Open Saturdays starting
from 12am to 5pm.

NEW also open the first Sunday

of each month from 1pm  -4pm eg

Oct 5, 2025 

EVENTS AT THE COTTAGE
(newsletter)

Mending Days: Save Your Clothes!
Our mending service is a huge success.
Keep cherished garments off the landfill. Menders also teach you to repair clothes.
Drop your item at the Cottage:
Sat 11:00–4:00 or Sun Oct 5 1:00–4:00.
Collect when repairs are complete.
For repair lessons, email:
tollkeeperscottage@gmail.com

SUNDAY AFTERNOON TALK AND BOOK LAUNCH

OCTOBER 5 at 2:00 pm (COTTAGE OPEN FROM 11:00-2:00)

THE ROOSTING BOX: A TALK ABOUT THE CHRISTIE STREET VETERANS' HOSPITAL KRISTEN DEN HARTOG

$10. cash or e-transfer to tollkeeperscottage@gmail.com

At the end of WW1, wounded soldiers were returning in huge numbers, and the country was scrambling to find spaces to treat them all. In 1919, near Christie and Dupont, a military hospital opened in a renovated cash register factory. Kristen den Hartog's book, The Roosting Box: Rebuilding the Body After the First World War, delves into the lives of this hospital’s patients and staff. Using old letters, diaries, military service records, and newspaper archives, she explores how ordinary people dealt with the ways war had changed them, and how the medical community – and the city – grew by leaps and bounds in this fascinating period in Toronto history.

Kristen den Hartog is the author of four novels and three works of nonfiction. Her latest book, The Roosting Box, was a finalist for the 2024 Toronto Book Awards, whose jury called it a “heartbreaking and humane ... tapestry of lives lived.” The book is currently up for a Heritage Toronto Award, which celebrates outstanding achievements in preserving and promoting the city's history. She divides her time between Lyndhurst, Ontario, and the west end of Toronto, not far from the original site of the Christie Street Hospital.

PHOTO FIESTA! AT THE TOLLKEEPER'S COTTAGE

BEGINNING NOW AND UNTIL NOVEMBER 1

Do you like to take pictures? Want another venue for you to show your skills and your great eye?
Fiesta Farms has generously offered one lucky contestant a $75. gift certificate to a camera buff in our Tollkeeper's Cottage community
Here's how it will work:
Email us at the tollkeeperscottage@gmail.com and let us know you'd like to participate.
We'll send you a form to sign.
Return the signed form (or bring it in on any Saturday from noon to 5:00) along with $10. to participate in the event. Cash or e-transfer
Take a photo of anything--person, place or thing--either inside the Tollkeeper's Cottage, on our property or on the adjacent Tollkeeper's Park (east of the Cottage).
Email up to three digital photos and submit them to the contest at our email address tollkeeperscottage@gmail.com, with a title for each, if you wish.
Your photos will be displayed in the Cottage for the month of October until Saturday, November 8, when our judges will choose a winner.
We will contact the winner of the $75. gift certificate from Fiesta Farms. You do not need to be present to win.
* This contest is not open to members of the Board of Directors or their families.

HOW TO READ TEA LEAVES ~ THURSDAY OCTOBER 23 AT 7:00 PM BY CLAIRE GOODCHILD
A lively and experiential evening of divination with tips and strategies from her book What do you see as the tea leaves settle in the cup? Develop your insights of the world beyond the physical realm.
$10. cash or e-transfer to tollkeeperscottage@gmail.com

ANNEX EAST TOUR ~ SATURDAY OCTOBER 25 AT 2:00 PM
WALK WITH DEB, OUR NEW WALK LEADER
This Walk travels the original boundaries of the Annex, along the way learning about some of the personalities who lived here and others whose influence is still evident. Among other stops, we view the house that started the Annex style and and the home of a woman who spearheaded the founding of a children’s hospital. September and October are months of many celebrations in our Tollkeeper community

NEW MEMBERSHIPS AND RENEWALS -
- Thank you to  the
people who  renewed their memberships.
 There are many more of you out
 there and we'd like to see you
 continue your support.
And those of you who are not
 members yet--no time like the present
to start! It's
 only $20. for an individual
 and $35. for a family, and
it's tax deductible! Cash,
cheque (to the Community
History Project) or e-transfer. 

Here are some of the other tours we do:
Seaton Village 
  – including its Black history
the West Annex 
  – with Jane Jacob’s house
the Christie Pits area 
  – Koreatown, unusual houses, the Riot
Tarragon Village 
  – with Baldwin and George Brown
Wychwood Park 
  – with or without turtles
Casa Loma – with very grand stables
If you would care to join us for
 a guided walk through Seaton Village,
 the West Annex, or many other
 interesting areas nearby,
 send us a message at
 tollkeeperscottage@gmail.com to be
 added to the list of those we 
contact when a walk or two are imminent!

Our walks are for anyone interested.
 As we conduct these walks 
as part of our efforts to
 support the operation of
 the Tollkeeper's Cottage,
 we suggest a donation of $10.

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COMMUNITY HISTORY PROJECT 
BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2024-25
Thank you to our members for an
 interactive Annual General Meeting,
 where we passed the new Constitution 
and celebrated our Ontario Trillium Grant.
 We wish our hard-working
 board another successful year!
 

COMMUNITY HISTORY PROJECT
ACTIVITIES ...

Send us a note to be put on

our list or keep watching here.

 

WE HOPE TO BE WALKING WITH YOU SOON!
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