I was 13 when Don Messer died. I can remember seeing him on television. Years later, I came across an old record with some tunes by Mr. Messer and his Islanders. I really enjoyed the arrangements and the spirit of his music. Here's a short vignette about Don Messer. Here's a lovely version of The Saint Anne's Reel, complete with step dancing. Terrific! This next piece features Charlie Chamberlain
Finally, here's Stompin Tom's tribute to Don Messer.
These videos document Junction Historical Tours, celebrating the Junction centennial. They were prepared by Cristina Senjug. Those of you interested in Toronto history will find them as fascinating as I do.
Thanks Cris!
It was on Clendenan Ave. and it was a Beckers store former warehouse. Now it is a different convenience store in front and the old studio looks like it is now apartments.
Toronto residents: do you know where the Jumbo Burger is? When I was a kid, this was a 50s style diner called June and Bills. Funny the things you remember. My father had a shop where he made windows and doors just down the lane. It was called Alumacraft. In those days, daycare during the summer meant I would go into work with my parents. They would turn me loose to play with the kids who hung out in the lane. We played all kinds of games. My favourite involved spray paint cans we would scavenge from the garbage. We would gather rocks and chunks of old cement, then place a spent spray can in the middle of the lane. Usually, these cans still held paint and pressure and were thrown out because of a nozzle problem. We would take turns hurling rocks at the can. The first kid to puncture the spray can and "make it dance" won. Kids, don't try this at home.
The stairway in the photo is just across the lane from the Jumbo Burger. It is unchanged from when I was a kid. We liked to climb the stairs, then slide down the pole. Looking at it now, it's a wonder we didn't smash ourselves up.
The old garage with the no parking sign is what the Alumacraft site looks like now. When my parents had the business, there was a big blue sliding barn door that covered the garage door. Usually there would be crates of glass stacked outside as well. There was a little storefront facing the street. It was long and narrow and my dad stored metal there. Customers would walk through the narrow store and then outside along a sidewalk to the shop in the back. My father made good windows and doors, and he also did repairs. Next door to Alumacraft, there used to be a vacant lot. The shop was heated with a woodstove and my father would bring in bins of offcuts from some furnature place, which he burned to heat the place. I liked to use the offcuts like building blocks and build worlds in the vacant lot. Good times.
The lane was our other playground. It was full of wonders and I bet it still is.
...is apparently the holiday Canada gave the world. This page features a timeline.
Tuffy and I were at a Labour Day party at J&S's place this afternoon. We walked there from St. Clair and Calidonia to College and Shaw and back again. Right now, my dogs are howlin'. Tomorrow, I'll post some pics from the walk.
The Don River has suffered a lot of abuse over the years, but here it was in the early part of the last century, a pastoral paradise.
This is the Humber Valley in 1909. I'm not even sure exactly what spot this picture depicts. Is that the bridge at Old Mill? Even with some preserved green space in the Humber Valley (because of Hurricane Hazel?), this doesn't look much like Toronto today.
I recall my father talking about he and his pal Freddy cavorting about the Humber Valley in the early 20's. Freddy's dad had an apple tree in their yard at the time, but something happened each year and it never had fruit. Freddy and my dad were really sympathetic and they wanted to help, so they went down to an old orchard that was in the Humber Valley and they picked baskets of little green apples. That night, they tied them on Freddy's dad's tree with fishing line so next morning, when he went out to work, he would see all those apples on the tree. Har!
