Heritage: Library to Library in Riverdale

"Library to Library in Riverdale" walk leaders Barbara Myrvold and Gerald Whyte spoke in front of St. Matthew's Anglican Church in Toronto, Ontario on 2-October-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - For its final walk of the 2010 season, Heritage Toronto provided a slightly different theme--walking from "library to library." As pointed out by Librarian and Historian Barbara Myrvold, it was really more like "libraries to library." The starting point was not only at the location of the first public library in Toronto east of the Don River, in the still-standing Poulton Block, where a branch existed in an expansion of the building in the rear from October 1888 to June 1910. Practically across the street was a contemporary library location, the Queen/Saulter Branch in the 1913-era Ralph Thornton Community Centre, built in 1913 as Postal Station G, which has existed since 1979.


The Eastern Branch of the Toronto Public Library had been in the rear section of the Poulton Block, observed on 2-October-2010, from 1888 to 1910, when the current Riverdale Branch opened

The walk was through the Riverdale neighbourhood, which has gone through a variety of names in the past, including Donmount and Riverside. The portion south of Queen Street had been annexed by Toronto in 1834, and the remainder had been annexed as Riverdale in 1884. People think of Toronto as not having any numbered streets, but that's not the case in Riverdale, where a series of numbered avenues do exist, laid out south of Gerrard Street starting with First Avenue.


There is a First Avenue in Toronto, as proven by this street sign in the Riverdale neighbourhood seen on 2-October-2010

Riverdale had once been prominent enough to justify its own station site on the Grand Trunk Railway, and the site of that station from 1896 to 1932 was part of the tour. That location is now part of Bruce Mackay Park--honouring the educator who helped provide the inspiration for the popular Degrassi television series. There is no Degrassi High (or Junior High) in Toronto, but there is a Degrassi Street traversed as part of the Heritage Toronto walk.


The large size of the final Heritage Toronto walk group of the year was demonstrated at the former site of the Riverdale railway station on 2-October-2010

Most of the historic buildings on the Riverdale walk had brick facades, but it was pointed out that many of them north of First Avenue had been built with a brick facing and wood framing. In a classic Heritage Toronto serendipitous moment, it was interesting to find evidence of that fact in the form of a house undergoing refurbishing on the north side of First Avenue just a few blocks after that statement had been made.


Ongoing work revealed the wood framing behind the brick outer layer on a First Avenue house in Toronto, Ontario on 2-October-2010

The walk ended at the Riverdale Library in time for its one hundredth anniversary celebration, covered earlier. It's time for indoor heritage activities for the rest of the year.

Culture: High Park Harvest Festival

A group of children worked on carving small pumpkins at the High Park Harvest Festival in Toronto, Ontario on 3-October-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Nighttime lows are closely approaching the freezing point. Days are shortening. The leaves in the trees are starting to turn. As hard as it is to accept, harvest time has arrived, and in the city of Toronto, that means time for the annual High Park Harvest Festival.


A singing group performed for children during the High Park Harvest Festival in Toronto, Ontario on 3-October-2010

For the most part, the High Park Harvest Festival is designed to help children learn about what harvest times were like during more agrarian times. Activities for children included bobbing for apples, making apple cider, carving pumpkins, story telling, horse-drawn cart rides, and performing groups.


Apple peeling was the first step in making cider, a part of the High Park Harvest Festival in Toronto, Ontario on 3-October-2010

Connections to the First Nations are always associated with harvest time in North America, and in High Park, the scene was no different. The primary performers around Colbourne Lodge were from the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, playing their drums and dancing in the field.


A pair of First Nations dancers performed during the High Park Harvest Festival in Toronto, Ontario on 3-October-2010

If all the harvest activity reminds one that's it is time for the feast, that's not a coincidence--Thanksgiving is celebrated in Canada next Monday.

Heritage: Riverdale Library Turns 100

The Riverdale Library branch at Gerrard and Broadview in Toronto, Ontario re-opened for its 100th anniversary on 2-October-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Only three library branches in the 99-branch Toronto Public Library system have made it to age 100--Annette, Yorkville, and now Riverdale. The Riverdale Library, designed by city architect Robert McCallum in the Georgian Revival style, opened in 1910 and was renovated in time to open for its 100th anniversary this past Saturday.


A series of cakes helped celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Riverdale Library in Toronto, Ontario as seen on 2-October-2010

While the Riverdale branch was the last of four libraries built in Toronto using funds from Andrew Carnegie, it doesn't look like a typical Carnegie Library. Because of the shape of the property (a former garden of the Don Jail Governor's House), the entrance is at the corner (of Gerrard and Broadview) instead of the middle of the building, adding yet more interest to a building that would be notable for surviving this long serving its original purpose regardless.


City Librarian Jane Pyper and City Councillor Paula Fletcher held up the certificate honouring 100 years of service at the Riverdale Library on 2-October-2010

Ceremonies to honour the milestone were held on Saturday at the library, immediately after a Heritage Toronto walk which started at a previous library site (to be covered in a future post). A variety of dignitaries from Toronto Public Libraries and the city were on-hand to speak about the first one hundred years and about the new features that had been added during renovations.


A variety of Chinese food provided by the local Chinese Chamber of Commerce provided refreshments after the formal ceremonies at the Riverdale Library on 2-October-2010

Being Toronto, there was of course a strong multicultural element to the event. The Riverdale branch is located near Toronto's "second" Chinatown, and the local Chinese Chamber of Commerce sponsored the catering of the event. The diversity of faces was typical of Toronto, with all kinds of skin tones found wandering the library, from the new children's section to the new bank of computers near the entrance to the new self check-out stations.


Self check-out, like at this station, was one of the new features of the Riverdale Library when it re-opened on 2-October-2010

The Riverdale Library is now open for its normal business hours, and seems well-positioned to serve its community for another century.

Photos: Honda Indy Toronto

The ever-popular Danika Patrick in Indy car #7 raced Justin Wilson in car #22 out of the pit area in Toronto, Ontario on 16-July-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's update to my photo site goes back to the heat of July and automobile racing. For a day of testing and qualifying on 16-July-2010, Honda Indy Toronto opened its gates for free, affording the opportunity to watch the NASCAR Canadian Tire series and various other stock car classes as well as the stars of the show, the North American Indy Car series.

Margin Notes: Population, Harvest, CBC, Ross

The population of Hamilton, Ontario was "you" according to this public art noted on the MacNab Street South pedestrian underpass beneath the Canadian Pacific tracks on 28-September-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Sometimes, an idea appears that it's hard to believe hasn't been seen before. I had a feeling like that after encountering the above piece of public art during a brief visit to Hamilton, Ontario--the idea of the population of something being "you" (or, in the case of Toronto, you and 2.5 million friends) seems so obvious, but I could not remember seeing it before.

* * * * * *


A horse-drawn cart was offering rides inside High Park in Toronto, Ontario on 3-October-2010

Closer to home, when I took the above photo during the Harvest Festival in Toronto's High Park, I couldn't decide if I liked the bicyclist that got in the frame. Was the contrast between modern clothing and technology and the horses interesting, or had a picture out of another era been ruined? I honestly don't know; maybe readers will weight in.

* * * * * *

It was easy to answer a question on an employment questionnaire this week. Asked to rate the desirability of various activities, I encountered a listing for "operating a merry-go-round at a community event." Considering that I had spent the previous afternoon giving rides on a 1929 historic turntable for visitors to the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre, analogous in many ways to a merry-go-round, that one was easy: "Very satisfying."

* * * * * *

As explained at length in a previous post, I no longer find the Dave Ross Show on KIRO-FM satisfying, and looking at the logs (I didn't actually listen) last week, there's another reason why. A main reason to tune in had been the regular guests David Sirota, Thomas Frank, and Carl Jeffers. All three of them seem to have been canceled in favor of lifestyle talk.

* * * * * *

While not as fatal as programming decisions at KIRO-FM, sometimes programmers at the CBC mystify me. In the fall schedule for CBC Radio One, I can't figure out Saturday morning. Both the new show "Day Six" (airing at 10) and "The Irrelevant Show" (airing at 11:30) offer a lighter take on the world. Yet, programmers have scheduled "White Coat, Black Art," a serious show on medicine, in between at 11:00. Especially since I imagine much of the audience of "White Coat, Black Art" also tunes in to the serious "Quirks and Quarks" science show at noon, why in the world isn't the order "Day Six," "The Irrelevant Show," and then "White Coat, Black Art" and "Quirks and Quarks"? There's a reason I'm mostly listening to these shows by podcasts these days!

Radio Pick: Hossein Derakhshan

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's radio pick comes from CBC Radio One. Sometimes getting the right guests can bring an obscure story to live. I happen to think the case of Iranian-Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan has been under-covered, but CBC's The Current found people that knew him to include in their coverage, creating a compelling twenty-six minutes of radio.

Listen to streaming MP3 of The Current "Hossein Derakhshan"

Media: Remembering i107.7

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Usually, the music radio station of one's youth helped define one's personality. It might have defined one's social group in middle school or high school. It might have guided rebellion against a parent's musical tastes, or even challenged their musical tolerance. Above all, it probably occupied one's listening habits for years. This was not so for me. When I think of the defining music radio station of my youth, I think of a station that only existed for about one year--i107.7.

Clearly, I must have listened to popular music on other stations for many more hours than I ever listened to i107.7. I'm old enough to remember contemporary music on AM--in Seattle, on such stations as KJR, KOMO, and even KVI before it went to the then-innovative "Oldies" format. FM, though, was already dominating music. I remember KUBE before it played rap when it was competing with the limited-playlist "K-PLUS" (KPLZ), which morphed into "Z 101.5" in a clever re-branding using the same call letters.

A station I didn't listen much to was "Magic 108," call letters KMGI, at 107.7 on the FM dial. Apparently going on the air in 1985 (I was oblivious), it played what programmers called "Gold" music--the top singles of the past decade. Not just easy listening (that was the realm of KSEA 100.7 in that era), but any "adult contemporary" music. I barely knew the station even existed; I wasn't interested.

Then, in 1990, a suddenly re-branded "i107.7" sponsored an unlimited hydroplane as part of a massive advertising blitz. When I first saw the advertisements, I was unimpressed, as choosing the last letter of one's call letters as a new image seemed old hat after the K-PLUS/Z 101.5 transition. But, as a loyal hydroplane fan, I decided I had to at least try out the station.

For the first time, I was introduced to a true "Hot Adult Contemporary" format. Not just pop hits of whatever genre, i107.7 had a "sound" that was reasonably consistent. However, it didn't put me to sleep like KSEA or even "K-LITE" (KLTX) 95.7, a "soft rock" or "Soft Adult Contemporary" station. It had real rock music, but no rap like KUBE or Z 101.5. In the summer of 1990, I very rapidly adopted it as my favorite radio station.

For the next year, I would listen to hosts Ron Harris (the regular DJ from 6 pm to 8 pm) and Angie Good (8 pm to midnight) on many evenings. It was not uncommon for me to just put the radio on i107.7 and let the music play for hours on end as I worked on homework, especially if I was on the computer. I grew to live by its hourly "clock," knowing there would be just a short commercial break around twenty minutes after the hour, another about thirty-five minutes after the hour, and the longest one around fifty minutes after the hour. This allowed for "ten in a row" by skipping the first commercial break on certain hours in the daytime and the weekend. My musical tastes for the era were largely defined by what i107.7 played, which included Madonna, Phil Collins, Roxette, Gloria Estefan, Richard Marx, Amy Grant, Extreme, and even artists I didn't favor much like Michael Bolton and Mariah Carey.

I rarely listened to the "iGuys" who did the morning show (if station management had exceptional foresight, they would have trademarked i-Everything and pre-empted Apple's later product naming), but pretty much any other time of day that I wanted music, I would put the dial on 107.7. I remember riding to a state math competition and the driver punching up i107.7 and the Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy" soon started playing, and that became an iconic moment in my high school experience.

Then, I remember getting out my radio after bicycling down to the Wilburton Trestle to wait for the daily local freight train to go by one day in the summer of 1991 and realizing something had changed. The bumper music was the same, the hosts were the same, but suddenly the station was "Magic 107.7" not "i107.7" and the music had returned to the "adult contemporary" format of the old Magic 108. I couldn't stand it, and drifted off mostly to "Mix 100.7" (the former KSEA) which had gone adult contemporary and would soon become true hot adult contemporary.

On 23 August 1991, it was all over. After several days of stunting, KMGI was officially no more, and "The End" (KNDD) took over 107.7, starting by playing REM's "The End of the World As We Know It." "The End" would prove to be the premier alternative music station in the premier grunge city in the world, Seattle, and exists in an iteration of that format to this day. My favorite Ron Harris stayed with the station for some time (he would later move to eastern Washington state), but I wasn't listening. I would mostly turn to "Mix 100.7" for music until it became KIRO-FM in 1992, and then mostly turned to KLSY 92.5, which by then was an interesting hybrid of "Adult Album Alternative" and "Adult Contemporary" formats until I went away to college.

Yet, to this day, "my" music station is still i107.7. If I could tune in and hear Angie Good (who has since moved to California) introducing Firehouse again, I would. i107.7 may have only existed for a short time, but it had a big impact on my life.