Living in Aurora, Town of Aurora, Ontario » History https://livinginaurora.ca Living In Aurora Ontario Canada Mon, 13 Jan 2020 19:51:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.38 Aurora Memories and More, Another Aurora Book by Elizabeth Hearn Milner https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/aurora-memories-and-more-another-aurora-book-by-elizabeth-hearn-milner/ https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/aurora-memories-and-more-another-aurora-book-by-elizabeth-hearn-milner/#comments Sat, 14 Dec 2013 04:47:24 +0000 http://livinginaurora.ca/?p=11254 digging for some books. Obviously the fatter the better and Milner’s first book was one that attracted me the most.

So I read Milner’s first book and eventually I acquired my own copy as well: Aurora 1945-1965 An Ontario Town at a Time of Great Change.

Aurora Memories and More by Elizabeth Hearn Milner

Aurora Memories and More by Elizabeth Hearn Milner


To make this long story short, I got my copy of the book from Ron Wallace and Ron connected me with Elizabeth and this is when I found out that she had second book on the go Aurora Memories and More, a continuation to her first book.

Since then I have been on Elizabeth’s case. Always asking when and when will she have the book ready. That persistent when got my name in the Acknowledgement section of the Aurora Memories and More book. In the Aurora Memories and More book Elizabeth writes her own memories when she was growing up in our town and also shares few stories from others.

It was a long journey for Elizabeth to have her book finally printed. The book is available at the Hillary House and also at the Caruso and Co, both places located on Yonge Street in Aurora.

I am not done reading yet. As of today I am halfway through the book. I think I enjoy even more reading this book since it is not so much of what happened when and where, but I am actually intrigued by small details Elizabeth writes about her own life in Aurora. She writes how small community we once were and how everyone knew each other. I am stunt by how much she is able to remember and to write about people in Aurora, the people she knew.

This is short and sweet introduction to the Milner’s book and you will be hearing more about the book and some of my own memories I have with Elizabeth.

“What a small pleasure it was to buy that candy at Mr. Lacey’s and oh what power came at recess when you pulled out that little bag with nine candies in it and, with grace and largess, you gave away five or even six to chosen friends keeping the chocolate for the walk home. Such delight for three or four pennies spent at Mr. Lacey’s shop.” ~ Mr. Lacey’s Shop: A Sweet Memory; Aurora Memories and More, pg 37, 2013.]]> https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/aurora-memories-and-more-another-aurora-book-by-elizabeth-hearn-milner/feed/ 2 Addison-Hall Horse Breeding Farm, Life Left Behind To Demolish https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/addison-hall-horse-breeding-farm-life-left-behind-to-demolish/ https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/addison-hall-horse-breeding-farm-life-left-behind-to-demolish/#comments Wed, 20 Nov 2013 18:56:59 +0000 http://livinginaurora.ca/?p=11193 if I spent more time photographing sunset that evening or rather observing.

I was in the middle of field so who knows what critters were crawling around me or on me, regardless I always tend to bring something home anyway, so I am used to.

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON


Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON


Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON


Once beautiful farm land landscapes on Leslie Street are now being transformed into residential areas. So what’s the fascination with the view on the hill. Regardless of transformation the sunset will always be the same, but it will not look the same because of all the developments around.

Sometimes I ask myself where all these people coming from. Perhaps someone had the same question sixteen years ago when I moved to Aurora.

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON


On the same evening I discovered that the Addison-Hall Farm on 15775 Leslie Street was going to be flatten, flatten eventually. It wasn’t yet but the walls were slowly coming down. With a help from a friend I got on the site. The adventure began.

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON


Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON


We can’t possibly preserve everything physically, but we can in photos, and this is what I do.

I spent many September days on the site and photographed the Addison-Hall farm from different angles and inside out, whatever was left each day. All the good recoverable mainly wood and metal materials were stripped from the barn for re-use.

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON


Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON


Unfortunately I missed when the main barn was still standing, but I do have some photographs of the barn and the horses from few summers ago when I was driving to photograph now the new restored Petch Log house. As of today the farm house is still standing, but its days are numbered.

The main green barn is now almost flatten and the second near by barn with horse stalls has a roof off. The site is now going under main demolishing.

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON


In the place like that you will never know what you can find and I didn’t know what to expect. I learned my ghostly lesson not to take anything from the old sites, just photos.

Who knew, but there was an apartment inside the main barn and probably been there since 1960s. It was one floor apartment – bedrooms, kitchen, washroom, living room and office, accessible from the back mainly. When I came inside first time it felt like someone left life behind, just like that – they just left and didn’t bother taking anything with them.

There was way too much personal stuff scattered all over – mainly family photographs, letters, postcards and other articles. We even found property mortgage papers. I guess all that meant to go down with the site, not wanted.

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON


Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON


It was definitely a horse breeding farm. Once you see what was in the barn and at the apartment, one can easily figure that out. Lots and lots of information about the horses, boxes of log filled with records and boxes of x-ray negatives.

Thousands and thousands of horse related records, brochures and books. And all that meant to go down with the demolition, it was left behind.

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON


I fell in love with the land all around the farm house and the barns. On the hill overlooking Aurora, beautiful landscape all around. It wasn’t just a horse farm, surrounded with beautiful trees, it was a bird sanctuary as well. Every turn I made something was chirping beside me.

Partially I think I got to re-live my childhood, and may be this is why I get drawn to places such that. This is how it was and this will be gone too very soon.

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON


And here is something interesting, the farm was once owned by Dennis Mills, I don’t know anything about him, but may be you do. The Addison-Hall farm was the Thoroughbred horse farm, if you interested to know more.

I have seen and captured enough.
Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON

Addison-Hall Farm, 15775 Leslie Street, Aurora ON


]]> https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/addison-hall-horse-breeding-farm-life-left-behind-to-demolish/feed/ 4 Somewhere In Time, Olexander Wlasenko Presents Images from the Past https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/somewhere-in-time-olexander-wlasenko-presents-images-from-the-past/ https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/somewhere-in-time-olexander-wlasenko-presents-images-from-the-past/#comments Thu, 07 Nov 2013 19:14:06 +0000 http://livinginaurora.ca/?p=11158 Artists always have a way to surprise me. Perhaps it is a time for me to retire looking at Rembrandt or Picasso and start looking what local artists can intrigue us with.

IMG_4521_Wlasenko

Somewhere in Time, Olexander Wlasenko at Aurora Cultural Centre Exhibit


Every artist out there is unique – paints, sketches, draws what inspires him or her. Styles are differ. Some like abstract and some like to recreate reality.

I walked upstairs and these huge black and white charcoal sketches grabbed my attention immediately. It felt like I was part of the art. The full size images, people interacting, waiting in the waiting room, looking at me – unfortunately lot of sadness but that’s how it was. The sketch of crowd of people engaged me to the point I wanted to know what they were looking at.

IMG_4517_Wlasenko

Somewhere in Time, Olexander Wlasenko at Aurora Cultural Centre Exhibit


Images from the past. The fact that I grew up studying World War I and World War II extensively in elementary school – in history, in literature and in art I was able to connect. Images of war – in the movies and in books. These images weren’t that pretty. Definitely the knowledge of the past connected me to Wlasenko’s Somewhere In Time intriguing exhibit.

IMG_4507_Wlasenko

O. Wilde, Olexander Wlasenko at Aurora Cultural Centre Exhibit


Perhaps this can be a nice trip to visit Aurora Cultural Centre after the November 11th ceremony at the Cenotaph.

On the side note I will always miss precious days with Matthew. Especially when I would take him to places around Aurora and when enough was enough he would be pulling on my jacket – can we go now?. The beauty is he will have memories of Aurora. He will remember Aurora in his own way.

IMG_4511_Wlasenko

Somewhere in Time, Olexander Wlasenko at Aurora Cultural Centre Exhibit


It is hard to believe that Matthew is 5.5 years old, and this blog is 4.5 years old. The first year of its existence the blog was practically unknown and now …]]> https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/somewhere-in-time-olexander-wlasenko-presents-images-from-the-past/feed/ 0 Hillary House Full of Hidden Treasures, Be Curious It’s Fun https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/hillary-house-full-of-hidden-treasures-be-curious-its-fun/ https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/hillary-house-full-of-hidden-treasures-be-curious-its-fun/#comments Thu, 30 May 2013 17:12:07 +0000 http://livinginaurora.ca/?p=10618 Apparently, there were many hidden treasures hidden away and now are exhibited.

The Hillary House is now open for the season so definitely you can check it out for yourself and explore, be curious and have fun.

Hillary House National Historic Site, Aurora, Ontario


I always considered myself a bookworm. I find books and journals more interesting than any thing else, but that is a personal preference. The reason – books are not just historical objects that age, books tell the stories. Even if it is a simple recipe – this is what they ate.

Hillary House National Historic Site, Aurora, Ontario


What else is interesting about old books is the writing style. We don’t write like that anymore, as a matter fact with the introduction of texting we made our words even shorter, or we write acronyms to communicate. We live in the fast changing world.

Hillary House National Historic Site, Aurora, Ontario


History is fascinating, the change, the similarities – what you see in the Hillary House will never be encountered again. Hillary House will always will be a unique place. It was a doctor’s office but it was also a house to many families that lived there and left memories behind. In some cases memories that we will never know.

Hillary House National Historic Site, Aurora, Ontario


I must say that I also enjoyed Art of the Manor 2013 exhibiting original artwork by Elena Yim, Kallista Haughey and Nancy Falconi inspired by the medical collection of Hillary House. Check out more photos from Hillary House on my Facebook page.

Hillary House National Historic Site, Aurora, Ontario

Hillary House National Historic Site, Aurora, Ontario


Hillary House National Historic Site, Aurora, Ontario


]]> https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/hillary-house-full-of-hidden-treasures-be-curious-its-fun/feed/ 4 Will You Remember Playing Broomball On February 3rd, 2013, The Mayor’s Levee At The Town Park https://livinginaurora.ca/town-of-aurora/will-you-remember-playing-broomball-on-february-3rd-2013-the-mayors-levee-at-the-town-park/ https://livinginaurora.ca/town-of-aurora/will-you-remember-playing-broomball-on-february-3rd-2013-the-mayors-levee-at-the-town-park/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 05:08:20 +0000 http://livinginaurora.ca/?p=10156 We adults didn’t figure out yet that we are living in Canada and we can wear snowsuits or long-johns as well.

So my collection and journey does not ends here with this post yet. Couple more posts maybe. I know despite the cold weather my clicking finger was working perfectly.

In fifty years, that is 2063, the little people running and playing during this historic event will not be so little. They will be adults and due to their age may not even remember. They may not even live in the town anymore.

There were many activities for children to have fun, broom-ball, wagon rides, skating and tug of war. Many came to find out if they won the Aurora 150 flag design contest. The official Aurora 150 flag was unveiled later during the candle lighting ceremony. The Sesquicentennial Ad Hoc Committee chose Victoria Harris’ flag design.

It was temporarily displayed at the Town Park and it can be seen at the Town Hall for the rest of the year. Everything was happening so fast, ouch, I missed Victoria’s photo shoot. Well, many people had cameras including the photographers that worked for the Town took many pictures, I am sure they got that one.

You may ask, what is next? Well, ceremony and departure, and that will conclude what I wanted to share with you for this historic event.

IMG_3772_Aurora150Bday IMG_3765_Aurora150Bday IMG_3759_Aurora150Bday IMG_3758_Aurora150Bday IMG_3729_Aurora150Bday IMG_3726_Aurora150Bday IMG_3724_Aurora150Bday IMG_3718_Aurora150Bday IMG_3712_Aurora150Bday IMG_3699_Aurora150Bday IMG_0999_Aurora150Bday IMG_0727_Aurora150Bday ]]> https://livinginaurora.ca/town-of-aurora/will-you-remember-playing-broomball-on-february-3rd-2013-the-mayors-levee-at-the-town-park/feed/ 2 Town of Aurora Official Town Crier, John Webster, Never Too Late To Learn https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/town-of-aurora-official-town-crier-john-webster-never-too-late-to-learn/ https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/town-of-aurora-official-town-crier-john-webster-never-too-late-to-learn/#comments Thu, 07 Feb 2013 01:29:34 +0000 http://livinginaurora.ca/?p=9924

I photographed them last year during July 1st, 2012 Canada Day parade – Aurora Celebrates Canada Day, Yonge Street Parade Snapshots, Part II. Then I missed them during Santa Clause parade, it was too dark; and here they are again.

John Webster, Town Crier, Town of Aurora, Ontario


Well, stupid question or not, I had to ask. Cllr John Abel filled me on the all the details. Looks like I asked the right person too because Cllr John Abel on February 14th, 2012 put a motion forward to nominate John Webster to be our official Town of Aurora Town Crier.

Town of Aurora Council approved and on February 28, 2012 Town of Aurora appointed John Webster to be the Official Town Crier of the Town of Aurora. His function is to make public announcements at official events, and we all know now how it is done.

Sometimes I wonder how little I know about this town. Blogging helps, participating helps and asking helps.

John Webster with His Wife Mary, Town Crier, Town of Aurora, Ontario


Why John Webster then? John Webster is professional Town Crier, not sure how current information on the net is, but he is also official Town Crier for the Town of Markham and of the Town of East Gwillimbury. Mary Webster is the Official Wife of the Town Crier, John Webster. If you want to learn more here is interesting reading for you to absorb – read more.

John Webster also has deep roots here in Aurora. John Webster’s Great Grandfather, John Webster (same name) was a ship’s carpenter in the Royal Navy and when he retired he received a gift in the form of land in the New World. That land was later called Aurora. His grandfather and his father grew up in Aurora.

John Webster, Sesquicentennial Mayor’s Levee, Town Park


We also have Webster Drive to honour the Webster Family.

I hope you enjoyed this short Sesquicentennial history lesson and for sure in the future you will be seeing more of John & Mary Webster on my photographs.

These are pictures I have taken during the Mayor’s Levee on February 3rd, 2013 and believe or not with their elaborate outfits, John and Mary brighten lot of my pictures.

Town Crier John Webster, Mayor Dawe, Tug-O-War Beginning


Town Crier John Webster, Tug-O-War Cry, Town Park

Town Crier John Webster, Tug-O-War, Almost Won


]]> https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/town-of-aurora-official-town-crier-john-webster-never-too-late-to-learn/feed/ 0 Drive Through Town of Aurora Streets, In Black & White For Change https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/drive-through-town-of-aurora-streets-in-black-white-for-change/ https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/drive-through-town-of-aurora-streets-in-black-white-for-change/#comments Sat, 19 Jan 2013 21:11:02 +0000 http://livinginaurora.ca/?p=9793 Doctor’s visits and x-ray appointments were only things we went out for.

Gabriel’s Cafe, Yonge Street, Aurora Downtown


Aurora United Church, Yonge Street, Town of Aurora, Ontario


We are all good now. Matthew is finishing up his second round of antibiotic. Of all of us he got hit the most that resulted in pneumonia. Last Monday I rushed him to the doctors office as he developed chicken pox like rush. Doctor didn’t agree that it was chicken pox, but he didn’t ruled out.

Apparently, something I didn’t know, but children not supposed to get chicken pox now days because they are vaccinated. But they still do, I have seen it.

Poplar Villa, Yonge Street, Town of Aurora


Sunrise Senior Living, Town of Aurora, Ontario


Today I asked for a drive around Aurora. I needed fresh air and so the rest of us, but we couldn’t keep Matthew in the cold air too much so walk was out of question. Our path was improvised, we didn’t anticipated, just making unexpected turns starting with Yonge Street and heading South.

We took unexpected turn on Brookland Avenue, somehow merged onto Fairway Drive, then to Murray Drive and ended up on Kennedy Street.

Kennedy Street is a interesting street, mixed with old and new houses, and some empty lots.

Well, I already been driving on Kennedy Street few times last summer, but never made a turn on Temperance Street. We did today.

When I met with seniors at the Hollandview Trail Retirement Community I found out that Jean Baker-Pearce once used to live there, and apparently there is a log house hidden inside one of the houses. There is lot of history on this street of which I am not aware of.

Temperance Street, Town of Aurora, Ontario


Temperance Street runs parallel to the Yonge Street that means you get to see the back of all the buildings that face Yonge Street. Interesting views and they do remind me downtown like Toronto.

Temperance Street, Town of Aurora, Ontario


We decided to end our trip when we headed towards Wellington Street. I have seen it before, but never paid attention – the barn. I must return and find out more, or may be someone can share a story.

The Barn, Wellington Street, Town of Aurora


And when I snapped my last picture of the barn someone was really anxious to get home, so we did. Turned North on Yonge Street and headed home, just like the biker.

The Biker, Bossa Nova, Yonge Street, Downtown Aurora


Hope you enjoyed my black and white photography. The day was kind of dark and moody so color photography just didn’t go this time. All these are shots from the car behind the window, so if you see any reflection there and there, no worry no ghost was following us.]]> https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/drive-through-town-of-aurora-streets-in-black-white-for-change/feed/ 0 Where Is The Snow? It Will Be Record Weather For Aurora, Just In Time For Sesquincentennial https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/where-is-the-snow-it-will-be-record-weather-for-aurora-just-in-time-for-sesquincentennial/ https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/where-is-the-snow-it-will-be-record-weather-for-aurora-just-in-time-for-sesquincentennial/#comments Tue, 15 Jan 2013 01:22:29 +0000 http://livinginaurora.ca/?p=9767 It isn’t a good thing for us. If the wind changes its course from normal direction and will start to blow towards front of our house we will get water leak inside the house. We have damaged shingles on the roof that means another potential leak. If the mild weather stays, the flu season is not going away.

I looked outside the window this afternoon. It was a very moody day, no sun and sprinkles of very little snow dancing in the wind. Yes we had little sun this holiday season. Just watch the price of the Vitamin D will rise on demand.

We got a call from a doctor for Matthew. Pneumonia still shows on the x-ray, that means another week of antibiotics, doctor visit and possible third x-ray to fill. No school for Matthew. He is sick but he has no issue cheering for no school days. Hopefully he will be good going back again after a lengthy break. Well, we also got news that our doctor is now sick.

Mini Snowman, A Day Before Christmas 2012


So when we had snow we made a snowman. To emphasize how little snow we had while making little fella – the snowman’s head is size of a normal snowball and he is about twelve inches high. Very easy to miss, and he will be missed – he melted few days ago. Completely to the ground.

This will be a definitely interesting Sesquicentennial year for Aurora not just for events, politics but weather patterns as well.

Just in case you have not seen yet, I have few things for you.

Our community FOCUS page now has Sesquicentennial focus page set up to feature topics related to 150th Anniversary of the Town of Aurora. It is also a great opportunity for us to show some not the old 100 years old photos, but photos that are only 15 years old or less. Nice recap for those who have been hanging out around Aurora for only 15 or 20 years. Remember it is 150 years of Aurora and every year matters.

I have also assembled together a Parent Zone page for parents who wants to occasionally write.

Lastly, I also started a legacy project for the Town of Aurora called documenting Aurora. The name says it all.

Runaway Santas, Downtown Historic Aurora, Ontario, December 23, 2012.


]]> https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/where-is-the-snow-it-will-be-record-weather-for-aurora-just-in-time-for-sesquincentennial/feed/ 0 Art At The Manor 2013, Put Your Creativity To Test https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/art-at-the-manor-2013-put-your-creativity-to-test/ https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/art-at-the-manor-2013-put-your-creativity-to-test/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2013 05:58:14 +0000 http://livinginaurora.ca/?p=9729 So I got an idea. Perhaps this may be a good time that I try something new with my photography just here on my blog while talking about this great opportunity.

I have seen it others do it, but I didn’t want to break the rule for my photo journal blog. Digital art is fun, I have done it before and since I don’t know how to use a real paint brush, I still have the opportunity to mess with the pixels on the screen.

Hillary House, National Historic Site, A Sketch


Well, if you an artist and love the challenge – Art at the Manor 2013 presented by the Aurora Historical Society is just for you (check the their website for more details). I got excited about the range of categories included (Oils & Acrylics, Textile, Watercolour, Encaustic, Drawing/Illustration, Printmaking, Photography, Time-Based/Video, Digital Media, Mixed Media, Sculpture etc).

A real fun project to be involve in. Unfortunately, timing for me didn’t work out this year as we have been battling flu season and poor Matthew ended up with pneumonia this time. I am also getting more web development projects to work on and more photo projects around the town.

However, it is not too late for you to get involve, and let me tell you – you don’t have to be an artist. This is a great opportunity to test your creativity and evolve. We all have it somewhere hidden and at some point we should let out to the surface.

Hillary House, Barn, National Historic Site, Town of Aurora


Well, here are some of my digital enhancements – Hillary House converted to a digital sketch and the barn turned to black and white and playing with contrast. I kind of like that idea so I think I may try to introduce a bit of that type of art here on my blog.

Sometimes I feel like I photographed everything in Aurora, but that is only feeling, because I have not seen everything yet. I have a feeling that my photo journey will be taking forever here. Window of opportunities – endless.

Window, Town Park, Town of Aurora


Well, hope you liked the window above. I let you guess which building this window belongs to. Small clue – taken at the Town Park.

Perhaps this is a great opportunity to mention the Hillary House Ball event that happened back in the October. I think I never mentioned it here yet, but I had an opportunity to showcase some of my photography – a big panel photos, about 10 of them, were displayed at the event at the DiNardo’s The Mansion.

However, I would like to give a credit to the person who took time to present them. Whoever did it was brilliant. Note the window photo and the door of the Hillary House behind stage where the band played. I recall just staring at it. It was a neat idea because of the size of the photo it felt like someone could easily walk in or walk out through that door, or peek through the window. Well done.

Hillary House Ball, Photo Panels, October 2012


Hillary House, Panel Photo, Fall, National Historic Site, Town of Aurora

]]> https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/art-at-the-manor-2013-put-your-creativity-to-test/feed/ 0 Winter-y Evening Drive Near John West Way, Construction Site & Year 2012 In Review https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/winter-y-evening-drive-near-john-west-way-construction-site-year-2012-in-review/ https://livinginaurora.ca/aurora/winter-y-evening-drive-near-john-west-way-construction-site-year-2012-in-review/#comments Sat, 29 Dec 2012 03:47:01 +0000 http://livinginaurora.ca/?p=9663 Note, I am still practicing. No tripod just using very high ISO.

The Ridgewood, John West Way, Town of Aurora


Few years ago I was following a fellow photographer from US and he took these amazing photos of the construction sites. I was hoping one day that I will have an opportunity to do so.

Well I have two here in the Town of Aurora and one of them is the condominium construction site (The Ridgewood) on the John West Way right across the Hollandview Trail Retirement Community.

The Ridgewood, John West Way, Town of Aurora


I went for a drive today and my first stop was behind the movie theater Cineplex. At this moment it is probably the biggest construction site in the Town of Aurora. I have been following progress mostly during the summer, and now from this view point you can hardly see the Hollandview Trail place.

It felt like it was moving slow at first, but once they started to stack up the floors and walls I was able to see changes at the construction site at much faster rate.

The Ridgewood, John West Way, Town of Aurora


The Ridgewood, John West Way, Town of Aurora


This area on the John West Way, near the Aurora Town Hall, is definitely a high density area. I wonder how the traffic is going to be. It wasn’t so bad when I drove by around six o’clock. I actually was surprised to see two buses in the span of five minutes.

Hollandview Retirement Community, John West Way, Town of Aurora


Other High Density Buildings on John West Way, Town of Aurora


On the end of my journey tonight I dropped by the Town Hall and snap some pictures of the Christmas tree. I may be wrong but the tree seems much bigger this year, and it seems dressed more with lights. Well when I get some time I will check if I got some older photos to compare.

This brings interesting point, the landscapes don’t just change because buildings rise or fall, but in addition because trees grow and tress fall down and sometimes not by themselves.

Christmas Tree 2013, Town Hall, Town of Aurora, Ontario


Well this may be my last post for the year 2012, so let me summarize few things. I just checked statistics for this site and this site had about 17,300 visits and 35,800 page views in the year 2012. I think that this is not that bad for a local blog. About eighty percent of my visits are from Aurora and surroundings (York Region).

I published 110 posts, slightly less than last year, but this was because I launched community FOCUS (LivingInAurora.COM) site and spent some time writing some content there. I don’t know how many images were published on this blog in 2012 but all I can tell you that this blog has a library of over 1,400 images of the Town of Aurora or photos that were taken on the grounds of Aurora.

My list of subscribers is constantly growing and if they don’t subscribe to my mailing list I know I am being followed using RSS feeds. I do have a twitter account and interesting spread of followers. My site is mainly found via search engines because someone is looking for something specific. It is nice that some actually drop me emails and write me interesting things they know about Aurora.

This year I have engaged more in photographing changes happening in Aurora, and I will do that more in the following year. I have extensive library of photos of the former Wells Street Public School and there will be more as the main construction didn’t start yet. I also have extensive library of photos of the Petch Log House reconstruction which I have been photo shooting since October 2012.

To conclude this post, let me list few of many interesting keywords through which people found this photo journal blog: trees that cry, who lives on my road, aurora issues, environmental issues in aurora, is there water good for drinking in aurora ontario, aurora mystery solved, aurora ontario horror and brave naked. However, the most used keyword and variations were for wells street public school.

“Whether we want them or not, the New Year will bring new challenges; whether we seize them or not, the New Year will bring new opportunities.” a quote by Michael Josephson.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013.

GO Station, Wellington Street, Town of Aurora



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