Riverside bar The Avro celebrates its neighbourhood with a calendar of unsung local heroes to benefit beautification initiatives in the East End.
The Queen East strip is a neighbourhood in flux, with young families and hipsters mingling among Riverside and Leslieville’s working class. Inhabitants of the East End are all too keen to point out the differences between their community and those of their neighbours to the West and, make no mistake, when they talk about a night out on Queen Street they aren’t planning on heading to the Drake.
Over the past few years, however, the desire of Queen East residents to both live and play on their strip has manifested itself in an influx of shops, bars and restaurants into the area. Opened in Sept. 2010 near Queen and Broadview, The Avro is among the new establishments reinvigorating the area and, thanks to monthly neighbourhood-oriented events, owners Rachel Conduit and Bruce Dawson have become unlikely exemplars of Riverside’s community-building efforts. Now, with an initiative they’ve dubbed the East Side Icon Project—and the accompanying release of a calendar that honours some of the area’s unsung heroes—Conduit and Dawson are in the process of strengthening and gentrifying neglected sections of the neighbourhood.
The idea for a calendar was born on a Smirnoff Ice–soaked summer’s day on Hanlan’s Point, with Conduit and fellow Avro drink slinger Emily Obrien jokingly suggesting how it would be great to have photos of their favourite East End hunks all in one place. However, once the boozy sugar rush wore off, they decided their idea might be better suited to highlight those residents who make living east of the DVP so enjoyable.
Through The Avro’s Facebook page, Conduit established an open call for nominations and, after receiving 40 suggestions and 1,500 votes, she was able to pare the list down to 22 inspirational East Enders for a 15 month-calendar. Among those featured are Ron, an East End inhabitant of 72 years who shovels the sidewalk for local businesses; George and Ralston, jovial owners of an old-school barbershop (pictured below); and internationally renowned mixed-media artist Alex McLeod.
The calendar has been gracing the shelves of nearly two dozen Queen East establishments since December, with all of the proceeds going towards a neighbourhood beautification project. Come Feb. 1, Conduit is going to open a forum for site-specific suggestions where neighbourhood residents can make a case for which part of their community could most use a little injection of TLC. Though no initiatives have been decided upon yet, Conduit mentions adding interactive installations to neglected areas or adding more seating to public parks as two possible ideas. “I think there’s a really strong sense of community in the East End,” she says. “It feels cozy, just like a small town, and I know East Enders are really proud to be East Enders.”
With a positive response so far, she may be right, and if this initiative is a success, an all-female calender will follow next year.
