Although an event like Remembrance Day is not really a cityscape per se, I feel it is extremely important to acknowledge the day.
Earlier today I attended the Remembrance Day ceremonies at Old City Hall. The sombre event was exceedingly well attended and the rain actually held off until later in the afternoon.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
They were young, as we are young, They served, giving freely of themselves. To them, we pledge, amid the winds of time, To carry their torch and never forget. We will remember them.
7th Regimental Band, Royal Canadian Artillery Band, under the direction of Lieutenant Carina LamAretha Phillip, Chief of Protocol, City of TorontoA flypast by The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). The flypasts were conducted during several Remembrance Day commemorations across Canada.Remarks from the City of Toronto, presented by Mayor Olivia ChowMayor Olivia Chow places a wreathBenediction, given by Rev. John Joseph Mastandrea, Chaplain, Toronto Police ServicesAretha Phillip, Chief of Protocol, City of TorontoMarching off at the end of the service
Laying poppies on the Cenotaph, end of services
Flowers and poppies on the Cenotaph, end of service
Pride Weekend in Toronto is soon upon us. In preparation, this month an explosion of rainbows and inclusion messages from local business and merchants have been appearing in the downtown core. Here’s some of what I’ve come across in the last few weeks:
Eaton Centre
Rogers Headquarters, 333 Bloor Street East
Manulife Head Office, 250 Bloor Street East
OrangeTheory Fitness, 160 Bloor Street East
160 Bloor Street East
175 Bloor Street East
Circle K, 121 Bloor Street East
The Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA)
RBC, 2 Bloor Street East
Holt Renfrew, 50 Bloor Street West
TD Canada Trust
Bay & Bloor StreetsBay & Bloor StreetsChurch & Wellesley Streets
A Pride Chicken at Nandos, 832 Bay Street
Ontario Nurses’ Association, 85 Grenville Street
Pride Bicycle Lock, Church Street
LCBO
Underneath Hudson Bay Centre, 2 Bloor Street EastUnderneath Hudson Bay Centre, 2 Bloor Street EastYonge & Wellesley Streets
Rexall, Church & Wellesley Streets
Scotiabank, Yonge & Wellesley Streets
Shopper’s Drug Mart, Yonge & Charles Streets
Jack Astor’s, Yonge & Bloor Streets
Toronto Public Library, Yorkville Branch
The Wine Rack, Church & Wellesley Streets
Dudley’s Hardware, Church Street
And, of course, the epicentre of it all: the corner of Church & Wellesley Streets
Well, it is a black and rainy Christmas this year in Toronto. Regardless, I took a little photo-spin yesterday to see how the city is setting up for the season.
There are some much-loved (at least by me) Toronto traditions missing this year: unfortunately no festive windows at The Bay on Queen and Yonge (due to the massive construction of the new subway on Queen Street). The Flower Show at the Allan Gardens conservatory is extremely scaled back due to the renovation of the Palm House, and “Holiday Fair”, normally held at City Hall, was moved to Mel Lastman Square in North York (I suspect, again, due to the mess caused by the Queen Street subway project). Despite these, it is still Christmas in the city… a special time. Here is a bit of what I encountered yesterday:
Allan Gardens Christmas Flower Show
I wish I had more shots to post here, but the few below were the extent of the Flower Show this year:
“Winter Glow” at Yonge-Dundas Square
Yonge-Dundas Square had a mini-festival going on, although I only saw a couple of people there. There were carnival rides, a 45-foot-tall Ferris Wheel, the “Great Canadian Carousel” and a few midway games.
On the Yonge Street side there was a 40-foot “Remembrance Tree”, sponsored by the Rotary Club. Visitors make a donation to the cause, then receive a yellow ribbon on which to write a message to a loved one who has passed.
Eaton Centre
As usual, the Eaton Centre was abuzz with people, a massive Christmas tree (114-foot high, said to be the tallest in North America) and giant glittering reindeer:
Finding a few dry moments from the incessant rain of late, I took a little spin last night to see some of the Christmas lights in Rosedale and on Bloor Street East.
Rosedale
The owners of this Rosedale home went to some *serious* effort to recreate The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, along with a miniature Whoville:
Moving on to Bloor Street East:
Allegedly, there are 138 lit Christmas trees along Bloor Street this Christmas; I never stopped to count…
A sombre Remembrance Day ceremony took place today around the Cenotaph at Old City Hall, 60 Queen Street West.
The City focused this year’s events around the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement that brought about the end of the Korean War. Other milestones honoured today were the 75th anniversary of Canadian participation in peacekeeping missions for the United Nations and the centennials of the Naval Reserve of Canada and HMCS York, a Royal Canadian Navy Reserve Division in Toronto.
The ceremonies began at 10:45 AM, starting with the singing of our national anthem, a reading of In Flanders Fields, a two-minute silence at 11:00, and a trumpeteer playing The Last Post:
A fly-past by the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association (CHAA)Mayor Chow delivered her Remembrance Day messageThe laying of wreaths on the CenotaphThe ceremony concluded with people leaving their poppies on the CenotaphA special “Toronto Remembers” presentation on Queen Street West, outside Old City Hall
Video of today’s ceremony at Old City Hall can be found here.
Other locations for today’s Remembrance Day ceremonies were:
Scarborough War Memorial: 2190 Kingston Road
East York Civic Centre – Memorial Gardens: 850 Coxwell Avenue
York Cemetery – Cenotaph: 160 Beecroft Road
York Civic Centre Cenotaph: 2700 Eglinton Avenue West
Etobicoke Civic Centre – Cenotaph: 399 The West Mall
Fort York National Historic Site: 100 Garrison Road
It was another very busy Halloween night on Church Street once again this year. The weather was crisp and quite cool, but there was no rain to speak of. The turnout was massive, having a lot to do I’m sure with events re-energizing after COVID-19.
The mayhem ran from Carlton Street to Gloucester Street, and every inch of the street was packed with people. There were so many inventive and impressive costumes; people’s creativity never ceases to amaze me:
Time for some fireworks! The photoset below is from the Canada Day celebration of our 150th birthday. On July 1, 2017 the CN Tower hosted a massive fireworks display with a live music stream of Canadian music from Boom 97.3. Here’s how it went down:
Well, the streets have been swept, the tourists have (mostly) gone and the village has settled back down to its everyday rhythm. Toronto Pride is over for another year but it left in its wake a lot of memories. For today’s TOcityscapes, I give you a small sampling of this past weekend’s mayhem (each image is clickable for a larger view).
There were…
Merchants & Vendors…
Dancing In The Street…
Pride Pups…
Lots of Love, Colour & Messages…
Random Oddities & Mayhem…
If I could put a thought bubble above this woman, it would say: “What the f…?!” I thought the same when I first saw this tree taking a cigarette break.
The annual Good Friday Procession is a Toronto tradition which has been held every Good Friday for the last 70 years. After three dormant years due to COVID-19 the Procession, which commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, has returned to take over the streets of Toronto’s Little Italy on Good Friday.
The Good Friday Procession starts on Good Friday at 3 PM at St. Francis of Assisi Church (Mansfield Ave & Grace St), and goes through the Little Italy neighbourhood, before circling back to the church. The Procession includes religious statues, bands and people representing different characters associated with the Passion of Christ.
The Good Friday Procession follows this route:
Assembling The Procession
I’ve attended the Good Friday Procession once, in 2018, to photograph the spectacle. The most interesting shots are the ones in which the participants assemble at St. Francis of Assisi Church prior to the actual procession through Little Italy:
The Good Friday Procession Across College Street
The procession is a mile-long march re-enacting the fourteen Stations of the Cross (Jesus on his way to his crucifixion):
This is such a lovely part of the city. I love how they fixed up that square and the fountain…