2024 was NYHS’s 64th year.  

NYHS played a major role in the  opening of The North York History Room in the Society and Recreation Department, 5th floor, North York Central Library. NYHS donated newspaper article scrapbooks, maps, books, and documents on North York’s history.

The Board presented Gibson House Museum with a cheque on behalf of the Society’s Miriam Jackson Memorial Fund for portable tabletop looms for demonstrations. Each loom has a plaque crediting the donation.

NYHS chair Glenn Bonnetta attended the inauguration of the DUKE (Dufferin Keele) Heights Business Improvement Association, held at the community’s historic Elia Church. 

Glenn, NYHS vice president Marla Weingarten, and membership director Susan Goldenberg were invited to a talk about the history of the house at 4111 Yonge Street just north of York Mills Road, built in 1833 and occupied by acclaimed Canadian history and landscape artist C. W. Jefferys from 1910 until his death in 1951. His descendants lived in it until 2012. The talk was by a granddaughter. It was organized by North Yorkers seeking preservation of the house which has been unoccupied for some time and has an uncertain future. Additional information is on our website. https://nyhs.ca/news/c-w-jeffreys-his-north-york-house/

Marla Weingarten conducted walks again of historic sites in Hogg’s Hollow. She also again did her fascinating power-point presentation “Yonge Street in the Rear-View Mirror: from the late 1700s to today.” The ongoing popularity of these programs highlights the community’s interest in uncovering and preserving local history. 

We booked a number of interesting speakers to give talks, open to everybody at no charge,, on current and past topics at the North York Central Library. 

Initial planned repairs were mostly completed at Senator O’Connor School where NYHS archival material is stored. However,  new problems were discovered resulting in the building remaining closed for safety reasons. Repairs are planned.

The website, www.nyhs.ca,  is doing well. There were 11,000 first-time visitors to it and 40,000 page views. “Timeline of North York” had 2,000 views and Susan Goldenberg’s local history articles 6,000 views total. Use of Mailchimp led to a 30 percent increase in email subscribers with more visitors signing up for updates. Webmaster Michael Giuricich is working on terrific additions to the site in 2025. Michael ran the 42.2 km. Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 20 in 4 hours, 48 minutes –his first marathon.

Board member Grace Anyu Sun received an Honourable Mention in the Ontario History Society’s Dorothy Duncan Public History Award Category for 2023-24 for her nostalgic documentary on the Willow Theatre, North York’s iconic first movie theatre.  Here’s the link: The First Movie Theatre in North York – The Willow (youtube.com) 

The Board thanks those who made donations to the Geoff Geduld memorial fund, particularly Edith Geduld who made a generous contribution.