Doly Begum MPP for Scarborough Southwest
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3110 Kingston Rd, Unit #5 416-261-9525 • dolybegum.ca DBegum-CO@ndp.on.ca
Volume 50 No. 5
BEACHMETRO.COM
416-690-1032 • beyrima.ca RBerns-McGown-CO@ndp.on.ca
May 4, 2021
Pharmacist helping those in need get their vaccinations PHARMACIST KYRO Maseh and the staff at the Lawlor Pharmasave on Kingston Road have gone above and beyond to make sure as many people as possible can receive the COVID-19 vaccine. That has been especially true of his efforts to help get essential workers vaccinated. “All pharmacists are trying to make the process as easy as possible,” said Maseh in an interview with Beach Metro News recently. “We prioritized people who we felt should be prioritized. We prioritized teachers and frontline and essential workers.” He said that in early April when the government allowed teachers and essential workers to be vaccinated, he saw a surge of demand among some very frightened people. “What I saw with the frontline workers and teachers was a tremendous amount of fear then gratefulness. They did not feel safe going to work. They were grateful and now they feel protected,” said
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Maseh. “People want to live and they want to stay out of hospital.” Maseh said he has vaccinated 1,100 people at the independently owned pharmacy since first receiving doses of AstraZeneca in mid March. “It’s been a crazy month,” he said. Earlier in April the pharmacy celebrated giving out its 1,000th dose of vaccine. “Things took off when we celebrated the 1,000th dose. That went viral. It was a nice way to celebrate and raise spirits of the staff and the people getting vaccinated,” said Maseh. However, the pace of vaccinations has slowed as supply continues to be an issue, and Maseh said on April 29 he had not delivered a single dose for a week since he had no more vaccine available. “I have no idea when the next shipment will come in. We have to go with the flow. We know the supply exists, but not when it’s coming in,” he said. Continued on Page 4
Running for mom
PHOTO: ALAN SHACKLETON
Jaxon McGarva, 13, of the Balmy Beach Rugby Club prepares to set out on a 42-kilometre run last Saturday morning to help raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research. The run is inspired by his mother Naomi who is dealing with breast cancer.
Bernie Fletcher’s Reel Beach column tells ‘wonderful’ stories of people, films By Alan Shackleton
PHOTO: ALAN SHACKLETON
Pharmacist Kyro Maseh at the Lawlor Pharmasave on Kingston Road.
FOR ALMOST 20 years, Bernie Fletcher has been writing with insight and humour about the movies, the people in them, the people who make them and the places in and around East Toronto where they are filmed. He does that in his Reel Beach column for Beach Metro News. As the paper celebrates its 50th year serving the community, Fletcher shared how he started writing the column and why he loves doing so. A Beacher to the core, Fletcher grew up in the Glen Manor area
and attended high school at Malvern C.I. after which he studied history at the University of Toronto. “My family moved to the Beach in 1952. Am I a ‘newcomer’? I’ve lived near Malvern C.I. since 1978,” he said. “I was walking by and saw that a kid had scribbled ‘Bernie P’ in the fresh cement in front of my house so I bought it (the home, not the sidewalk). Fletcher was a teacher with the Toronto District School Board before he retired in 2004. Schools he taught at included Balmy Beach, Leslieville and Regent Park. It was shortly after he retired that he got in touch with then
Beach Metro News editor Carole Stimmell about writing a column about films and film production in the area. “Movie production was growing in Toronto so I thought I could take photos and write about Beach locations,” said Fletcher. “Everybody needs a hobby and I was terrible at golf.” He said the East Toronto area is a go-to spot for movies and television productions to shoot for a number of reasons including the proximity to major studios. “East Toronto is popular with production companies largely due Continued on Page 4