The Pixies work their magic on Bayview

The Bayview Pixies
THE BAYVIEW PIXIES: (left to right) Kerin Frye, Helen Godfrey, Maggie Rogers, Jo Ann Davis, Debora Kuchme, Hannelore Mohring, Janis Fertuck, Erica Van Loon & Carol Smith. Photo by: Peter Tucker

Dog doo, cigarette stubs, a diaper, coffee cups, wrapping paper and an old shoe – these carelessly discarded items have given heartburn to Bayview Pixies, the volunteers trying to beautify Leaside’s main shopping area.

Pixies planted 750 plants under Bayview trees, then installed self-watering planter boxes with cedar bushes and trailing foliage.

But thoughtless people are making life hard for the “gardeners.”

“I’ve given up on the tree pits (areas under trees),” said Chief Pixie Debora Kuchme. “You wouldn’t believe what we find. It’s heartbreaking. People tie dogs and bikes to trees. I even saw a woman pour coffee onto our new plants.”

While fearing some people “have lost their connection to nature,” Debora says more litter bins would mean less trash strewn among plants. “Beauty is for all to enjoy,” added Debora.

Builders are driving much of the “crazy” property boom in Leaside. Two recently-sold homes drew offers from 16 builders. Prices? A MacNaughton Rd. bungalow – said to be uninhabitable – went for nearly $1.4 million. Eleven builders made offers. And after bids by five builders, a house on Millwood Rd., owned by the same family for 70 years, sold for $1,405,000. This was nearly half a million dollars above list price! (Note: it was probably built for $3,000.)

Leaside property “is going crazy,” said real estate agent John Henry.

(Also see Alan Redway’s column on Affordable Housing in this issue.)

Want an anti-aging botox shot? Or new hair style? Or skin buffed to a silky sheen? With the opening of Jade Thread and Wax Bar there are now 15 businesses offering personal grooming services on Bayview Ave., on the stretch between Parkhurst Blvd. and Millwood Rd.

Spa massages, waxings, pedicures, manicures, skin exfoliation and dozens of other grooming services are offered.

Will seniors flock to 1625 Bayview Ave. to get marijuana prescriptions filled?

The owners of Eden store – billed as “Canada’s leading dispensary” for medical weed – clearly hope so.

A clerk at the former What Lola Wants shop told The Idler that dispensary owners expect to have “lots of clients over 60.”

The future of such pop-up dispensaries is in question, however. Ottawa is in the midst of drawing up guidelines for regulating the sale of medical pot. And Toronto Mayor John Tory has worried aloud about the “Wild West rush” of dispensaries springing up, and has said they may need to be curbed until laws are clarified in 2017. Some Toronto dispensaries closed following police raids.

Look who’s 100? Leaside fixture Lincoln Electric celebrated its centenary on July 13, 2016. The firm is a leading industrial welding service and is still on Wicksteed Ave., the location which opened in the summer of 1940.

Finally – The time has come for The (original) Curious Idler to bid adieu to the loyal readers of Leaside Life. Your “mystery” columnist has decided to bow out and let a new “mystery” writer “pull on the oars.” It has been a pleasure to share my meagre scratching with you as together we skimmed the froth and foam of life in Leaside.

With best wishes to all,
The Curious Idler
Also known as Michael Pieri