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The monthly Cabbagetowner newsletter from the Cabbagetown Residents Association.
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The Cabbagetowner

NOVEMBER 2018

The monthly newsletter for members of the Cabbagetown Residents Association and subscribers to the newsletter. To unsubscribe, please email us at: info@cabbagetowner.com.

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Bonjour mes petits choux!

Is it rain? Is it snow? After a frigid cold snap in November, we're back to the season-sliding mix of fall and winter. It's a good time to cozy up inside, find yourself a hot beverage, and read about the news and activities in our little Cabbagetown corner of Toronto.

This month's topics:

Cabbagetown Holiday Lights


It’s the most wonderful time of the year: time for the fourth annual Cabbagetown Holiday Lights contest!
 
In what has become a popular annual tradition, every December Cabbagetowners get to see our neighbourhood’s houses in all of their illuminated glory. Last year more than 800 people (a new record) voted for their favourite, with Paul and Thea Sywulych’s house on Spruce Street taking the top prize. 

You can enter your own home or nominate one of your neighbours. There are three ways you can enter:
 
– Post a photo to Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #cabbagetownlights;
– Post a photo to our Facebook page timeline with the hashtag #cabbagetownlights;
– or email us your photo at info@cabbagetowner.com 
 
Please include the address of the home in the photo so we can include the street name on the voting website and know how to contact the residents if their house wins.

Check out our gallery of photos of last year’s submissions.
 
Photos can be submitted anytime between Friday, November 30 and Wednesday, December 26. By submitting your photo, you consent to your photo being reproduced on a voting website that will contain all of the submissions. Photos will be identified by the house’s street but no names or other personal identifying details will be published. 
 
The voting website will go live on Friday, December 14 to not give too much of an advantage to those who submit early. However, don’t wait too long to enter! The link to the voting website will be shared on Cabbagetowner.com and social media when it is live, as well as through the holiday edition of the Cabbagetowner newsletter a few days before the close of voting.
 
Whichever three photo submissions have the most votes by the end of the day on December 26 wins a trophy, a one-year membership to the Cabbagetown Residents Association (CRA), and bragging rights! The top three vote-getting houses will get to display a lawn sign marking their achievement. For the purpose of determining resident winners, when the same house is photographed more than once, total votes will be counted. Only one vote will be allowed per IP address; however, you can switch your vote anytime up until the deadline.

New political office contacts

The CRA board of directors has been in touch with our new city councillor for Ward 23, Kristyn Wong-Tam. As before, the board will be briefed regularly on city issues through the councillor's office and be the neighbourhood's point of contact on issues. Wong-Tam's staff person, Edward LaRusic, is responsible for our neighbourhood (along with many others) in the ward. He can be reached at 416 392-7903 and at Edward.LaRusic@toronto.ca.

Our Toronto Centre MPP Suze Morrison, whose riding includes Cabbagetown, has opened a constituency office at 329 Parliament Street. The office can be reached via email at @SMorrison-CO@ndp.on.ca and by phone at 416 972-7683.

They saved the best for last: the Cabbagetown Metropass

The Toronto Transit Commission's Metropass features a different design monthly but the monthly ride-unlimited flat-rate pass available to TTC users will be loaded in 2019 onto Presto cards, which is already in service for other transit payments. The final artwork for December's Metropass features an image of the Cabbagetown mural painted on the wall of the Parliament Street LCBO, designed by artist Michael Cavanagh.

This announcement has inspired our volunteer historian, Eric Morse, to dig deep into the history of transit in Cabbagetown and, as he shared with newsletter editor Kelley Teahen, he "hit the motherlode" in his research. Stay tuned for his Throwback Thursday about the history of transit in Cabbagetown, to be be published on Thursday, Nov. 29 on our website, cabbagetowner.ca, and shared by @cabbagetowner on Facebook and Twitter.

A soggy but spirited pumpkin walk for 2018

Despite the rain and resulting mucky conditions, neighbours brought 157 pumpkins over to Riverdale Park West on Nov. 1 for our 6th annual Cabbagetown Pumpkin Walk. Most didn't stay long but a few kids put Gene Kelly to shame in their playful "Dancin' in the Rain" routines! The pumpkins were gathered up into a city compost bin and donations brought for Dixon Hall were later delivered to the agency to help our neighbours in need.

Special shoutout to lead organizer Carolyn Jarman and her spouse Brad Jarman, who took on the wrap-up / clean-up shift.

Police file open for Your Ward News deliveries

One of our neighbours, Christian Bech, reported that he and several others received the newspaper "Your Ward News" at their Cabbagetown homes this week. According to a recent news story, “Your Ward News publishes once a season and bills itself as the ‘world's largest anti-Marxist publication.’ But it's been widely criticized as a purveyor of hate speech against women, as well as Jews, the LGBT community and other minorities. Its editor and publisher both face charges of wilfully promoting hatred."

Neighbour Lindsay Matheson found a police file for this: If you receive Your Ward News at your door this week and wish to file a complaint, the police have advised the following:
1. Go to http://torontopolice.on.ca
2. Click File a report -> Citizen online report entry (CORE) -> Supplemental Report
3. Check terms and conditions boxes
4. Click start a report and choose supplemental
5. Use original report number 18-66536
6. In the description field include "My address is [insert your home address]"


Safety tips for dark and slippery roads

Ah, December: the longest nights of the year and the onset of icy conditions co-mingled with decomposing, slippery leaves. Our safety and security lead, retired police officer and board director Des Ryan, has some good advice on making that morning dog walk or evening drive home safer for all.

Read Des's tips on keeping safe on our neighbourhood roads.

Cabbagetown in the news

She was eight months behind in her rent. Instead of kicking her out, the landlord issued a challenge (Globe and Mail, Nov. 11)

Best butter chicken in Toronto includes Parliament Street's Butter Chicken Factory (Blog TO, Nov. 10)

Living large in a Cabbagetown cottage (National Post, Nov. 10)

Cabbagetown's annual colour show (Toronto Savvy, Nov. 7, 2018)

NOW Magazine Readers Choice Awards 2018: Cabbagetown winners include

Cabbagetown according to… Arianne Shaffer

Arianne Shaffer is a Cabbagetowner who lives on Sackville Street with her family and is one of more than 100 residents who volunteer for the Forsythia Festival on the first Sunday of May.

Best place for bite to eat: Salt and Tobacco – unusual name for delicious pizza – and our son works there part-time! Too bad they are only open at night… amazing “funghi” and a vegan one, too!

Cabbagetown needs: a bookstore – and another bookstore – and a third bookstore!

Favourite block: walking up my street (Sackville) turning onto Spruce and then onto Sumach for my morning walks to Riverdale Farm!

Read more about Arianne's favourite store, her pet peeve, the best-kept secret (it's a musical one!) and much more.


Business news

No new shops or restaurants to report this month, but the Cabbagetowner wants to highlight two initiatives from our local Business Improvement Area.

Cabbagetown BIA recently announced the Best of Cabbagetown award winners.

As well, the BIA has introduced a "Cabbagetown Shopping Passport".

Watch out for a turquoise-coloured glossy brochure in your mailbox, or pick one up at a local store. Take it with you when you go shopping in the neighbourhood: you get a passport stamp at each participating store or restaurant when you spend $20 or more. Once you get five (or more) stamps, you can turn in your passport at the BIA office, 237 Carlton St., to enter a draw for a Santa-sack's worth of prizes provided by our local businesses.

Crime alerts

While we didn't publish any official crime alerts in November, on social media there were several reports shared about thefts from unlocked vehicles and one neighbour reported a stolen car: A reminder to keep your vehicles locked at all times and to remind your visitors to do the same.

Throwback Thursdays 

Volunteer Eric Morse continues to go back four decades via Seven News, a community paper covering what was then Ward 7 that included Cabbagetown. The November issues were focused mostly on the run up to, and the results of, the 1978 municipal election.
Nov. 4, 1978
Nov. 18, 1978

Survey on Cabbagetown daycare needs

We've been asked to pass along this survey link to our members: "A small group has come together to work toward solutions to meet the daycare needs of our community. We have already started conversations with a variety of facilities in the neighbourhood, as well as with established, licensed daycare providers, but before we proceed further, we would like to understand more about the community’s current and projected daycare needs."

Take the daycare needs survey for Cabbagetown parents.

Did you know…?

The holiday season means many things - including the potential for overflowing garbage bins. The City of Toronto has provided tips on managing holiday waste, and you can check any questions you might have about any item using the Waste Wizard website or the new TOwaste App.

A pest-removal company has decreed that Toronto is the Raccoon Capital of the World. Which must make Cabbagetown the capital's Parliament, yes? On a more serious note, there’s currently a rise in raccoon-related rabies in Ontario, so citizens should avoid contact with wild raccoons as much as possible.

Copyright © 2018 Cabbagetown Residents Association, All rights reserved.


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