Deja Views: Sharing an Easter Parade memory from the Beach
By DAVID VAN DYKE
Since the late 1960s, the Beach has hosted an Easter Parade to the delight of many Toronto residents. This image above depicts its humble beginnings, where parade participants marched to music and dodged traffic at the same time.
Today of course, Queen Street East is shut down entirely for the parade from the Neville Park Loop to Woodbine Avenue.
The photo above is from the 1970s and its location is Queen Street East, looking east by Maclean Avenue.
Do you have a picture from the Easter Parade in the Beach you’d like to share? Please contact me at gdvandyke61@gmail.com
The Variety Store in the upper photo was Mike’s Smoke Shop, the local confectionary store that was operated by Mr Mike. All the kids and many adults in the mid 1960’s used to access for candy, smokes and pop. Mike would open a fresh cigar from his stock every day and slowly eat it bit by bit until it was a stub and then he closed up a went home. It happened every day. It is one of those childhood memories that are hard to forget.