Around Main St. Newmarket - The Last Video Store

Timothy St off Main St. Newmarket, Ontario, Canada

Fairy Lake Falls by Main

Main St has become a pawn of the candidates of the local elections, containing such sensitive balancing acts as shopping, housing, construction and historic sites - to events to parking - the latter always being a sore point with any concerned it seems.

Even the Town Clock Tower, once declared a great example of how we could use historic buildings and maintain their integrity whilst usefully using them was deemed semi-expendable for a time. Little did we know the ultimate goal was to develop condos there and move seniors from their homes!

And not just residents, with the same Markham based development group having bought the town clock block of 4 buildings, forcing all store owners and residents out, save one, ironically called "The Last Video Store" which was given until Oct 15 2014 to also be out! They plan to stay beyond that date, with no where to go, and a development staging company ready, willing, and apparently able, to board up those stores and leave them boarded until the town agrees to their development conditions, while meantime displaced business owners and turfed residents are left in their wake.

I know Matt the video store owner has felt alone though this process, and I'm sure not too thrilled when,  at the same time he's being told to leave, up the street, the Mayor meantime was posing for pics with a Magna CEO and pushing " Life Is Good T-shirts - reading " Life is Good Newmarket". Not for this business owner it isn't. Still another Main St business is suing the town for allowing "illegal construction" and obstructing their businesses access while doing said work. Oh boy.

Another lawsuit against town, owner, & conservation authorities

Of course,  these are things that are not really in control of Councillors - Mayors perhaps more so, but when they run into landlord and tenant issues law for example, or the push for development, these businesses need some protections. And I don't mean by adding another layer of power to " bylaws" departments. I mean both the Heritage Act and the Planning Act need amending.

And how much development would be deemed too much? Everyone it seems has an opinion, but one thing remains - no real growth plan for Main St. And where's the B.I.A. in this?

Right now, as we sit, I feel Newmarket actually already has the most picturesque, yet functional, Main St. in York Region - outdistancing Unionville by far in my opinion, with the additional outing option of nearby Fairy Lake Park / Trails, and sometimes events at Riverwalk Commons Square as well - such as the weekly Farmer's Market.

She is a thing of picturesque beauty Main St., Newmarket, Ontario is, yet she has some holes that need filling.

View to Town Clock Tower, now empty

Most observers will agree that Main St, at least the main vein of her, which would be the stretch from Roadhouse & Rose Funeral Home, south to Water St., has had some interesting new stores, services and shops open up in the past few years but where some turnover has also occurred - sometimes not having the right mix - like too many coffee shops!

Riverwalk Commons & Stadium opened during current council

Restaurants in the area have really taken on a life in the past few years with the success of Cachet, and later Made in Mexico spurring that growth on. Rawlicious, Brewhops Pub, Suchi, and The Goulash House joined the existing fast food Pizzeria and Chinese Food restaurants and soon to come fish & chip shop and Italian restaurant as well as 2 new locations featuring baked goods, round out the "in the near future" bill. Toss in some "lunch only" locations, upscale coffee, baked goods and tea-houses, and Main has hospitality pretty well covered!

Replaced old arena

This being said, there are some holes to fill, and you don't fill them by opening similar businesses to compete against each other unless there's a demand for that, via having a bad existing similar product / service, which I don't see. What we could use are offices filled with people, or doctor's offices, health services etc. such as in the same building the food bank is now located, and also the unit that was formerly a children's day care, now sitting empty. I believe Anne Martin, running for council in the ward, owned the business once called Teddy Bear's Picnic. An elect her sign now sits in the window instead.

A challenger, John Heckbert thinks he has the answers and has studied other top downtown communities to bring that to his vision. He's new and brings new ideas but would they do justice to her history?

Vs Wildlife behind Main

Of course also running in the ward is the incumbent Joe Sponga who's in hung tough through a pretty tough job to juggle town construction woes vs plans for Main, along with business and tenant concerns, in a part time job. Joe has a big heart and means well, and is living proof why Newmarket Councilors' jobs should be full time. This town is getting too large and indeed it's downtown and heritage too important, for us to have councilors concerned with it all only part time. Joe has his fans and share of detractors, but, like any incumbent, will be tough to beat I think regardless.

But that doesn't mean side bars such as a disgruntled Main St store owner suing for having their property access tampered with - illegally as far as they are concerned - can't come out to play. We'll have to wait for this one to come out though...after the election! Stay Tuned for...(insert cheesy soap opera theme music here).. The Edge.. of Newmarket!

Building Owner slash Candidate

At any rate, Main Street needs a plan of attack for sustained growth, and to that end, I would suggest a plan to target types of businesses Main St wants, not gets. Take stock of what is there now, and actively pursue businesses from a wish list created, and offer a rebate incentive to give them a shot at survival. Beats having units empty.

WISH LIST

The General Store - A hardware store / printers / souvenirs store - Perhaps these days a full out  hardware store cannot be feasible on Main, but a good old fashioned " General Store", modernized, would be cool - complete with old coke machine for drinks. As well, no more Printers for photo-copying seem to exist on Main St so they could also offer that service from a copier machine.. and souvenirs are a given with all the movies now shot here, as well as Canada stuff!

Really? They should create one for them here behind Main!

A New Market - Whatever happened to selling fresh fruit and vegetables? Add some garden plants and flowers to the mix. With the farmer's market connection this should be a given. Add groceries too with competitive prices and you have a workable grocer's type business.

Butcher Shop - Classic Main St staple - emphasizing fresh, offer organic options

Record Stores - They have the cool factor. Vinyl records are at a 40 year high in sales and with Newmarket's boomer population new & used records would fly, and attract people to Main St! Recently CanadaT.com, which is Main's last manufacturer, featured some in-house promo of records and print art, and sales were very good!

Thriving Main St business being forced out by developers

Printing Shop - Hard copy printing specialist could survive - approach an existing one!

Thrift Shop - Trade-in used goods, furniture, clothing, and books - always a draw

Arts - Visual - A number of art galleries would add balance and create ambiance

Antiques - Always an attraction

High Tech Internet Cafe - I'm surprised there's not one already. Big screen gaming too.


Rental Housing: The Town Clock is already set up for housing since seniors were housed there recently...just saying...

Nooks & Crannies

Preservation work

One of the new Restaurants at Newmarket's Main St

Still In Style after all these years! Long time success story on Main St...Oh, and did I mention it's for sale?!

Coming Soon

Sing for Their Supper - International Day Open Stage

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, York Region

Winter shelters closed now. Men in Y.R. use 26 beds in a pop of 1,000,000

Oct 17 is International Day for The Eradication of Poverty. Join us for York Region's representative 2014  event at Newmarket's Riverwalk Commons, 200 Duncan St. outside The Lions Hall, simultaneously being held alongside  events around the world to draw attention to those in poverty at home and abroad.

The Newmarket Day will feature an
"Open Mic", offering opportunities to those with performance messages about poverty to share them. The first part of the 7-10 pm running evening, will include some personal stories from lived experience or those who have witnessed it, with some focus also on world poverty.

Speakers and performance artists wishing to participate can contact us here and join the event on Facebook.

Fri Oct 17 support an end to poverty - Award winning one minute video

David L Rogers at a spot he once sat homeless

In addition to Open Stage performers who come out, sound and Hip Hop performances will be enhanced at the event by JUST FLOW and the AJM FAM while Reggae-country- rock sensations, The Yappers, are slated in as well. With a number of politicians and concerned residents attending, it should make for an eclectic, stimulating, yet rockin' evening, with time in between for a mix and exchange of knowledge, information and ideas related to poverty issues and maybe create some new music or productions.

Booked in is Poet, David Rogers, who will be available for signings / sales of his book of poems, "The Dark Road", which acts as a type of therapy for those fighting addictions / mental health issues, including depression. David's true to life experiences are replicated through his poetry, resonating and cutting through to many so afflicted. Signed Books are $15. 50% sales to PACC. For the future, David would like to see his poems transferred to the stage or screen, in order to reach out more.

Also for 2014, in memory of a PACC member, community volunteer and community worker with C.M.H.A., Annette Brown, who died unexpectedly recently, we will be giving out pumpkins at the event - courtesy of The Newmarket Food Pantry to keep her spirit alive and make sure all kids get a pumpkin! Take one for yourself or someone in need!

The Int Day has been marked in Newmarket over 12 years now, and was originally designed 23 years ago, when launched in Paris France in front of the U.N. building, by a man of cloth who came from poverty and who wanted to make a difference, culminating with millions standing at once setting a world record for doing so in 2011! He has made a difference. You can too!

AFTER PARTY - after 10 pm event attendees enjoy free entry to nearby Tequila 185 Nightclub, downstairs @Made In Mexico Restaurant!

Come out and lend an ear or voice or talent on Oct 17 2014!

MMAR Coalition Against Repeal Party! Feds Lose Round 1

Let Them Eat Cake!

Recently, I stumbled across an event that was just too, well, different to not blog about. One of my fave bands that I promote through various means was playing in the 6 Nations of the Grand River Reserve near Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and I thought that a unique location and opportunity to check out that part of Ontario and culture, and possibly scope out some local aboriginal talent as well.

We overshot and found the coalition's event sponsors

Riding with Ray Yap, composer and lead guitar / singer for reggae / rockers, The Yappers, on his first visit to a reserve, he seemed mesmerized by all the signs advertising tax free products like cigarettes and gas - with gas actually under $1 litre! His reaction was like we were rolling into Vegas or in something like the Twighlight Zone!

After missing the place one time - as it's signage was hard to spot - we finally arrived, and, walking inside, found a beautiful spot to play - barn-like in its inner design, with high wood beam supported ceilings adorned with strategically placed chandeliers. The stage and sound equipment were top notch too, including the conveniently mobile sound booth. I'm told the place could get rowdy at times but on this night, as it would turn out, there was not even a need for a doorman - although some pretty scrappy looking gentlemen stood by who could certainly assert some control on someone need be I was sure.

Host for event in 6 Nations

As I wandered around during set up, I was amazed at all the paraphernalia their sponsors had put out for prizes and display as well as an array of baked goods that were made with pot,  complete with a big cake, adorned with green nougat pot leaves. It was almost like something out of a Cheech and Chong movie but in the future! Hey, man, shit happens when you're covering a reggae rock band. Ha.


The no-alcohol event was in support of medical marijuana for a fundraiser for the group called the MMAR Coalition Against Repeal who are on a mission to raise funds for lawyers fees in order to continue their battle to preserve the right for people to have the right to grow their own medicine (and food) - namely marijuana.

The Coalition which boasts over 6,600 members across Canada has raised over $144,000 so far towards the $250,000 needed to hire their top gun Lawyer, Johnny Conroy to take it to the next legal step. Essentially their argument is simple - Canadians are constitutionally entitled to grow medicine and food - without government control.

The (now former) federal government, for its part, had unveiled a list of reasons pot shouldn't be 'legal' including scientific, and fact based nuggets, such as "it's a gateway drug to harder drugs". Wow! Really hard hitting stuff, no puns intended. Former heavyweight boxing champion, George Chuvalo, who lost two sons to heroin overdoses and a wife to suicide thinks tobacco is the gateway drug. His son emphasized that fact before dying and Chuvalo has relayed his message for years now, yet the government has never acted to close this "gateway", nor created a list, despite also now knowing that the addictive nicotine laden drug also causes lung cancer.

" Tobacco is usually the first addictive poison a young person will introduce to their bodies" George Chuvalo

All successive federal governments, from my understanding, had always denied marijuana had any medical value - while at the same time holding the patent to the medical development of cannabis. This fueled conspiracy theorists that it was a cancer cure that government and big pharmaceuticals wanted to hide, and then control it, on their terms.

I'm not quite convinced on the cancer cure-all yet but I do believe there is medicinal value to be gleaned certainly - in some cases the only relief one can get - such as those afflicted with constant convulsions - so there seems no doubt now. Meantime the government has stopped issuing any more new grow licenses.

Event Poster

Vessels for use and growing

The tricky part for government is grappling control of it, given that cannabis is becoming more accepted as a medicine / treatment, and that seems covered by the peoples' right to grow it.

Thus the smoke-screens with the moral reasons for them controlling its sale and manufacture of it in forms for ingesting, such as pill, food, oil, etc. The government simply has not been good frankly at handling this part, or even growing on a quality on par as most self-growers and often lack consistency - something MMAR Repealists say they can manage much better. And that patients know what form or type works best for themselves.

For example, a person may find a certain strain seems to make them want to clean and do things, while another it made them feel groggy, but only the patient would know which side affect was affecting them and in what way, and they then would be able to adjust what product form they took to best suit their ailment.  Surely most Doctors won't have the ability to decipher that while 'prescribing". The government model would have you get what you get - and them large profits.

VIP upstairs

Another argument the government has trotted out is that it will cause crime and gang activity. Ha. Who do they think is controlling the bulk of the sales now? Even if the government tried to assert control, such as their recent attempts to clamp down on tobacco smuggling, people will still access it from the street, because it's cheaper - but not safer. So self-grown or a trusted supply of your medicine type is safer, more efficient, and stress free.

The Yappers rock out on stage

The establishment's clumsy attempts thus far at being proprietor of a medicine they claimed for years didn't exist, only exasperates the issue and so groups like the MMAR Coalition Against Repeal raising this issue in the courts and fighting a constitutional challenge is really the only way this can be decided.

It kind of reminds me of what always seems  wrong with "do-gooder" programs; for example when they leave people with lived experience off  the organizing committees and boards, resulting in ineffective programs or poor distribution of essential services. No difference. Surely this is one issue where "grass roots" input applies!?

Hey!..who ate part of this pot cookie?

The rest of the evening was an experience and a half, with an outdoor area set up for members to use their various medicines and share ideas and usage vessels, and, where I learned new terms such as Mango-melon, and what a dab was ( essentially oil made from cannabis). Lol. I also learned weed can be made into a solid butter-like substance from which "dabs' can be scraped off to be consumed for medicine without tobacco use.

In addition to the entertainment provided on this night, and the baked goods, and table munchies, solo singer keyboardist, The Lounge Lizard, also appeared onstage following The Yappers playing with unbridled passion it seemed this night, as well the hosts had an array of hip hop performers on the later slate, including somelocal aboriginal performers who rocked it!

Prizes Sponsor

The main event however, was a talk by legalize activist Jason Wilcox flown in from B.C. to address the group, and who's fight for the right to grow is where this all began. His knowledge on the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations, which the government is currently trying to get enacted, is what alerted people to the issue, as essentially, he says, they are trying to remove the right for the sick and disabled to grow their own medicine while pushing the "industry" to commercial growers  expected to make patients start to pay up to 4 x what they had been previously, all for making a killing in a new taxes revenue stream.

In the best of times, I'm the world's biggest skeptic, until I see cold hard facts, and enough of them, and I'm still up in the air about some of the claims for medical marijuana - but I certainly don't deny it offers clear cut, life altering treatment in some cases and would encourage - if the government really wants to do some 'good"  that they start testing canabinboids, as well as the non psycho active C.B.D.'s, for all the various claims that people are saying its use of it is doing for them - like oil treatment for skin cancer etc - so they can be brought further into the treatment fold.
Government can't bogart the issue forever.

Just Crazy!

I met and wrote about the man who introduced John Lennon to former Prime Minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who then smoked pot with Trudeau's "Commission on Marijuana" reps, so it's certainly not new to government either. 

It seems ironic now that a prodigal son may be 'king" soon, and, when that happens, it is more likely the time for real change on this issue in Canada.

Recently, the Supreme Court sided with those choosing other methods than smoking it, and so, if you're a medical user, these may just be the horses to put your money on for this race! Watch for a MMARCAR event near you!

Peace Out!

Graffiti, Youth, Art and Tough Love

Toronto's Yorkville

Newmarket, Ontario has a Tour & Art Show coming up, offering a tour of works located at various locales around her Main St locations. Newmarket also apparently has a graffiti problem if a local paper's story is to be believed. Perhaps the event could someday become a bridge for youth to graduate in their choice of medium if you will. Or at least more respectful of where they display it.

Perfect canvass for allowing youth graffiti art

Recently, a front page Newmarket Era newspaper article focused on recent graffiti, purported to be on increase of recent times. Well, it's not like graffiti is a new entity...it's been around since long before I was born, first for war type protests before morphing into modern day messages on walls and buildings, often or mostly by a youthful 'artist". The news article featured a crime stoppers reward with a grainy surveillance photo of the "suspect" and a copy of his message....exactly what he wants...to be noticed! But that's only part of it.

Beats this canvas

Youth come from all backgrounds, and we are educated enough now to know that some kids behave certain ways for various reasons. kids act out and are punished with grounding and so forth but some are a tougher sell and often the ones who themselves have experienced some sort of trauma. Trauma such as a death or a molestation or an undiagnosed illness eating away at them. Now I'm not suggesting "hugg a thugging" these guys, but I am suggesting we engage them early before they become hardened and create ways to include them, by creating "graffiti-okay zones" and maybe linking the more interested / talented to other types of arts.

Town of Aurora Ontario's famous wall untouched

Perhaps start with having a huge designated wall available that is part of a design contest - similar to what was attempted by Myers costumes to combat graffiti after the town ordered them, yet again, to remove it. Too bad they deemed the
winning design itself a "sign" - therefore squashing the mural from being done. Too bad. I liked it.

At any rate, it's a different train of thought, but studies have proved that graffitiists are less likely to mark up a spot with a mural, and I could see bringing some into the fold once a few cool designs were up.

To start "it" off they could use a wall inside or out of a spot that fits the bill, with a design they all have a say in creating, along with getting the store owners final approval.

Guess which one is the Newmarket Youth Centre?

Not considered a sign or graffiti @ The Newmarket Youth Centre?

By today's bylaws this old Newmarket business sign would not be allowed

Winning contest wall mural rejected by Newmarket bylaws as a sign

I don't think criminalizing these youths is serving the community, as it only pushes them further 'underground' into a subculture that doesn't communicate with the everyday world, and, for some, escalates them to other real crimes in time. Crimes such as PC Corner the Main St computer store ransacked of all his best Mac laptops and other equipment over a 3 days in a row span. Despite video evidence, there's no crime stoppers reward on him, no sir, what's $20,000 worth of equipment and a new door and windows vs $20 worth of paint to a business to cover up graffiti?

One way to pull guys out of the shadows and into the light is through getting to know them, and that influence alone can sometimes be enough to reel them in close enough to affect positive change.

TP