You may have noticed the lack of activity on the NorthRonces Blog. It is the usual story, the paying gig taking control of one’s life. I do hope to be back at it in the summer, though, so please stay tuned for more local Roncesvalles events, anecdotes and reports. Cheers!

The Local is hosting an all-day concert in order to raise funds for the re-opening of the Revue Cinema, our own nonprofit, community run movie theatre. Musical guests include Odd Little Man, Jay Clark Reid, Chris Staig, Billy Heffernan, The Strip, Lara MacMillan, Derek Downham, Out Trip, Roman Tome, Greg Hobbs and more. From 2:00 pm to closing.

Tickets are $100.00 and are limited in number. Advance tickets are available at The Local, The Herbal Clinic & Dispensary, Dressers, Another Story Bookstore, The Dizzy Gastro Sports Pub, Planet Aid, and The Film Buff. All proceeds go to the Revue Cinema.

The following news release is from the Revue Film Society and is in support of their worthy fund raising efforts:

Realtor urges fellow agents to match his donation

Toronto, ON – July 9, 2007 – Realtor Matt Mysak has a challenge for fellow real estate agents in the High Park area: Match my donation. Mysak has contributed $2,000 to the campaign to save the Revue Cinema on Roncesvalles Ave. “I consider it a landmark building in our area,” said Mysak, just before taking off on vacation. “All of the real estate agents who enjoy movies and love the area we live in, I think all of them should contribute. It’s always nice to give and not just to take.” Mysak has worked in the real estate business in Bloor West Village for 35 years. His firm, Matt Mysak Inc., employs six, including his son Joe.

The non-profit Revue Film Society, which will lease the cinema from new owners, must raise $60,000 in addition to funds donated last year to meet working capital demands, make necessary repairs and upgrade technology before opening. So far this summer, the society has raised $22,000. “We’re about a third of the way towards our objective,” says Rose Scheler, the society’s treasurer and one of the chief fundraisers. “Businesses have been wonderfully supportive. They see the Revue as unique and a valuable part of our community.”

Businesses making generous contributions to the Revue campaign include High Park Paints & Wallpaper; the coffee shop Alternative Grounds, which matched customer donations with a $1,000 cheque; video store The Film Buff; the blended restaurant Sue’s Thai Food/Vicki’s Fish n Chips; clothing shop Frock; English-as-a-second-language bookstore The ESL Shop; new ice cream store Bravo! Gelato; Whelan’s Gate Irish Pub; Sunrise Grill; Another Story Bookshop; The Herbal Clinic & Dispensary; Phila Optical; retro soda fountain and cafe Daddy O’s; clothing and gift store Dressers; Jitterbug Boy Footwear; Envoy Business Services; efficiency expert Pace Productivity Inc.; and Adelaide Testing Machines Inc.

John Anderson, owner of Morningstar, the clothing and furniture store on Roncesvalles, is pledging 10 per cent of furniture sales to the Revue campaign, while brother and sister team Melissa and Rupert Sexton, who own the Local Pub next to the Revue, are planning an August fundraiser.

The Revue Film Society expects to start leasing the cinema later this month. The transfer of ownership to the purchasers, local residents Danny and Letty Mullin, has been delayed for technical reasons.

The Society, meanwhile, has been preparing business and programming plans for the theatre. The goal is to have a cinema that will provide “an experience as diverse and dynamic as our community.”

The Revue Film Society thanks all of its donors and hard-working volunteers. Without them, the beloved Roncesvalles Ave. cinema would remain dark. To find out more about the Revue campaign, visit www.revuecinema.ca.

For more information, contact:

Rose Scheler, 416-533-6190,
rosescheler@yahoo.com

Ellen Moorhouse, 416-574-4483,
e_moorhouse@sympatico.ca

The Sorauren Park Festival is fast approaching and North Ronces.com readers, specifically, and Parkdale-Roncesvalles residents. more generally, can look forward to another great day of local music, community cheer and family fun! For those who don’t yet know, the Sorauren Park Festival is our neighbourhood’s pre-eminent local music showcase and all around fun day at the park.

When: The SAT. July 21st, 2007 9am-10pm

Where: Where else?

Every year The Sorauren Park Festival strives to bring:

The best performing artists that this neighborhood has to offer

Great locally made food & BBQ

Family refreshments

Local-craft brewery beer tent

Artisan fair & market

& fun in the sun.

If you have a business, are interested in increasing your profile in the neighbourhood, or would just like to contribute to the success of The Sorauren Park Festival please email Celina via NorthRonces.com. If you would like to see a short YouTube video showcasing the Festival click here.

New owners Danny & Letty Mullin with jubilant members of the Revue Film Society (Hi, Roy & Susan!).
—Photo by Boris Spremo. From The Revue Cinema web site.

Yesterday, on June 12, 2006, the Revue Film Society (RFS) held a media event announcing the signing of a lease for the newly (and locally) purchased Revue Cinema. Yes, the Revue Cinema will soon be up and running and once again showing movies for our North Ronces neighbourhood (and the rest of Toronto). The new Revue Cinema web site states that August is the target date for opening its doors once again.

With the revival of the theatre as a movie house, the RFS is also once again in fund-raising mode as they need to raise around $60,000 for essential start-up costs. While the RFS will now hire industry professionals to run the Revue as a non-profit corporation and fully expects the business to sustain itself, there is a still a lot of work to do before it is up and running. One project, dear to NorthRonces.com, is the rebuilding of the Revue marquee which collapsed this past winter.

Today, there are a number of news reports about yesterday’s announcement and most of them focus on the feel good story of the local couple, Danny and Letty Mullin, who purchased The Revue for $975,000 (negotiated down from the $1.275 million asking price) and are, in turn, leasing it to the RFS. The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail offer similar accounts of Mr. Mullin’s working class, rags-to-riches, community philanthropism.

Three cheers from NorthRonces.com for everyone involved, especially the community-minded new owners and our friends with The Revue Film society.

NorthRonces.com thought it appropriate to promote this letter from comment to full fledge post, as it expresses the most concrete hope for the Revue continuing as neighbourhood theatre as we have heard for a long time. This optimism, a result of the persistent work of the Revue Film Society, is especially welcome after the loss of the theatre’s marquee last week.

Yes it was a shock to lose the Revue Cinema marquee. Such nostalgia. But I’m just letting you know not to worry as we are well on ourway to re-activating the beautiful Revue Cinema. We will be seeing films there again! Please keep in touch through:

http://revuefilmsociety.org 

Daria Stermac
founding member of the Revue Film Society

While NorthRonces.com rushed out with digital camera in hand, due to technical difficulties the photos are still inside the camera. Luckily the Torontoist has linked to a number of shots of the poor old thing just before she was cut up and scooped into a bin.

[NB: By “cut up” I refer to the fact that the owners had the large “R” from the centre of the marquee, as well as the two neon “Revue” signs from either side, cut out of the wreckage and set aside for possible future restoration. Hopefully, these pieces will serve in the reconstruction of the marquee as a whole.]