Blog articles about Allandale.

I believe in miracles.  I have to. Have you ever run a marathon?  Don't despair.  Less than 0.5% of Canadians have completed this challenge.  Finishing a marathon would mean covering a distance of 26 miles, 385 yards (42.195 km).  That would be like running from downtown Barrie to the otherside of Alliston. Now imagine doing that EVERY day. True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic.  It is not the urge to surpass all others at [...]

Midwayby Dr. Travis Doucette Long before Bayfield Street was developed, Bradford Street was Barrie’s original Golden Mile and served as a busy commercial throughway that connected old Allandale with Downtown Barrie.  Today, little remains of this once business-laden street. Some may contend that the area has changed do to business relocation as the city expanded.  Bradford Street was once home to nearly every car dealer in town.  Many dealers dispersed to Bayfield Street and the [...]

It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good. by Terry Paddison It is said that as time passes, one’s memory of events as they actually happened becomes less clear. We become selective in what we remember. I don’t believe it! We can all recall at least one day or an event from our past that remains as vivid in our minds as if it had happened yesterday. This is my “yesterday” story. It was [...]

Allandale meets the Group of Seven by John Trott   Anyone rambling through Allandale should stroll up Bayview Avenue and take a right at the first turning.  Mature trees shade sturdy two storey brick houses of another era. The avenue ends at Innisfil Street with Shear Park on the left.  The street is called Holgate and the name may remind art lovers of Edwin Holgate. Holgate – draftsman, portraitist, landscape and figure painter, word engraver, [...]

(a bite out of a blog by Mary Harris)                                                                                        What do you say that hasn't already been said about a restaurant that’s been talked or written about, and who's walls are peppered [...]

In 1984, my childhood home had prime viewing of the Allandale rail yard. Nestled on the crest of a hill at 91 Cumberland Street, the backdoor view had not yet become obstructed by the apartment that would later be built on the corner of Bayview and Gowan. The maple trees, still in their youth, framed the majestic station that was the pride of the CNR. Although by now the heyday of the Allandale station and [...]

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