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A Spoonful of Honey Helps the Medicine Go Down
By Jenna Simpson Natural health clinics. Herbal dispensaries. The Carrot Common. Push-pin boards overflowing with flyers for alternative therapies. Even the most casual passerby walking along the Danforth can't ignore the indications of a vibrant alternative health community. On the Danforth, conventional and alternative medicines coexist peacefully. Roger Lewis, manager and master herbalist at Thuna's Wholistic Dispensary, says they receive many patients referred by medical doctors. "That's the kind of doctor that we like to work with. That's not the kind of doctor we want to steal a patient from. We're not pretending to be medical experts—we're herbalists." He emphasizes that a balance between Western and alternative health practices benefits…
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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…
