Hope United Church worship leader Brian Stevens had to make a change. His job as an executive director at the trade group Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters was wearing him down with its relentless jet-setting demands. “It was a lot of international travel. I was tired,” recalled Stevens. Nearing 40, he started asking himself a big […]
Early on, art instructor Danielle Ward noticed her son Carter’s talents with a paintbrush in hand. Four years ago, she set out some paints to help Carter, then seven, while away a winter day that he was spending drawing his puppy Merle Haggard. “What he painted on his drawing far surpassed the drawing underneath,” Danielle […]
Beach floral design and horticultural judge Ursula Eley’s first foray into competitive floral arrangement was a far cry from her recent award-winning entry at an international event. If there was a mistake to be made in her first submission in 1998, she made it, the one-time president of the Beach Garden Society said. Eley used […]
At Dina and Elina Anker’s Oakridge penthouse condo, the elephant in the room is stuffed, pink, and grey. Last fall, it was cancer. The toy elephant is one of a pile Elina, 14, received from well-wishers after she was diagnosed with stage-three lymphoma around this time last year. The then St. John Catholic School student […]
Some are shocked to learn they’ve won an award, others elated. Colleen Didur was hesitant to receive her Coaches Association of Ontario award. It’s not that the Balmy Beach Canoe Club coordinator wasn’t happy about the distinction. “I was a little bit hesitant to receive the award at first because I don’t necessarily think of […]
A self-described “maniac collector of things”, life-long east-end Toronto resident Mike Orlando says he owned a couple tons of movie posters before he decided to start the Hollywood Canteen, his now decades-old film-memorabilia business on the Danforth. “I’ve been collecting since ’75, and just amassing great quantities of original movie posters from theatres and people […]
“I have an espresso machine to fix and I’m told that you guys are the guys.” Those were the words of new customer Rosalee Lockyer walking in the door mid-interview with Rick and Craig Butler of Butler’s Appliance Repair on Coxwell and Gerrard. Butler’s is celebrating its 90th—yes, that’s a nine and a zero—anniversary serving […]
Competitive figure skater Chantal Fry didn’t think she would end up spending her career skating on synthetic materials. But, as the founder of Glisse on Ice, a for-hire skating show that brings the rink on the road, that’s exactly where life has led her – and it’s a route she’s happy to have taken. “I […]
August 19 marked the 75th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid but for some, this tragic day in history still feels like yesterday. Upper Beach resident Paul Ryan knows all too well how closely the pain of that day can be carried by those who lost their loved ones. His mother still has portraits of her […]
This story was first published June 22, 2016. If you’ve found yourself on Queen Street just east of Ivan Forrest Gardens on a weekend, there’s a fair chance you’ve seen Robert Bertram on his balcony – and if you haven’t seen the man, you’ve likely seen the sticks and the sign. A handwritten sign noting […]
