From: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2013 #590 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Unsubscribe:mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe Website:http://jonimitchell.com JMDL Digest Wednesday, May 15 2013 Volume 2013 : Number 590 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: Yorkville Coffee Mill - reformatted - sjc [Anita G Subject: Re: Yorkville Coffee Mill - reformatted - sjc I like the fact that Martha made footwear mandatory. How did it ever come to be that going without shoes in a major city was a good idea? And the Joni Tribute only a month way! Count down must have started, Anita On 15/05/2013, Catherine McKay wrote: > That last one came out looking like crap. This should be better, although > I'm not sure how the accented letters might come out (worked fine when I > tested sending it to myself but, filtered through smoe, one never knows.) > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > > > Yorkville Coffee Mill marks 50 years: Knelman > Yorkvilleb s past history remains stubbornly and miraculously alive at > European-style outdoor cafC) > > The rising folk music stars moved on decades ago, the Toronto International > Film Festival has migrated south, the high-end shops and condo developers > have swooped in. > > The Village of Yorkville has undergone many drastic changes over five > decades. But some things never change. On a beautiful summer afternoon you > can still relax on the sublimely secluded patio of the Coffee Mill, enjoying > goulash soup, open-face sandwiches and a cafC) latte. > > As for Yorkvilleb s legacy as a 1960s hippie playground and capital of folk > music b well fond memories of those days will be recalled and celebrated > this year at Luminato. On June 17 b the day before the first of the > festivalb s two Joni Mitchell tribute concerts at Massey Hall b three > veterans of the era when Joni and many other future stars drew crowds to > cramped coffee houses will beguile a lunchtime crowd at the Luminato hub in > David Pecaut Square with yarns from the 1960s and 1970s. > > Sharing their memories will be two famous performers, Murray McLauchlan and > Sylvia Tyson, and an offstage witness named Nicholas Jennings, who worked > behind the counter at the Riverboat, and later wrote a book about it. > > Alas, the Riverboat b the most famous of the folk-music coffee houses that > lined the street b is long gone, and so are many others. Proprietor Bernie > Fiedler was forced to close the Riverboat in 1978 after 14 years. Not even > the Victorian building whose basement it once occupied has survived, but > today you can read about it on a Heritage Toronto plaque that was installed > on the sidewalk in front of the Hazelton Hotel, on the north side of > Yorkville Avenue, just east of Avenue Road. > > Happily, one touch of Yorkville history remains stubbornly and miraculously > alive. On Thursday, May 16 the Coffee Mill celebrates its 50th anniversary. > Martha von Heczey, a Hungarian immigrant who had landed in Toronto and was > working as a sportswear buyer for the upscale retail store Creeds, had an > idea. On a whim, and with a small bank loan, von Heczey founded the cityb s > first European-style outdoor cafC). > > On May 16, 1963, the Coffee Mill opened in a courtyard called Lothian Mews, > tucked behind the north side of Bloor Street West. Its success came as a > surprise, because few believed that proper, middle-class Torontonians would > sit outside and relax like Europeans. > > In 1967, after divorcing her first husband, the cafC) proprietor met and > married Laci von Heczey, a former champion wrestler from Hungary, who walked > into the cafC) one summer day. He had a cheetah on a leash, which was part > of a nightclub act he had devised. > > During the hippie era, she imposed ground rules, including mandatory > footwear. > > After 10 years, she moved two blocks north to a small mall with Yorkville > Avenue on one side, Cumberland Street on the other, and a delightful > secluded patio between. > > In 1984, she even managed to reclaim the UNICEF fountain b the centrepiece > at Lothian Mews, which had been placed in storage. Designed by Jack Harman > as a promotion for the Canada Save the Children Fund, it depicts a girl > carrying a baby on her back and a boy standing beside them. And today it > remains the focal piece of the Coffee Millb s patio. > > Martha, as she is known to regulars, has been running the place non-stop for > five decades, with the help of loyal customers who have been returning for > years, like members of an extended family. > > Among those whose photos you can spot on the walls: Al Waxman, Barbara > Amiel, Gordon Pinsent, Tom Kneebone, Edward Greenspan, Anne Mirvish, Dusty > Cohl, Pierre Berton and Anna Porter. > > In my family, it has been the ideal place to celebrate birthdays, weddings > and book launches, like a club without the membership fee. To me, it is also > very conducive to catching up on media and showbiz gossip, conducting > interviews, and running into old friends. There are hardly ever any > surprises on the menu. What keeps us coming back may be that it feels less > like going out to a restaurant than eating at home. > > The May 16 anniversary festivities include an open house from 11 a.m. on and > a ceremony at 3 p.m. featuring Hungaryb s ambassador to Canada, Laszlo > Pordany. I wouldnb t dream of missing it. > > mknelman@thestar.ca > > http://tinyurl.com/avlpgz6 ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2013 #590 ***************************** ------- To post messages to the list, sendtojoni@smoe.org. Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe -------