Thanksgiving at Simmons
Celebrate your Thanksgiving with the beauty of the earth as well as its bounty. Merion and Tina remind you that your Thanksgiving table needs a centerpiece of traditional Fall flowers. Bring in your favourite vase or container before Wednesday October 5 and they’ll prepare a uniquely designed bouquet for you. You can, of course, place your order by phone as well (416-920-6580). Thanksgiving Saturday hours are 9 am to 3 pm. 540 Parliament.

Election Day is Thursday October 6, 9 am to 9 pm
Do you have questions about this? Where do I vote? Who are the candidates? When is it? You can get your answers here: http://faq.elections.on.ca/faq/performsearch.do?type1QuestionId=1 Click on the link, then type your home postal code into the first box and click “search” at the bottom of the page. To talk to a human being, call 1-866-566-9766.
Our Cabbagetown candidates for the big “four” parties are:
Martin Abell, PC - http://martinabell.ca/
Cathy Crowe, NDP - http://cathycrowe.ca/
Mark Daye, Green - http://www.gpo.ca/riding/94/candidate
Glen Murray, Liberal - http://www.voteglenmurray.ca/
And best wishes to our local Returning Officer – Eric Morse. Eric is the official referee who makes all the arrangements and oversees the voting. By now, he’s probably really hassled but doing his characteristically good job.

Start your Christmas wines now
Gunnar at Church Street Winery (420 Parliament) recommends that you get your Christmas supplies into the bottle now. He has a wide range of grapes and styles available including ice wine and port. These are great choices for your table and your gifts. It’s time now – avoid the rush and get your wine into the bottle so it can set and be ready for Christmas.

Congrat’s Jamie and Rob
Jamie MacLean was just given a gorgeous engagement ring from Rob. Great news. It’s even more interesting that she got it from him during their recent trip to Paris. He had it designed and custom made at Fair Trade Jewelry (523 Parliament) and carried it secretly across the Atlantic to make his gift in the fabled Luxembourg Gardens. She says its recycled, fair-mined platinum with a clean Canadian diamond and etched with a trillium to remind them of their Ontario Street home. That’s a very romantic gesture.

More congratulations for We Day
Free The Children holds a day-long event at the Air Canada Centre every year. Over 18,000 young people from schools throughout the GTA and surrounding districts attend. The program is based on the idea that we can all make a contribution to our communities and to other people. Craig and Marc Kielburger were the hosts and the special guests this year included Danny Glover, Mary Robinson and Nelly Furtado. Ms Furtado used the occasion to make an extraordinary $1 million gift for school construction in Kenya. To see a clip of this amazing event, click here: http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110927/110927_we_day/20110927/?hub=CP24Home

Everybody knows Jet Fuel
Even Andrea Horwath. The NDP leader made a campaign stop here this week to meet other women running under the NDP’s banner. Spiffy buses – and they parked very politely a few doors south of Glen Murray’s Liberal office so his staff didn’t have to look out the window at them throughout their stop. Jet Fuel (519 Parliament) is, of course, one of Toronto’s premier coffee shops and as Ms Horwath has shown, a destination for people of all sorts from across the city.

Beautiful styles coming to Labour of Love
Regina has announced her first-ever Clothing Trunk Show opening on Thursday October 13. She’s highlighting fashions from Melissa Nepton, one of Montreal’s most promising new artists whose work this Fall incorporates a more casual business style with relaxed clean silhouettes and fine materials. For more details, http://www.thelabouroflove.ca/ 242 Carlton.

Tomatoes and crisps at Epicure
Patty has stocked up after the onslaught at the Festival and she’s ready again to bring you great food at great prices. This week’s features include San Marzano tomatoes at $2.49 for a 20-ounce tin and Italian extra virgin olive oil at $12.99/litre, a $4 savings. To the great pleasure of her English customers, she’s now stocking Tyrell chips as well. In fact, the Tyrell bags always show a photo of some distinguished but unknown person – and she’s sure that you can submit your pic’s to them for your own personalized package. The Epicure Shop (473 Parliament)

On the house – for your home
Kendall & Co (541 Parliament) have been promoting their lovely New Zealand fair trade wool rugs. Buy a big one (4’6” by 6’6” or larger) and get a smaller one (2’ by 3’) with it free. It’s a great offer and it ends quickly. Get in to the shop by Friday September 30. Check out their exclusive styles at http://kendallandco.ca/fyi/retail/newest-rug-collection/

Cabbagetown in Rhode Island
Gretchen and Peter Bloom visited Toronto this summer and their friends here – Gillian and Stuart Marwick – made sure that they had a flag to take home with them. Here, they’re displaying it fondly at Newport – apparently just before the arrival of Hurricane Irene. They plan to continue their travels to Rome and they’ll take the flag with them as they go. Our thanks to them and a quick note that this picture joins the other gems that we’re keeping in our special Flag Hall of Fame.