Last Saturday morning, Wendy and I made our way up to the Christie Pits area of Bloor Street. The Christie Pits were once sand pits that were excavated to make this or that...out of sand...I suppose. Now they are an area of ball diamonds, grassy slopes and parkland. It wasn't always so tranquil (from Wikipedia):
On August 16, 1933, Christie Pits was the scene of a six-hour riot, mostly between the Anglo-Canadian Pit Gang (also called the Swastika-Club) and the a group of young men and boys, who were mostly Jewish with some Italians and Ukrainians, who were not a gang, but sometimes were incorrectly referred to as the Spadina Avenue Gang.[5] One of the baseball diamonds was being used for a series of softball games between two local amateur teams, one of which predominantly consisted of Jewish players. Two nights earlier, at the first game of the series, there had been a display of a swastika and police were warned that there could be trouble at the second game. Those warnings were ignored, and after the second game, a blanket with a large swastika painted on it was displayed by members of the Pit Gang. The Jewish youths at the game responded to the display, supporters of both sides poured in from the surrounding streets and a riot ensued.[6] The Toronto Daily Star captured the event the next day,
"While groups of Jewish and Gentile youths wielded fists and clubs in a series of violent scraps for possession of a white flag bearing a swastika symbol at Willowvale Park last night, a crowd of more than 10,000 citizens, excited by cries of ‘Heil Hitler’ became suddenly a disorderly mob and surged wildly about the park and surrounding streets, trying to gain a view of the actual combatants, which soon developed in violence and intensity of racial feeling into one of the worst free-for-alls ever seen in the city. Scores were injured, many requiring medical and hospital attention…. Heads were opened, eyes blackened and bodies thumped and battered as literally dozens of persons, young or old, many of them non-combatant spectators, were injured more or less seriously by a variety of ugly weapons in the hands of wild-eyed and irresponsible young hoodlums, both Jewish and Gentile".
That pretty covers the racism portion of my blog, wot wot? Let's lighten things up and talk about execution, generosity and book smarts. As I mentioned, Wendy and I made our way up Grace Street from Harbord to Bloor. Along the way we were stopped dead in our tracks by what appeared to be a mailbox, but it wasn't a mailbox. It was Toronto's smallest outdoor lending library!
On the front 'lawn' of this particular house was a cottage-shaped box with a glass door and a shingled roof. It was thoughtfully made (execution), full of books (smart) and there for the neighbours to enjoy (generous). The happily cursive sign on the outside said 'hello neighbours...borrow, read, return'.
Life is full of 'feel good' moments, and this was definitely one of them. What could you do in your life to make your neighbourhood a better place to live? Even a small gesture can have a big impact. This little library was, in many ways, bigger than the Metropolitan Toronto Library on Yonge Street.
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