Growing up in
Jane-Finch
by Ned Lecic
(Originally posted on
October 31, 2009 on Jane-Finch.com forums)
 I
would like to share some of my memories of living in the Jane and
Finch neighborhood; it is a strong link to my early childhood, which
I remember well. My family moved there a few months after
immigrating to Canada in 1981, when I was one and a half. My mother
says she had wanted to take an apartment in the Yonge and Eglinton
area, but for whatever reason, my father didn’t want to and had
preferred Jane and Finch, so we moved into the Bristol House high
rise block at 10 Tobermory Dr., apt. 1106. From the balcony there
was a good Westward view with dramatic sunsets. For the next four
years, this neighborhood made up much of my world. I believe it
helped shaped me as a new Canadian, as living in a very diverse
neighborhood, I was in touch from an early age with various
nationalities: our neighbors included people from Eastern Europe,
Blacks, Italians and so on, and I grew up seeing diversity as
something normal. When I was a child, we would often go for walks to
the nearby parks.
 Just
down the road was a park my parents called “livaditsa” (Serbian for
“little meadow”), behind Driftwood P.S., which has changed
relatively little since I was a child. I visited it in 2008 and
again this year, and there is still a baseball diamond with seats,
the same old fountain, and a small row of trees near the power
lines. On the other hand, there is some greenery around the little
stream that wasn’t there when I lived there, and one feature which I
know hasn’t been there in years is a small metal tubing playground.
There used to be a slide, I think two swings, and a jungle gym
shaped like a rocket, all painted red,
blue and yellow. The last time I saw this was in 1988, and already
the slide had been taken away; nowadays they make playgrounds
differently, with the monkey bars smaller and “safer” (to a fault,
IMO) but this was typical for my childhood and, I think, a lot more
fun.
 Sometimes,
a member of my family would take me to another local playground, for
example by the Palisades project or at or near the York University
campus. The other park we often went to was nearby Derrydown Park; I
loved this one, as I was attracted to woods and nature from an early
age. Or my father would take me to the York Woods library just
outside the park. Besides looking at books, we made use of different
programs offered there; I saw some of my first movies at that
library, and attended one or
two teddy bear picnics
that I think were organized by it. Another major part of my everyday
life was Jane Finch Mall. This is a spot that holds a special place
in my heart, for we did much of our shopping there and I remember a
mall that is quite different from how it is today. I have too many
memories of what it used to be like and what I enjoyed there, it
would probably merit a post of its own. I also recall the Darrigos
food market in the strip mall
 across
the street at the Norfinch Plaza; we often shopped there. Now there
is an Asian market in Darrigos’ place, I spent a year (1993/1994) at Driftwood P.S. in Junior Kindergarten; my teacher was Ms. Ratner and she had a classroom assistant called Vivian. The next school year, I began going to French Immersion, and so I started commuting to Yorkview P.S. in the Willowdale neighborhood. Then in 1985, my family moved to Willowdale. The connection to Jane and Finch was largely lost, but we still often went shopping at Jane-Finch mall, though less and less so. After about 1994, we practically stopped going there. Since growing up, however, I have periodically visited the neighborhood to see how it has changed and reconnect with some familiar parts. I think it will always have a place in my heart.  Even
on my most recent visits, I have found that the neighborhood has not
changed on the whole. The parks are all still there, as are the
housing projects I remember so well. As I said, though, Jane Finch
Mall is a major exception. I can hardly recognize it. In the 80s and
right through the beginning of the 90s, it was quite a typical local
mall. It was not particularly fancy and the architecture was quite
minimalist, with the acronym JF in a typical 70s-style font greeting
you on your left as you went in through the main entrance by the
McDonalds, but it contained everything a person might need on an
average day. Further down the hall as you entered were fashion
stores, stands selling snacks, and a yummy greasy spoon called Deli
boy (the logo being a kid who looked a bit like me at that age, only
 with a belly).
Turning
at the corner, you got to Towers, a department store that used to be
ubiquitous and was sort of like a cross between Zellers and Wal-Mart
today. I got many a toy there, and they had decent clothes as well.
Further on there were two supermarkets, Food City and at the other
end, a Dominion, along with a bookstore, an Italian-style café
called Tombolinos, where they had homemade ice cream, and a bar
called The Rustic Inn where the Tim Hortons is now.
Then in the early 90s,
Yorkgate Mall was built just across the street, and a change in the
profile of Jane Finch Mall seems to have followed suit. Now, there
are far more discount stores and ethnic-oriented shops. The mall has
been renovated with a new décor including a lot of the color purple
and exposed rafters in the hall. Besides the McDonalds, among the
shops that I can still recognize are the Dinky’s fast food stand
(now moved inside the Target home shop, where Towers and Food City
used to be), and the two hair places, Rubino’s and Luna1 (as my
father remarked, hair keeps growing).
 I
am now 32 years old and work as an English as a Second Language
Teacher in Prague, the Czech Republic. I am attempting to devote
more time to writing in various genres. My interests include playing
the bagpipes, nature hiking, studying history, and promoting a
number of social causes. When I am in Toronto, I like to visit Jane
and Finch and the rest of the West End, and walk around the parks
and ethnic neighborhoods.
Photos courtesy of Ned
Lecic |
