Jumpin in the Junction!

A series of great fun, family events at the

Junction Train Platform, Dundas St. West & Pacific Ave.

Sat June 26th 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

Sat July 3 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

Sat July 10 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

Sat July 17th 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

What is Jumpin in the Junction? It is a great little festival that will go on four Saturdays in a row from Saturday June 26th to Saturday July 17th. It’s being held at the Junction Train Platform at Dundas St. West and Pacific Ave. There will be free balloons and clowns and face painting and stuff for kids to jump on. It starts at 11:00 a.m. and runs till 3:00 p.m.

Wendell Ferguson, the seven time ”Best Guitar Player in Canada” will team up with Suzzie Vinnik, “2008 female blues singer of the year”, to perform on the 26th. Different great acts will be on stage each week. The great blues harmonica player Danny B performs on July 3rd and Juno award nominee Peter Cliché plays on July 17th.

A really fun feature each week is the “Sunflower Seed Spitting Contest”. Five spits for a nickel, a prize for each contestant and every one gets an official certificate to take home and frame. And of course there’s the best lemonade in the City at twenty five cents a glass. Even more, one of the Junction BIA members, Jocelyn Short of Jocelyn’s Burgers has stepped up and donated a wheel barrow full of water melons so we’re selling that too at fifty cents a slice.

The only thing better than the lemonade, water melon and music will be all the smiles and laughter. So come to the Junction and “Let’s Get Jumpin” !

Totstock

Looking for something to do with the kids on Sunday, June 27th?

On Sunday, June 27th, from 2-5pm, Sorauren Park will come alive with song, dance, stories and more.

Brought to you by the totsquad (and lots of volunteer moms and dads), totstock is a vibrant, noisy, whimsical celebration of family and community.

There will be live music, children’s games and activities, story-telling & puppet shows, great food & a rollicking good time all in support of the Wabash Building Society in particular & the common good in general.

Please consider bringing:

• Your child's bike or trike for the bicycle parade
• A sunhat and a reusable bottle or mug
• A pocketful of toonies (this is a fundraiser after all

For more information, go to http://www.littlepaper.com/totstock.

Rattle Cry: Save The Children. Every One.

On the eve of the G8 and G20 summits, I came across this inspiring campaign by Save The Children Canada called "Save The Children. Every One." As a parent, I feel that it is our duty to advocate for children everywhere who cannot speak for themselves. They need a voice to tell governments that the time to help is now.

Here are the highlights of the campaign with a link to their Facebook application that lets parents rank issues they face on a daily basis that are of importance to them:

The EVERY ONE campaign is Save the Children's largest global campaign to date. Every year, 8.8 million children die before they reach their fifth birthday, most from preventable causes. Save the Children's campaign aims to reduce this number by 2/3 by 2015.

The campaign is all about getting the Canadian government to uphold the promises they made of reducing infant mortality by 2/3 during the Millennial Development Goal summit in 2000.

This is an issue that is of importance for millions of Canadians so Save The Children make their appeal with that in mind. Also, with the G8 Summit fast approaching they are hoping to get a concrete commitment, and in order to do this they need Canada's support.

As part of the campaign they have a fun Facebook application called Rattle Cry that lets parents rank issues they face on a daily basis that are of importance to them. You can view the application here: http://www.facebook.com/everyonecanada

For more information and to see what you can do to help, please visit their website at:

http://www.everyonecanada.ca/

Community Meeting re: Development on Bloor Street

City Councillor Bill Saundercook is coordinating an informal meeting for residents to speak directly to The Daniels Corporation. The Daniels Corporation has reached an agreement with the owners to redevelop the following lands:

1844-1856 Bloor Street West
35-37 Pacific Avenue
6-14 Oakmount Road

This community meeting is being held prior to the Daniels Corporation filing any redevelopment application. The meeting will be held on June 14th at 7:30 p.m. at the Grenadier Restaurant.

Talking to kids about the BP Oil Spill

Image- Win McNamee/Getty Images

Pictures and stories of one of the worst man-made disasters in history are everywhere. Are your children asking questions? Have you talked to them about it? Personally, I find the issue is so big and so devastating to me that I can't bear the thought of explaining it to my little ones. But I know that talking about it is the right thing to do and would strengthen their concern in the environment. I just don't know how to where to begin.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. And so would the Globe and Mail who is working on an article for the Life section about parents talking to their kids about it. If you are interested a brief phone interview with their reporter, please contact me directly at junctionparents@gmail.com.

Butt out! Smoking banned in City Parks

image- City of Toronto

A great move on behalf of the City of Toronto!! Under an amendment to the Municipal Bylaw, Chapter 608, smoking is now banned from Toronto Playgrounds, wading pools, splash pads, park zoos or farms. Smoking is not allowed within a 9 metre or 29.5 foot radius of play areas including:

• The surrounding edge of any playground safety surface or playground equipment.
• The surrounding edge of wading pool basins or safety surfaces of splash pads.

According to the City of Toronto website, the health and well-being of children in our public spaces is a priority for the City. The plan to prohibit smoking in Toronto Parks will ensure that children have healthy environments in which to play. Children are also influenced by the behaviour of others and we should work together to provide them with healthy role models.

It will be nice to get a breath of fresh air at parks with our kids this summer. Thanks, Toronto!

Starbucks is coming to the Junction

image-Junctioneer

Apparently this is old news, many local businesses have known about Starbucks moving into our neighbourhood for a while... The old Handyman Shop that's been renovated for the past few months is going to be a new Starbucks location, directly across the street from Crema!!!! The Junction already has so many wonderful coffee places, we don't need a Starbucks!





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