King City Christmas get-together good fun

 Dark night ~ but bright lights

The King City Business  and Community Association and the Township of King hosted an early Christmas party on Keele Street, south of the four corners in the village, on Saturday evening.   The weather was good and the turn-out was big.   There were lots of activities and attractions for everyone but children seemed to enjoy the event the most.

 Staying bundled up

 Villagers take over Keele Street

 Ice sculpture drew many onlookers

 Friends and neighbours chatting and eating

 ~ a great combination

Fire Department Food and Toy Drive dazzled donors

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Barry Wallace

New tenant for new plaza in King City

Photo by Barry Wallace

Sunset Grill Famous All Day Breakfast is the latest business to put up a sign saying it is about to become a tenant in the new King Ridge Marketplace at King Road and Dufferin Street.   The popular restaurant chain has 47 existing locations in Ontario and the new King City location is just one of 21 new Sunset Grills that will open in 2015.

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Barry Wallace

One-den muskrat pond

Photo by Barry Wallace

Jane Street ~ south of Kinghorn

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BtheB

Local gateway with an exotic touch

Photo by Barry Wallace

Camera on King...or Vaughan, as the case may be...

This impressive estate gateway has always caught my eye but I have not taken a photograph of it for this blogspace because it is not in King.   It is however located on the King-Vaughan Townline and for many years it was located in King Township; prior to the Region of York moving Vaughan's northern municipal border one lot north.   That was done so that Vaughan would take on responsibility for maintenance of the east-west road separating the two townships.   These days King is still a township but Vaughan has boomed into "The city above Toronto".   Actually, Vaughan dropped that slogan four years ago.   Anyway, this rural Ontario gateway, while slightly out of sync because of its elephant image, is very attractive and eye-catching.  While only one side of the gateway is shown in this photo, there is of course, a reverse image on the other side of the driveway.   I am a fan. 

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Barry Wallace    

Late fall ~ Bell's Lake ~ north of Nobleton

Photos by Barry Wallace

Although little visible history is to be found of the communities that once graced the shores of the small lake just on Hwy. 27, just north of King's 16th Sideroad, the written history reminds us that that this historical spot was originally called Kingsville in the mid-1800s, then Loch Erne and finally Bell's Lake.   Much historical development took place over a period of 150 years but today the site is back to being a natural gem. The photo immediately below was taken from the spot on Bell's Lake Road, looking south, where a cottage resort lasted into the later 1900s.   In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Bell's Lake was a popular swimming spot with many King Township locals (including me and my teenage friends) parking at the side of Hwy. 27 and using a sand beach there.   Today, there is no such access. 

In the 1860s, the village of 'Kingsville' (Bell's Lake) was reported to be larger than Nobleton.

An ancient staircase leads down to Bell's Lake from a local property.

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Barry Wallace

Even a burro needs a blanket

Photo by Barry Wallace

Things can get quite chilly up on the hills of King.   This burro, who was keeping an eye on a handful of horses on the 15th Sideroad, between the 7th and 8th Concessions, seemed quite content with his situation and his warm-weather gear.   And yes, I was given a good once-over look before the diminutive guardian continued grazing.

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Barry Wallace

What's to become of...

                                                                                                                                  Photo by Barry Wallace

The former St. Alban's Anglican Church, on Highway 27 in Nobleton, was deconsecrated in June of last year and then was sold.   The large garish sign in front of the former church announces that the building is for lease and suggests that permitted uses include 'Commercial / Institutional / Restaurant / Daycare'.   No doubt, different people will have different ideas or suggestions.   One can only hope that a new tenant and the municipal powers-that-be will settle on some use that protects the historical, architectural, cultural and aesthetic heritage of this community centrepiece.   Let's hope the memory of St. Alban, who was martyred by beheading, is not besmirched by pizza or video games.

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Barry Wallace   

More to come at 'four corners'

 Photos by Barry Wallace

A solitary worker was putting some finishing touches on the copper cladding of the newest King City four corners showpiece on a chilly Saturday morning   One can hardly wait until next summer to see all the flowers and plantings and other amenities in place.   Now, if there was just some way to eliminate about 50% of the vehicle traffic at the intersection of Keele Street and King Road, then a movement might be created to prevent pedestrians from becoming an extinct species in the middle of our village. 

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Barry Wallace

Country Day School expansion takes shape

Photos by Barry Wallace

The landscape at Country Day School, on Dufferin Street, is once again morphing as steel girders show their design outlines for the new $10 million construction of the senior school and a dining hall. The CDS website reports that $7 million had been raised as of the middle of the year for construction costs.   Has it really been 42 years since Country Day took over the old one-room country public school in the hamlet of Eversley?   The extremely successful enterprise is continuing a long historical legacy in this part of King Township.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace 

November 18 - too soon for snowdrifts?

 Photos by Barry Wallace

Jane Street ~ north of Sacred Heart

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BtheB

November, be in no rush

cold eleventh month
wet and snowy days and nights
your gifts offend me

Bathurst Street ~ south of Temperanceville

Photo by Barry Wallace

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Barry Wallace

Tamarack time

Photo by Barry Wallace

Tamaracks ~ Kell Farm ~ 16th Sideroad west of Keele

This is one of those trees with multiple identities.   The Tamarack (Larix laricina) also goes by the names: Eastern Larch, American Larch, Red Larch, Black Larch, Takmahak and Hackmatack.   It is a cone-bearing tree with needles, that looks like most other conifer trees but is significantly different because it is a deciduous conifer.   It is light blue-green in colour, which turns golden-yellow in fall, before shedding its distinctive needles.   It stands out in late October and early November when most deciduous trees have lost their coloured leaves and it contrasts sharply with evergreen conifers.   Tamaracks are northern trees that are to be found across most of Canada between the Great Lakes and the northern tree limits.   They do very well in wet, peaty soils and swamps, but are also to found in drier upland loamy soils, such as the Kell Farm, north of King City.

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Barry Wallace

Thornton Bales Conservation Area

 Photos by Barry Wallace

The Thornton Bales Conservation Area is located halfway between Dufferin and Bathurst Streets, on the north side of King's 19th Sideroad.   It is home to the 99 steps leading down to a deep valley, with trails that connect to the Jokers Hill trails, further to the north.   Now is the time of year that the view from the north side of the 19th (see above) shows the depth and breadth of the forested valley at its most impressive.

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Barry Wallace

The inexorable widening of Bathurst Street

 Photos by Barry Wallace

Bathurst Street, north of the Morning Sideroad, separating King Township and Newmarket, is seen above showing the preliminary widening of the road and the newly installed hydro lines.   Bathurst Street, north of this point, has been closed for decades (see sign below).

The closed section of Bathurst Street between the Morning Sideroad and the Holland Marsh was open back in the 1960s and early 1970s, and was known then as the 'Devil's Elbow'.   The 'Devil's Elbow' was a steep, winding track with sharp cut-backs and deep gravel ruts that provided a popular hill-climbing course for  drivers of sportscars (mine was a '61 Austin-Healey Sprite).   Below is the view looking south on Bathurst Street towards the Morning Sideroad and beyond that: Hwy. 9.   On the left are the new towering hydro lines which give another indication of the eventual width of Bathurst.   A handful of homes are to lose chunks of treed privacy as a result of the widening on the east side of the road.

Approximately two kilometres south of Hwy. 11 (near Bradford) and looking southward, the widened and paved Bathurst Street comes to a halt on the north slope of the King Ridge (the Oak Ridges Moraine).   When the southern and northern portions of Bathurst Street are reunited, atop 'The Ridge', the passage of wildlife will become newly perilous.

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Barry Wallace     

Camera on Lake Wilcox today - not King

Photos by Barry Wallace

Today is a departure from the normal in that this blog entry is not about King but about our next door neighbour immediately to the east: Oak Ridges.   Oak Ridges is actually part of northern Richmond Hill and I'm zeroing in on Lake Wilcox in particular.   To be precise, this blog is about the old Sunset Beach Park at the northeast corner of Lake Wilcox.   To begin with the area is now called Lake Wilcox Park and oh what a change has taken place.   The park is not scheduled to be completed until September of 2015.   The undertaking is a triumph of community planning in my opinion, but don't take my word for it.   Besides, words do not do it justice, anyway.   See it for yourself.   If you know where the old Sunset Beach Park was, then you'll know where the Lake Wilcox Park is.   For newcomers to the area, the park and parking lot are are just west of Bayview Avenue, and just south of North Lake Road, on the old Sunset Beach Road (which is now a dead-end at the new park). 

Sculpture garden at the water's edge

New footbridge over East Humber River

One of numerous carved stone aphorisms

Massive metal turtle will be perfect spot for kid pictures

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Barry Wallace

At the museum until December 12...

The century-old images below are part of a short but thoroughly moving video featuring photographs from the Great War.   Viewers have to be cautioned that while some of the images are charming (like the air force fox mascot below) others are disturbing and deeply troubling.   Overall, however, the production is inspired, inclusive and compelling.   The video is part of a larger, overall presentation at the museum on World War 1.   Visitors have until Friday, December 12 to see this great effort by the museum.   

The video was produced by a team led by museum curator Kathleen Fry and included Tony Rolph, Gavin Watt and Murdene Pozdrowski.   The touching music accompanying the video is the  "The Lark Ascending" by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

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Barry Wallace

Sidewalks done at King City's four corners

Photos by Barry Wallace

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Barry Wallace