We’ve shared recent stories about Long Branch (Toronto not New Jersey) in the 1930s

I send out a message about once a week to an email distribution list, which I set up around November 2010 at the start of the Parkview School project, which I became involved in by happenstance.

Email distribution list

Sometimes the message is sent out once a week, sometimes more, and sometimes less.

Contact me if you’d like to be on the list. I keep a manual version of the list, storing the email addresses in Microsoft Word. It’s a more personalized list than an automated list, which can also be a great way to organize such an email distribution system.

People contact me directly when they want to get onto the list, or if they want to be removed from it.

Below is the text of the most recent message to the email distribution list

Good morning

My newsletter is at:
http://preservedstories.com/category/newsletter

Highlights include:

1. Details for your interest about life in Long Branch in the 1930s:

(a)  Interview with Bernice Law (nee Butterfield), who grew up in Long Branch in the 1930s
Bernice Law mentions that a popular 1930s Long Branch policemen named Maloney had a blacksmith shop that children enjoyed visiting.

(b)  1905 survey map shows buildings at Colonel Samuel Smith homestead site
Jim Bray recalls details about the Samuel Smith house.

(c)  Long Branch was a great place to be an adolescent, Alistair Thomson reports
The Smith cabin was built in 1797; extensions and siding were added later. As Alistair Thomson mentions, heavy equipment was brought in to complete the demolition of the house, which took place in 1955.

Additional great stories can be found in the Comments at:
A Long Branch resident passed along to Barry Kemp this photo of the Eastwood Park Hotel

2. Details about lost streams and other topics can be found here:
Resources related to lost rivers and streams in Toronto

I have a interest in lost streams because I grew up playing on what is now a lost creek in Montreal.

3. How to use the Toronto District School Board’s virtual library – Oct. 22, 2013

4. Humber Bay Shores Residents are sponsoring a town hall meeting (e.g. regarding Mr. Christie’s Bakery) on Oct. 24, 2013

5. Temporary constrictions in traffic flow caused by road work increase the probability of collisions in Long Branch:
During construction on Lake Shore Blvd. West, be wary of turns onto, or off of, Lake Shore (2 collisions observed in past 2 days in Long Branch)

6. The link between analog (physical) and digital realities is of interest; online social networking works best when it ties in with face to face meetings:
Fax machines were the social media of their time

7. I’ve outlined the planning framework that guides conversion of heritage places of worship in Toronto:
Comment regarding Wesley Mimico redevelopment project (EYCC meeting, Oct. 17, 2013)

In talk on the street, meanwhile, many people have expressed delight that Whiskers the Cat is safely back at home.