McKee Avenue Public School

As kids I remember laying on the grass at McKee Avenue School with Johnny Ryan and others and looking for faces or objects in the clouds.

Smog has been a wonderful feature of Toronto life for a very long time. When I was working for the Township (1958-59) we were way over where North York connected to Scarough - sort of up on a hill there - and you could look into Toronto to the west-southwest and see the smog over the city. Actually, I think you live over near there -- The Smog was bad and that was in the fall of 1958.

As kids we also talked about getting away from the "Rat Race" which was life in Toronto as we saw it. I don't think people in the GTA really think about the Rat Race any more. I suppose if you are in it long enough then you think that is all there is.

In Moose Jaw we have three rush-hours; in the morning - at lunch time because everyone goes home for lunch and then in the evening. In the thick of rush-hour, like this morning, there can be upwards of twelve cars in front of you.

The question now is, "Is there a rat race in Toronto anymore?" Out here a day has 24 hours. In Toronto, the young people spend 3 to 4 hours going to and from work - and 8 hours at work -- so days must be longer in Toronto - like a Toronto day has to be 27.5 hours long to be the same as a Moose Jaw day where it takes only 15 minutes to get to work -- or all the way across town for that matter.

But 2 hours one way to work ---whew -- that is a big part of the day. You can buy neat - fancy stuff with all the money but can only mess with your stuff on the weekend - as long as you don't drive to Muskoka - because then you are screwed because of driving time.

So Charles? Is there a Rat Race any longer or was that just old 50s talk. And is cloud watching no longer a passion for young kids?

And why am I not nostaligic for Toronto? Now Newmarket is different - I love that place! And Gravenhurst! And Dunchurch! And Parry Sound! - is there a theme here ---

-  Richard Dowson

Ray Harris and his sister Shirley 1976.

50th Anniversary Reunion of Georges Vanier S.S.

FROM CHUCK DOWSON (December 4, 2015)

Hi everyone!

Now I understand that [not] all of you probably graduated in '69 from Earl Haig. I am sending this out to you just in case you may know someone who may have gone to George Vanier S S like I did. Perhaps they would be interested in going to the reunion on May 14 of next year. I will attach the site below.

I took a year off school from October '66 to September '67 to work and take a break from 11 years of schooling. So I was a year behind you guys and graduated at Vanier in June of '70.

That was a "Very Good Year". The Prom was amazing! It was at the Great Hall at the Ontario Science Centre , I wore a tux and Gerarda wore a gown of blues pink and beige which went great with her blonde hair and her pink corsage.

 A group of us rented a stretch limo for the night and after we took our dates home we had the driver drive us to several all night restaurants were we ate and partied the best we could as we were all under age to drink back then. The movie Diner was us! I was the last to get home at 6 am. When ever I hear the theme for St. Elmo's Fire I go right back to that prom night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXSmXthmkvo

 A year of working at an electronics outfit, having and saving money, building a T Shirt company for the summer with two buddies of mine, printing in our home basement and ending the company year at the three day Mosport Rock Festival summer of '70 with making a big cash profit each before closing for the summer prepped me for the summer of '71. That was four months of solo travel throughout Europe and North Africa and back in time for Art College at Sheridan that September. Wow! Those memories flood back.

Anyway just keep the site close in your favorites in case you might come across anyone who went there and would be interested. Here's the site and some memorable tunes. http://www.vanierreunions.ca/

Talk to you all soon. 😊
 Chuck

I remember Dave Somerville and The Diamonds

On a weekend in the autumn of 1956 I was getting ready to take my girlfriend out for the evening but before I left I wanted to watch “The Diamonds” who were performing on a live CBC TV Variety show. After their performance I picked up my girlfriend and we went to the Edison Hotel to listen and dance to a Rock n Roll band. The Edison hotel, which has since burned down was on the corner of Gould and Yonge Street in downtown Toronto. When we got there the club was crowded so the waiter seated us at a table with young fellow and his wife. A few minutes later “The Diamonds” walked into the club. They were still wearing the matching suits they wore on the TV show earlier that evening. They were well known locally and when they entered the club erupted into applause. The house band stopped playing and the bandleader asked “The Diamonds” to come on stage. He introduced the group and asked them if they would sing a number. They sang two songs, I can’t remember which ones but I’m sure one was “Little Darlin” and when they finished they came straight over to our table. I was surprised but it turned out that the fellow at our table was a singer from Vancouver who had been on the TV show with “The Diamonds” that evening and they came over to say hello. The singer’s name was Van (something) In those days the TV shows were live, and here we were all about the same age, sitting at a table talking to “The Diamonds” that we had just watched live on TV. They sat down introduced themselves and spent about 20 minutes talking with us. After they left the singer from Vancouver asked us to take him to some other nightspots where we could see some more live Toronto entertainment. We took them to a number of clubs, but we spent most of the night singing “Little Darlin”. It was an evening I’ve never forgotten. I later moved to Vancouver and in 1968 I saw Dave Somerville at the Queen Elizabeth theatre where he sang and performed on the Labour Day Telethon hosted by Leonard Nimoy. - John Dowson, 60 Harrison Drive Newmarket ON L3Y 4P4 - dowson@rogers.com

Wilowdale Outlaws MC Patch

Courtesy of Doug Farrow: The Willowdale Outlaws Motorcycle Club Patch; not sure what you had to do to earn your patch.

The Dowson Family Memories

Here are some emails I have had the pleasure to receive - from various members of the Dowson family. I went to Earl Haig Collegiate and remember Mary Dowson as a bass fiddle player in music class.

I also knew Mary's older brother, John, as a bass player from when I played rock n roll sax back in the 50's. Their younger brother, Mike, is also a musician who plays fantastic piano, going by the stage name, Michael Keys.

Then there are a couple of other siblings, Richard and Charles, that I have not met, but we are cyber friends.

So, here's some of the stuff that regularly comes through my Inbox, I thought you might appreciate if you grew up in Willowdale in the 1950s or 1960s.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Re: Memories of Our Dad - Smog Clouds and the Rat Race

Richard Dowson 4:01 PM (3 hours ago)

Howdy Charles --

As kids I remember laying on the grass at McKee Avenue School with Johnny Ryan and others and looking for faces or objects in the clouds. Smog has been a wonderful feature of Toronto life for a very long time. When I was working for the Township (1958-59) we were way over where North York connected to Scarough - sort of up on a hill there - and you could look into Toronto to the west-southwest and see the smog over the city. Actually, I think you live over near there -- The Smog was bad and that was in the fall of 1958. As kids we also talked about getting away from the "Rat Race" which was life in Toronto as we saw it. I don't think people in the GTA really think about the Rat Race any more. I suppose if you are in it long enough then you think that is all there is. In Moose Jaw we have three rush-hours; in the morning - at lunch time because everyone goes home for lunch and then in the evening. In the thick of rush-hour, like this morning, there can be upwards of twelve cars in front of you. The question now is, "Is there a rat race in Toronto anymore?" Out here a day has 24 hours. In Toronto, the young people spend 3 to 4 hours going to and from work - and 8 hours at work -- so days must be longer in Toronto - like a Toronto day has to be 27.5 hours long to be the same as a Moose Jaw day where it takes only 15 minutes to get to work -- or all the way across town for that matter. But 2 hours one way to work ---whew -- that is a big part of the day. You can buy neat - fancy stuff with all the money but can only mess with your stuff on the weekend - as long as you don't drive to Muskoka - because then you are screwed because of driving time. So Charles? Is there a Rat Race any longer or was that just old 50s talk. And is cloud watching no longer a passion for young kids? And why am I not nostaligic for Toronto? Now Newmarket is different - I love that place! And Gravenhurst! And Dunchurch! And Parry Sound! - is there a theme here --- div>

  Richard 

----- Original Message -----

From: charles dowson

To: Richard Dowson The second

Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2014 9:57 PM

Subject: RE: Memories of Our Dad

Thanks Rich...nice memories.

I was thinking today about something we don't experience any more here, strong enough sunlight and wind to make cloud shadows move across the street where you are standing. When we were kids this was common place but now with all the stooly weather modification and chemtrails there is not that drama anymore.

Chuck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA5w7YWuum0

---

From: dowsrich2@Sasktel.net
To: hasti90@hotmail.com
CC: dowson@rogers.com
Subject: Re: Memories of Our Dad
Date: Thu, 22 May 2014 18:16:38 -0600

Greetings Charles - very nice memories. Of course, we knew his at different times so the memories are different. I recall he liked to bring home old cheese sandwiches where the cheese was warm and had started to bend and it really tasted great. Still like to heat up my cheese in the microwave oven. I don't recall him having a really nasty temper so I knew if I made him mad I could take off for an hour and he would be calmed down when I got back. But he was away so much when I was growing up that I felt I did not know him. He was around for you guys and he was around when the others were home but he went to the hospital when I was little and didn't come home until I was six. And then after that he worked out of town. He' be gone for two weeks - home for the weekend and then gone again. I recall one time when he showed me how much money he have - over one hundred dollars in cash. And he did take me for hair cuts when I was little - to a baber who was in a shop by the Red And White. And when he would go to the Red and White he would touch two fingers to the cuff of his jacket. I asked him why he did that and he said it meant "put it on the cuff' meaning charge it. And he did all his business with the Toronto Dominion Bank. And the old guy loved stone - anything made with stone. And he made extra money by casting his own concrete 'brick' for fireplaces and the 'facing them up' with a chissel. He did a lot of the fireplaces in Willowdale. He took me to a house on Shepard just in from Yonge Street on the west side and they talked about dong a fireplace. While we were there a bird flew into the big front window.

 

Nice to have memories Richard

----- Original Message -----

From: charles dowson

To: Richard Dowson The second

Cc: John Dowson ; Wesdyne Wesdyne ; Patrick Folkes

Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2014 10:00 PM

Subject: RE: Memories of Our Dad

Dad always pissed mom off every time he had to chance to swish the old tea bags in the tea pot and cast them in the direction of the garage, when you cried too long as a kid his favorite expression was.."Awe dry up!". He liked to snap his glasses case shut as loud as possible from time to time. After work in the winter he kept his work pants on with the suspenders contrasting nicely with his old long beige underwear top, looked great at the dinner table. He'd sit down in front of the coal furnace at night sometimes, his feet propped up and stare at the glow from the open furnace door for more than an hour. "What are you doing dad?" "Hhmm? Oh, just meditating", was always the answer. Then I'd turn to my friends and say "See I told ya" I still have that old coal furnace door. I remember one spring when the snow in front of the garage had receded enough to expose the many tea bags he had tossed out over the winter. They were sitting on high on their own individual ice perches, scattered about like frozen tea bag mushrooms.

Chuck

---

From: dowsrich2@Sasktel.net
To: hasti90@hotmail.com
CC: dowson@rogers.com; wesdyne@shaw.ca; folkes@golden.net
Subject: Memories of Our Dad
Date: Wed, 21 May 2014 09:07:14 -0600

Greetings - I was making tea yesterday and realized I had done something our Dad did - and that got me thinking. Here are some of the things I remember -

 

Turning the stove burner off under the kettle as the water comes to a boil -

 

Warning me that the water pipes in the bathroom were lead and that I was not to drink the water from the bathroom taps (true according to Ray Harris) -

 

Scrapping the last of the butter off the butter wrapping paper

 

Telling Patrick Folks he would become a Priest 

 

And his name - William (from his grandpa Chicpchase) Clifton (from his grandfather Dowson) and Herbert (from his grandmother Dowson's current husband, Herbert England)

 

Got any memories of the "Old Man" - Please add and circulate 

 

Richard