Author Archives: robertcprobus@gmail.com

By James Rayner For this walk, the Walking Club travelled east to the “terra incognita” of eastern Toronto, specifically the neighbourhood known as Riverdale.  The name comes from the area’s proximity to the Don River Valley.  It as an older area of the city with many semi-detached houses of 2 ½ storeys, but there areContinueContinue reading “April 2024 Walk”

By James Rayner On March 14th, a dozen members of The Walking Club kicked off the new year with a walk through the old Town of West Toronto and West Toronto Junction.  West Toronto was an independent town until the early 1900s when it was annexed by the expanding city of Toronto.  West Toronto JunctionContinueContinue reading “March 2024 Walk”

The Book Club met at the Fairfield Centre on March 14th, 2024 to discuss Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. “Lessons in Chemistry” is a captivating historical fiction novel that transports readers to the early 1960s. The story revolves around Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant chemist who faces both professional and personal challenges. Elizabeth worked atContinueContinue reading “The Page Turner #25”

By James Rayner One of the benefits of living in Etobicoke is our proximity to the historic Humber River.  Its waters have been used for thousands of years, first by indigenous tribes for transportation and food, and later, by settlers who also used it for recreational pursuits.  Currently, the river is just a shadow ofContinueContinue reading “January 2024 Walk”

On Thursday, Jan 11th, 2024, eight “Pageturners”, including two new members,Tracy Horsman and Diane Gillis, met at Fairfield Centre to discuss “ Infidel”a memoir by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Wendy Edgett led the review. Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali Infidel is a New York Times best seller. It is the 2006 autobiography of Ayaan Hirsi Ali,ContinueContinue reading “The Page Turner #23”

On December 14th, the Walking Club took its customary Christmas Season walk in downtown Toronto.  In the past, we have attended a free noon-hour concert of Christmas music at Roy Thomson Hall, but this year there was no such concert.  Cutbacks?  Anyway, we managed to fill that time by visiting more sites than usual. WeContinueContinue reading “December 2023 Walk”

On June 8, the Walking Club planned to walk along Dundas St. from the Dundas West subway station as far as Yonge-Dundas Square.  The idea was to see how Dundas evolves from a rather sketchy stretch around Roncesvalles to a prosperous thoroughfare lined with steel and glass skyscrapers in the city centre. Even before weContinueContinue reading “November 2023 Walk”

Six Probus Book Club members discussed a novel by Chanel Cleeton entitled “When We Left Cuba” on October 12, 2023. This is the Pageturner’s Summary of this book. When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton This 341 page, historical fiction novel is the story of the Perez family who fled from Cuba to south Florida inContinueContinue reading “The Page Turner #21”

The Kingsway-Islington Probus Book Club, The Pageturners, met on September 14, 2023 to discuss The 100 Years of Lenni and Margot, written by Marianne Cronin. See the review below. The 100 Years of Lenni and Margot written by by Marianne Cronin Reviewed by Kathryn Raymond This novel was the inaugural, fictional novel by Marianne Cronin, who studiedContinueContinue reading “The Page Turner #20”

Now that we are fully into the Fall season with the dropping of leaves and gardens being readied for winter, it seems to be a good time to recall one of our Spring outings.  This was a trip to Port Credit to walk along the lake shore and to visit the famous Rhododendron Gardens. WeContinueContinue reading “October 2023 Walk”