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    Crafting Memories

    Kids go off-line for hands-on fun at the Orange Hippo Arts Studio By Bonita Mok Paint, glitter, and an R2-D2 cake Kids are covered in glue and glitter as they sit around a long table set up at the back of the small room. Their colourful spaceships and airplanes, momentarily forgotten in favour of pizza and an R2-D2 cake, lie scattered on tables decorated with old paint and marker stains. It’s Liam Byrne’s sixth birthday. Rather than celebrating at Chuck E. Cheese’s or an arcade, he’s creating art at the Orange Hippo Arts Studio. “I think in this age of video games and computer-based entertainment, it’s particularly important to have…

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    A Place to Write OM About

    An interview with Chantel Simmons about the Danforth and its connection to her first novel, Stuck in Downward Dog By Katharine Watts Katharine Watts: Why did you choose the Danforth as one of the major settings in Stuck in Downward Dog? Chantel Simmons: I thought it was an interesting place to set it because of the juxtaposition of people who are striving to be perfect in a fake way in other areas, like Avenue Road or Yorkville, with people on the Danforth who are doing things for themselves from the inside out. KW: What is your personal connection to the Danforth? CS: I used to live on Dearbourne, right behind…

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    Lions, Bears, and Guinea Pig Tails

    My grandmother remembers the Danforth of her childhood. By Christa Johnston In 1913, my great-great-grandmother Lucy moved to Toronto from her home in South England, bringing her sons, two of her three daughters, and two of her granddaughters with her. The family was quite happy with their new home in Canada, and they encouraged Lucy’s second eldest daughter, Florence, to bring her family to Canada as well. The following year, Florence packed up and moved her family—including my grandmother, Irene—to Toronto. Irene was just a child when she arrived, but even now, nearly a century later, she still remembers the growing city of her youth. In the 1920s, her Granny,…

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    A Bridge to Here

    By Lindsay Benjamin It has been 90 years since the Bloor Street Viaduct was completed and the east and west ends of Toronto were united. Now linked to the rest of the city, the Danforth area has evolved from its humble beginnings into a unique and vibrant Toronto neighbourhood.Historically, Danforth Avenue was a sleepy dirt road spanning open fields—a place where Torontonians ventured for a weekend escape. It was named after Asa Danforth, an American contractor. In a personal interview, Miller noted that "[Danforth] was commissioned in 1799 to build a military road linking the Town of York to the Bay of Quinte." Danforth Avenue was envisioned as a "route…

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    Make Your Own Wine—On a Budget

    Local Fermentations encourages wine lovers to bottle their own during economic hard times. By Jenna Williams Small Place, Big Taste At the Danforth shop Fermentations, wine connoisseurs and up-and-comers can find and create something that is just right for them. The experience is fast, fun, and easy; satisfaction is guaranteed. Visitors can make anything from beer to wine to coolers. Wine, however, is Fermentations’ specialty. Owner Charles Fajgenbaum received a Grand Master Winemaker award in 2007, and has won other awards for his Baco Noir, Vidal, and Riesling wines. The store is a five-time winner of NOW Magazine‘s annual reader poll for Toronto’s best wine and beer-making shop, and it…

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    The Music Hall’s Encore

    Since renovations in 2005, the Danforth Music Hall proves successful as a venue for the community By Marguerite Weir The Music Hall on Danforth Avenue has become a lively venue for great performances in Toronto since being renovated by local businessman Glyn Laverick. Ticket sales for the Music Hall started in 1919 when John and Julia Allen began opening their chain of theatres across Canada. The Music Hall, formerly known as The Allen, was among the first of ten theatres to open in Toronto after World War One. Described as “Canada’s first super-suburban photography palace,” the design was very simple, with few embellishments for the purpose of keeping the patrons…

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    The Winter Garden

    By Stan Byrne "Oh, I like that guy! He's been there for a while," says Kassa as he points to a plastic lizard puppet-head with a golf ball shoved in its mouth. It's freezing rain in mid-January and the temperature is hovering around negative 10 degrees. The camera I am using is dripping wet and I can see ice forming on the lens. Kassa, an installation artist living in south Riverdale, is gloveless and bouncing around his front yard showing me his handiwork. His enthusiasm for his art is so uplifting, I almost forget how cold and wet we are becoming. Almost.

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    Spreading the Wealth

    Will the Danforth’s East End Ever Blossom? By Chantal Arseneault-Lewis The Danforth is an area cheap jerseys known for its progressive politics, its focus on organic and holistic living and its tightly bonded communities. Greektown on the Danforth was wholesale jerseys established in 1972 as a commercial and tourist destination. Greektown proper stretches between Broadview and Donlands subway stations with its centre at Chester Avenue. The area is undeniably prosperous and businesses get an annual economic boost when over one million people visit the Danforth’s stores and restaurants during the Taste of the Danforth summer festival. However, the same success and longevity has not been experienced for those businesses situated…