The Woodbine ‘Bend’ or extension was built over 10 years, from 1955 to 1965. Wrapping around the southeast side of the old racetrack, it links Woodbine to Lakeshore Boulevard. Do you have an old photo you’d like to share? Please call me at 416-691-4774.
Category: Features
History of Beach Metro News: The times they are a changin’
The year 1983 is memorable for Beach Metro News for three events. On June 3, one of the hottest nights of the year, 71 people jammed into the gym at the YMCA on Kingston Road for this newspaper’s annual general meeting and election of a new board. There has never been another meeting like it […]
Ad Manager Dianne Marquardt joins the BMN team
One might say that 1983 was a very good year, and I’m not talking about wine. It was the year I started at Ward 9 Community News Inc., now known as Beach Metro Community News. The newspaper office was located inside the YMCA building at 907 Kingston Rd. and at the time I worked at […]
Twins battle for building laurels
Dan and Nikki Hall have a lot in common. And perhaps it’s only to be expected. After all, they are twins and both have a passion for renovating. That’s why, over a dinner one night, when they started talking about their plans to each construct a new home, a friend in the reality TV business […]
History of Beach Metro News: The Beach was booming in 1982
In March 1982 the newspaper reached a milestone – its 10th anniversary. It celebrated with a party held at its headquarters in the YMCA on Kingston Road, with over 150 of its volunteers attending. At its Annual General Meeting, Geoff Jarvis took over from Nanci Lugsdin as president, Linda Greer became vice president, Pauline Plooard […]
Deja Views
The archival photograph was taken in the late summer of 1972. To the left of the streetcar is the tail end of the Glen Stewart Ravine, which we now know as Ivan Forrest Gardens. The park was named after Beach resident Ivan Bruce Forrest who was the city’s Commissioner of Parks and Recreation for most […]
Deja Views: Sept. 6, 2011
For many Beachers, a ‘For Sale’ sign on a large property with a dilapidated house means pay dirt for developers. The old home would inevitably be torn down and replaced with two or more telephone booth-like structures. But happily this is not the case on Lee Avenue. One of a few complete wooden houses built […]
History of Beach Metro News: Paper and community enter computer era
It was 1981 and at the newspaper’s annual general meeting, the staff was optimistic. They had produced three back-to-back 20-page papers and circulation was up to 22,000 copies. The paper was able to set up its own darkroom in a small room in the Kingston Road YMCA. Kirsten Ring was hired part time as a […]
Beacher celebrates her 100th birthday
Hazel Ferguson, longtime resident of the Beach, will celebrate her 100th birthday on Aug. 6. Hazel was born into a large family. Lorne and Maggie Shackleton had 10 children including four girls and six boys. They lived on a farm near Harrietsville, Ontario. While playing grade school softball, Hazel was scouted by Labatt’s and moved […]
Deja Views: August, 2011
Apart from tree growth, the Sewage Disposal Plant Pumping Station at Eastern Avenue and Coxwell Avenue has remained an isolated structure. This image was shot in May of 1915.
