Kew Gardens and Scarboro Beach

Last week Heritage Toronto unveiled a plaque at the Kew Williams House.
My previous blog entry was for this event, and most of the information is there.

Afterwards Barbara Myrvold, a local author, historian, and Librarian took us on a tour of the Beach, or as I like to call it "The Beaches".
This alternative name stems from the smaller beach neighbourhoods that most folks (as well as myself) remember as Scarboro' Beach, Balmy Beach, Kew Beach, and Woodbine Beach.
Having spent the first twelve years of my life residing on Woodbine Avenue, I recall people's references to the Beaches.

So, the group meandered through the gardens that surround the Kew Williams House, and we stopped to marvel at the giant redwood trees near the lawn bowling club.
These are known as Dawn Redwood or Metasequoia glyptostroboides, a genus of the Sequoia tree in California.

Across the way, we can see the remnants of the Kew Beach Park Boat House.
It was built by the City as part of the Eastern beaches Park development in 1932.
It had ramps for the boats (since the shoreline was higher at that time) and eight large doorways. Later, the sides were removed and the building was converted into a picnic shelter.

 This Life Saving Station has been a Beaches icon for as long as I can remember. It almost always appears in a picture of the beach somewhere by someone.

At the foot of Scarboro' Beach Boulevard sits a 1993 Toronto Historical Board Plaque for the amusement park that once operated here.

The attractions at this park were numerous, ranging from rides such as the Scenic Railway, which was just another name for a roller coaster. There were performers, games, and musicians, but the most popular attraction was the Water Chute Ride.

The group then walked north on Glen Manor Drive to Queen Street, and stopped at the Ivan Forrest Gardens.
The original stream and pond can still be seen in this little ravine.

The tour continued along Queen Street, we (Marcia and I) decided to stop for coffee and search the street for a used clothing shop.
The rest of the folks followed Ms. Myrvold to visit the first Beaches Telephone Exchange and the Library....both of which I had covered in another post.

 

Kew Williams House

Last Saturday my friend Marcia and I made our way over to Lee Avenue to attend the plaque presentation at the Kew Williams House.

Heritage Toronto and the Toronto Public Library were unveiling a plaque for this historic stone house, that was built in 1902.

It is designed in the Queen Anne Revival style, and it was the only building not moved nor demolished when Kew Gardens was made into a public park.
For about 90 years, the house was the residence of the park caretakers, or gardeners, as I like to call them.
The event was hosted by Ross Fair, a Heritage Toronto Board member.

There was quite a turnout; some of the relatives of the caretakers/gardeners were present, and a few politicians, and a representative from Scotiabank.

Here is a better....closer look at the plaque:

After the unveiling, we were invited for a look through the ground floor of the building.

This is the stairway to the second floor:

Here are two pictures of the windows:

The other wonderful thing about this property is the garden, or gardens.
The City employs three gardeners to look after everything...and I think that they do a great job!!

BOOK CITY

                                  Herewith is an excerpt from a Book City bookmark:

 

"Introducing.....a new Bio-Optic Organized Knowledge Device - BOOK.

BOOK is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology.
There are no wires, no circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected, nor switched on.
It is compact and portable. It can be used ANYWHERE - indoors or out, even sitting on a bus or train.

BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets (pages) of recyclable paper.
Each sheet is capable of holding thousands of bits of information (words).

These sheets are locked together with one of two different custom devices; a BINDER, or a DOUBLE STITCH BINDING, which keep these sheets in their correct sequence.

Opaque Paper Technology (OPT) allows the manufacturers to use both sides of the sheets, thus doubling the information density.
As each sheet is scanned optically, the information is registered directly to your brain.
A simple flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet.

BOOK never crashes, nor does it require re-booting.
The "browse" function allows instant movement to any sheet, forward or backward.
Many come with an "index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information; thus supplying one with an "instant retrieval".

It is portable, durable, affordable, and is being hailed as a precursor of a new form of entertainment.
BOOK'S appeal seems so certain, that thousands of content creators have committed to the platform.