Each year, the TPW stops on one of our Saturday walks to
have breakfast at Sunnyside Pavilion.
Eating on the patio beside the lake this Saturday felt like a little
beach vacation. The Pavilion is 86 years
old and I love the social history it recalls; people have been coming to
Sunnyside Beach to beat the city summer heat for over a century. The Gus Ryder Pool next door (named after
Marilyn Bell’s coach) was once called The Tank.
The other summer ritual that pleases my sense of nostalgia
is the Ex. Seeing the set-up on Saturday
is always a reminder that summer is waning and we need to hurry to experience
all its sticky delights. It’s been
running for 139 years and I am surprised when I realize how long I’ve been
enjoying it myself, now with grandchildren.
And then there’s High Park, a gift to the city in 1876. How very, very fortunate we are to have these
legacies. Let’s never take them for
granted!
