September closes but some flowers persist

All photos by B.Wallace

It's not enough for a gardener to love flowers;
He or she must also hate weeds.
                                                                              - American Proverb

Haven't tried the Paper Crane yet?

Photo by Barry Wallace

Go ahead...treat yourself...it's great

I noticed recently the Paper Crane Sushi Bar & Bistro, at the four corners in the middle of King City, has added some additional decoration to its storefront.   Bright paper lantern facsimillies and colourful posters featuring attractive photos of menu items.   All part and parcel, I guess, of trying to attract as many diners as possible.   My wife and I try to have dinner there once a month.   If you haven't tried it yet, you owe it to yourself.   Terrific food and service.

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Barry Wallace  

Almost October

                                                                     Photos by Barry Wallace

Colourful palette before fall fades

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Barry Wallace

Here and there in late September

King City Cemetery

Photos by Barry Wallace

St. Andrew's Presbyterian ~ King City

200 Ring-billed Gulls ~ Marylake

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Barry Wallace

King 'docs' mark 105 years of combined service

Photo by Barry Wallace

Doctors Paul Randall (pictured above), Stephen Pearl and Randy Leifer were congratulated by patients past and present, as they marked 105 years of combined service to patients in King Township and beyond, on September 23rd at the King City arena.   Doctors Randall and Pearl were celebrating 40 years of service each, while Doctor Leifer was celebrating 25 years of local medical practise.   Hundreds of people packed the auditorium to honour the three medical men.  My wife and I have been Paul Randall's patients for all of his years in our community.   The three medical associates have continued a tradition of long-serving healing and caring by their predecessors.   Well done, gentlemen.

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Barry Wallace

On the trail in Happy Valley

 Photos by Barry Wallace

September 15th...halfway through the month...a drizzly day on the Oak Ridges Trail in the Happy Valley...abundant wildflowers...sumacs starting to turn red...dark shadows under huge hardwoods in the forest.   

The Oak Ridges Trail  looks north from this spot at the end of the 7th Concession, north of the 16th Sideroad.   There is some light on the trail but all is heavily shaded on the steep ridges and deep vales in the woods.

On the edges of the dark forest, New England Asters and goldenrod brighten the sides of the trail like street lights.   There is no wind on this still day but a few steady raindrops remind us to keep moving.

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Barry Wallace

Strange School days remembered at Laskay Hall

Laskay Hall was the gathering place for former students of Strange School on Saturday, September 14.   Many people attended a pot-luck lunch or the pot-luck supper, as well as many who visited in between the two meals.   The day-long event was pervaded by a sense of old-fashioned, community closeness and and decades-old memories and recollections.   In the photo above, Gloria Dalton, one of the chief organizers of the event, is seen at the dinner buffet table.   Like most small community get-togethers, there was a feast of food with plenty of leftovers.  

A very pretty and tasty reunion cake marked the occasion and also commemorated the 50th anniversary of the closing of the fifth and last of Strange's country schools. 

Mrs. Ross Morgan (above right), a 12-year resident of Laskay, back in the 1970s, helps herself to the buffet dinner, with a little assistance from one of her daughters, on the other side of the table.

Photos above by Barry Wallace

Linda (Cairns) Wallace, above left, reminisces with her one-time public school teacher, Caroline Muir, who began her teaching career, as a 17-year-old city girl with three months training, at Strange School in the early 1950s.   Caroline brought along a large collection of photographs from her time at Strange School.  

Photo by Barry Wallace

Strange School, in 2013, is no longer a school, but a private commercial enterprise, located on the east side of Weston Road, 1/4 miles north of the King Road.

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Barry Wallace

South lily pond ~ Seneca College

Photo by Barry Wallace

The fullness of summer ... in September

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BtheB

Picking celery in the Holland Marsh

Photo by Barry Wallace

Celery

Celery, raw

Develops the jaw.

But celery, stewed 

Is more quietly chewed.

                              -- Ogden Nash 

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Barry Wallace

More ponds and natural areas in King City

 Photos by Barry Wallace

This week it's the King's Ridge development on the south side of the King Road, west of Dufferin Street, that is pictured here.   Watercourses and tunnels, green spaces, storm-water retention ponds are all being developed to create what should be a large, verdant, natural-looking landscape in the next phase of this part of the development on the south side of the King Road.   Walking trails should be abundant here by next spring.

Please comment if you wish. 

Barry Wallace

Clearer pictures

A couple of regular readers of this blog saw my picture (at left) of a berm on the old Finch Farm, at Hwy. 400 and the King-Vaughan Townline.   They just couldn't picture the location of this shot.   They have asked that rather than drive all the way down from the north of King to the south of King to find it, would I show a more revealing photo.   Well, here are a couple of other shots that may help with orientation.The location is the north-west corner of 400 and the townline.

Photos by Barry Wallace

The old Finch Farm is actually in the Town of Vaughan, being on the north side of the King-Vaughan townline, where Lots 1 (both east and west halves), on each concession of King Township, was given over to Vaughan by King.   I believe someone in King, going back many years, thought King could avoid its share of road maintenance, snow-ploughing, etc., by giving up the tax revenue from the few farms along the north side of the townline and letting Vaughan collect what little taxes were at stake!   In Vaughan, such land-fill operations to contain out-door industrial uses seem to be quite legal.   Unfortunately, such operations do nothing for the bucolic appearance of King, when they are on our doorsteps.

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Barry Wallace

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Free ice cream at dentist's office!

Photo by Barry Wallace

Now that's a grand opening

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BtheB

What the Sam Hill is going on here?!?

Photo by Barry Wallace

'Sam Hill' is a bit of an old-fashioned euphemism for hell.   I don't know who picked this new street name in the King's Ridge subdivision at the north-west corner of the King Road and Dufferin Street, but I just don't believe there was a notable citizen in King City's history named Sam Hill.   I could be wrong, so please correct me if you know that there was a Sam Hill in our village's history.   The street which intersects Sam Hill Crescent at both of its ends is Stan Roots Street.   Stan Roots was my scoutmaster in King City almost 60 years ago and I am delighted to see a new street named after him.  Sam Hill, meanwhile...now that needs a bit of research.   You can go online to discover a few interesting  sources for the origin of Sam Hill, as in: "What in the Sam Hill is that?"   If there was a distinguished Sam Hill in King City's past, I hope he was not a man of the cloth.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB    

The former Finch farm

Photo by Barry Wallace

King/Vaughan Townline at the 400

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Barry Wallace

Sunset silhouettes utilities

                                                                                                                               Photo by Barry Wallace

King Road and Hwy.400

Holland Marsh ~ early September

After I took the fisherman's photo (above right), I asked him how the fishing was.   He said he had not caught anything yet but was hopeful.   When I asked him what kind of fish were in the canal, he replied he used to catch a lot of Pike, but lately he was also getting both Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass.

North Canal Road underpass at the 400

Photos by Barry Wallace

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Barry Wallace

New pond in King City

Photo by Barry Wallace

Of all the storm-water ponds that have been created recently, in the new housing developments in King City, this one appears to be the largest.   It is located in the north-east part of the village, behind the subdivision and proposed shopping centre, and south of the railway tracks.   There is a designated park to the east of pond, while on its west side there is an existing waterway that connects with the Humber River and another storm-water retention pond near the King City Public School grounds and the railway tracks.   A tunnel, under the railway tracks, connects these natural areas with the existing housing developments north of the tracks, in the Dennison Street area.   All of these public-use areas will be great for local naturalists, dog-walkers, birdwatchers and kids.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace

9-store proposal for main corner in King City

Photos by Barry Wallace

A proposal to build a 9-unit commercial retail building on the 1.06 acres on the north-east corner of King Road and Keele Street will go before council on Sept. 23 at 6 p.m., in the municipal offices.   The site is currently occupied by the King City Market and its parking lot, plus two small homes.   A commercial re-zoning of the site would have to be approved by council before the proposal could proceed.   Details of the plan will be provided to inform the public of the development, and also to receive comments from interested citizens.   Oral or written submissions can be made at the meeting.   Additional information is available for inspection at the Planning Department in the municipal offices.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace 

Then and now on Keele Street

Photo courtesy of Dave Hunter

Photo by Barry Wallace

One-time King City resident, Dave Hunter, has sent along another old photo (top) of King City; this time from 1960.   It shows the first three houses on the west side of Keele Street, just north of the railway underpass at the King Road.   Dave's old photo seems to show the aftermath of an ice storm in the village.   There appears to be a hydro truck or perhaps a tree remover's vehicle on the scene along with three people who seem to be assessing the situation involving fallen tree branches and overhead wires.   In the second photo, taken this past weekend, the same three houses still exist, although the one closest to the intersection of King and Keele has undergone noticeable renovations over the years.   Thanks for the photo Dave.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace