Saturday, May 5, 2007
Various Times/Locations
Toronto, Canada

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“For illustrations, please look closely at real cities. While you are looking, you might as well also listen, linger, and think about what you see.”

Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

To get to the start of the campfire walk, take the east exit leading out of the Lansdowne subway station (Bloor line) and walk one block east to Susan Tibaldi Parkette (you'll be walking through a subway-lands parking lot). The Parkette is located on the subway lands behind Duffy’s Tavern, immediately north of Bloor between Brock and Emerson.

Campfire cooks Anna Bekerman and Amy Withers will be cooking fritters made with wild greens and Dufferin Grove farmers’ market eggs over the campfire there (they'll start cooking from about 11.15, for people who get there early). Artist/activist Dyan Marie will talk about how the area is changing. The walk will go along a rather edgy section of Bloor to the new railpath park, and from there to the heritage buildings in the Sterling Ave. industrial area that will soon house a very large new movie studio. The second campfire will be waiting at MacGregor Park, with more tasty food. Artist-in-residence Kristen Fahrig will talk about (and show) what she’s doing there with kids. Then the walk will follow Dundas (with its wonderful mix of old and new, oddly-angled buildings) over to Gladstone. Brockton triangle resident Emily Visser has a lot of fascinating stories to tell about that stretch of the oldest street in this neighbourhood. Then, walking north on Gladstone, Kim Malcomson will be at St.Anne’s Church to tell a little about it. From there the walk ends at Dufferin Grove, at the third campfire, near the earthen (cob) courtyard there, with Anna and Amy cooking the final course, and toasting forks for people who want to cook hot dogs or toast marshmallows, themselves. There are other festivals taking place in the park that day, with music, so people may want to stick around.

This walk has multiple options for shortcuts, or dawdling and catching up (for parents with little kids). For people with good walking shoes, there will also be a chance for a detour with park staff Corey Chivers to get a close look at the grand graffiti show on the multiple piers underneath the Dundas streetcar bridge.

More information about the area and the walk

Jutta Mason will lead “Jane’s Campfire Walk” with the participation of Dufferin Grove Park staff, as well as local artists and history buffs from the neighborhood. Jutta started making campfires in neighborhood parks in 1994, and was the recipient of the Jane Jacobs Award in 2001. She presented Jane with a copy of her booklet "Cooking with Fire in Public Space", which Jane read “from cover to cover” and admired greatly.