A Walk through Winter Park - A Hint of New England in Florida

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

A Walk through Winter Park - A Hint of New England in Florida

Just a few minutes north of downtown Orlando awaits Winter Park, a charming picturesque suburb steeped in history. After my excursion on the Scenic Boat Tour, my local expert Wanda Salerno took me on a little walk through town past beautiful historic neighbourhoods.

With is origins as a citrus growing region, Winter Park became a major destination for wealthy northerners during the early 1900s, who came into town by train to reach their elegant winter retreats, seeking shelter from the cold winters of the north. Elegant mansions and and stately old oak trees draped with Spanish moss bear witness to this historic era.

Wanda then took me through some of Winter Park's hidden courtyards, which are filled with specialty retail stores and galleries. Winter Park features a large variety of galleries and I had a chance to sample three of them, all of which carried vastly different artwork:

- Scott Laurent Collections
- Native Visions Gallery
- Timothy's

Our walk took us out on to Winter Park's main street, Park Avenue, which houses 10 blocks of specialty retailers, galleries and ecclectic restaurants. Park Avenue is flanked on its west side by Central Park which offers a welcome sanctuary of relaxation with its graceful fountain, walking paths and shaded benches.

We then went on to explore Casa Feliz ("Happy House" in Spanish), the signature residential work of renowned architect James Gamble Rogers II.

In 1932 Robert Bruce Barbour, a chemical engineer from Massachusetts, commissioned Rogers to design a home on Lake Osceola, which turned out to be the Andalusian-style masonry farmhouse that we see today. This home was not only cherished by Barbour, but by the community as well. Throughout its history, it has hosted garden club tours, symphony orchestra concerts, poetry social meetings and a dinner for author Sinclair Lewis.

In 2001, in order to prevent the house from demolition, Casa Feliz was moved across Interlachen Avenue to its present location on Park Avenue. This move was one of the most dramatic events in Winter Park's history. Casa Feliz was transported on 20 pneumatically levelled dollies, and an elaborate pulley system moved the house about 75 feet per hour. After the house was in position at its new location, skilled craftsmen worked on restoring it to its original 1933 condition. A special landscape design was commissioned to reflect the style of the era.

Today, Casa Feliz is available to rent for weddings, parties, business meetings and events. Its unique features provide the perfect backdrop for a truly memorable event.

As a centre of local culture, Winter Park also features three well-known museums:

- the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American art, which holds the world's most comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, including Tiffany’s 1893 Chapel. The museum also features paintings, furniture and other works primarily from the late 19th and 20th centuries.

- the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Garden: 3 acres of gardens, featuring sculptures and painters by Albin Polasek. The museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

- the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, which focuses on western world art of the 20th century and includes paintings, drawings, sculptures and other art from America and Europe. This museum is located at Rollins College, one of the top rated liberal arts colleges in the country.

The Winter Park Historical Museum examines various historic time periods, interchanging exhibits and rotating displays highlight some of the changes that have occurred in central Florida.

While I explored the town my husband actually played a round of golf at the 9-hole Winter Park Country Club, which is nestled beautifully inside Winter Park's historic neighbourhood. The WPCC is the second oldest golf club in the Central Florida area and makes its way through the downtown Winter Park area and provides a challenge to even the most experienced golfer. He enjoyed his outing, and a cost of $12, it was an extremely affordable outing on a well-maintained golf course.

We capped off our excursion with an enjoyable dinner at a restaurant called 310 Park Avenue, right on Winter Park's main strip. While a good portion of the Orlando area is very new, Winter Park is a welcome oasis of history and ambience that is perfect for a day of exploring.

For more information on Winter Park contact the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, www.winterpark.org.

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The Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour - Entertaining, Informative and a Visual Delight

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

The Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour - Entertaining, Informative and a Visual Delight

The Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour, founded in 1938 and located just 15 minutes north of downtown Orlando, is one of these lovely side trips that combine beautiful scenery, a bit of local history, some close-up exposure to local wildlife and vegetation with a relaxing outing in a slow-moving 18-passenger pontoon boat, all complete with expert (and sometimes humorous) narration provided by the boat's captain.

The tour takes you through 3 lakes: Lake Osceola, Lage Virginia and Lake Maitland. On this gorgeous day, with brilliantly blue skies, the boat whisked us past hundreds of beautiful water-front estates, many of which were originally built in the 1920s and originally sold for $20,000, while fetching between $500,000 and several million in today's booming Central Florida real estate market. Even boathouses are worth between $30,000 and $40,000.

In Lake Virginia we came up close to the grounds of Rollins College, one of the top rated private liberal arts colleges in the South Eastern United States, founded in 1885 by New England Congregationalists. Rollins College is the oldest recognized college in the state of Florida with a small student body of 1,700 students, housed on a beautiful 70 acre Mediterraean Revival Campus. Our expert captain / tour guide mentioned that tuition at the college is $38,000 and the ratio of students to professors is 12:1.

Condos are located right next to the college, selling today for between $450,000 to $1 million. As we approached the narrow Venetian Canal that would take us from Lake Virginia to Lake Maitland, our captain made us aware of all the interesting vegetation growing alongside the canal: Egyptian papyrus, Spanish moss (an airplant and not a parasite), the Princess flower, colourful bougainvilleas and resurrection fern. We saw a variety of birds, including an Osprey eagle, a snake bird, a great blue heron and a white egret, which used to be the good luck bird of the Seminole Indians.

On Lake Maitland we learned that there was an alligator cave from which 150 alligators were removed into the Florida Everglades to prevent a rather dangerous collision between local wildlife and civilization.

Along the Venetian Canal we also saw variegated ginger and banana trees, as we slowly passed under the arched Palmer Avenue Bridge. Philodendrons, palmgrass, bamboo, a plant called firespikes and an interesting arrangement of "air potatoes", round tubers hanging down from a tree branch, adorned our journey through the canal.

At 450 acres and 30 feet deep, Lake Maitland is the largest of the 3 lakes covered by the boat tour. A dam controls the water level and interestingly, the lakes all drain northwards into the St. John's River which flows into the Atlantic near Jacksonville. The Kraft Azalea Gardens, located on Lake Maitland on Alabama Drive off Palmer Avenue, feature thousands of azaleas, tropical shrubs and trees. Azaleas are in full bloom January through March.

Our expert captain also pointed out various mansions that have been used as backdrops in various movies and commercials. Lake Maitland also features several small islands with rather naked looking trees that house colonies of cormorants, fishing birds that consume up to a pound of fish a day.

We slowly made our way back from Lake Maitland to Lake Osceola where our relaxing and scenic boat tour came to an end. On this gorgeous day it was a fabulous outing that provided an appropriate historical context for a further exploration of the beautiful city of Winter Park.

The Scenic Boat Tour, a Winter Park institution for almost 70 years now, is located at the end of Morse Avenue on the shores of Lake Osceola. It is a very affordable outing at $8 for adults and $4 for children (children under 2 ride free). Boat tours run every day from 10 am to 4 pm (except Christmas). For further information contact the Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour.

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An Orlando Jewel: The Wells Built Museum of African American History and Culture

Monday, November 28, 2005

An Orlando Jewel: The Wells Built Museum of African American History and Culture

After I had received a general overview of the history of the Orlando area in the Orange County Regional History Center, I wanted to delve a little deeper into the social history of the Orlando area, and the Wells Built Museum of African American History and Culture was going to give me a more in-depth look into Orlando's African American history.

To this day this area west of I-4 is primarily inhabited by African Americans and the difference in housing and facilities between this area and the downtown area is quite notable. As a matter of fact, the very name "Division Street" points to a distinct historical line of demarcation between black and white residential areas.

The origins of the Wells Built Museum date back to a prominent local African physician by the name of Dr. William Monroe Wells who started building the Well's Built Hotel in 1926 to provide lodging to African Americans during an era of segregation when accommodations were not available to them in other areas of Central Florida.

Next door to the Wells' Built was once the South Street Casino, a performance hall, which featured musicians that traveled the 'Chitlin Circuit' performing for audiences all over the country. The hotel opened with three storefronts on the first floor and hotel rooms on the second floor.

Dr. William Monroe Wells was one of Orlando's first black physicians and came to the area in 1917. Born in Ft. Gaines, Georgia, in 1889, Dr. Wells completed his medical training at Meharry Medical College. During part of WWII, Dr. William Monroe Wells was the only African American physician in Orlando.

During segregation, white physicians did not treat African American patients. African American doctors, therefore, earned their money from people of their own race. He worked very hard to serve the growing African American population in Orlando. With the help of his assistant, Mrs. Josie Belle Jackson, Dr. Wells is known to have delivered over 5,000 babies in Orlando.

He treated patients who suffered from pneumonia, influenza, scarlet fever and other serious illnesses before drugs like penicillin were introduced. Many of Dr. Wells' patients were extremely poor. He treated their illnesses though they many times could not afford to pay his fee. This allowed them to speak forcefully against poor conditions that existed in the African American community without fear of losing their livelihood.

Although African Americans were taxpayers like other residents of Orlando, they did not have access to recreational facilities, good schools, police protection, health care and other services that were provided to white citizens. This led him to build the South Street Casino and the hotel next door.

Dr. Wells booked bands and other big name entertainers to perform at the South Street Casino. Many famous performers that we know today played at South Street Casino within the Chitlin Circuit. A few examples of these performers are:

- Ray Charles

- B.B. King

- Louis Armstrong

- Guitar Slim

- Bo Diddley

African Americans came from all over the surrounding areas to Orlando to shop and take in performances of popular musicians at the South Street Casino. After the performances at the casino, the artists checked in at the historic Wells' Built Hotel. In its heyday, the Wells' Built provided lodging for clientele such as Pegleg Bates, Ella Fitzgerald, Roy Campenella, Thurgood Marshall, and Jackie Robinson. The entertainers and athletes who frequented this establishment made it one of the most popular venues for African Americans in the South.

Today the museum features over 6,000 square feet of display space. It retains the original hotel facade, a guestroom featuring authentic furniture, beading and decorations of the 1930's, and also bears an original interior wall reflecting important architectural elements and designs unique to the period. Exhibition material collected for display include: official hotel documents, an original Negro League baseball jersey, photographs, artifacts, books, multi-media exhibits, slave records and other items of historic significance.

Dr. Well's home has been moved to the site of the Casino and will be restored and opened to the public. The Well's Built Museum of African American Culture and History is located just west of I-4 near Church Street at 511 West South Street, Orlando 32801, tel. (407) 245-7535.

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Orange County Regional History Center: A Great Introduction to Central Florida's History and Culture

Orange County Regional History Center: A Great Introduction to Central Florida's History and Culture

Exploring Orlando "Off the Beaten Path" has been the theme for our trip and I intend to explore the Central areas of the Sunshine State, and flush out all those unexpected and unconventional destinations in and around Orlando. In my discoveries of Orlando, I have been working closely with the Orlando Visitor and Convention Bureau, to get the input of local experts and work out an itinerary for our two weeks in Florida, without setting foot once into a theme park.

One of the first places they suggested was the Orange County Regional History Center, home to the varied and extensive collections of the Historical Society of Central Florida. Located in the heart of downtown Orlando in the beautifully restored five-story Orange County Courthouse, The History Center is continuously distinguished as the area's "Best Museum". When the History Center was built as a courthouse in 1927, the jail was on the top floor, with quarters for the jailer and his wife, an infirmary, and separate cellblocks for white women, white men, black women and black men.

With an exciting roster of ever-changing exhibits on display and travelling exhibits on loan to other facilities, The History Center is one of Central Florida's premier attractions. Members, educators and visitors alike find a wealth of fascinating information, delivered in dynamic fashion. From guided tours and "hands-on history" events to fun-packed summer camps and interactive children's programs, learning is fun for all ages. History Center members can take advantage of a number of special value-added benefits, including discounts and exclusive event opportunities. The stately facility is also available for event rentals, ranging from unparalleled conferences to unforgettable weddings.

The First People exhibit takes visitors back in time to see how Paleo-Indians lived in the days before European Contact. First Contact helps visitors imagine Native American's reaction and the changes in their lifestyles due to the arrival of the Spanish. A recreated early 19th century Seminole Settlement provides a look at artifacts of Florida's most famous tribe and a replica Florida Pioneer cabin lets curious guests test a Spanish moss-filled mattress and discover the much-discussed origin of the term "Florida Cracker".

Other permanent exhibits include Cattle and Citrus, Central Florida's first major industries, Tourism, Transportation, Real Estate, Aviation, the impact of Walt Disney, and Central Florida's African American community. From a replica World War II B-17 bomber and a two-story dome featuring over 150 unique Central Florida icons to the restored 1927 Courtroom B, and the outdoor Heritage Square courtyard, a wealth of fascinating sights and experiences awaits visitors to the History Center.

Our first stop in the museum was the Orientation Theatre. Set as a Florida back porch, you can relax in a rocker while being surrounded by the sights and sounds of Central Florida. Right after our introduction to Central Florida's history we had a chance to meet Shanon Larimer, spokesperson for the Museum, who gave us a great overview of this facility.

The exhibits feature many interactive displays and Shanon, our museum expert, indicated that new exhibits offering even more interactive features will be coming on stream shortly. We particularly enjoyed Courtroom B, an authentic courtroom that is part of this former Orange County Courthouse, with furnishings and decorations dating back to 1927. One of the benches in the front has an inscription "Ted Bundy", indicating this infamous criminal may indeed have been sitting here on this very wooden bench in the past. Bundy was in fact tried in the former Annex to the 1927 Orange County Courthouse, but historians still debate the authenticity of the signature. The seat backs of the prisoners' benches are all scuffed up with markings of the handcuffs that tied their hands behind their backs.

Shanon also showed us a very famous friendship doll that was given to the United States by the Japanese. Every year hundreds of visitors come from Japan and visit the History Center, with the specific intention of seeing this friendship doll.

The Historium gift store sells memorabilia, books and souvenirs while the Educational Program's office offers a wide range of programs and activities for children of all ages as well as tours, workshops and lectures for adults. Ongoing special events include a Third Thursday themed evening event and a Saturday morning Farmer's Market staged in the lush Heritage Square courtyard in front of the building.

Fortunately for visitors not just hungry for historical insights, there are ample dining opportunities right outside the Museum. Wall Street Plaza, which abuts the History Center, features eight bars and restaurants lining a brick-paved pedestrian sidewalk. Restaurants include the Wall Street Cantina serving Mexican fare, The Globe, a relaxed European-style café featuring both indoor and al fresco dining, and the new Waitiki Retro Tiki Lounge, offering the best in upscale island seafood.

From Too Jay's and Kress Chop House on Church Street, to cutting edge cuisine at The Bohème and sushi bar Ichiban on Orange Avenue, and from Sam Sneads and HUE on Central Boulevard to the Lake Eola Yacht Club, Lee's Lakeside and GondEola featuring candlelit dinners aboard a gondola on Lake Eola, History Center visitors are sure to find just the right meal to top off their museum experience.

Inspired by our discovery of the History Center we continued our learning experiences at the Well's Built Museum of African American History and Culture, followed up by a relaxing walk around Lake Eola, to take in a beautiful sunset. We capped off an intense day with a tasty Mexican Dinner on downtown Heritage Square. In one afternoon we managed to satisfy our desire for learning and our cravings for spicy Mexican food.

Conveniently located at 65 East Boulevard in the heart of downtown Orlando, the History Center is open Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday from 12 to 5 pm. General admission is $7, students with a valid student ID and seniors (60+) pay $6.50 and children ages 3 to 12 $3.50. Visitors receive two hours of FREE covered parking at the Orlando Public Library with paid admission (not valid for special events). Guided tours are offered on Saturdays at 11 am and included in the price of general admission. For more information visit www.thehistorycenter.org or call (407) 836-8500.

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Exploring Downtown Orlando - A Beautiful Walk Around Lake Eola

Monday, November 28, 2005

Exploring Downtown Orlando - A Beautiful Walk Around Lake Eola

After our interesting visits to the Orange County Regional History Center and the Well's Built Museum of African-American Culture and History, we decided to continue our explorations of downtown Orlando and its surrounding historic neighbourhoods. After driving through beautiful residential areas, framed by majestic oak trees adorned by Spanish Moss, we decided to take a stroll around beautiful Lake Eola, which is just minutes from downtown's Heritage Square, home of the Orange County Regional History Center, and every second, third and fourth Saturday of the month is also home to a lively farmer's market. By this time, the sun was starting to set and Lake Eola and the surrounding highrises were bathed in the golden hues of sunset.

Lake Eola is one of Orlando's more than 300 lakes and is surrounded by established residential areas and highrises ringing the downtown core. The park extends over 43 acres (17.2 hectares) and provides generous sidewalks around the lake on a 0.9 mile (1.4 km) loop around the water, which is enthusiastically used by walkers and joggers. The lake itself can be explored on paddle boats, and other facilities include a playground, a small outdoor cafe, gondola rides, and the Walt Disney Amphiteatre for special events.

Lake Eola is intricately connected with Orlando's history. Even the origin of the name Orlando may be connected to Lake Eola: the first European settlements in the Orlando area grew around an old army post: Fort Gatlin. According to one story, a U.S. soldier by the name of Orlando Reeves, was killed by an American Indian's arrow while on sentinel duty in what is today Lake Eola Park and may have given name to this town. Originally, Orlando had been called Jernigan after a Georgia settler, Aaron Jernigan, who settled in the area in 1843. The origin of the town's name Orlando is not certain, however: another popular story claims that a certain Judge Speer named the settlement after the Shakespeare Character "Orlando" in the play "As you Like it."

Be that as it may, the town was named "Orlando" in 1857 and was centered around the cotton and cattle industry. Demand for beef was fuelled by Cuba while cotton plantations thrived until the Civil War, which stole away the area's workforce, compounded by a devastating hurricane in 1873. "Orange fever" hit Central Florida in the 1870s, aided by the completion of the South Florida Railroad in 1880.

The Great Freeze of 1894 to 1895 destroyed Florida's citrus industry and it took 15 years to recover. Florida's citrus industry peaked in the 1950s with more then 80,000 acres (32,000 hectares) of plantations.

Orlando's first airport opened in 1922. Orlando also plays a significant role in the defense and aerospace industry: during World War II bomber pilots were trained here. A missile factory was built by in 1956 by a forerunner of the Lockheed Martin company, which still serves as the backbone of the area's technology industry today.

Tourism became Central Florida's main draw. From an early entertainment park in 1895, to the creation of the Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in 1936, the opening of Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom in 1971 really laid the foundations to Central Florida's tourism boom. Other Disney attractions followed, including Walt Disney World Resort, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studies, and Animal Kingdom. Universal Studios Florida opened in 1990, followed by Islands of Adventure in 1999 and Universal City Walk, an entertainment complex.

Indeed tourism is Central Florida's main industry today, with more than 50 million visitors annually and yearly revenues of $28 bllion. Tourism combined with high-tech and the citrus industry are the three dominating economic sectors in Central Florida.

After our walk around historic Lake Eola we strolled back into downtown and grabbed a table on the street patio of "Tijuana Flats", a Mexican restaurant located right on Heritage Square, and just one of many diverse kinds of eating establishments in the downtown core.

While savouring some tasty and very filling Mexican food, we watched the early evening street life in Orlando's downtown. We reflected on how different the downtown area is in comparison to the newer and very spread out tourist-oriented hotel and resort areas, which often seem rather devoid of character. Here in the downtown area you really get a feel for the history and the community that started developing in the first half of the 19th century. The downtown and Lake Eola areas, all of which are on an easily walkable scale, have a much more authentic ambience to them which we thoroughly enjoyed.

For more information about Orlando contact the Orlando Convention and Visitor Bureau. The Orlando Regional History Center can be found at www.thehistorycenter.org.

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60 Years After - Some Personal History Questions

November 25, 2005

60 Years After - Some Personal History Questions

My recent connection with Susanne Schleyer, a German photographer who has done several large-scale photo exhibitions, questioning Germany history, has reopened some of my own questions about history. As you know I was born in Austria, more than 20 years after the Second World War. I left my home country at the early age of 20 to come to Canada, and to be frank, when I was growing up I always felt like I was a bit of an outsider, a rebel who didn't quite fit in.

It is now 60 years after the end of World War II, one of the modern world's key historical events. My father was a key person in my own personal history, mostly because of his physical and emotional absence, and my absence of knowledge about him and his past. What I do know is that he was drafted at the age of 17, in 1941, that he was an ardent Nazi, and that he fought both on the East and West Front. I do know that my father remained a racist until the end of his life. Until 1994, when my father was on his death bed, I had never had a personal conversation with him, and even at that time I was unable to get any insights about his past or personal involvement in World War II.

This immediate personal connection to one of the most horrifying (if not the most horrifying) eras of human history has rummaged around in my subconscious for a long time. Even as a child I had a real interest in the Second World War, and particularly in the Holocaust. What has puzzled me for a long time is how could human beings, regular human beings from my own neck of the woods, go down these dark roads of inhumanity and evil.

The mass psychology of the Third Reich has always fascinated and scared me because many people seemed to have lost all vestiges of civility and turned into hateful obedient tools of death and destruction for Hitler's regime. That fact that Hitler was born in Austria, and that many of the top Nazis were from my home country, has fuelled my profound interest in this era. I can't help but feel a certain sense of shame and guilt for what the generation before me did.

The two key topics that have impacted me the most are the psychology of the victims and the psychology of the perpetrators. For many years I have been reading books written by survivors of the Holocaust, about the time after the Nazis came to power in 1933, the time before the war, the early years of WWII when some emigration was still possible, stories about the Jewish ghettos in Warsaw and Lodz, stories of emigrants living in exile all over the world, and stories of survivors who reported about the horrific crimes against humanity that were committed in the concentration camps. Most recently I have been reading survivor stories about how survivors coped after the War and rebuilt their lives, started families and tried fit into a normal existence again, despite all the trauma they had gone through that kept reappearing in their lives, even after liberation.

I have also read some interviews with perpetrators, about how many of them claimed that they were just following orders, that they had no choice but to obey these orders. That doesn't answer the questions for me why many of the perpetrators participated so ardently in some of the atrocities, as if they derived some sadistic pleasure out of these events. The key question for me is: how would I have reacted if I had lived in these times? Would I have stood up for some human principles? Or would I have quietly collaborated, turning a blind eye, trying to avoid unpleasant attention from the authorities? Or would I have been an opportunist, participating in whatever ways necessary to ensure my own personal gain?

The generation immediately before me, first and foremost represented by my own father, is a mystery to me. I strongly hesitate to say that people from my geographic area (Central and Eastern Europe, including Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine and neighbouring countries) have a propensity towards racism, since that in itself would be a prejudiced thing to say. In some of the recent books I also read that none of the other major world powers was particularly proactive in saving Central Europe's Jewish citizens from destruction by the Nazis. I think the antisemitism of that era was a much wider problem that manifested itself in the most horrific way under the Nazis..

However, the question remains, why is it so hard for us human beings to peacefully coexist? Why is it so hard for us to accept differences in religion, dress, customs and traditions? Why do we always have to judge other groups negatively that are different from ours?

I guess some of this is answered by basic behavioural science, that we always react to something that is unknown and different with fear and suspicion. Maybe our propensity to have prejudices is deeply rooted in our biological heredity of self-preservation.

Whatever it is, history is there to be learned from, and mistakes that were made should never be repeated. These questions have been tormenting me for a long time, and I don't have the answers. I have realized, however, that maybe as a response to the generation before me, I am going to try to be an advocate for diversity, for acceptance and tolerance, to make my own small contribution so we will never go down this road again.

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Celebrating Diversity

November 24, 2005

Celebrating Diversity

Those of you who are familiar with this website and know a little more about me know that I have had a profound interest in people from other cultures for a long time. Learning different languages naturally went hand in hand with this cultural curiosity.

Ever since I was a child I have tried to make a connection with people from other places, and my arrival in Toronto just over 19 years ago was one of the most eye-opening experiences I ever had, simply because all of a sudden I was dropped into this most multicultural of cities. Suddenly I was surrounded by people from all over the world - what an amazing change from my experience growing up in my ethnically homogeneous little country town in Austria.

Throughout the last 19 years in Toronto I have truly come to enjoy and embrace diversity, and in my full-time business, www.textronics.com, a language and translation services company, I have the opportunity to work with people from all over the world.

On November 18, 2005 Textronics organized a breakfast event which was themed “New Canadians – The Essential Business Asset”. We held this event jointly with Skills for Change, a well-known Toronto immigrant settlement organization that helps New Canadians find jobs and adjust to the Canadian workplace. This joint event was intended to recognize the great collaboration between Textronics and Skills for Change which has successfully placed a number of SfC-trained New Canadians with Textronics. The Toronto Board of Trade actually facilitated this connection when they put me at the same table at a networking luncheon last year with David Hughes, Administration Manager at Skills for Change, which gave me a chance to learn about this wonderful organization.

We also celebrated the fact that Textronics has been in business for 15 years, and the contribution of Textronics’ team members, most of whom are New Canadians and came to us through Skills for Change. Our team at Textronics today includes individuals from China, Russia, Pakistan, Mexico, Ethiopia and Austria, and our multi-lingual, multi-cultural workplace experience has become one of our key success factors.

After David's welcome, our breakfast event was kicked off by a humorous ice-breaking session presented by “Dr. Giggles”, Nelson Briceno from Skills for Change, who made us stretch, practice laughing and taught us some basic salsa moves. A nice way of waking people up on a cold November morning....

With an appropriately warmed up crowd, Jane Cullingworth from Skills for Change gave us an overview of SfC services, and Michael Small, co-founder of the IBM Visible Minority Council, emphasized the importance of integrating New Canadians into our workplaces. In light of recent events in Europe (i.e. the riots all over France) many of us realize the critical importance of successful immigrant integration.

Last but not least, the entire team at Textronics had a chance to speak about their immigrant experiences. Starting with myself, who came to Toronto from Europe more than 19 years ago, we continued with 4 other team members, Munira, Olga, Vanessa and Khurram, who have all been in Canada for a relatively short time. They all talked about the difficulties that immigrants generally face when they come to Toronto and want to enter the workforce. The importance of Skills for Change as an organization who makes this transition much smoother became plainly obvious in the light of these real-life experiences of these New Canadians.

The event was well attended by people from organizations such as the Royal Bank, IBM Canada, the City of Toronto, the Toronto Board of Trade, Rogers Communications, Alliance Atlantis Communications, CGA Ontario and many more. Telelatino, a local Latin television station, recorded the event and will feature it later this month. The positive feedback has encouraged us to look into additional ways of promoting newcomer talent and diversity in Toronto.

In addition to the economic and business-related contributions that my multi-cultural team makes to my company, just working with people from all different corners of the world has truly been one of the most enriching experiences of my life. We tell one another stories about our customs and traditions, we bring in foods from our home countries, we watch movies from one another's cultures, and I think all of us have learned a great deal from one another and we actually enjoy one another's company.

As you can imagine, this special breakfast event was an exciting experience for us, and I'll frankly admit it that all of us were quite nervous leading up to the event. The breakfast was a real success and these immigrant stories really touched the audience. So after all went well, last Saturday was a day for more celebrations. Our entire team got together and we went on a guided tour of the St. Lawrence Market with Bruce Bell, the famous Toronto historian. I had earlier gone on his tour and raved about it, and now my team members had a chance to experience the tour first hand.

Bruce is a regular contributor on this website and his tours are always special since Bruce conveys not just Toronto's political past, but also its social and human history in a very entertaining manner, combining his profound knowledge of history with his knack for comedy and the performing arts.

We started with the St. Lawrence Market and learned about its history and got to sample some delicious treats from the food vendors. St. Lawrence Hall was next on the program, and we later visited Toronto's first Post Office, one of the few buildings still left over from before Toronto's Great Fire of 1849. Our final stop was the famous St. James Cathedral where we actually bumped into the Anglican Bishop of Toronto.

We then capped off our outing with a driving tour of downtown, covering places like Old and New City Hall, Osgoode Hall, University Avenue, the Provincial Government Buildings at Queens Park, the University of Toronto Campus, Chinatown, Queen Street West, the Polish area on Roncesvalles, over to High Park, and then back along the Lakeshore to Toronto's Eastern Beaches.

Most of my team members have only been in Toronto for a relatively short period of time (in some cases less than a year), and I got the impression that they really enjoyed this outing, to learn more about their new home town. We will follow this discovery up with more tours next year where we all will get to explore our city and the local surrounding areas.

What we really learned from Bruce was that it's only been in the last 30 years or so that Toronto has developed into the open-minded, tolerant and cosmopolitan metropolis that it is today. The greater part of Toronto's history was characterized by strict societal divisions that separated people by class, religion, ethnic and economic background, even gender.

Last week was great, we got to celebrate 15 years in business, and a great collaboration with Skills for Change, an organization that makes such a difference in helping new immigrants integrate successfully, an organization so recognized for its expertise that it has received delegations from Sweden and Germany, to provide insight into its model of immigrant integration.

And to cap off this special week we got to celebrate Toronto and its history, and we all appreciated how lucky we are that we live in this day and age where we can all enjoy the freedoms and opportunities that surround us here in this special place.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com

Preview: Eliza Haddad, Lebanese-Canadian Film Producer, Sheds Light on the Children of Iraq

November 16, 2005

Preview: Eliza Haddad, Lebanese-Canadian Film Producer, Sheds Light on the Children of Iraq

I am discovering interesting people all around me. Eliza Haddad has been a client of my full-time business for a while now and I knew that she was involved in the film industry. During a recent work-related project I had a chance to see her film the "Lost Innocents", a intensely moving documentary about two children that have become bombing victims in the Iraq War.

Eliza is a freelance producer of film and television documentaries and drama. With eleven years experience, she was 2nd unit producer on the Alliance Atlantis Feature film "The Five Senses", has produced two dance films with Bravo Television and several documentaries with Vision TV and OMNI TV. Eliza’s interest is strongest in the realm of social and historical documentaries that leave huge emotional impressions on an audience. She has been a jury member for the HOT DOCS Film Festival, the Geminis and the Genies. She is currently in development on a feature-length theatrical release documentary and is preparing a drama series concept for development. In addition, she is a course instructor for emerging producers in documentaries for several artist-run centres.

"Lost Innocents: The Children of War" is a documentary that is very personal and close to her heart. A Lebanese Canadian, Eliza grew up during the war in Lebanon. For the past two years, she has wanted to make a documentary on the children of Iraq and how her experiences during the war might bring her closer to understanding these children and future that awaits them. “Lost Innocents” is a documentary that she is very proud of and one that has brought two very special Iraqi children into her life and her heart.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com

Presenting: Bruce Bell - Comedian, Actor, Playwright, Renowned Historian and Lover of Toronto

November 16, 2005

Presenting: Bruce Bell - Comedian, Actor, Playwright, Renowned Historian and Lover of Toronto

The work on this website continues to allow me to connect with all sorts of interesting people. Some time in September my brother called me from Austria and told me that he had read about this fellow - Bruce Bell - in a German travel magazine. Apparently he gives guided culinary tours of the St. Lawrence Market and my brother felt he was a really interesting individual.

Needless to say, the minute I hung up the phone with my brother I was on the Internet searching for "Bruce Bell", found his website www.brucebelltours.com, and dialed him up on the phone. Since then I have had a chance to go on Bruce's St. Lawrence Market tour and I have to say this tour really stirred an interest in Toronto's history in me. Bruce's tours are certainly unique and entertaining. I also found out that Bruce is the official historian of many historic buildings in Toronto, truly a recognized authority on Toronto history.

Because I enjoyed his tour so much I suggested to Bruce that we collaborate on a regular basis, which will give me an opportunity to sample his other tours while he has allowed me to republish some of his existing articles about Toronto and its history. Bruce covers some fantastic stuff, including the Distillery District, the Royal York Hotel, St. James Cathedral, the Gooderham Building - a.k.a. the Flatiron Building, Toronto Island and many more. His stories, as his tours, are informative and entertaining at the same time.

Of course I wanted to find out more about Bruce, a person who has carved a very unique niche for himself, essentially combining his expertise in Toronto's history with his performing arts background. So without further ado, let me introduce you to Bruce Bell.....

1. Please tell us about your background (I believe you grew up in exciting Sudbury....)

I was born and raised in Sudbury Ont where my dad worked for INCO as a nickel miner. Both he and my mom had a great love of history which I seem to have gotten from them. History was always my favorite subject in school; however at an early age I realized I wanted a career in showbusiness.

2. Please tell us why you decided to move to Toronto and what it was first like when you arrived.

I wanted to be an actor so during the summer of 1972 I took off with a friend to Toronto where I got a small walk on role in the movie CLASS OF ’44. I came back to Sudbury to finish high school but I was bitten by the acting bug so I left school and joined the Sudbury Theatre Centre and my professional stage debut in THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER that winter in 1972 at the age of 17. The following January I left Sudbury for good and moved back to Toronto.

3. You initially worked in Toronto as a busboy at the Famous Royal York Hotel. While there you also met a lot of celebrities. Please tell us about that time.

I arrived in Toronto in January 1973 and like thousands of people who came before me I hurried out of the cavernous Union Station onto Front Street with the taxi cabs lined up, the people hurrying to catch the 5:15, the vendors, the pigeons, the noise, the rush, the smells and the realization that I wasn’t in Sudbury anymore.

As I stood on the plaza waiting for a cab I also thought about where I should start looking for a job when I found myself staring up at the massive Royal York Hotel rising up from across and thought why not try and get a job there?

There was one job available that I felt I was pretty much suited for, busboy in the famed Imperial Room. During my year spent bussing tables in the opulent dinning room I also happened to ingratiate myself with some of the biggest stars in showbizness as they passed through on the lucrative supper club circuit.

I stood in awe (hidden behind the curtains because busboys weren’t allowed in the room during showtime) as Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennet, Duke Ellington, The Mills Bros, Peggy Lee, Cyd Charise, Count Bassie and the mesmerizing Marlene Dietrich performed in the vastness of the Imperial Room. I felt it was a once in a lifetime education to see these great entertainers in action and it has stayed with me my entire life.

4. You also worked as a stand-up comedian. Please tell us more about that time, what was it like, where did you perform?

After I left the Imperial Room I wanted to be in showbiz myself full time, not an easy thing to do I soon realized. I took a job as an usher at the Royal Alexandra Theatre where for the next couple of years I got to see some of the world’s greatest actors in action.

The most down to earth actor I met back in those heady days was, the legend herself, Katherine Hepburn. She would let me sit with her in her dressing room while she dabbed on what she called a necessary evil of showbiz - her make-up - and tell me stories of old Hollywood. But for all the great stars I was rubbing shoulders with it just made me want a life on the stage for myself. While working at the Alex I did manage a walk-on role in a production of Cinderella that just added fuel to my fire.

In the mid 1970’s I became friends with Mark Breslin who was starting up a comedy club called Yuk Yuks and asked if I would be interested in joining. While not a standup myself I loved comedy and together with a friend of mine Colleen Pierce we formed a comedy duo named BELL and PIERCE where for the next couple of years we performed all over Toronto, on TV, radio and even made a movie together : THE RISE AND FALL OF TONY TROUBLE, a satire of old Hollywood movies with me as fictional 40’s film star Tony Trouble. By the mid 1980’s I had branched out on my own and became a standup comic and started to do TV commercials to subsidize my income.

5. You have also been working as an actor and a playwright. Please tell us more about that.

As much as loved the world of standup by the late 1980’s I felt I wanted to branch out as my comic routines were more in the vein of long stories that I would act out so I decided to write another play. I had written a few plays earlier, including one based on the life of stage legends John Barrymore and Tallulah Bankhead and one that our movie THE RISE AND FALL OF TONY TROUBLE was based on.

I wrote I SLEPT WITH TONY TROUBLE in 1989 (as a sequel to the Rise and Fall) and became a great success on the fringe circuit her in Toronto and had productions in Edinburgh festival, Stratford, Vancouver and London, England. After that I wrote and produced a few more plays and in 2000 I won a Toronto Arts Council award for playwriting.

However, as much as loved acting, comedy and playwriting I felt the early passion I once felt was gone, and now I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing something that I loved. All my life I loved history and somehow I wanted to make a living writing about history, especially Toronto’s, for a living.

6. Furthermore, you write a history column about the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Community. How and why did you become such a history buff?

I moved to the St Lawrence neighbourhood in 1993 where I found myself smack dab in the middle of where Toronto started as the town of York way back in colonial times. I had been reading about our early history for years and now I actually was living in an area where it all began. In 1999 I began to submit stories to the St Lawrence Community Bulletin which was the main newspaper for people who lived downtown and from that a new career was born that combined my love of acting, writing, comedy and history all into one.

7. You seem to have a special love for Toronto. Why is that?

My love for Toronto began as a kid when we used to come down from Sudbury to visit the CNE every year. Even as a young child I had a fascination with this big beautiful city with its subway, skyscrapers and all theses people on the street! I think anyone coming from a small town to Toronto either is completely overwhelmed and wants to go back home or like me wants to stay.

8. What are some of your favorite historic Toronto places and stories?

I love Union Station and still to this day when a friend calls up and wants to meet for coffee or a walk around I always say lets meet in front of Union Station. Not only is it a beautiful building but its very vibrant. I think of Union Station not only as the gateway to our innercity but as the heart of Toronto.

I have a great affection for St Lawrence Hall also. It was there during the mid 1800’s that some of the world's greatest singers, speakers, dancers, actors, writers, politicians all came to entertain and inform Torontonians in a time before TV, radio, movies and the Internet.

The Great Hall is one of the only rooms left in Canada where all the Fathers of Confederation had met and during its day St Lawrence Hall was the scene of many anti slavery meetings denouncing the practice of slavery that America was fully entrenched in.

9. You are the official historian for a number of famous Toronto buildings, including the St. Lawrence Market, St. Lawrence Hall, the Hockey Hall of Fame and others. How did that come about?

As I began to write my regular column and delve into the past of some of our greatest architecturally treasures I came up with the idea of approaching the owners of these magnificent structures with the idea of making me their official historian as a way for me to become more involved in these buildings. Its strictly voluntary and makes for good stories when I do my tours.

10. Today you offer special tours of Toronto, such as the St. Lawrence Market Tour, the Distillery District Tour and the Toronto Art Deco Tour. Please tell us more about these tours.

I try and add a personal touch to my tours (hence my honourary historian titles) and some of my tour guests often comment jokingly that the tours are more often about me than the city itself. I like to combine my love of history with a bit of drama, making a tour with me a walk my guests are not likely to forget. I look upon the sites I visit as a stage set.

With the Distillery I like to tell of the Irish Imigrants who after fleeing the great famine back home in the 1850’s standing before the very gates we are now about to enter ourselves and thinking what they were thinking, a new start of life.

With my Art Deco tour I like to take my guest back to the roaring 1920’s when flappers decked out in furs would drive up to the bank in their sportscars and withdraw money for a night on the town, never thinking the big crash was just around the corner.

11. What's in store for Bruce Bell over the next few months and years?

My only goal in life professional speaking is to continue to do what I do for as long as I can. I have finally found something that not only is a passion of mine but a good way to make a living, telling stories about the greatest city on earth. Toronto.

Thank you Bruce, for telling us about yourself. We certainly share a love of this city and I look forward to sampling one of your other tours in the near future. All the best...

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com

A Great New Resource for Travellers to Toronto: The Toronto Greeter Program - "TAP into TO"

November 16, 2005

A Great New Resource for Travellers to Toronto: The Toronto Greeter Program - "TAP into TO"

I am a big proponent of Greeter Programs, i.e. programs that involve local volunteers who are coordinated by the city, then matched up with tourist who are looking for a personal tour of the city. Greeter Programs allow travellers to get to know the city through the eyes of a local resident and they are fabulous.

I have used Greeter Programs in New York City as well as in Chicago, and I recently found out that Toronto launched its own Greeter Program this summer. I had a chance to talk to Jamie Maxwell, Development Officer at the City of Toronto's tourism department, who filled me in on all the new convenient resources for tourists visiting Toronto.

1. The City of Toronto has recently launched a Greeter Program called "TAP into TO". Please tell us more about the program. What neighbourhoods are covered, what languages are offered? What is the format of a greeter tour?

TAP into TO! is a greeter program that is offered to visitors to Toronto free of charge. Visitors can either go online at www.toronto.ca/tapto or call us at 416-33-TAP-TO (338-2786) to register. Once they have given us their information (home address, Toronto address, preferred date, etc) we match the visitor with one of our greeters based on interests and neighbourhoods selected.

Our volunteer greeters will meet with the visitor in a public place to lead them on a 2 to 4 hour neighbourhood visit showing them “their” Toronto. The greeters are not commercial tour guides but rather, very enthusiastic individuals that love Toronto and want to show it off. We also want our visitors to feel good about our public transit system, so we provide them with round trip TTC fare while on a TAP into TO! program. People seem to really appreciate it and it does encourage them to use it for the rest of their stay.

We currently offer the program to visit 46 Toronto neighbourhoods in 13 different languages

2. Please tell us a bit about the history of this Greeter Program. How did it come about? Did you collaborate with any of the other existing greeter programs?

A few years ago, I was asked to look into similar programs to see what we could find out them. After a quick search on the internet and a few emails to some of the existing programs, I found that there were greeter programs in New York City, Melbourne, Australia, Chicago, and Adelaide, Australia. It was pretty clear to us that this is a dynamite program and one that we would love to offer to visitors to Toronto. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t any money available to launch such a program and the idea was shelved for a couple of years.

A grant from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation was offered to us in 2004 to establish TAP into TO! along with a mobile information centre and the opportunity to have a Toronto specific staff person at the Province’s Visitor Information Centre.

The other greeter programs were very helpful when it came to answering our many questions. We even had Mike and Rita from Adelaide Greeters stop into our office while they were on their North American vacation! They spent a couple of hours with us giving us a presentation about their program in Australia.

3. What training to the TO Greeters receive?

Well after going through the process of applying, being interviewed on the phone, going through a personal interview and having us check their references, our greeters go through a 4 hour training session that involves their role as a volunteer, effective communication, ensuring a memorable experience and the actual TAP into TO! program itself. It is very interactive and believe me there is never an issue with people not getting involved. Our greeters are the most outgoing group of people that I have ever met. The 61 greeters have been selected from over 200 people who have volunteered. More will be needed as demand grows.

4. The program is very new and has been in place officially since June of this year. Please tell us about your experience so far and the feedback that you have received from international travelers.

We have been delighted with the popularity of the program with both our greeters and visitors. I am also amazed at how many different people from so many different countries have found out about our program from their homes in the U.K., Australia, Peru, Germany, Israel, all over the U.S. and China to name a few.

I have also been very impressed with the feedback that we are getting from our visitors. Most express their disappointment that more cities do not offer this service (I am usually pretty quick to mention to them that including Toronto, they can find greeters willing to show them around in New York City, Chicago, Houston and Fairbanks in the United States, as well as Melbourne and Adelaide in Australia).

Some of the comments include:

“His in-depth knowledge, obvious love of, enthusiasm for, and interest in ‘his’ Toronto made our visit so much the richer….Once again, very many thanks for the wonderful introduction to Toronto, by your most affable ‘Greeter’ Ed.

“I think it’s a superb project. I really do. To meet a local who knows the neighbourhood and enjoy a stroll around downtown seems to me the ideal way to begin a stay in the city.”

“I would certainly recommend this program to anyone visiting for the first time. I was able to get a feel for the different neighborhoods and see places I would most likely not have found or ventured off to on my own.”

Probably the biggest challenge to date has been a request for a greeter from a woman and her 3 year old son. Sounds pretty average, until I discovered that the TAP into TO! experience was for the son, not the mother. Most requests are for the parents and the children get to tag along. Not this time. This time the parent got to tag along visiting some kid centered places off the beaten path. Apparently the three of them had a great time!

5. What makes this Greeter Program unique and different from other programs?

I’m not sure how our program is different than the others since we really learned much from them. I do know that we provide a package of information to the visitor for their use during the rest of their stay. This includes a map of Toronto’s underground PATH, a map of the TTC (our public transit system), a list of events occurring while they are in town, a list of professional tour companies, a general reference guide to Toronto (emergency numbers, tipping guidelines, getting around, etc), a list of attractions in the city, a map of Toronto, etc. I am unsure if the other programs do this.

6. How do I go about booking a Toronto greeter for my vacation?

People generally fill in the on-line application form that is found at our website, www.toronto.ca/tapto . However there have been a couple of people who have called in their request and even one gentleman who made his way to my office at City Hall. I was really pleased when I was able to take his information in the morning only to send him out that afternoon with a greeter. It doesn’t happen like that every time however as we usually need at least a week to find a greeter and the more lead time given, the better.

7. Please tell us about Toronto Mobile Ambassador Program (MAP).

MAP TO is another exciting initiative that we will be launching in the Summer of 2006. During the busier tourist months the MAP TO vehicle will be traveling to large festivals, street corners, special events (anywhere there is a large number of tourists) to provide brochures and other visitor information that is usually only available at tourist information centres in buildings or at Toronto hotels. We are hoping that this will encourage visitors to see what else there is to do while they are already making their way around town.

8. Please tell us more about the tourism resources located at the Atrium on Bay.

The Province of Ontario operates a number of Tourist Information Centres around the province. The Toronto location is located at the Atrium on Bay and is a great resource for all information relating to Ontario. Thanks to the grant provided to us we were able to hire 4 Toronto information staff to be on hand in this office during the summer months. It was a great success and has encouraged us to examine finding additional locations for the future.

9. Toronto also has a new "wayfinding system" called InfoToGo and the newly developed pocket map. Please tell us more about this new resource for tourists.

InfoTOGo is a great new visitor wayfinding system. The unique design of the InfoTOgo pillar, inspired by the architecture of City Hall, includes wayfinding maps specifically designed for each area of the City that you will find the pillars. . Highlighted on each map are the key sites of interest, historical locations, public transit and area descriptions. A built in, coin operated system dispenses a pocket-sized, fold-out, full colour Toronto map. Many units also provide free information through a push-button audio system. Currently there are 24 information pillars in various Toronto neighbourhoods.

The maps are really handy as well. For $2.00 you get a pocket-sized, fold-out, full colour Toronto Map. One side of the map features an enlargement of the downtown core, while the reverse illustrates the City as a whole. Key attractions, transit routes and other useful information for visitors is also provided.

10. Please tell us about some of the major events coming up over the winter (e.g. Cavalcade of Lights, Winterlicious, etc.).

Beginning at the end of November, the City’s 39th annual Cavalcade of Lights will be launched at Toronto City Hall and throughout the city. At Nathan Phillips Square there will be skating, Saturday night fireworks, Toronto’s Official Christmas Tree, lighting displays, City TV’s traditional New Years Eve bash. Also going on in 14 Toronto neighbourhoods there are energy efficient lighting displays each designed to fit the theme of the neighbourhood. There is also a bus in operation to take you to the various neighbourhoods so you can shop during the day and visit the lights at night.

Of course there are many other events relating to the holidays happening all over the city. A really good source of what’s happening can be found at www.toronto.ca/special_events or by calling 416-338-0338.

And just as you are getting over the Cavalcade of Lights, you will find that at the end of January, you get to celebrate winter all over again with the Toronto WinterCity Festival and Winterlicious. For 14 days starting January 27, 2006, there is a series of world and North American premiere performances by internationally renowned theatre troupes to the streets of Toronto. The WinterCity passport offers discount admissions to over 40 Toronto attractions. Probably everybody’s favourite part to all of this is the Winterlicious culinary offer, where with fine cuisine and great value are offered at 120 of Toronto's top dining establishments. But sign up early since it is a seasonal favourite. Again, going to www.toronto.ca/special_events or by calling 416-338-0338 will tell you all you need to know.

Thank you, Jamie, for sharing this information with us. I am sure out-of-town travellers will find this information very helpful.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com

T.O. History Revisited - The Gooderham Building and Its Surrounding Area, by Bruce Bell

November 15, 2005

T.O. History Revisited - The Gooderham Building and Its Surrounding Area
By Bruce Bell

Bruce Bell is the history columnist for the Bulletin, Canada’s largest community newspaper. He sits on the board of the Town of York Historical Society and is the author of two books ‘Amazing Tales of St. Lawrence Neighbourhood’ and ‘TORONTO: A Pictorial Celebration’. He is also the Official Tour Guide of St Lawrence Market. For more info visit brucebelltours.com

This summer tourists from around the world will once again stand on the Front Street meridian and snap a thousand pictures of the historic Gooderham Building framed within the stunning skyline of a modern day Toronto. I often wonder how many of these photos I end up in as I cross the street just as one of those tourists is snapping their camera.

Arguably it’s the most photographed building in Toronto and because it’s well over a hundred years old it shows up in practically every book ever written on this city in the past century. Built in 1891 (it pre-dates New York’s more famous Flatiron building by 10 years) it has come to symbolize the defiance of 1960’s Urban Renewal by its very existence, standing proudly at the apex of Church, Wellington and Front like the bow of some great ship.

To us it’s always been there, but for a hundred years prior to its construction the building that at one time stood there was to the people who once called this area home just as important and historic to them as the Gooderham is to us.

Around 1800 Church Street was considered the outskirts of town and Wellington, then called Market Street, was an access road for farmers coming into the town to sell their produce at the Market. The only other reason to come out this far would be to visit Coopers wharf that lay at the foot of Church Street just south of Front to collect your mail, say good-byes to old friends or shop at the first general store in York that once stood on its massive wooden pylons. The only other major structures in the area were Chief Judge Scott’s home at Scott (named after him naturally) and Front Streets and York’s first jail where the King Edward Hotel now stands.

In 1820 Peter MacDougall, a French Canadian of Scottish descent, arrived in York and built a small farmhouse on the corner of what would later become Church and Wellington where Pizza-Pizza now stands. The land was once owned by the Attorney General John Macdonell, the aide de-camp to General Isaac Brock who died at his side during the War of 1812 at the bloodbath at Queenston Heights.

As I wander around Church and Wellington Streets today I can’t help wondering did Macdonell as he lay dying on the battlefield ever think of this same corner in his beloved York with the hope of one day retuning and building a home for himself. The land was passed on to his nephew, James on the condition that he change from being a Catholic to becoming an Anglican and it was he who in turn leased it to Peter MacDougall.

In 1829 the house was remodeled by John Brown and turned into a hotel named Ontario House. In a local newspaper article written that year it says“On the corner of Church Street stands The Ontario House, a hotel built in a style common then at the Falls of Niagara and in the United States. A row of lofty pillars, well grown pines in fact, stripped and smoothly planed, reached from the ground to the eaves and supported two ties of galleries which, running behind the columns, did not interrupt their vertical lines.”

In 1845 the Ontario House was taken over by Russell Inglis and renamed The Wellington. As a boy while working in a restaurant in Scotland, Inglis waited on novelist Sir Walter Scott (Ivanhoe) and would later retell conversations he had with the famed Scotsman to his enthralled patrons. The hotel prospered because the area was now a stage couch terminus and in order to supply enough rooms for his over night guests he annexed the Coffin Block across the street.

The Coffin Block, named because it looked like a coffin, stood were our present day Gooderham stands today at the apex of Front, Church and Wellington streets. It was 3 stories high, topped off with a with a flat roof, and in its basement was where people booked travel by stage coach to various parts of Upper Canada- places that had roads of course. This was Union Station before there were trains.

In 1816 it took four days to reach Niagara Falls by stage coach.An advertisement dated September 20th 1816 states “A stage will commence running between York and Niagara: it will leave York every Monday, and arrive at Niagara on Thursday; and leave Queenston every Friday. The baggage is to be considered at the risk of the owner, and the fare to be paid in advance.”

In 1835 the basement operation became the headquarters to the William Weller (of Colbourg) Stagecoach Company. He operated a line of stages from here to Hamilton known as the Telegraph Line. In an advertisement he tells his passengers that he will ‘take them through by daylight on the Lake Road, during the winter season’.

Exactly 170 years ago, on June 19th 1832, something truly horrific happened in front of where the Flatiron stands today when a gentleman was found lying on the wooden sidewalk gasping for breath. Within a few hours he would be dead from Cholera. It soon began to spread rapidly and by the end of the summer a quarter of York’s population was either dead, dying or extremely sick.

Across from the hotel was the notorious Henrietta Lane. Long gone, this laneway ran from Wellington up to Colborne Street where Gooderham Court, the condo complex now stands. Notorious because the street was filled with brothels, it was also ground zero for the first Cholera epidemic. Not surprising considering it was just steps away from the harbour.

Next to Henrietta lane was John Grantham’s livery stable and behind that in the Big Field, as it was known, was the winter quarters of George Bernard’s Circus. All that muck, horse manure and mosquitoes were the perfect breeding ground for a disease that not only was wiping out our local population, but what began a year before in India was now spreading across the world. It would be years before they figured out that cleanliness was paramount to healthy living, and until then York and the rest of the earth continued to suffer through these outbreaks.

By the 1840’s the area surrounding the Coffin Block had the look and feel of a wild-west town complete with saloons, prostitutes, wooden sidewalks and horses stuck in the mud. The area was so abundant with mud, partly due to the closeness of Lake Ontario with its waters constantly washing ashore, that the nickname Muddy York came into being.

It never ceases to amaze me, but going to school in Sudbury as I did, the term Muddy York together with Hog-town was probably all I was ever taught about what one day would become my ultimate obsession- the history of York and its people.

If that first Cholera epidemic a decade before was seen as horrific then the event that happened in front of the Coffin Block on December 28 1841 was nothing short of wondrous. It was on that spot that Toronto emerged from the dark ages when we lit our first gas street lamp. This new-fangled gadget brought Toronto into the gas age and for the first time people were walking around at night under the fuzzy glow of this marvelous invention.

Before street lamps were installed going out at night was a dangerous occupation. Even today at night when just a few street lamps go out at once the effect can be a bit frightening. The gas for this new invention, made from coal, was supplied by Charles Berczy, son of William (Berczy Park is named for them), and his company would eventually grow and become Consumers Gas.

In 1860 Russell Inglis died and his hotel, the one time famed Ontario House and now known as the Wellington was demolished. In 1862 the site (now Pizza-Pizza) became the headquarters to the Bank of Toronto. When built the bank was the most sophisticated and luxurious building in the city and if it were still standing today would easily rival the Flatiron for the attention of the tourist’s camera and no wonder they were both built for the same man, George Gooderham whose family owned Gooderham and Worts distillery.

In 1832 George’s father, William Gooderham, arriving from Yorkshire; brought with him money and 54 family members to help his brother-in-law James who arrived a year earlier expand his bakery business at Parliament and Mill Sts, to be known then as Worts and Gooderham.

In 1834 James Worts, despondent over the death of his wife in childbirth, committed suicide. William Gooderham, together with his 7 sons (his 6 daughters, like other well-bred women of the 19th century, were not encouraged to work) and the nephews left orphaned after the death of his sister and James, took control of the factory and re-named it Gooderham and Worts. The 'Worts' in the name of the factory is not named for James Sr. but for his eldest son, James Gooderham Worts, who took over his fathers' side of the business.

In 1837 the company began distilling the wheat by-products into booze for a thirsty city. Toronto for all it's soon to be Victorian idealism and demeanor was a saloon-laden town with a tavern for every 100 people. Beer was drunk then, like water is today. Mothers fed their babies beer, kids drank beer openly in the streets, magistrates and clergy drank on the job and no wonder, water then was filthy and tasted horrible.

Dead horses, cats, dogs, manure and daily garbage were thrown onto the ice of Lake Ontario and when the ice melted, the sewage would sink into the lake where upon people would drink the stuff untreated. That in turn led to the aforementioned cholera outbreaks, killing thousands. Beer seemed a nice alternative to death.

And the Gooderhams were becoming experts at making good tasting beer and alcohol as well as extremely wealthy and in 1859 they undertook a massive building project. Under the supervision of architect David Roberts Sr., five hundred men worked on the construction of what are today the oldest standing sections of the Gooderham and Worts Distillery at Parliament and Cherry streets.

Using four massive lake schooners to move stone from Kingston quarries the factory’s main building, the still standing gristmill, was finished in 1860 at a cost of a then staggering sum of 25,000 dollars, making it the most expensive building project in Toronto at the time.

In 1843 William Gooderham, built the Little Trinity Church on King E because at the time St. James Cathedral at King and Church used to charge a pews fee and many working class Anglicans couldn't afford to pay it. As their fortunes grew the Gooderhams beginning in 1885 started to build worker-cottages on Trinity and Sackville Streets (still standing) but for all their wealth and power they continued to live amongst their workers in a house, now demolished, on the NW corner of Trinity and Mill Streets.

In the late 1800's as Toronto was becoming more class conscious and the dividing lines between commercial and residential areas became more defined, George Gooderham, son of William, who had now taken over the family business, built for himself an impressive mansion (still standing) in the fashionable Annex area on the NE corner of Bloor and St. George in 1889.

George, now in full control of the family business, developed it into a financial and commercial empire becoming not only the richest man in Toronto but in all of Ontario. As the distillery flourished he enlarged its facilities and began to expand his own interests that included the Toronto and Nipissing Railroad, Manufactures’ Life Insurance and philanthropic enterprises like U of T and The Toronto General Hospital.

In 1882 George became the president of The Bank of Toronto (forerunner to The TD) and built as the head office the grand Bank of Toronto building on the corner of Front and Church where now Pizza-Pizza stands and where Russell Inglis’s Ontario House Hotel once stood. In 1884 George, needing more room as his offices in his Venetian inspired bank building were becoming overcrowded, he erected a three-story office building next door.

Today the site of that long demolished building, which was almost as opulent as the bank, is now part of the L-shaped condo complex Gooderham Court whose main entrance is on Church Street.

By 1890 that too was getting crowded so what he needed was not only more office space but a building that was to stand out in a sea of magnificent structures that once graced our streets. In 1891 he commissioned David Roberts Jr., the son of the architect who had built the distillery, to erect the Gooderham Building the last remnant of the Imperial City at a cost of an astonishing $18,000.

There, on the fifth floor, underneath the green cone-shaped cupola, he set himself up in an office that overlooked not only the busy intersection below but also everything and everyone he held command of including his soon to be finished King Edward Hotel.

From his ships in the Harbour to his trains on the Esplanade to his Distillery in the distance to his employees at the bank all were within sight of the original Big Brother. Then he had commissioned, what was to become one of the great legends of our neighbourhood, a tunnel to pass underneath Wellington Street to connect with his Bank of Toronto.

When he died on May 1st 1905 his funeral at St. James Cathedral, against his last wishes for a small affair, was one of the largest the city had seen. He was a great benefactor, builder and much loved man to the people of Toronto who lined the streets to show their respect as his cortege made its way to St. James Cemetery.

After his death the Bank of Toronto began to plan a move into what is regarded the most beautiful building Toronto ever knew, its new headquarters on the corner of King and Bay in 1913, itself demolished in 1960 and replaced with the equally stunning TD Center. (A scale model of that monumental building complete with its 21 Corinthian columns can be seen under glass in the TD Center’s main banking hall and out at the Guildwood Inn in Scarborough standing like an ancient Greek theater its impressive King Street entrance has been preserved).

When the army of bulldozers swept through the old downtown core centering around Church and Front Sts. in the late 1950’s and early 60’s, one of the first gemstones to be eradicated from the scene was Mr. Gooderham banking palace which by then had become a records center covered with a century of soot and grime.

It was replaced by what was seen at the time as an award winning design. The little TD bank that still stands in part and converted into the Pizza Pizza was, when I first saw it, one of my favorite small buildings in the city, until of course I saw pictures of what was demolished to make way for it.

In 1920 the distillery founded by the famous Mr. Gooderham as he was commonly known and by the tragic Mr. Worts was bought by the Hiram Walker Company and continued to operate up until the 1990’s.

In 1957 the Gooderham estate sold their namesake Flatiron building to Velco investments who in turn sold it to David and Thomas Walsh for 600,000 dollars in 1973. It was they who saved the Flatiron from demolition as everything else around it was being eradicated off the face of the earth by giving it a much needed half a million dollar overhaul. In November of 1975 the Gooderham building was finally designated a Historic site. In 1998 Michael and Anne Tippin took control and once again the Gooderham underwent a painstaking restoration.

The Gooderham Building today has people lined up around the block to take a peak inside as we witnessed during the latest Doors Open which the Tippins also co-chair. I can’t help thinking that 40 years ago we were in such a hurry to live like the Jetson’s we had to destroy anything that got in our way as we sped towards the future.

There really is not much left from Toronto’s Golden Age of Architecture when industrial titans like George Gooderham would spare no expense to build what they hoped would be lasting monuments.

Now that the future is here, our wish is for why couldn’t we have saved and preserved more of these beautiful treasures. I love looking at the Gooderham when fog has blanketed the modern gleaming city built behind it. Its then you get a glimpse of what it once must have looked like when first built, standing magnificently alone its stature fully appreciated.

The haze might disappoint the tourist, but not me.

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T.O. History Revisited - The Most Haunted Corner in Toronto? Sherbourne and Adelaide,by Bruce Bell

November 15, 2005

T.O. History Revisited - The Most Haunted Corner in Toronto? Sherbourne and Adelaide,by Bruce Bell

Bruce Bell is the history columnist for the Bulletin, Canada’s largest community newspaper. He sits on the board of the Town of York Historical Society and is the author of two books ‘Amazing Tales of St. Lawrence Neighbourhood’ and ‘TORONTO: A Pictorial Celebration’. He is also the Official Tour Guide of St Lawrence Market. For more info visit brucebelltours.com

The building on the southeast corner of Sherbourne and Adelaide exists today because it had the fortitude to adapt to the times. Or, it was just plain lucky.At present it’s totally unrecognizable but underneath all that red paint and patchy brickwork sits a fine Georgian house first built in 1842 by blacksmith extrordinare, Paul Bishop.

He built his house upon the foundations of one of the most famous manor homes of old York and consequently it now occupies some of the most historic land in the city. Paul Bishop’s house went on to miraculously survive the Great Fire of 1849, the onslaught of the Industrial Revolution and the horrors of the 1960’s Urban Renewal. Now thanks to Camrost-Felcorp Developers who have assured me that this historic house will be restored back to its early 19th century splendor as part of their new development of the north east section of King and Sherbourne to be known as Kings Court.

In 1793, the year of our European founding, what was to become the south east corner of Sherbourne and Adelaide was still part of a great forest. There was a small stream running into Lake Ontario which then came up as far as Front Street and the only buildings in the area were a few canvas and wooden huts hastily set up by the Queens Rangers in preparation of Gov. Simcoe’s arrival. In 1798 one of those Queens Rangers, William Jarvis, having liked this corner of the new capital of Upper Canada, now called York, so much that he built a small villa on what would become the four corners of Sherbourne and Adelaide and named it Jarvis House after himself, naturally.

The house built of squared logs was 30 by 41 feet had 2 floors and was covered with clap-boarding. The only major exterior detailing being a fanlight over the front door. William, the Provincial Secretary and Registrar from before Simcoe’s arrival in 1793 until his death in 1818, decided not to spend too much money on the outside in case he was forced to sell if the capital was to move to London.

The house sat on 2 acres spread over the entire Sherbourne and Adelaide area. The estate held 2 barns, a root-house, a stable, a chicken coup and, like the rest of our well to do founding fathers, had slave quarters built to house the six people he owned.

After William Jarvis died in 1817 his son cut the house and grounds into smaller sections. The house itself was taken over by a man named Lee who turned it into a restaurant and billiard room and added a small addition. In 1821 James Padfield rented a portion of the building and started a school.

When the school was disbanded in 1824, Isaac Columbus took possession of the property and converted one part into workshops and the rest into his home.Isaac, a native of France, made swords and guns for our side during the War of 1812 at his forge near Fort York. Described as a ‘real character’ by 19th century historian Henry Scadding, he remembers telling Columbus that a specific item must be ready by a particular hour. Columbus staring him down with a terrifying glare reminded Scadding that only the King of France can use the term 'must'.

Isaac hated the liberals of early Toronto because he believed that modern ideas ‘hindered the King from acting as a good father to his people’. In 1832 Isaac moves out and James Kidd moves in. It was during this time that the Jarvis House, as it was still known, became famous for unearthly reasons.

During the Cholera epidemics of the 1830’s several people died in the house including a few by suicide. Room after room wase now being sealed shut to prevent its spread. Townsfolk began to talk. ‘There’s something not right at the old Jarvis House’.

One dark and stormy night Mr. Kidd hears unnatural noises coming from Secretary Jarvis office, boarded up ever since it was believed to be haunted. So with a pistol in one hand, a crow bar in the other and lightning striking a ghostly silhouette upon the wall, James Kidd begins to pry open the door, but as he does the noises stop.In an age when Frankenstein-the novel was a huge hit stories like this had a life all their own. A few days later a man by the name of Baxter arrives to spend the night at Jarvis house. Mr. Kidd hoping to solve the mystery assigned Baxter the haunted room.

During the night, it is recorded that ‘sounds of fury and noises never heard on this earth’ emanated from the haunted room. The next morning a haggard Mr. Baxter appears at breakfast with suitcase in hand telling all present “I will never pass another night in that room, let alone this house, Good day”. Some believed the apparition might have been that of John Ridout who was shot and killed in a duel by Samuel Jarvis, son of William, in 1817. To this day many believe his spirit, whose family had an estate next door, still floats about the Sherbourne and Adelaide area in search of his grave. Oh yea I forgot to tell you, both families had private burial grounds in their back yards.

In 1842 James Kidd sells the house to Paul Bishop on the condition that he be allowed to live there until he dies. He dies a year later and in 1848 Paul Bishop tears down the old Jarvis house and builds upon the foundations the structure that still stands, in part, today.

Bishop, a French Canadian whose real name L’Eveque meaning ‘the Bishop’ was Anglicized upon his arrival in Upper Canada, established himself as a 1st class blacksmith, locksmith and wheel maker, was also the son in law of previous owner Isaac Columbus. Before taking ownership Bishop had his workshop across the street on the northeast corner (today the site of the Jazz giant Montreal Bistro) where in 1837 something truly historic happen.

A few years before in 1834, the year of incorporation, Thornton Blackburn came from the United States and found employment working as a waiter in Osgoode Hall. In 1837 and always the inventive sort, Mr. Blackburn took a pattern of a horse drawn taxicab known then only to Montreal and London UK to Paul Bishops workshop. It was there in his shed that Mr. Bishop built for Mr. Blackburn the first horse drawn taxicab in Upper Canada. At a time when the United States, the land of the free-home of the brave, were still torturing and enslaving a tenth of their population, we here in Toronto had as our first taxicab owner a run-away American slave. The foundations of the house that Thornton and his wife Lucie lived in for over 50 years on Eastern Ave near Cherry street which served as a stop on the Underground railroad have been recently been found and preserved.

In 1860 Paul Bishop, having built the house he lived in for almost 30 years, left town and disappeared from our history books. The house then came under the possession of Thomas Dennie Harris. In his time he was one of leading merchants of the city, chief engineer of the fire brigade from 1838 to 1841 and harbour master from 1870 to 1872. Between 1841 and 1864 he was a warden of St. James’ Church. Harris owned a hardware store since 1829 around the corner at 124 King east, but it was destroyed during the Great Fire of 1849. Harris died in 1872 and with the encroachment of the Industrial Revolution upon this end of town the end was near for his home too. The small yard and fence that surrounded the house were torn up, as were the trees. Ironic because as warden of St. James one of Mr. Harris’s duties was to protect the poplar trees that surrounded the church at the time.

The great estates of the neighbourhood like the massive Moss Park (a story unto itself) up the street, the Ridout homestead next door and Russell Abbey down the street were being divided up and eventually demolished.

The area once part of a great forest was to become for the next 100 years a polluted industrialized zone. The historic house at Sherbourne and Adelaide was stripped bare of its interior ornamentation, it’s windows bricked up, new doors were smashed through, its chimneys the very essence of its Georgian appeal though still standing were built upon and the grand memories of its former days just faded away. For the next 10 decades it became everything from a machine shop to a garage to a flophouse. But it still stands and unlike its neighbours will return from the ashes to remind us all of our glorious past.

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