arena

888 Cosburn Ave

For more details, contact the Councillor’s office at 416-392-4035, or visit her website: www.janetdavis.ca

* Children 6 years old and under must wear a CSA approved helmet on the ice. Ice Skate rentals are available at the rink.

DECA’s Kid Clothing and Gear Sale

danforthsecord — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:06:26 +0000

Here is a re-post from DECA – a heads up about their Kid Clothing and Gear Sale. All left over funds from the event will be going towards revitalizing a park at Main and Stephenson – right in our backyard! Clearly a worthy cause. DEAC’s reach is far, wide and strong, and I think it’s only beneficial when communities bleed into each other.

Here is the post:

If you’re anything like me, you’ve likely got a basement full of outgrown clothes, maternity pants and perfectly good toys that your children no longer touch. Fear not — DECA’s coming to your rescue. We’re organizing a kids’ clothing and gear sale.

For $20, you can secure a table at our event and sell your spring and summer goods to other parents in need. It’ll be a fun day for everyone. We’ll have crafts and other activities on tap for the kids while you sell or shop. We’ll also be offering a “spit and polish” service — clean up those new toys, tighten the screws and install new batteries (if required) right on site, before you take them home.

Your selling fee will help cover our organizing costs (space rental and posters). Any money left over will be donated to DECA’s latest worthy project — revitalizing a park at Main and Stephenson. And if it helps you out, we’ll haul anything left over down to a donation centre at the end of the day.

Our gear sale will be on a Saturday or Sunday in late March. Location will be local, but will be determined by interest. Please fire us an email at deca.arts@gmail.com if you’d like to reserve a table.

Go West

danforthsecord — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:35:00 +0000

Two things coming up to the West of us that might be of interest to Danforth Secord folks.

FIRST – a skating party! The Earl Beatty Community Centre family annual skating party is this Sunday (February 12th) 2-4 p.m. at Monarch Park – right beside the pool. Everyone is invited!

There will be fun with music, games and a crazy scarf contest – the colourful, wierd and wacky are welcome. Come out and win a prize! Games include spot skates and races for all ages.

The Community Centre’s Advisory Council will be putting out a great spread – hot chocolate and marshmallows and home baked goods. Coffee will be supplied by Red Rocket Cafe and Cozy Cafe will be offering their famous cinnamon buns.

(Children under 6 must wear a CSA approved helmet.)

SECOND – our friends at Silly Goose Kids have organized some fun times for Family Day! For more information, click on the link below to see a detailed poster.

Family Day Poster 2012

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

danforthsecord — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:25:17 +0000

Sorry for the late notice, but there is a meeting tonight (Feb 2) at Secord Public School about the possibilities of transitioning Secord to being a K-8 school.

The main topic of discussion will not be the potential for Secord’s plans specifically, but more about the general process with input from principals who have experience in this transition. Secord’s own principal, Lisa Moser, has been through this transition before at another school and will be there to chat and answer questions.

Deets!

Location: Secord School

101 Barrington Ave.

Feb 2, 2012, from 7-9pm

Public Transit Forum

danforthsecord — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:56:17 +0000

Beaches-East York MP Matthew Kellway is hosting a forum on Public Transit. Specifically, he wants to get feedback on a National Public Transit Strategy.

A panel discussion will include Michael Prue, Beaches-East York MPP (Finance critic), Olivia Chow, Trinity-Spadina MP (critic for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities) and Michael Roschlau, President and CEO Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA).

Plus, they will feed you. A worthy and important cause INCLUDING sustenance!

Details below! (or follow this link)

Tuesday, January 17 – 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

D.A. Morrison Middle School, 271 Gledhill Ave. (south of Cosburn, east of Woodbine)

City Council meets this week!

danforthsecord — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:22:37 +0000

As you are probably well aware, there are still significant cuts to the City’s budget that are being considered. City Council starts meeting on January 17th at 9:30am to discuss the budget. This means it is NOT TOO LATE if you have any concerns. Please do not be shy about getting in touch with our councillor, Janet Davis, to express your opinion.

Her email address is: councillor_davis@toronto.ca And her office number is: 416-392-4035.

If you do send an email, consider cc-ing the Mayor and any members of the Executive Council on that email. Here is a link to a list of City Councillors. If you are not sure who is on the Executive, feel free to email me at danforthsecord[a]gmail.com and I can pass that along to you.

Most locally, our beloved Secord Community Centre is slated to lose its priority status (as the entire “priority centres” program is proposed to be cut) – this would be a significant blow in a high needs area. There are still forms at the Community Centre – if you haven’t already, go and sign one. The Secord School Parent Council will be gathering them and sending them along to Councillor Davis.

Other cuts being considered include:

The Toronto Public Library has to find another $7 million in cuts, beyond the $10 million in cuts already approved.
Ending city programming at 5 shared-use TDSB pools.
Closing 3 daycare centres.
Closing 5 wading pools and 2 outdoor swimming pools.
Cutting TTC service (while raising TTC fares).
Ending grants to many non-profits and charities in the Community Partnership and Investment Program (CPIP).
Cutting investment in new trees.
Delayed hiring of 36 paramedics and 68 firefighters.

Activism actually does work – for really, really. As an example, The Budget Committee backed down from closing 12 community recreation centres and ending nutrition programs for 14,000 Toronto kids. Secord School will be able to keep it’s much needed nutrition programs because citizens of this city called, emailed, and showed up to depute.

It matters. It’s your city and your community!

Hot spot?

danforthsecord — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:46:18 +0000

Seems the rest of the world is figuring out what a hot spot we live in. Our ‘hood was featured in this month’s Toronto Life magazine as one of the top up-and-coming places to buy a property in Toronto. Labelled from Kingston to Doncaster, Woodbine to Victoria Park, the magazine sites East End Danforth as a great place because of our diverse urban mix, proximity to the Beach, family-friendly parks, and a wide range of homes including cozy semi’s, grand Edwardians, co-ops and apartments, and new townhouse developments. Go figure!

The weather outside is frightful…

danforthsecord — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:41:35 +0000

The weather outside is frightful, but at least it’s WINTER! (not that strange, warm-ish, extended-fall stuff we’ve been getting…)

On that note, Councillor Janet Davis, together with other East York elected reps, is hosting the East York New Year’s Levee.

Sunday, January 8, 2012
1 to 3 pm
East York Civic Centre
850 Coxwell Avenue

Residents of East York are invited to join Councillor Davis with Councillor Mary Fragedakis, MPP Peter Tabuns, MPP Michael Prue, MP Matthew Kellway and TDSB Trustees Sheila Cary-Meagher and Cathy Dandy to welcome 2012!

Please bring a non-perishable food donation for community food banks.

To find out about holiday hours for City facilities and museums, click here.

The Axe

danforthsecord — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:30:48 +0000

As you probably are somewhat aware, the City is proposing some very large cuts to its budget. Essentially, 10% across the board. The proposed budget recently went through the Budget Committee and will be going to full Council in January (and Councillors will vote on the budget at that point).

As you can imagine, there is significant resistance to these proposals. Here is an article in the Toronto Star about the impact of the proposed cuts on nutrition programs – it features local school, Secord. I understand that the cuts to the nutrition program are no longer being considered, after much wailing and knashing of teeth. Also, it was announced today that the Toronto Public Libary Board (members include several Ford-ites) rejected the 10% cut.

And now, I will fully expose my bias – it is being proposed to de-classify the Secord Community Centre as a priority centre. My family uses and lives near this Community Centre, as do many of our friends and the school mates of our four year old son. A de-classification means that the programs that are currently being offered free of charge will be offered for a fee. A major outlet for people and their children in a high-needs area will no longer be as accessible. Let me tell you, this Community Centre is BUSY, PACKED and POPULAR in an area that needs it.

If you would like to voice your opposition to de-classification of the Secord Community Centre (among other cuts) a petition is being organized through the Secord School Parent Council. A form letter has been made, and is available to sign in the main office of the Community Centre at 91 Barrington Ave. If you’re walking by, poke your head in and sign a form.

For more information, you can email Secord.Council@gmail.com

It’s going to be really important that the many small details of the City’s proposed budget, like this one, don’t get lost amidst the noise of the larger issues like TTC and the Police. It’s these little programs – death by a million cuts – that will affect the daily lives of all Toronto residents. And when you look at it from a 50,000 foot perspective, it’s almost impossible to believe that the City’s budget ‘crisis’, imagined, perceived, or even slightly real, can be solved by taking away programs from our children.

Kids in the ‘hood

danforthsecord — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:32:11 +0000

Wanted to feature two new-ish kid-oriented stores.

The first is tickle tots, located at 49 Dawes Road, just north of the Danforth. The store specializes in new and used children’s clothing, maternity wear, furniture and other kid gear. You can shop or bring in items to sell to the store. I’ve gotten some great finds for my kids – for those of you with little people under 4-ish, it’s worth checking out.

Second is a toy store called Silly Goose Kids. And while it’s technically outside our ‘hood, it’s such a great store I thought it deserved a mention. Located at 2054 Danforth Ave (just west of Woodbine) the store features mostly toys, but also some practical fare like slings and carriers, shoes and clothes, hats and mitts. Plus for the holiday season, they are charging $1 for gift wrapping with all profits going to a toy drive for Woodgreen Community Services.