Jason Fowler and Sorauren Park
When I moved into my apartment on Sorauren Avenue in Toronto 17 years ago, the view outside my window was of a field of rubble. It had been a city vehicle depot that was torn down and was frequently used as a set for post-apocalyptic movies. A few years later, pressure from the community lead the city to turn it into a park and the neighbourhood just blossomed. The community has been involved ever since in programming the park in various ways and in re-purposing a couple of derelict buildings on the site. While the larger of the two still awaits sufficient funding to turn it into a community centre, the smaller has been successfully converted into the Sorauren Park Fieldhouse through the efforts of Doug Bennet's Wabash Building Society, the Roncesvalles-Macdonnell Residents Association and countless donors and volunteers.
Last night, the WBS and RMRA held a donor appreciation event at the Fieldhouse and I was invited to do my presentation about the Six String Nation as part of the festivities. As a very special treat, neighbourhood musician Jason Fowler played Voyageur after the presentation. He played a couple of songs, including an extraordinary acoustic guitar arrangement of "O' Canada".
Special thanks to Doug Bennet, Susan Vandendam, Jorge Miguel and Jason Fowler.
Posted at 12:42 PM