Junction Triangle

The Junction Triangle neighbourhood is taking part in the 2010 Scotiabank Nuit Blanche exhibit and needs volunteers! On October 2, our installation Rail of Light will see the Wallace Avenue Footbridge transformed into a huge, sparkling chandelier, literally shedding light on the massive diesel rail expansion planned by the Ontario government.

If you can help with set-up, take-down, or manning the exhibit, please get in touch with us at rail@junctiontriangle.ca We need help to install the exhibit during the day on Saturday (Oct.2) beginning at 9 a.m. and people to staff the showing (in four hour shifts) during the evening/night.

Be a part of a great, city wide arts event happening right here in the Junction Triangle and help send an important message about electric trains.

Info from this event's Facebook listing:

Time: Monday September 6, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Location: Perth Square Park

A last chance for neighbourhood children and their parents to enjoy Perth Square Park before a new school year begins. This informal gathering is organized by the Junction Triangle Rail Committee. Come on out, chat with the neighbours and catch up on all the summer news while the kids enjoy the swings and splash pad.

Candidates' flyers

On Thursday, August 26th 2010, Boo' Radley's on Dupont St. hosted the Junction Triangle Municipal Election Issues Forum. This was a somewhat different take on an All Candidates meeting: Instead of a slate of candidates up on a stage talking down to an audience, this event encouraged candidates and voters to mingle amongst each other, having one-on-one conversations.

Six out of the ten registered candidates attended: Ana Bailao, Kevin Beaulieu, Doug Carroll, Nha Le, Joe MacDonald, and Hema Vyas. I didn't count, but I would roughly guess that about sixty residents came out.

I personally think the event went extremely well. Speaking with other neighbours at the event, it seemed there was a consensus that the event was worthwhile, and that voters had a good chance to learn more about the candidates. Thanks to the organizers, the Junction Triangle Rail Committee, and the gracious hosts Mike and Shelley from Boo Radley's.

Read on for a few more comments and photos. Also, be sure to check Tomasz Bugajski's article on BlogTO:
Drinks with the candidates for Ward 18

Sorry for the late notice, but there's an interesting art event happening in the Junction Triangle this week. Opera Erratica are performing their Orlando/Lunaire show between August 22-28, 2010 (yes, it ends tomorrow). Interestingly, this is taking place inside a metal shed down on Sterling Rd., which probably lends itself well to the "erratica" part of this group's name.

So, rather than try to write about an underground opera event that I really don't know much about, I'll leave it to the pros. Check the Opera Erratica website for more details.

From a review in the Globe & Mail on Monday August 23:

Orlando/Lunaire, the chosen title of ‘an underground opera,’ is described by its presenters as ‘a mashup’ of George Frideric Handel’s 1719 opera Orlando and Arnold Schoenberg’s 1912 settings of 21 poems from Albert Giraud’s Pierrot lunaire (Moonstruck Pierrot) for Sprechstimme and chamber ensemble. It had, on Sunday, the first of several Toronto performances in an industrial storage shed near Bloor and Lansdowne.

Who are we? Its an important question and sometimes a political question. There is no doubt that JT is undergoing a very large change. How could it not; it is the last "affordable" area in West End Old Toronto. Last year my Ukrainian born neighbor entered a nursing home, the last of her family that populated Perth after the war. Many of our Italian and Portuguese residents are passing on, retiring to their homeland, or moving in with their children in other areas.

Municipal Election Issues Forum
Boo Radley’s
1482 Dupont Street
(1 Block East of Symington)
Thursday, August 26
8-10 p.m.

Ontario Redi-Mix: As seen from Erwin Krickhahn Park.

The Ontario Redi-Mix plant at 57 Wade Ave. has closed down. I don't know the exact date of the plant's closure, but it has now been inactive for several weeks.

Ontario Redi-Mix is the concrete manufacturing and distribution factory that is visible over the railway tracks at Erwin Krickhahn Park. What seemed like a constant parade of cement trucks around the Bloor-Lansdowne area is a direct result of this plant. I know that there were many complaints about Ontario Redi-Mix from residents in the Lansdowne / Wade / Jenet / Paton area stemming from the truck traffic, noise, dust, dirty streets, idling trucks, cracked sidewalks, and much more. I bet the residents of that area are happy to see this place closed down.

Perhaps it will make life better for Junction Triangle residents on Rankin Cres., and users of Erwin Krickhahn Park too? I'm not sure, as I can't say I've ever been bothered by this facility while in the park, but maybe people who live close-by had different experiences (please post if you have!).

A few weeks ago I created a Junction Triangle group on Flickr (a photography website). This group allows anyone to join and post photos of our neighbourhood, and you can easily find them by browsing through the group. It will be a good complement to the photo gallery that already exists on this website.

There are currently 15 members and 93 photos in the group (as of August 4 2010). Take a look at the slideshow above, or go directly to the Junction Triangle Flickr group to check it out. And of course, if you're a Flickr member, be sure to join the group and add your own photos too.

A Perth Ave. resident and reader of this website had flowers and plants dug up from her front yard overnight. This is what she wrote:

I thought I'd mention something that happened to me last night. Some SOB literally dug up the flowers in my front yard during the night - they are gone! Stolen! It must be the most bizarre thing that has happened to me since I've lived here. It's frustrating and insulting and it's trespassing and theft - not to mention, how cheap must you be to go around digging up other people's plants.

The Perth-Dupont Community Garden will be hosting a BBQ this Friday evening, July 30th, starting at 5:30pm. The garden is located in the Symington Ave. Playground, which is accessed from Perth Ave. north of Dupont St.

We are half way through the summer growing season, and we have already harvested many good things from our gardens, from beans & beets, cucumbers, peas, radishes and many leafy things like lettuce, Swiss Chard, & many kinds of kale, right up to the Zucchinis.

It will be pot luck style, so that you can bring your own things that you want cooked on the BBQ, (hot-dogs, burgers, slabs of meat, as well as the veggies that you want roasted.

We will have two BBQs' going - one is propane, the other one will be with charcoal. The Community garden will provide the charcoal as well as some veggies and Buns, ...I will have a look at the potatoes and see if they are ready to harvest, and we can cook some of them up for every one.

More info about this event is available on the Perth-Dupont Community Garden website.