Centennial News reached out to our friends and neighbours for their memories of the community. Here are their stories.
Tracy Forsyth
Our family bought this house on Bathgate in July 1962. My mom told me that I was 1½ years old when we moved in. In the unfenced backyards, moms would harness their children and tie them on a lead to be outside to play.
Watson’s cow had escaped her pasture and she was heading over to our yard to visit. That scared my mom even though she was raised on a farm, and my parents soon got a fence.
Many people had ponies in the neighbourhood; the house at the corner of Clemes and Centennial had ponies and horses.
Riding bikes everywhere, no traffic lights! Playing outside until the street lights came on. Playing from morning until night in the valleys barefoot; never wore shoes in the summer!
Jill MacMillan
I was born at Centenary Hospital when the maternity ward was newly completed and the hospital was still under construction. I have lived all my life in this community and it’s the only place I consider home.
I remember a farmer whose land backed onto Adams Park. He had large white ducks and I loved hanging out with them. I made friends with one of his ducks and I named him Fred. One day at the age of 5, I decided that Fred wanted to live with me.
I walked up to my home with the big white duck and introduced him to my Mom. I then let her know that Fred was going to live with us. She looked at me with a grin and asked, “Where did you get the duck?” I told her from the farmer. She said, “I hate to tell you this but that’s the farmer’s dinner, and you have to take Fred back.” I was very upset, but I did as I was told and took him back. When I arrived at the farm, I met up with the farmer and sternly told him that he couldn’t have Fred for dinner. He agreed to the conditions of the duck’s return, and I never saw Fred again.
Former CCRA President Jeff Forsyth
When I joined CCRA in 1978, Thelma Baker was president. I remember the executive meetings were held at Sir Oliver Mowat C.I. They lasted until 11:30 p.m.!
At one time we looked after issuing permits for after-school activities. This was under the mandate of the old Scarborough Board of Education.
I remember July 1 celebrations at the Legion on Lawson Rd. They had a beer tent, which was always busy!
Back in the early ’80s, the Johns-Mansville plant at Lawrence Ave. E. and Port Union Rd. was still in operation. The company ceased operations and closed the plant in 1982. Then they started to remove the asbestos. Houses were covered in asbestos dust. CCRA along with WRCA (West Rouge Community Association) decided to take action.
It was a long, challenging process involving environmental lawyers and many meetings. In the end, we were successful in having the asbestos removed safely, and the site was cleaned up. Along the way, we were successful in changing one of the Environment Ministry’s regulations at that time.
I should mention Bill Dempsey, one of our founding members. Much of the planning for our community began with Bill, a wonderful mentor.
Humour Writer Nicholas de Kruyff
“The wind is tearing the roof off Johns-Manville,” said my friend Simon.
“No way!” I exclaimed. I exclaimed, “No way!” because as Scarborough teenagers in the early 1980s, we said things like “no way!” and “copacetic!” and “far out!” and “totally!”
“You can see it from the caf. C’mon!”
The “caf” he referred to was the cafeteria in Mowat C.I. Its windows looked south, and still do, onto Lawrence Ave., but a very different Lawrence Ave. to the one there now. There was no Bridgeport Ave. or Bill Hancox Park. (Bill Hancox went to Mowat and was a friend of mine, but that’s a much different memory.)
South of Lawrence Ave. in the early ‘80s was dominated by the boarded-over Johns-Manville plant, with its hulking, brooding warehouses and railyards. The plant had been shut down for several years. It was a cold, lifeless shell of what it had been.
We got to the caf. Students crowded around the windows, staring into the heart of a ferocious January storm. It was just after lunch, and classes had been cancelled. Most of the students had left early. It was just us stragglers, and we were treated to a spectacle.
Entire sheets of tar and plywood peeled off the roof of the abandoned building, flying up into the snow-dark sky. This was no ordinary winter storm; this was a tempest. I half expected the Wicked Witch of the West to descend. As we cheered, the entire roof lifted up and away. It was stunning to behold. I’m sure some of us wished Mowat was next.
Lynda and Charles Turner
First and foremost, our community is as wonderful a place today as it was when we first arrived in 1997. Having lived in different areas of Scarborough, Centennial is a gem. When we first moved here, the paved portion of the Colonel Danforth Park path was fairly short and ended near the Lawrence bridge. Continuing to the lake required the adventurous to hike a dirt path, traverse creeks and crawl over river rocks under the train bridge. The City of Toronto has provided immense improvements to our community by connecting the waterfront path from Port Union to Colonel Danforth Park.
We were drawn to the neighbourhood for its mature trees, the eclectic mix of legacy cottage properties and newer homes, playgrounds and good schools. Our neighbours were surprised that a couple would build such a large home for two people. Our family expanded to our four daughters and filled our house with life. Our children love Centennial, and they all want to eventually live in the area. That’s a testament to the community and its people.
Betty Karsh
When I first moved here in 1980, the land now known as Wanita Park was simply “the field.” It was owned by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). In the ’90s we had a major storm and rainwater ran into the backyards and some basements of homes on Goldberry Square. The city did major remedial work and dug a huge swale. In the early 2000s, the TDSB listed the property for sale.
A few of us approached Councillor Gay Cowbourne to see if the city would purchase the land and make it a park. The councillor had a conflict of interest, so she asked Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker to take over the file, and then organized a meeting. The room was packed. We were advised to work under the umbrella of the CCRA led by long-term president Jeff Forsyth.
A core group of volunteers quickly formed. It was decided to go door-to-door getting signatures on a petition, have residents phone councillors asking for their support, and to sign a form letter to each councillor that we would deliver to City Council.
We also attended and made deputations at committee meetings. For the final meeting downtown on May 16, 2006, we were told by Councillor De Baeremaeker to have as many people there as possible. Mayor David Miller commented that it was the largest number of constituents from Scarborough ever! The following week our item went to full council for a vote and we anxiously awaited the vote. After almost three years, we were victorious!
So, the next time you walk through Wanita Park remember the wonderful community we live in and how involved we are. It takes a lot of effort to keep something going for 75 years, so a big thank you to dedicated volunteers and the CCRA.