COMMUNITY EVENTS FOR FEBRUARY 2020

ADULT DAY PROGRAM at Storefront Humber, 2445 Lake Shore Blvd. W.,Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. is a supervised program for those who are frail, cognitively impaired or physically disable. Call 416-259-4207. There is also a hot lunch program from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
EVERY FRIDAY MORNING the Long Branch Baptist Church, at 3381 Lake Shore Blvd. W., offers a free clothing outlet from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. for those in need of clothing for themselves or their families. You can also donate gently used clothes that others can use. Contact 416-251-1525.
FEBRUARY 2 BLACK HISTORY MONTH ROLL CALL marking the history and contribution of African Canadians, with The Toronto Children’s Concert Choir and Performing Arts Company, at St. Margaret’s Church, 156 Sixth Street, at 3:30 p.m. Tickets required. For more info call 416-259-2659 or 416-939-1702.
FEBRUARY 5, 12, 19 & 26 FOOD WITH FRIENDS a new social program that takes place every Wednesday at noon. There are board games, bingo, Pictionary and family feud. All at the Franklin Horner Community Centre, 432 Horner Ave. Call 416-252-6822.
FEBRUARY 7 ZUMBA TIME GET READY to groove at your own pace at the Franklin Horner Community Centre, 432 Horner Ave. Classes cost $50 for 10 sessions that take place Fridays from 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Call to register at 416-252-6822 or visit www.franklinhorner.org
FEBRUARY 8 HISTORIC TAVERN MEAL from the 1840s featuring peppermint shrub cocktail, artisan cheese, freshly baked bread, hardy meat and potatoes prepared from early Victorian recipes at Montgomery’s Inn Museum, 4709 Dundas St. W., from 6:30 p.m.- 9:30 p.m. Tickets $35. Call 416-394-8113.
FEBRUARY 9 BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION at St. Margaret’s Church, 156 Sixth Street, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m, from Harriet Tubman to the Black Panthers, Afrofuturism and Prophetic imagination. Speakers include Carol B. Duncan and Gideon Strauss. For more info call 416-259-2659.
FEBRUARY 10 ETOBICOKE CAMERA CLUB presents a mini-educational evening that is useful for all photographers. Themed competition. Free event which takes place at Humber Valley United Church, 76 Anglesey Blvd., from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Contact www.etobicokecameraclub.org
FEBRUARY 13 COMMUNITY KITCHEN join LAMP dietician and students from Humber College Food and Nutrition program to make easy and affordable recipes at Daily Bread, 191 New Toronto St., from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. on Thursdays to April 2. Call 416-252-9701 ext. 239 or email sandrav@lampchc.org
FEBRUARY 14 VALENTINES’ FUNDRAISER with Toronto All Star Big Band and Famous People Players with a sumptuous gala dinner and performance. Funds to help Famous People Players. Come for a ‘Rockin’ Good Time.’ Doors open at 6 p.m. For more info call 416-532-1137.
MONDAY NIGHTS LAKESHORE OUT OF THE COLD ministry that provides a hot meal and emergency overnight shelter to people who are homeless or hungry. Takes place every Monday at 6 p.m. until April. Volunteers prepare dinner plus bag lunch. To volunteer contact Cara at 416-255-5224.
FEBRUARY 15 WOMEN’S SPA DAY ‘Goddess for a Day’- Let us pamper you for an afternoon of wine and canape’s, nails, hair, facials, massage, reflexology or reiki, at the Franklin Horner Community Centre, 432 Horner Ave. Registration required. Call 416-252-6822 or email franklinhorner.rosa@gmail.com
UNTIL FEBRUARY 18 CHAIR YOGA for those living with chronic pain or high stress. Improve your flexibility, strength and balance every Monday from 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m., at Barsa Kelly Cari Can Housing Cooperative, Common Room, Floor R, 1 Coin St. To register call 416-252-9701 ext. 239.
FEBRUARY 21 FREE COMMUNITY MONTHLY HOT DINNER for pay what-you-can home-cooked meal, with live music and fellowship at St. Margaret’s Church, New Toronto,156 Sixth St., from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Volunteers and sponsors needed. For more information call 416-259-2659.
FEBRUARY 22 BLACK HISTORY MONTH forum and fundraiser by the Jean Augustine Centre for Young Women’s Empowerment taking place at the Assembly Hall, 1 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Dr. Always an informative event. For more information call 416-253-9797 or e-mail info@jeanaugustinecentre.ca.
FEBRUARY 22 COLDEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR fundraiser and 2, 5 or 10-km winter walk-a-thon held by Haven on the Queensway, 1533 The Queensway, and people in 136 cities across Canada in support of the hungry, homeless and hurting. To get involved call 416-640-2005 or email info@havenontheq.com
FEBRUARY 28 OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE HAND a free workshop for those who suffer from osteoarthritis in which everyday actions can be a chore. Led by an Arthritis Society Occupational therapist you will learn strategies to reduce symptoms and protect joints and simple exercises to manage pain, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., at LAMP, 185 Fifth Street. Contact 416-979-7228 ext. 3381.
FEBRUARY 28 FREE MEMORY SCREENING by the Toronto Memory Program for those who have noticed changes in their memory and have problems remembering words, names or appointments. Private 20-minute time slots from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., at LAMP Community Health Centre, 185 Fifth St.. Call 416-386-9761 ext. 347.
FEBRUARY 29 BLACK HISTORY MONTH cultural celebration with speaker Deputy Mayor Stephen Holyday at the Etobicoke Civic Centre, 399 The West Mall, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be special performances, entertainment and light refreshments. Call 647-328-7669.
CHILDREN’s BOOK CENTRE FOR FREE new and slightly used kids books available to parents, guardians and children to develop and encourage your child’s learning and reading abilities. Books, food bank and other services available at Haven on the Queensway, 1533 The Queensway. Contact 416-640-2005.

By WAYNE GIBSON

A drive along Lakeshore Blvd. W., from Parklawn Rd. to the Humber River is famous for the many high-rise glass condos that mark the route.
But 60-years-ago a ‘shorter-term’ style of accommodation occupied this small lakefront strip; the classic drive-in motels of the 1950s and ‘60s. Many had water-related names like The Cruise, The Beach and The Seahorse given that they were located on Lake Ontario.
For the most part they appealed to tourists, with a big draw being the CNE. As with motels everywhere, rooms were also sometimes rented hourly to couples interested in secret rendezvous.
For Alex and Annie Pelech, a couple who fled war-ravaged Eastern Europe for Toronto, a vacant lot beside an old house represented an ideal location for them to build a business and raise their sons, Walter and Joe.
Walter Pelech, now a retired dentist, who lives at Harbourfront, recalls the determination of his hard-working parents to construct two motels and run them as businesses.
His dad named them the Toronto Motel, and the Transcanada Motel: according to Walter,
his father wanted to use “recognizable Canadian names” as a tribute to the city and country that took the family in, and which gave him the opportunity to start a business.
The Toronto Motel was first, completed in the early-50’s: it was up and running as the
Transcanada was still being built. Tragically just as the Transcanada was completed in
1955, Alex passed away after suffering a heart attack.
Annie was now left alone to raise her two young sons and run two motels: realizing this
impossible load, she sold the Trans Canada to the Seahorse next door.
Hard-work and long hours were now the order of the day as Annie and her sons ran the Toronto Motel while living in a house on the property.
Walter recalls his mother’s dedication to keeping the business afloat: unable to contract-out any of the cleaning or laundry. Annie did most of the work herself.
Walter and Joe would shovel snow from the large lot and paint both inside and exterior of the motel on a regular basis. The Toronto Motel was sold in 1972 as Annie could not afford a new roof.
As you pass by those gleaming new condos, give a thought to this once vibrant, colourful motel strip and the many entrepreneurs who built it.

Toronto Police are warning seniors and other community residents to be wary of fraudsters who try to scam them out of their money through fake calls on the phone, through email or suspicious websites.
Members of a Cyber Crime Unit gave some useful tips to prevent fraud to more than 200 residents on January 23 at Our Lady Sorrows Catholic School, on Montgomery Rd.
Seniors and the elderly, are often preyed upon by hustlers and the meeting was organized by the 22 Division Community Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), volunteers who work with officers on local policing issues.
“If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” warns Det. Alpha Chan. “People should know that the Canadian Border Services, Revenue Canada or the RCMP will never contact you by telephone.”
He says telephone conmen try to express urgency in their calls and often demand money or private information up front.
“These people use high-pressure tactics when they call and people should hang up the phone if in doubt,” Chan says. “Never give out your card, PIN numbers or personal information on the phone.”
He says many residents do not report the scams or money defrauded to police because ‘it is embarrassing for them.’
Chan is warning seniors or women to turn off their phone location devices when not in use and be wary of opening emails or websites which appear suspicious.
“People should always use a well-known respected company to make online purchases,” he says. “Some unknown websites or emails can contain viruses that will affect your computer when opened.”
Area councillor Stephen Holyday say many residents now have cameras and home security devices that are controlled online and should make sure they have proper Internet connections with ‘strong’ passwords to prevent thieves from gaining control of their homes.
Residents were told not to use their real names as part of their email address and never give out much of their personal information.
They must also regularly clear their web history, search engine history, cache and other systems to avoid data being stolen.
Seniors should be wary of a host of telephone telemarketing schemes and when in doubt hang up.
If you have require the help of police or to report incidents call 416-808-2200.

Local firefighters and residents are proud of the distinguished history of Station 435 at 130 Eighth Street which was built in 1929 and will be turning 91-years-old this year.
Dubbed ‘R435: The Lone Wolf,’ the station was part of the New Toronto Fire Dept., (NTFD) which served Mimico and Long Branch, before it was absorbed by the Etobicoke Fire Dept. (EFD) in 1967 and later Toronto Fire Services under amalgamation in 1998.
The first volunteer fire brigade was organized in the area around 1914, according to records, which described the equipment as “rudimentary’ and consisted of two lengthy pieces of hose, a wheelbarrow and axes placed at Fourth and Twenty Second Streets.
A hand-drawn hose cart was later obtained to make life a little easier for the volunteer firemen.
It wasn’t until 1918 that The Lone Wolf obtained its first motorized apparatus; a pumper built on a McLaughlin-Buick chassis.
Built in 1929, the two-bay fire hall and living quarters is pretty much the same today. The facility was manned by two paid fire fighters of a then 24-man strong EFD. It originally housed both the New Toronto municipal offices and volunteer fire department.

With the area undergoing rapid industrial growth during WW11, the NTFD became the first in Etobicoke to purchase an aerial truck, an American LaFrance 85′ mid-mount with a steel ladder that was delivered in 1954.
Proud fire fighters bragged about their state-of-the-art truck that could pump 850 gallons per minute at a raging blaze. The station would handle about 200 calls yearly.
By the 1950s the department had expanded to 26 paid men and by 1965 the use of volunteers was discontinued.
New Toronto amalgamated with neighbouring municipalities in 1967 to form the Borough of Etobicoke. The NTFD was no more and re-designated Etobicoke Fire Department Station 9.
Perhaps their busiest night on record was in 1954 when Hurricane Hazel struck killing dozens of people, including five volunteer fire fighters from the Kingsway-Lambton station. Dozens of residents were rescued along the Lakeshore that night, including several that had been swept into the Etobicoke Creek.
The station was re-numbered Station 435 in 1998 with amalgamation. Fire fighter Jon Lasiuk recalled their new patch says, the “Lone Wolf” remains “On Shore Patrol, protecting the south-west corner of Toronto.”

Beloved Congolese gynaecologist and most recent Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Denis Mukwege seldom ventures out by himself these days and requires 24-hour bodyguard protection to stay alive.

Mukwege, 63, is known as “Doctor Miracle,” for his ability to repair through reconstructive surgery the horrific damage inflicted on women who have been raped.
He, along with Nadia Murad, an Iraqi human rights activist, were last week awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018 for “efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.”
Mukwege has been “the foremost, most unifying symbol both nationally and internationally of the struggle to end sexual violence in war and armed conflict,” the Nobel Committee said.
The world-renowned surgeon told the Committee that he was in the operating theatre of the Panzi Hospital, which he founded in 1999, when he heard the news of his win.

“It was when I was operating and I heard people start to cry and it was so, so surprising,” he recalled. “I can see in the face of many women how they are happy to be recognised and this is really so touching.”
Born in 1955 in Bukavu, he went to medical school in Burundi and later studied gynaecology and obstetrics at the University of Angers in France.
He was inspired to become a doctor after numerous visits to see the sick with his preacher father.
Mukwege’s life has changed dramatically since he now lives under the permanent protection of UN peacekeepers at his hospital.
He was forced to flee his homeland after giving a September 2012 speech at the UN, in which he criticized President Joseph Kabila’s government and other countries for not doing enough to stop what he called “an unjust war that has used violence against women and rape as a strategy of war”.
The following month he was targeted by gunmen who broke into his home and briefly held his daughters hostage, according to news reports. In one incident, his trusted friend and security guard was killed in an attack.
The talented surgeon fled with his family to Sweden, then to Belgium.
He returned home in 2013 following a campaign by local women who raised funds to pay for his return ticket.
“After that gesture, I couldn’t really say no,” Mukwege recalled. “I am myself determined to help fight these atrocities, this violence.”

He placed his family and medical opportunities on hold to return to help his beloved people.
“My life has had to change, since returning,” he told the BBC’s Outlook in 2013. “I now live at the hospital and I take a number of security precautions, so I have lost some of my freedom.”
He set up the Panzi hospital in Bukavu almost 20 years ago, shortly after he had his first experience of treating a woman who had been raped and mutilated by armed men.
Mukwege will never forget the horrific injury the patient had suffered, telling the BBC the woman had not only been raped but bullets had been fired into her genitals and thighs.
In addition to the Nobel, Mukwege has also received the Seoul Peace Prize, a 2008 UN Human Rights Prize and was named African of the Year in 2009. He was also named by Time magazine as one of the world’s top 100 influential people.
He is on a growing list of Africans to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Others include Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu and Kofi Annan.
Panzi hospital, with a staff of 370, now cares for more than 3,500 women a year. Sometimes the beloved “Doctor Miracle” performs as many as 10 operations a day.
The country has been wracked by more than two decades of conflict, with numerous armed groups battling for control of the region’s rich deposits of gold and other precious minerals.
Many different militias have been accused of carrying out the indiscriminate rape of the region’s women. A top UN official in 2010 labelled the country “the rape capital of the world.”

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Passengers boarding aircraft today are mostly greeted by smiling cabin crew made up of all races, nationalities, genders and backgrounds. But it was not always such a rosy scene.

Up until the 1950s and ‘60s, the flying world was very homophobic, with Blacks and other visible minorities not being hired in any large numbers for the globe-trotting, good-paying airline jobs held by whites.
All that changed in 1958 when a feisty Ruth Carol Taylor broke the colour barrier to become the first Black woman to work as a flight attendant for a major U.S. air carrier. And that was big news in a time of famed CBS newsman, Walter Cronkite.
Taylor, who is still alive, was born in 1931 in Boston. She was studying to become a nurse like her mom, when she decided to switch to become a flight attendant, a field she felt was dominated by whites.

She was rejected for a position with Trans World Airlines (TWA) because of the colour of her skin. This angered Taylor and she was determined to fight back. She filed a complaint against TWA with the New York State Commission of Discrimination. No action was brought against the airline, but other companies began to re-think their policies on hiring ‘minority’ crew members.
Through luck and hard work she managed to land a job with Mohawk Airlines after being selected from 800 Black applicants.
Taylor made history in February 1958 when she became the first African American flight attendant on a flight from Ithaca to New York City.
“It irked me that people were not allowing people of colour to apply,” Taylor recalled to JET Magazine in a 1995 interview. “Anything like that sets my teeth to grinding.”
She admitted that she had never actually wanted to become a stewardess, but did it to break the racial barriers that existed in the industry.

It was a ground-breaking moment in both American and civil aviation history, as three months later, Margaret Grant was hired by TWA as their first African American flight attendant. She was let go after disclosing she suffered from sickle cell anemia, which the airline falsely concluded can cause “Negroes to develop damage of the spleen at great altitudes.”
She was forced to resign six months later as she was about to marry another Mohawk employee, which was banned. Being a married woman was forbidden by all carriers in the 50’s and 60’s and Taylor was forced to leave the job she loved.
Her flying career, according to the press, had not only changed the aviation industry forever, it had also been a major coup in the fight for civil rights in America.
Shortly after Taylor and her husband moved to Barbados, where she founded the country’s first professional nursing journal and became active in civil rights.

She returned to the U.S. and in 1963 covered the ‘March On Washington,’ as well as becoming an activist for consumer affairs and women’s rights. In 1977, she co-founded the Institute for Inter Racial Harmony, which developed a test to measure racist attitudes known as the ‘Racism Quotient.’
Still very busy, Taylor In 1985 wrote ‘The Little Black Book: Black Male Survival In America,’ a guide for young Black men living in the U.S.
Taylor’s accomplishment was formally recognized by the New York State Assembly in 2008, some 50-years after her historic flight that broke the color barrier and paved the way for other women of color to join the industry.
The life-long activist lives in New York City where she is still active. It has been a far cry from the days when passengers hailed the ‘coloured’ attendants as “Trolley Dollys” or “Angels of the Sky.”

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He’s enjoyed the victory of an Olympic gold medal and suffered from injury, but Andre De Grasse’s biggest thrill is becoming a dad for the first time.

The 23-year-old Scarborough-born world-class sprinter says becoming a father is a totally new experience which helped him to settle down.
De Grasse’s girlfriend Nia Ali gave birth to a cute little girl last June in Philadelphia. The couple have named the child Yuri.
“Being a father is exciting for me,” De Grasse said proudly. “I’ve learned a lot in these past couple of years.”
Ali, a sprinter with the U.S. track and field team, met De Grasse while they were both attending the University of Southern California. She is also a top athlete and took home a silver medal in the 100-metre hurdles at the 2016 Olympics.
“It’s been a little bit no sleep (with the baby),” De Grasse chuckled. “I get a chance to get away a little bit. I’m in the hotel and get a little sleep.”

The athlete, who was raised in Markham, has track and field in his blood. His mother, Beverley De Grasse, was a high school sprinter in Trinidad and Tobago before she moved to Canada at age 26. His father, Alexander Waithe, moved from Barbados to Canada as a teenager.
De Grasse didn’t start racing seriously until he reached Grade 11. Then he wore basketball shorts and Converse shoes and did not use starting blocks. He managed to secure second position in his first 100 metre race with a time of 10.9 seconds.
Soon after he was spotted by future coach Tony Sharpe who noticed his potential and placed him on a training regimen to make him faster.
Last week several hundred people, along with Mayor Frank Scarpitti, gathered along Enterprise Boulevard in Markham to watch as new street signs were unveiled honouring De Grasse.
The famous athlete said he never imagined in his wildest dreams being honoured with having a street named after him in the place he grew up.
A proud De Grasse, holding Yuri, and his family and friends were at the unveiling ceremony. A park in that city will also be named after him in the near future.
Last June, he and Aaron Brown led Canada’s relay team to an easy win at the Harry Jerome International Track Classic in Burnaby, B.C., which is one of De Grasse’s favourite tourney.
De Grasse also took home two gold medals during the breathtaking Pan Am Games held in Toronto in 2015.

The runner is coming back from a Grade 2 hamstring strain which forced him to miss last year’s world track and field championships. He also sat out this year’s Commonwealth Games. He plans to be back in action for the 2019 world championships in Doha and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
The sprinter often returns to his hometown and was here last summer to launch the Andre De Grasse Family Foundation at York University, with a mandate to help promising young athletes. The runner and Coach Sharpe will be giving athletic clinics during the off-season.
“It’s pretty awesome to be able to do this for the kids,” he told reporters. “Moving forward, that’s going to be my legacy. I want people to remember me for something off the track.”
His success at the Olympics led to his winning the Lionel Conacher Award as the Canadian Press’ Male Athlete of the Year in 2016 and in April 2017 he was a recipient of a Harry Jerome Award, which is named after his hero.
Jerome, who was also one of Canada’s fastest men, who competed for Canada in the 1960, 1964, and 1968 Summer Olympics, winning 100 metre bronze in 1964. He also won the gold in the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and the 1967 Pan American Games.

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