Junction Triangle

Tipera sent the following event info:

When: Dec. 21st as soon as the sun sets.

There will be fire performances and hopefully a fire so bring your marsh mellows! Also please bring a home made or otherwise lantern! Any one interested in joining in and performing please email tipera@gmail.com, or go to Carlton Park People's Auxiliary face book page.

From Shelly at Carlton Park, posted to the Carlton Park People's Auxiliary Facebook page:

PLEASE JOIN US for our annual Pumpkin Lighting in Carlton Park (on Edith Avenue) on Tuesday, November 1st, 2011, starting at 6:30 p.m.and continuing to midnight.

Bring your jack-o-lanterns (with a tealight inside), line them up around the splash pond, and light them in a dazzling display of Halloween creativity that will delight children and adults alike.

At midnight, the lights will be doused and the pumpkins left at the park for the City to pick up the next day for composting.

Children have a wonderful time dashing about and playing with each other in the twilight, while adults have a chance to visit and get to know their neighbours in this fun community-building event.

So invite your friends and neighbours, bring a thermos of hot cocoa or cider and your pumpkins, and come enjoy this creative community gathering before we all hibernate for the winter!

Some good news for a few of our local parks from our Ward 18 city councillor, Ana Bailao, in her June 23 newsletter:

Ana on Parks

In Toronto's urban environment, public park space acts as an oasis of grass, trees and plant-life that provide play, walk and enjoy. These public spaces are more than simple greenery, offering a wide assortment of services and programming to the neighbourhood community.

June 28, 2011. Details from the Facebook event page:

A neighbourhood get-down, jump up celebration! Kathleen's BBQ, and you bring what's to grill, what's to drink etc.

6:00 - 10:00
feel free to invite friends and neighbours regardless of their sexuality! But queers are especially welcome and neighbourhood queers are the best!

PLEASE JOIN US for our annual Pumpkin Lighting in Carlton Park (on Edith Avenue) on Monday, November 1st, starting at 6:30 p.m. and continuing to midnight.

Bring your jack-o-lanterns (with a tealight inside), line them up around the splash pond, and light them in a dazzling display of Halloween creativity that will delight children and adults alike. At midnight, the lights will be doused and the pumpkins left at the park for the City to pick up the next day for composting.

Children have a wonderful time dashing about and playing with each other in the twilight, while adults have a chance to visit and get to know their neighbours in this fun community-building event.

So invite your friends and neighbours, bring a thermos of hot cocoa or cider and your pumpkins, and come enjoy this creative community gathering before we all hibernate for the winter!

You can download a copy of the event poster here.

Last year's event was a big success and very fun for everyone who attended! It seems to be growing every year, so make sure you check it out. Some photos and a writeup about the 2009 event are posted here.

Electric Train Music Series

Every Sunday in July at 12:30 p.m. in the Junction Triangle

Acoustic Performances:

• Sunday, July 4
  Campbell Park, performer Adam Volpentesta
• Sunday, July 11
  Carlton Park, performer Andrew Cash
• Sunday, July 18
  Erwin Krickhahn Park, performer Mark Ripp

Judging from old photographs, the parks of this neighbourhood have been busy gathering places for many years. The image above of Carlton Park captures a festive day in 1914. And one of Perth Square shows a heated baseball game underway in 1920, played out in jackets and ties, with neighbours crowded at the fence.

This photo is from the City of Toronto Archives.

Archival citation Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 52, Item 343

Title Carlton Park — "Maypole"

Date(s) of creation of record(s) July 18, 1914

Physical description of record(s) 1 photonegative : b&w ; 13 x 18 cm

Form of material Photographs

Forms part of Fonds 200; Former City of Toronto fonds

Series 372; Dept. of Public Works photographs

Subseries 52; Parks Dept. photographs

Access conditions OPEN - No restrictions on these government records.

Edwin Ave. cleanup.: Photo by Craig Charnock

Last weekend's community cleanup day was a success, thanks to volunteers from all over the neighbourhood. Local cleanup events were held at Carlton Park, Campbell Ave. / Rankin Cres., Symington Ave., Edwin Ave., the West Toronto Railpath, and on South Perth and Sterling Rd. These parts of the Junction Triangle are now looking much better!

Of course, tackling the litter and dumping problems in our neighbourhood is an ongoing struggle, but you don't need to wait until Earth Day to do something about it. If there's any litter in front of your homes or garages, just take two seconds to pick it up and put it in the proper place. You can also report illegal dump sites or excessive litter to the City's 311 phone number, or 311@toronto.ca

Here are some photos from the April 24th 2010 Community Cleanup, submitted by various cleanup organizers around the neighbourhood. Thanks!

On the evening of November 1st, the day after Halloween, was the fourth annual Carlton Park Pumpkin Lighting.

This was the first time I heard about this event, and consequently the first time I went, even though I've known about similar events at other parks. I was excited to learn that someone had organized this for our own neighbourhood!

My wife Jennifer and I gathered up some friends from around the neighbourhood and beyond (Australia!) and met up at the park. There were already many pumpkins blazing when we arrived, and we added ours to the lineup. We bumped into other neighbours and friends, enjoyed the snacks and drinks that people brought to share, watched the kids run around through the leaves while wearing their Halloween costumes "just one more time". And of course, had a great time checking out everyone else's pumpkin creations.

Apparently, this was the biggest ever Pumpkin Lighting event at Carlton Park, with probably around 60 pumpkins. It's great to hear that with some persistence, this neighbourhood event has continued to happen and grow over the years. Already looking forward to next year!

Michael Monastyrskyj also has a writeup of this event over on his Bloor-Lansdowne Blog.

Here are some more photos from the Pumpkin Lighting. Click to see larger versions: