I have been associated with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization for many years, first as a Big Brother in Metro Toronto, and more recently as a committee member for Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada and Treasurer of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada Foundation.  I believe passionately in the value of the mentoring goals of the organization.  I am also a lover of great music, so am pleased that there is now an opportunity to support BBBSC and also enjoy an excellent new tune.

The Tenors, Canada’s JUNO Award-winning vocal super group, have joined forces with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America spokesperson Laura Kaeppeler to launch a new single titled, ‘I Thank You’. The song, which also commemorates the 100th anniversary of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, is now available for download worldwide through iTunes with proceeds contributed to assist in the ongoing development and support of mentoring services to children and young people.  Conceived by Kenny Munshaw and co-written with Marc Jordan and The Tenors, ‘I Thank You’ speaks to the impact that caring mentors play in the lives of young people. ‘I Thank You’ was recorded by The Tenors and Miss Kaeppeler, a former Miss America.

To download the tune access iTunes then search for  I Thank You (feat. Laura Kaeppeler) by The Tenors.

Graham

ALONG THE SHORE: Rediscovering Toronto’s Waterfront Heritage

By  M. Jane Fairburn

ECW Press 429 pp., $32.95 soft cover

My friend Jane Fairburn opens her new book, Along the Shore: Rediscovering Toronto’s Waterfront Heritage, with a double page reproduction of the Carte au plan nouveau du lac Ontario, 1757 by René-Hippolyte Laforce overwritten in part with a poem by Canadian poet Gwendolyn MacEwen.  It is just this kind of magical juxtaposition which makes this book so charming.  Jane seamlessly weaves together stories about the history, landscape, geography and people of the Toronto waterfront communities of Scarborough Bluffs, the Beach, Toronto Island and the Lakeshore.  In each section she documents the stages of evolution: pre settlement; humble beginnings as farming and then resort destinations; the establishment of villages; the destruction and loss of those communities and current renewal efforts.

As you might expect from the inquiring mind of a lawyer and former Crown Attorney, Jane has mined the archival institutions of Toronto and Ontario to great effect reproducing many rare photographs, illustrations and maps.  Her list of works cited runs to 16 pages. The stories of such well known Toronto waterfront personalities as Marilyn Bell and Ned Hanlon are of course included, but also the stories of many lesser known but equally interesting characters and events.  I was particularly struck by the realization that two of the biggest Toronto stories of the twentieth century: Marilyn Bell’s triumphant 1954 swim across Lake Ontario and the deadly landing of Hurricane Hazel occurred just one month apart.

New residents of Toronto, and that surely includes the majority, will be amazed to learn of the way in which the lakefront has been transformed from its early Lake Iroquois shoreline to the present, first by nature and more recently by man.  Along the Shore is focused on the four communities noted above but also touches, in less detail, on the inner harbour and the town of York. The book is available at most GTA bookstores and Internet book sellers as well as through www.janefairburn.com.

Graham