Beach Metro News July 20, 2021

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Local restaurants excited to welcome back indoor diners By Alan Shackleton

Volume 50 No. 10

BEACHMETRO.COM

July 20, 2021

LOCAL RESTAURANTS were thrilled to welcome back customers to indoor dining on Friday, July 14. The move to the Province of Ontario’s Stage 3 in its COVID-19 pandemic reopening plan earlier that day was welcome news at restaurants along

Queen Street East in the Beach. Nicole Boudreau and Tim Faber, the owners of Gabby’s just west of Wineva Avenue, said they had only been open for a couple of hours when Beach Metro News dropped by on Friday afternoon to see how things were going, but they were very “excited” to be welcoming customers back into the pub and

restaurant once again. “It’s time,” said Tim. They also wanted to thank the Beach community for being so supportive during the rollercoaster ride that has been COVID-19 for the past year and a half. “The community has been so supportive to us,” said Nicole. Continued on Page 5

Afrofest Showcase at Beaches International Jazz Festival

PHOTO: ALAN SHACKLETON

Imah performs Saturday night at the Afrofest Showcase concert as part of this month’s Beaches International Jazz Festival. The drive-in concert took place at the Guildwood GO Station as part of the two-day Afrofest Showcase. The 33rd annual Beaches International Jazz Festival wraps up this weekend with the drive-in concerts Groovin’ In The Parking Lot on July 23, and Legends of Motown at the Guildwood GO Station. For more on this year’s festival, go to www.beachesjazz.com.

After more than 115 years, Cox family says goodbye to house on Osborne Avenue By Alexandros Varoutas

AFTER NEARLY 120 years, Ken Cox will be the last of his family to reside at 74 Osborne Ave. After much deliberation, he and his wife, Glenda, decided it was time to move on and head east to Halifax to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. Cox’s great grandfather, William Hinds, came to Canada in the 1870s and bought the house in 1905. At the time, the house was part of “the Village of Ben Lamond” and many of the streets in the area had different names. After the Toronto amalgama-

tion Lakeview Avenue would be renamed Gerrard Street, and Edward Street would be renamed Osborne Avenue after St. Saviour’s Church’s first pastor. Hinds raised seven children in the home and worked as an engineer for the Grand Trunk Railroad, along with many other members of his family. Cox himself grew up playing with friends from the neighbourhood at the field behind Ted Reeve Community Arena. His parents, however, called it the Grand Trunk playing field. He and his friends knew it as “The Granny.” Cox, his father and his grandfa-

ther all attended Kimberley Public School and Malvern Collegiate. Ken described visiting the centenary celebration at Kimberley Public School where one of the original register books was open for display. Sure enough, when he looked through the list, he found the names of all his past family members that attended the school. Looking back, he reminisced about a neighbourhood that looked very different from the one he sees today. Back then, there was still a police station at Swanwick Avenue and Main Street (now home to Continued on Page 2

Cannabis store at Queen and Woodbine draws resident’s ire By Alexandros Varoutas

RYAN SHANAHAN has lived in the Beach for almost 25 years and is concerned about the increasing number of cannabis shops opening up around him. Specifically, he’s concerned about the proposed shop opening up at 1881 Queen St. E., where the former Pizza Pizza was at the southeast corner of Woodbine Avenue and Queen Street East. “I’m not a cannabis user and I’m not anti-cannabis use, but I am ‘Pro

Drug Free Kids’,” he told Beach Metro News in an email. “A large, in your face advertisement for cannabis use at the gateway to the Beaches community is not a daily image I want implanted into my young children’s minds.” Shanahan was prompted to send the email after passing by the new store’s mural with his children, his 10-year-old son mistaking it for a pet store due to the giant, inviting swan in the artwork. “That’s not a pet store, that’s a Continued on Page 5


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