The South Etobicoke News

Serving Humber * Mimico * Lakeshore Village * Long Branch * Alderwood

Long Branch Judge Budzinski retires after years of service

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Long Branch raised Judge Lloyd Budzinski has pounded his courtroom gavel for the last time after almost 30-years of dedicated legal service to this province.

Within days of his retirement, Budzinski was busy with projects around his home that he could not make time for while working.

Budzinski, a judge of the Ontario Court of Justice, was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice in 1992. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1971 and appointed Q.C. in 1982.

“I grew up right here in Long Branch,” he says proudly. “My parents ran the popular Boulevard Fish and Chips store for many years and I grew up helping them.”

The former waiter, teacher, computer programmer, Crown Attorney and Defence Counsel spends a lot of time giving back to his community by speaking to groups or answering questions on the law.

He has deep roots in the area, loves the people and the community.

“My parents had a business here for many years,” Budzinski says. “I love it here. We are a lovely working middle-class community.”

A hard worker, he rose through the legal system and at one time served as Director of Planning-Policy and Assistant Deputy Minister in the Ontario government.

He oversaw the implementation of Domestic and Elder Abuse protocols, first Diversion Policies in Ontario, the implementation of the Victim Witness Program, new protocols re-Nursing Home Prosecutions and assisted implementing the Zuber Report on Regionalization.

His role as the Acting Assistant Deputy Minister gave him responsibility for developing and administering an $80 million budget for 700 lawyers and support persons.

He also created and delivered educational programs and training videos for lawyers, investigators, teachers, probation officers and students at police colleges, universities and community groups.

The former judge over the years has presided over some exciting high-profile cases including ones involving the late Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and the G20 Summit protestors.

He was also the Chief Prosecutor in the high-profile trial of former RCMP undercover officer Patrick Michael Kelly, who was found guilty of murder for throwing his wife Jeannette, from the 17th-floor balcony of their Palace Pier condo in March 1981.

 

Local author talks about latest Penny Brannigan mystery

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The Mimico home of award-winning novelist Elizabeth J. Duncan backs on to a beautiful view of Lake Ontario and there’s no place that the writer loves more than being here.

“This is a great area to live and walk around,” Duncan says. “My family live here and I have a home here. The people are like family.”

Duncan, who lives near Royal York Rd. and Lake Shore Blvd. W., is the author of 13 mystery novels; which includes 10 brisk-selling Penny Brannigan thrillers and three Shakespeare in the Catskills mysteries.

The so-called “comfy mystery” series follows expat Canadian Penny Brannigan, who lives in North Wales running the village spa by day and solving murders by night.

This month she is releasing in North Wales her tenth Penny Brannigan who-done-it called “Remembering the Dead.”

“I now live in North Wales five months out of the year working on the series,” she admits. “I am always glad when I come back home.”

The former Humber College professor has won a Bloody Words Best Light Mystery Award and was a finalist for the Agatha and Arthur Ellis Awards. She has a U.S. publisher and most of her novels are sold south of the border “where there is quite a Penny Brannigan following.”

“People always tell me that they want to go to North Wales after they read one of my books,” she says. “That is what all writers want to hear.”

The former journalist has worked for the Ottawa Citizen, Hamilton Spectator and the CBC before she began writing books. She lived in London, England, for five years, while covering stories for the CBC.
Duncan also worked in public relations and is a faculty member of the Humber School for Writers.

She is first Canadian writer to win the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition. The Cold Light of Mourning, her first novel, is also the winner of the William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant and was shortlisted for an Agatha and an Arthur Ellis Award.

In her latest, Brannigan attends a dinner party at a posh country house where a historic chair disappears and a waiter is murdered.

The book is “for those who love comfy mysteries,” says Alan Bradley, a New York Times bestselling author of the Flavia de Luce mysteries.

Duncan is available for talks on books and her titles can be obtained at elizabethjduncan.com

 

Public memorial on hold for runaway U.S. slave Glover

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Runaway U.S. slave Joshua Glover may soon have a permanent home in Etobicoke.

A competition for a permanent public art memorial for Glover, a runaway slave who settled in Etobicoke 166-years-ago, has been put on hold due to COVID-19.

The City of Toronto this year approved more than $50,000 for a memorial to be located at a new Joshua Glover Park, at 4208 Dundas St. W., close to where he lived.

Proposals for the memorial are being sought from members of the community to come up with a design, which like Glover, can stand the test of time.

The proposals sought by City’s Arts and Culture Services, working with the Etobicoke Historical Society (EHS), had a deadline of April 30, which has been put on hold due to the pandemic.

Area Councillor Stephen Holyday has visited the site and expects work on the memorial will continue after the City gives a green light.

Glover, who escaped from his owner in St. Louis, Mo., in 1852, arrived in Canada in 1854 via the Underground Railroad after travelling 400-miles by night, dodging slave and bounty hunters.

Before making it across the border, he was released from a jail in Milwaukee by up to 5,000 irate citizens after his owner tracked him down in Racine, Wisconsin, according to reports.

Anti-slavery citizens in both Racine and Milwaukee assembled outside the courthouse and battered down the jail house door and rescued Glover, an event that highlighted the concern of many people about the injustice of slavery at that time.
Glover was guided along the Underground Railroad, a series of safe houses around Wisconsin, until he was able to board a ship to Canada.
He landed in either Owen Sound or Collingwood, and made his way to Etobicoke where he found work with Thomas Montgomery, owner of Montgomery’s Inn. Glover became one of 39 Blacks living in Etobicoke, which at the time had a population of 2,900.

He survived two wives, who were both Irish, and spent his last days at the York County Home for the Aged in Newmarket, where he died in 1888 at the age of 74.

City officials say a successful proposal will be selected by a panel and the artist will work closely with partners to develop the art, confirm siting, and install and complete the project.

For further info contact the Public Art Officer at 416-392-4173 or email publicartcompetitions@toronto.ca.

With files by Joel Winters

A long-ago sign that keep Italian newcomers together

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The mysterious ‘John Caboto Society Hall Erected 1939” is engraved on a plaque on top of a roof facing the corner of Portland  and Milton Sts., just east of Royal York Rd.

Local resident Ian Robertson says there are no other signs on the building about the social hall, and a side door is boarded up and beside a locked door with ‘Shipping Only’ sign.

The fading sign is from a bygone era many than 80-years ago.

It turns out the club, like the Statue of Liberty in the U.S., served as a welcoming and social outlet for Italian newcomers resettling in Canada in the 1920s.

The club was named the Giovanni or John Caboto Club, in honour of the famed Italian sailor and explorer John Cabot. He became, and still is, an important figure to Italian immigrant communities in Canada, although he sailed for the English Crown.

His landing on the coastline of modern-day Newfoundland in 1497 was used to validate and legitimize the Italian immigrant experience in Canada, serving as a source of pride.

The club was founded by Italian immigrants in late 1924, and in the U.S. and Canada became an important part of the local Italian community, providing a place for community gatherings, support for new immigrants and through fundraising activities, support for the larger community.

There are still strong branches of the club in existence in Windsor and parts of the U.S.

 

Glory days of the Long Branch Race Track

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It has been 65-years since the last wager was placed by emotional race fans on thoroughbreds plowing down a back stretch at the long-forgotten Long Branch Race Track.

Called Ontario’s leading horse racing track at the time, the Long Branch track operated for more than three decades from 1924 to 1955 and took up 39.7 hectares of prime land bounded by Evans, Kipling and Horner Aves., and the Canadian Pacific Railway to the west.

The facility, which attracted thousands, was owned by mining magnate Abe Orpen and his family before being sold to Toronto Racing Securities Limited which closed the track with the development of a new Woodbine Race Track, in Rexdale.

The Long Branch track was hugely popular with loyal fans travelling here by train from the U.S. and the southern Ontario area. It was a place where the rich mingled with the working class in hopes of winning big.

Each year thousands of fans would flock to the track for thoroughbred and standardbred races, according to City records.

The Canadian International Championship was first run as the Long Branch Championship Stakes in 1938 and the Cup and Saucer Stakes for Canadian foaled two-year-olds began here. Both of these races are still part of Canada’s racing season.

All that is left of the many years of excitement and wagering is a plaque by the City of Toronto, on the north side of Horner Avenue, just east of the railway tracks.

The brick and stone gatepost directly opposite this plaque was one of two marking the main entrance to the track. A so-called ‘avenue of maple trees, which still survive, highlighted the entrance.

Track owner Orpen designed the Long Branch track to be ‘Ontario’s leading and most-modern race track establishment.’

He had arranged for Canadian and Grand Trunk Railways to be built and service his racetrack with passenger trains full of horse betting patrons coming as far as the U.S. to the racing mecca.

Orpen, or Uncle ‘Abe” as he was called, was also president of the Long Branch Racing Association Ltd. , and an executive with the Ontario Jockey Club. During the thirties he paid for and ran a soup kitchen that would feed 500 men twice weekly until he passed away in 1937.

Ex-Argos Zeke still active with charity work

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Former Toronto Argos tight end and long-time South Etobicoke resident William “Zeke” O’Connor is 94-years-old and is more fit than many people half his age.

Zeke will always be remembered for catching the winning touchdown pass for the underdog Argos in the 1952 Grey Cup, beating the Edmonton Eskimos 21-11 at Varsity Stadium. It would be the last championship the Argos would win until 1983.

“That catch changed my life,” he recalls from the Delmanor Retirement Home.  “It led to many other opportunities for me.”

The son of a New York City cop, Zeke worked at Sears for 31 years after football and was a Grey Cup radio broadcaster, doing colour commentary on the CBC from 1956 to 1981.

While at Sears he met famous explorer Sir Edmund Hillary, who became the first man to summit Mount Everest in 1953. From Hillary he gained a passion for philanthropy, particularly in Nepal.

He formed and ran the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation of Canada more than 30 years to help improve the lives of the Sherpas in the remote high-altitude villages of Mount Everest.

Zeke has since made about 45 trips to Nepal to help the Sherpas and is one of a few people who’ve have had a hospital and healing garden named him by thankful Nepalese.

He has helped to raise more than $5 million to build schools, hospitals, medical clinics, provide medical scholarships, train village health workers, build water pipelines, bridges, and to fund the Kunde Hospital and Sagarmatha National Park reforestation programs.

He was honoured on October 21 by the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame with a dinner gala and presented with a Governor-general ribbon of distinction.

“I have been given many awards and medals over the years,” Zeke says. “This one means a lot to me.”

The foundation is now run by his daughter, Karen, aided by Operations Manager Jeanne Cornacchia.

Zeke published a memoir in 2012 called Journey with the Sherpas: The Story of Zeke O’Connor and the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation.

Before moving to Canada, he played pro football in the U.S. with the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns and New York Yanks before joining the Argonauts, which he says was a jumping-off point for many experiences, including a 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rotary Club of Toronto West.

Visit thesiredmundhillaryfoundation.ca for more info or to donate.

Mimico’s open double deck streetcars once ruled the lines

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Toronto residents travelling to South Etobicoke more than 120-years ago had to bundle up for the trek west on open-air double decker streetcars operated by the Toronto and Mimico Electric Railway and Light Company.

The ‘open truck double deck car’ was introduced in 1891 to ferry holidaying passengers to Humber River. Two single truck open cars were brought into service in 1896 to serve the popular Sunnyside area, according to City of Toronto records.

The cars carried about 96 passengers each and were busy shuttling visitors to holiday resorts at Sunnyside and Humber River. The electrified line operated on a single track with only open cars, two which were double-deck.

This run proved popular with visitors to the beaches along Humber Bay, but with the line not extended to Mimico and New Toronto, revenues dried up in the fall and winter months as passengers did not want to travel in open streetcars without heat.

The service was bailed out by William MacKenzie’s Toronto Railway Company in 1893. He extended service to Mimico Creek in July and then to Kipling Ave. by October. Ridership increased as the line pushed further west into Long Branch, with service to Etobicoke Creek in 1895.

The line, which ran on the north side of Lake Shore Blvd, provided regular summer service to Long Branch Park, which had evolved into a popular amusement park.

The service was soon turning a profit as the villages along the route profited from the increased benefits of development and commerce.

Well-dressed city residents could now board the open cars and for 18-cents enjoy the more than two-hour ride from Yonge St. to Long Branch. Service was later extended to Port Credit and a plan to serve Hamilton failed.

The streetcars became so popular that Sunday service was introduced by 1897 as people travelled here for holiday excursions and day trips. However, a lack of travel during the wintertime killed the business.

In 1904, the railway was acquired by the Toronto and York Radial Railway (T&YRR) and became the T&YRR Mimico Division. In 1922, the City of Toronto acquired the T&YRR and contracted Ontario Hydro to manage the four T&YRR lines including the Mimico line.

In 1927, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) took over the operation of the Mimico line, which was double-tracked from Humber to Long Branch and made up a section of the Lake Shore streetcar line.

 

Businesses pitching in to feed frontline workers

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Long Branch cake guru Monja Chiara was searching for ways to help in these trying times when she came across an initiative called Sustain the Line, which helps feed frontline workers battling COVID-19.

The owner of Cake Star, at 3431 Lake Shore Blvd. W., is one of a number of Etobicoke businesses which have volunteered for the program that fed more than 1,200 meals to hard-working medical and emergency workers in their first two weeks.

“This is a great program,” Chiara says. “We have fed many frontline workers and they truly appreciate the meals.”

A fixture on a number of TV baking shows, she says many restaurants want to help feed healthcare workers, but don’t have the support they need to do so.

The entire purpose, according to their website, is to connect local food businesses able and willing to deliver meals to frontline healthcare workers to supporters willing to fund these meals.

Anyone who wants to donate funds or deliver meals can get in touch using a Sustain the Line website. The donor pays the food provider a lump sum to make the meals, and then the provider gets in touch with local healthcare workers.

The concept started with Toronto’s Mission Watch Company and Old Road BBQ in Nova Scotia committing to feed frontline workers for a month in Nova Scotia. NextLevel (New Jersey), Conduit Law (Toronto) and Aron Brand (Montreal) joined them within days to expand the idea to North America.

The non-profit organization aims to connect more small food businesses to those who want to fund meals for frontline healthcare workers.

To donate or volunteer visit www.sustaintheline.com/

 

Indian community donate meals to police to fight COVID

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Chief Mark Saunders and other police brass receive 950 meals from members of the Canada India Foundation to help the hungry.

The chief says he was pleased to attend the event and receive the meals which will help the less fortunate in the community.

Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones was also present and said “we appreciate the community support.”

The donation also helps to celebrate National Police Week that runs from May 10 -16.

Police say they’ve been coming across more hungry people due to COVID-19, which has led to major job losses and plant closures.

The Canada India Foundation (CIF) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization established to foster bilateral relations between Canada and India, create opportunities for qualified Indo-Canadian and create a better understanding of the new India among Canadians.

The foundation is involved in a number of charitable issues including providing hot meals to support frontline workers during this tough times.

Members of the Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre have also been donating food items to frontline COVID workers.

 

Gilbey’s distilled world-class booze in New Toronto

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Raising a glass for Gilbey’s.

New Toronto was at one time Canada’s top producer of some of the world’s best-selling gins, whiskies and other fine brands of liquor and spirits.

The aroma of fomenting whiskey, exotic rums and liquors filled the air over the area some 86-years ago originating from what was the sprawling plant of W.A. Gilbey (Canada) Ltd., which for almost 50-years stood where the Ford Performance Centre is today.

The three-acre site where the arena stands at Kipling Ave. and New Toronto St., back in 1933 was famous for producing the wildly popular Gilbey’s London Dry Gin and Gilbey’s Spey Royal Scotch.

The alcoholic spirits from the British-based Gilbey’s was first sold in Canada in 1905 and the plant was opened in 1933. At the time it employed about 50 area residents, records show.

Within three years an addition was built to the building to cater to rising booze sales. The plant at the time was very busy with trucks arriving with raw products and then taking the finished spirits to market.

The company would produce and market more than 50 brands for the Canadian market, including best-seller Smirnoff Vodka, which outsold their other products; including Harvey’s fine line of imported Spanish Sherry.

Gilbey’s Black Velvet was the most famous of five Canadian whiskies made at the New Toronto plant. The others produced here included: Very Best, Golden Velvet, Old Gold, Special Old and Governor General Rums.

“Gilbey products vary from Italian Vermouth to excellent French table wines and champagnes.” according to the firm’s promotional materials. “The Gilbey line of domestic liqueur gins are unequalled in sales anywhere.”

The company started in England in 1857 and is still managed by descendants of the original partners.

The initials “W & A” in the Gilbey Company name stand for the brothers Walter and Alfred Gilbey, who upon returning from the Crimean War in 1856, decided to open a retail wine business.

Gilbey’s later became part of International Distillers & Vintners, a beer, wine and spirits distribution company. In 1998 IDV merged with United Distillers to create United Distillers & Vintners, the spirits division of Diageo.

The plant was shut in the early 1980s and sold to the Board of Education and later became the Ford Performance Centre.