The morphing of King City...

On east side of village...

Two views from the north side (above) and the south side (below) of King Road, looking east from Warren Road, towards Dufferin Street.   Curbs were installed this week on both sides of the road and will be followed shortly by sidewalks and  road refurbishment. 

On west side of village...

The landscape changes in the new Zancor Royal Collection development, on the south side of the King Road, between the GoTrain tracks and the closed Catholic Separate School.   Below, the adjoining Royal Collection condominium apartment development, on the south-west corner of King Road and the new Burns Boulevard continues to fill up.

There is a gaping hole (above and below) in the Royal Collection development lands that is signed as a "Designated School Block".   Many of the approximately 150 home sites have yet to be built, as well as any future school.

Photos by Barry Wallace

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Barry Wallace

A time to reminisce about Strange School days

Laskay Hall Photo by Barry Wallace

S.S. # 4 Strange/Laskay Reunion

Sat., Sept. 14 ~ 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Former students of Strange Public School are invited to attend and reminisce on Saturday, September 14, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Laskay Community Hall.   There will be a pot luck lunch and dinner.   Call or email for your dinner tickets (no charge) at 647-989-1913, or gloria.dalton@learntocompute.ca.    You can also visit the Facebook Group: S.S. # 4 Strange/Laskay Reunion.   Laskay Hall is located at 12840 Weston Road, south of the King Road, in the hamlet of Laskay.   I will be attending as my dear wife's escort.   I am not a former student, but my wife is, and she has forbidden me to say how many years ago that was.   A reader of this blogsite left some comments recently in response to a blog I had written about Laskay.   She went on to say: "Our family revered Miss Arbuckle as a teacher and the ones left still speak in awe of what she could accomplish in that little country school".   I spoke with the revered Betty (Arbuckle) Dew a couple of weeks ago and she said it was her intention to attend the reunion.   It should be fun.

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Barry Wallace

Summer 2013 ~ gardens to remember

Flowers by Linda Wallace   -   Photos by Barry Wallace

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Barry Wallace

Walter Rolling ~ 1873-1943

Photos above by Barry Photos

2013 marks the 140th anniversary of the birth of Walter Rolling.   The man was an educator of great repute and a legend in his own time.   It seems that no one in King Township's history has earned as high regard as this man did.2013 is also the 70th anniversary of his death.   The monument and gravestone, pictured above, are to be found in the King City Cemetery.   The photo at left is from the King Township Museum.   When Walter retired from teaching, 2,000 pupils and friends gathered at Kinghorn School to honour this man for his 41 years of service as an educator.   I imagine there will be some kind of event to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth, ten years from now, but I don't suppose 2,000 people will attend.

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Barry Wallace

Kettleby Fair ~ Saturday, September 7

Photo by Barry Wallace

"The biggest little fair in Ontario"

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Barry Wallace

Autumn leaves are a month early

 Photos by Barry Wallace

Autumn is still a month away but local maple trees are already starting to show their fall colours. The picture above was taken at the King City Cemetery where a dwindling number of 100-year-old maples still put on a great colour show, on the north side of the King Road, each year.   The building in the background is the the brand new Spring Hill condominium-apartments building.   More colourful maple leaves are also seen (below) on the 18th Sideroad at the UofT's Jokers' Hill. 

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Barry Wallace

Farmers' Market at Marylake

Photos by Barry Wallace

Farmers' markets are popping up everywhere it seems and here's one you may not have discovered yet.   It's called Front Step Farms and its located at the entrance to the Marylake Shrine, at the north-west corner of Keele Street and the 15th Sideroad, immediately north of King City.   It operates under a large white awning in front of the gatehouse (see photo below) on Sunday mornings.  

After visiting the Front Step Farms market, you might want to drive into the Marylake grounds and get a peek of Lake Marie, one of the larger Oak Ridges Moraine lakes, followed by a picture-taking of the shrine itself (below). 

...and if you're still eager for more farmers market fun, remember that the King City Farmers' Market goes this Sunday, at All Saints Anglican Church, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.    An added feature at this coming Sunday's Farmers' Market is the first Artisan's Fair, featuring a number of local artists and their arts and crafts.   The Artisans' Fair takes place on the front lawn of the church.

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Barry Wallace

Sidewalks from Dufferin to Jane in King City?

Photo by Barry Wallace

New sidewalks, connecting Dufferin Street in the east, to the existing sidewalk on the south side of the King Road at Warren Road, and to the existing sidewalk on the north side of King Road, at the Library, are underway, as seen in the photo above looking into the village from the east.   Meanwhile, the Kingsview Manors subdivision, on the north side of the King Road, between the township museum and the current built-up area on King City's west side, is underway.   Presumably, the builders of Kingsview will install sidewalks fronting their new subdivision. That leaves a small section in Kinghorn between Jane Street and the museum, and less than a kilometre between the cemetery and the east side of the Kingsview subdivision.   I'll have to drop in the township offices and ask about that.

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  Barry Wallace

New King City traffic lights coming...but when?

Photo by Barry Wallace

King Road looking east toward Dufferin Street

I dropped into the King Township municipal offices on Friday and made some inquiries about new traffic lights on the King Road between Warren Road and Dufferin Street.   I was told that underground services have already been installed as preliminary preparation for the installation of two sets of traffic lights on the King Road, at the east end of the village.   One set of traffic lights is planned to be at the new intersection of Stan Roots Street and Spring Hill Drive, with the King Road.   Stan Roots Street will run north and access the new shopping plaza, on the north-west corner of the King Road and Dufferin Street.   Spring Hill Drive already carries traffic south of the King Road, to the new Holy Name Catholic School and the new King's Ridge subdivision that surrounds it.   Closer to the existing east end of the village is the intersection of the pre-existing Warren Road, which runs south of the King Road and the new Alex Campbell Crescent which runs north of the King Road.   As to when these two new intersections will have traffic lights is not known, but the person I spoke with thought it could happen sometime between now and the end of 2014.   Let's hope it is the former.   King Township would, of course, welcome the traffic-calming effect of two new sets of traffic lights on the King Road as soon as possible, while the Region of York must consider the efficient flow of traffic on one of the region's major thoroughfares.   Apparently York Region has collected much traffic flow data and is currently analysing the best time to install new traffic lights.   Hopefully, It's sooner rather than later.

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Barry Wallace

What a difference a week makes

Photos by Barry Wallace

Here's how the front of King City branch of the King Township Library looked just five days ago. Below is how it looks now.   It has been paved and curbed, had parking spaces repainted and now has two designated handicapped parking spots on each side of the main entrance.   Both the main entrance and the west side entrance can be accessed now by wheelchairs.   A fine job all around.

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Barry Wallace

Grass roots graffiti

Photos by Barry Wallace

Church Street ~ between Schomberg and Lloydtown

I'm not sure whether these signs and their setting represent a juxtapositional oxymoron or an oxymoronic juxtaposition.   Whatever the representation created here, by these hand-crafted signs alongside the roadway, I don't think any one of us would disagree with the sentiment expressed. 

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Barry Wallace 

Purple Loosestrife in bloom

Photo by Barry Wallace

It's that time of year.   The time when Purple Loosestrife, or what's left of it in King Township, bursts into bloom.   The photo above was taken this week on Pumphouse Road in the Holland Marsh.   Patches of it can be found here and there throughout King Township but not in the quantities seen a few years ago.   The spread of this invasive plant species has been checked in recent years by loosestrife-eating beetles imported from Europe.   Continuous monitoring has to be maintained but the problem has been largely contained.   As a result, local plant species and water habitats have been returning to former health.   Too bad something so pretty has to be so invasive and damaging.

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Barry Wallace 

Laskay's little red pump

Photo by Barry Wallace

When I was a young teenager, back in the mid-50s (that's the 1950s, not the 1850s) I used to hang out with a good buddy named Dan Buddin, who was a resident of Laskay.   We'd spend time at and around the Laskay Emporium, run by the Arbuckles.   Immediately north of the Laskay Emporium was a residence which many years before had been an inn.   In front of that building, on the shoulder of the road was a watering hole which ran with cold spring water.   All the kids thereabouts used to get drinks of the cold water, especially in the hot summertime.   I recently saw someone, who had parked a car at the side of the road, drawing water from that same spot.   In 2013, there is a little red pump and a large concrete well cap, atop the water source, and I presume the pump is functional.   I asked a couple of old Laskay acquaintances if they remembered the spot.   Betty (Arbuckle) Dew, who now resides in King City, remembers the spring's cold water (just north of her parents' general store) and that many folks from the Laskay area drew drinking water from the spot.   Ed Etheridge who has lived in Laskay for many years also remembers the spring and how farmers used to water their horses from a trough across the street, which drew water through a pipe under the road and connected to the spring.   These two folks were describing the setting from the 1940s and 1950s, but the history of this community water source would appear to go back many decades before then.   The folklore says that the water was always pure with no tales of people or beasts ever being sickened. Apparently it was much more recently that nearby housing development and run-off prompted the safeguarding of the water with  underground tiles and the little red pump.

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Barry Wallace

What is summer without sunflowers?

Photos by Barry Wallace

...and all those other yellow flowers

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Barry Wallace

King City Farmers' Market looks to be thriving

Photos by Barry Wallace

Two more vendors, Highmark Farms and Crosswind Market Gardens, have joined the band of vendors at the King City Farmers' Market, in the Anglican Church parking lot on Keele Street.   The King City Farmers' Market operates on alternate Sundays with the Schomberg Farmer's Market and will operate this year until October 20.   Visitors to the market shop for their favourite items and some folks use the picnic tables to sample some of their purchases...especially the baked goods.   The next King City Farmers' Market (August 25) will also introduce an Artisans' Market which will also be featured on the September 22nd and October 20th market days.   The Artisans' Market will set up on the front lawn of All Saints church and and local craftspeople will be selling their hand-crafted creations.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace