Designs By Gen is a small upholstery shop in New Toronto that has switched over to making masks during these challenging times.

Enterprising Owner and Master Seamstress Geneveene Louwe says she’s busy these days selling her masks to residents, non-profit agencies and taking part in some giveaways.

Louwe prior to COVID-19 used to work with costumes and as a result uses ’fun fabrics,’ which are a ‘little edgy.’

“I like to be honest when I promote sewing masks,” she says. “I am doing this to help people and save the business.”

Her masks are well-designed, colourful and are popular.  She has quite an assortment of masks available.

Louwe can be reached at 647-765-4828 or you can order from www.bespokeoriginal.com or

www.facebook.com/bespokeoriginaldesign

 

This is a story of ‘The Lone Wolf.’

Local firefighters and residents are proud of the distinguished history of Station 435 at 130 Eighth Street which was built in 1929 and turns 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.”

Our community’s proud ties to aviation dates back more than 100-years when the first airport and flying school in Canada was built in Long Branch.

In May 1915 Curtiss Aeroplanes and Motors Company of Toronto chose Long Branch to open Canada’s first airfield and flying school to train airmen for service in World War I.

Famed aviator John A.D. McCurdy was in charge of the Long Branch Aerodrome, which was a muddy field with a small metal hangar to park three planes and a barn house. There was a grass and dirt strip for landing.

McCurdy had gained fame in 1909 for being the first person in the British Empire to fly his plane the “Silver Dart” from Baddeck, Nova Scotia.

It wasn’t long before aircraft such as the Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” became a common sight over Long Branch.

In January 1917, the newly designated Royal Flying Corps Canada, opened a Cadet Ground Training School at the airport, which also provided instruction on flying boats at nearby Hanlan’s Point on Toronto Islands, the first seaplane base in Canada.

Both the school and the aerodrome closed in 1919 following WW1.

The aerodrome in WW11 served initially as Non-Permanent Active Militia‘s No 21 Training Centre and then as an army small arms training centre. After the war, the Lakeview Armoury was established on the site, but was demolished in the 1950s.

The Small Arms Limited, a large munitions factory, was constructed on the property in the 1940s to support WW11. In addition to an 81,000 square foot factory there was a water tower, several administration buildings and outbuildings. The plant was staffed mostly by women during World War II.

A plaque bearing some of the history of the aerodrome is located along the Waterfront Trail pathway.

It wasn’t until May 1914 when the first passenger airplane flight was made out of Toronto. It took about 31-minutes and 17-seconds to make the flight to Hamilton, which then was about two hours by steamboat, an hour by motorcycle or 51 minutes by express train.

The Aerodrome was actually located in Mississauga at the site of the now-gone Ontario Power Generation’s Lakeview Generating Station. It was one of several in the Toronto area, including three near Downsview.