Please Join Me and Mayor Miller on Saturday May 3, 2008, 12:30 pm as we participant with the Kingston Galloway Community in Jane's Walk.

Gathering at 12:30pm at the East Scarborough Storefront 4040 Lawrence Avenue East. (flyer attached)

Route:

1 . The East Scarborough Storefront 4040 Lawrence Avenue East: The Storefront was the dream of a group of residents and community workers who recognized the need to assist people living in southeast Scarborough. People in the area were feeling isolated: many were living in poverty and struggling to find resources and supports; many newcomers arriving in Canada also settled in this neighbourhood and had difficulty connecting with the services that they needed. The idea of a one-stop community resource centre resulted in the creation of The East Scarborough Storefront. The Storefront opened its doors at Morningside Mall in 2001 and became a vibrant hub of community resources, with more that 50,000 visitors per year. When the Mall was slated for redevelopment, a group of residents, city staff and politicians worked very hard to obtain this new location of 4040 Lawrence Avenue. This building was originally the 43 Division police station and also served as a community food bank for a couple of years

2. St. Margaret's in the Pines Anglican Church 4130 Lawrence Avenue East: St. Margaret's in the Pines Church is the oldest church in the area. The first Church was built in 1833 on land donated by Simon Washburn whose dream was to build an Anglican Church. The first St. Margaret's church was a simple wooden frame structure. A newer more modern structure was built in 1856 and served residents of east Scarborough for the next 50 years. In 1905, the church was destroyed by fire and a new brick church building was built. On May 7, 2006 the church celebrated 100 years of community service. It is currently known as the Chapel and still stands on the grounds of St. Margaret's in the Pines Church, beside the burial ground which was the final resting place of many of Scarborough's early families. 

3. Sunrise Restaurant 4351 Kingston Road: Caribbean fare; North America's first drive-through Caribbean eatery opened in 1996. A real success story for 4 childhood friends who committed to offer Caribbean food in a fast food setting, staples at the restaurant include jerk chicken, oxtail stew and kingfish.

4. Ghesig House 56 Galloway Road: Historically, the house at 156 Galloway Road was known as the Richard Eade House. The Eade family came to Scarborough from England and settled in the area in 1877, building this two-story house in the Gothic architectural style. In November 2005, the house was taken over by Native Child and Family Services of Toronto and is currently known as the House of Ghesig. Ghesig is an Ojibway word for sunshine so the House of Ghesig is the House of Sunshine. The House of Ghesig is used to offer programs and services to First nation community in the area, especially programs and services for families. Services are delivered in a holistic way using the teachings of the Medicine Wheel. Services provided include cultural activities and ceremonies, recreation, arts and drama, large community events, parenting programs, GED, Case Management, training and employment and treatment and healing. 

5. Boys and Girls Club of East Scarborough 201 Galloway Rd: is a safe, accessible, well known place where East Scarborough children and youth, from birth to 19, and their caregivers, from all cultural and economic backgrounds, can come to participate in well funded and powerfully staffed social, recreational and educational programs that are intentionally designed to enhance their growth, personal development and potential as contributing members of society.

6. The Guild Property 201 Guildwood Pkwy: The original building was erected in 1914 as a white stucco, Arts and Crafts style mansion, surrounded by 88 acres of gardens and woodlands. The residence was built for Col. Harold Bickford, a retired American soldier. In 1932, Rosa and Spencer Clark purchased the property with a dream to make it a welcoming place for artists to live and work. The main building was renovated to become a public hotel and the surrounding buildings grew to be The Guild of All Arts, a Depression-era arts and crafts colony. During the Second World War, the Canadian Government took over the property and turned it into a training base for the Women's Royal Naval Service. The hotel also served as a military hospital for victims of war, with the craft facilities providing therapeutic rehabilitation for the service personnel undergoing treatment there. The beautiful gardens include architectural fragments from demolished buildings in Toronto that were rescued and re-erected to create a sculpture garden. In 1978 the grounds became a public park and a unique attraction at this lovely setting atop the Scarborough Bluffs where community events, musical concerts and plays are held in the outdoor Greek Theatre. The buildings remain closed as re-development is being explored

Southeast Scarborough is a vital and diverse community. Today, as in the past, people are striving to build a better future that is more just, accessible, and inclusive. Many groups are working toward better transit, more spaces for youth, locally grown food, better recreation facilities, more public space, and better jobs. People are challenging racism and discrimination of all kinds, while celebrating the important work of those who came before them. We can learn much from South-East Scarborough's First Nations peoples who continue to build community and fight the historical injustice of colonialism. The hunting grounds and homes of the first peoples of Scarborough were sold off in a piece-meal way or just taken over by settlers. Some lands were never legally ceded to European settlers. The ongoing effort to right historical wrongs while building a vibrant community is an example of the powerful role of the past in shaping the future. European settlement began largely in the late 1700s. Large tracks of forest
were cleared and transformed into farms and homesteads. Scarborough was given its current name in 1793 by Lieutenant Governor Simcoe, who thought the bluffs looked like the coast of Yorkshire, United Kingdom. In the decades that followed migrants came from Scotland and the United States. This included freed and escaped slaves, some of whom came to Canada from the U.S. along the Underground Railroad. Gradually migration from a larger number of places such as Ireland, France and Germany, took place. Post offices, religious institutions, and shops were opened, roads were built, and a stagecoach service began to run from Scarborough to Toronto along Kingston Road. Scarborough became less rural and more suburban around World War II. In less than twenty years, the community grew from just 25,000 people to almost
250,000!! At this time, the population became much more multicultural with immigrants from South and East Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Caribbean. Southeast Scarborough continues to grow and change, and there is much work to be done to make southeast Scarborough as great a place as we all know it can be. "The Amazing Place" is the result of the efforts of the East Scarborough Storefront, Kingston-Galloway/Orton Park Neighbourhood Action Partnership,
Planning Action, and Residents Rising. These groups began meeting in the fall of 2006 with the goal of connecting the present day community with local history.

Water Tower Update:

Media Advisory.

Morningside Mall Update:

Page 1

Page 2

PDF files. To view you need Acrobat Reader, please get it here.