Annual March 6th Fundraiser
Every year on March 6th, the Town of York Historical Society celebrates the incorporation of the City of Toronto with a birthday bash!
This annual fundraising event supports the Town of York Historical Society and Toronto’s First Post Office. The only museum interpreting the history of the Town of York and the early Toronto, while advocating for the preservation of the Town of York’s surviving built environment.
Monday, March 6th, 2023 | St. Lawrence Hall
Toronto at 189
Join us as we gather to celebrate the 189th anniversary of Toronto’s incorporation as a city.
This year, our annual fundraiser will be returning to our usual venue at St. Lawrence Hall and will feature special guests, Jesse Wente and Native Earth Performing Arts.
First Nations Canadian arts journalist and chairperson of the Canada Council for the Arts, Jesse Wente will join us to provide a unique monologue-style story telling experience, presenting “A Spot on the Brain-Healing & Truth.” This will be followed by an intimate question and answer session as well as a signing of his Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year winning narrative, Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance.
Native Earth Performing Arts will also join us to present an excerpt of “Niizh,” their upcoming coming-of-age story that explores themes of love, familial ties, identity, and community.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be March 6th without the popular Old Town Silent Auction, featuring many of our favourite local businesses! In addition, we will be offering a cash bar and small plates featuring food from the vendors of St. Lawrence Market.
For more details and to purchase tickets please visit https://TOs189th.eventbrite.ca
2021
The Old Town Revue: A Love Letter to Toronto
- Virtual Event, emceed by Bruce Bell
- Entertainment included Julie Nesrallah, Rosemary Lawton, The Haunted Walk, and Toronto History Museums
- Trivia, Raffle, Cocktail Demonstration, and virtual Word Cloud
- Old Town Silent Auction
2020
Toronto's 186th Birthday!
- Richard Fiennes-Clinton shares stories from the Town of York
- Food from St. Lawrence Market vendors
- Old Town Silent Auction
2019
Toronto's 185th Birthday
- Bruce Beaton as William Lyon Mackenzie
- The Interpreters
- RSCDS Toronto (Scottish Country Dancers)
- Food from St. Lawrence Market vendors
- Old Town Silent Auction
2018
King Street: The Great Thoroughfare of Toronto
Christopher Hume, urban affairs columnist
with Rollo Myers,
and Barbara Gray, Manager, City of Toronto Transportation Services
Old Town Silent Auction
Table Presenters:
- Mackenzie House Museum Toronto
- Transit Bricks
- On The Bright Side
- City of Toronto Transportation Services
2017
1867 / 1967: An Evening of Story and Song
- Bruce Bell, with Randy Vancourt on piano, spoke on the history of St. Lawrence Hall and of Toronto, at these turning points in Canadian history.
- A Battle-of-the-Bands performance of music from 1867 and 1967 by Ian Bell, Michelle Rumball, Tom Leighton, and Conrad Kipping
- Old Town Silent Auction
2016
The Flood
The Flood by Leah-Simone Bowen
- Handwriting Analysis by Edda Manley
- Old Town Silent Auction
2015
The Postman
- Appledore Productions previewed The Postman
- Old Town Silent Auction
2014
Soldiers of Song: A Tribute to the Dumbells
- Jason Wilson and ABMG presented Soldiers of Song: A Tribute to the Dumbells
- Old Town Silent Auction
2013
There was no fundraiser in 2013, as the St. Lawrence Hall was undergoing renovations.
2012
Petticoats, Scoundrels and Soldiers
- Peter Meyler, author of A Stolen Life: Searching for Richard Pierpont,
on the “Coloured Corps” and its contribution during the War of 1812. - Single Thread Theatre Company premiered Petticoats, Scoundrels and Soldiers
2011
Then and Now: A Poetic Landscape of Toronto
- Brick Road Creations premiered Then and Now: A Poetic Landscape of Toronto
- Performance and workshop of English Country dances by dance mistress Karen Millyard and friends, accompanied by trio Playford’s Pleasure.
2010
175 Years of Toronto
- Michael Comstock on Toronto’s 175 years.
- A display of plans for Fort York’s new interpretive centre by the Fort York Guard.
- A performance by Random Roads band.
2009
175 Years of Cakes
- Bruce Bell and Richard Fiennes-Clinton in discussion on Toronto’s history.
- Performance by the Fort York Regency Dancers.
- Soprano Aleksandra Balaburska, accompanied by pianist Irene Wong-Montgomery, performed songs popular in the 19th century.
- Refreshments provided by the Culinary Historians of Ontario and George Brown
College’s students of Applied Food History, featuring “175 Years of Cakes”.
2008
An Ode to St. Lawrence Hall
- A performance by the Downtown Alternative School Singers
- Bruce Bell on the performance history of St. Lawrence Hall
- A performance by the St. James’ Cathedral Choir
2007
Toronto: A Retrospective
- Bruce Bell, on Toronto as a colonial outpost to Imperial city during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
- Silent Films: Toronto in the Dawn of Cinema, a program of early footage curated by Candida Paltiel of the Planet in Focus film festival and narrated by Mike Filey.
- Former mayor David Crombie, on some of the challenges of the past few decades.
2006
Toronto's Birthday
Bruce Bell and Mike Filey in discussion on the history of St. Lawrence Hall.