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Shops, restaurants and services come and go here in the Beach. Sometimes I pause to reflect on what was lost. Other times I am so glad that a new store is opening here. However I did shed a tear to see Nevada’s Ristorante being one of the places to go.
Years ago I went to Nevada’s on a blind date. It was a Monday evening in March with a chill in the air. It was just dusk when we arrived. We were given a great table in the corner and dined on steak, chicken pesto, red wine followed by home made apple pie for dessert.
Frank Sinatra music played the entire night. Dead romantic it was.
And now, to stand outside and see the restaurant being gutted is very sad.
On the positive side, the original facade of the building was revealed. Above the arched windows, carved in stone, is the signage of The Home Bank of Canada. A little research shows that this was a bank from 1903 until 1923. How charming! We can now add to our “how did you meet story,” that we met in a turn of the nineteenth century bank. Romantico!
M. MacKenzie
Editor’s Note: The Home Bank of Canada only operated from 1903 to 1923, opening 82 branches across the country. Among the notables involved in the venture was Henry Pellatt of Casa Loma fame. The bank failed and become the target of a Royal Commission initiated by Mackenzie King.
In 1928, the local Bank of Toronto opened at this located where it stayed until it moved across the street (The Lion on the Beach building) in 1950. Thanks to Derek Thompson for some of the information.
I wanted to update the BeachMetro with an incredible story.
I had written a previous Letter to the Editor about my great nephew’s tricycle being stolen right off our property while we were home. I was so upset for days after. I tried to put it out of my mind but lost a bit of faith in people the day the trike was taken.
We went to the annual Police Fun Fair at Woodbine Park. At the park they were raffling off two little bikes and other items. Of course I bought some tickets. I told the kind women who was selling the tickets how our little guy’s trike was stolen and that was my reason for trying to win.
Well my niece and I held our breath when the little boy bike came up for raffle. Darn, our numbers not even close, no luck. We didn't win. I was disappointed. I swallowed hard. I tightly squeezed my great nephew who was in my arms, kissed him and said “we will eventually get you another bike.”
It was just as we were about to leave the park when the women who sold us the tickets said “just a moment I want you to meet the the person who won the bike.”
A very sweet young boy around 11 years old was smiling and said, “I am Liam and I heard about what happened to your little boy’s tricycle and I would like to give him the bike I won.”
I instantly had tears welling in my eyes. “Are you sure you want to do that?,” my voice cracking.
“Yes,” he said. “It was very unfair what happened to him.”
I couldn't believe the compassion coming from this young boy. I saw the women who sold us the tickets standing close by beaming. I asked,“How did you know what happened to his bike?”
“My mom told me.” No wonder she was beaming. How proud she must have felt. What an incredible mother! What an incredible boy!
I learned a huge lesson that day from mother and child. If we teach our children well, the world can be full of kindness and understanding. I have made it my goal to teach my great nephew well. I want to feel that same feeling Liam’s mother was experiencing as she watched her child doing for another.
It took a sweet young boy to bring back that faith that I had lost days earlier.
Jaime Lyn Brisebois
On June 14th, I was at the top of my game – peak physical fitness, less than two weeks to my first 70.3 Ironman triathlon race. On my routine bike ride home from work, I was struck from behind by a vehicle, whose driver was charged with careless driving. In my opinion, the driver got off easy. I ended up with a serious concussion (my helmet was split in three places), a shattered shoulder, a deep laceration to my elbow and muscle contusions down the left side of my body.
Although the entire day is wiped from my memory, my husband and a dear friend were both on the scene within minutes, and informed me about the quick actions and kindness of a woman who came to my aid immediately. I would like to thank you for applying pressure to my wound. I had apparently lost quite a bit of blood. I ended up requiring surgery on the shoulder, so now I have a steel plate holding the joint together – not exactly what I had envisioned when I planned on becoming an ‘Ironman’.
Also thank you to the firefighters, paramedics and police officers who were on the scene and took care of me. We are blessed to live in such a caring community.
For now, my mission is educating kids (and some parents) in the neighbourhood about the importance of wearing a helmet when biking. It saved my life. I’ll be back on the triathlon circuit next year!
Patricia Fitzpatrick-Landry
Like many Torontonians, we get excited about our annual rite to celebrate Victoria Day and Canada Day fireworks at Ashbridges Bay in the Beach. We take special pride and pleasure that the Beach is a unique public space for family recreation that isn’t available in many other cities.
Unfortunately, this year our family’s Canada Day celebration was disturbed by the business operators of the Ashbridges Bay Boardwalk Pub who prioritized the making a few extra bucks over the revelries of families and friends coming together to enjoy the splendour of fireworks in camaraderie and peace.
On Canada Day evening, our family arrived about a quarter to nine o’clock and found space at a prime, grassy spot to view the fireworks. The only problem was that there was an extremely loud, overpowering electric generator running to fuel a small popcorn stand by the boardwalk.
We politely asked the two operators of the popcorn stand how long they would be running the generator. They said they would turn it off when it got dark before the fireworks began. Oh, good. We even bought a bag of popcorn for $4 from them and then happily sat down about 15 feet away to wait for the fireworks.
An hour later, 9:45 p.m., the sky was dark and the electric generator was still hurtling noise. We asked the operators of the stand at the boardwalk again when they planned on turning it off. Talk to the guys at the main popcorn stand behind them they said. We did.
The main popcorn stand was set near the shelter and their electricity source came from a wall outlet. No noise. So why couldn’t they have considerately run an extension cord to the popcorn stand at the boardwalk, and let families watch the fireworks in peace? Why couldn’t they have been satisfied with the money they were reaping in from the main stand which was also on a prime path?
A smirking male operator said no, they would NOT be turning off the generator. He said they had paid $2.2 million for the restaurant [the Asbridges Bay Boardwalk Pub] and they can do whatever they want, he smugly chuckled.
The Foulidis Family try to portray themselves as a mom-and-pop business, but our experience with them on Canada Day revealed that they are just about business, just about making money, not about improving the Beach, not about the community good, not about respecting public space, not about letting families enjoy each other’s company and revel in the pride of our civic events in relative peace.
Tuggs Inc. marred the magnificence of the fireworks in the night sky just to sell a few more bags of popcorn with a rumbling generator so loud that families could barely hear each other shout Happy Canada Day.
M. Chung
P.S. to make it worse, my three-year-old got diarrhea from their popcorn!
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