Couple of thoughts on #lovelockeday:

Long before the street was filled with restaurants and coffee shops there were antique shops – lots of them. There was a bookstore that resembled a blend of a hoarder and a perhaps retired librarian. In a good way, since there is really no bad book. I never spent too much time in there as I was a new mom and who had time to start and finish a book. Besides, the musty odour was something I couldn’t get past.

There was a surplus store that was the birth of your now today dollar store. You could buy anything from a pair of socks to a gift for a wedding. It as well was stocked from ceiling to floor, wall to wall ” stuff”. It was a great destination when my kids decided they didn’t want to nap. Load up the umbrella stroller complete with snacks in the net holder underneath and off we’d go. There tiny aisles, just big enough for a folding umbrella stroller to fit through. My kids loved it because they could take a trinket off a shelf to inspect and it didn’t matter where they put it down, nothing had a spot.

There was a kids clothing store. It’s here that I was first introduced to smocking on a little girls dress. The good kind of little girl dresses that had beautiful smocking across the top, soft yet sturdy cotton prints, and a generous hem to be let down with growth. She also had a second hand area at the back where you could drop off outgrow items for consignment or pick up a few items st a good price. It was this store that as my second daughter turned 6 years old and I thought I was done with having children and I found out I was pregnant that I called her to grab back allllll the clothes I dropped off for consignment.

There is the coffee shop that was once an old church where gathered to celebrate the passing of a neighbourhood guy who gave a lot to this community. It was a great celebration ;>

I mustn’t forget to mention the post office. Whether it was a stamp you needed, drop off a parcel to be mailed or a spool of thread, you could always pop in for friendly chats or to stroke the cat lazing in the sun in the big front window.

There was the year when the water main broke and we had as much water as minutes of Niagara Falls glowing through our streets. I remember walking through the hood and the silence of night was filled with the crunch of ice everywhere and pumps humming to clear out water of homes.

Being the wonderful walkable community that it is, kids could walk independently and carefree to get a slice of pizza or toasted bagel in their pj’s on a Saturday morning.

Long before all the coffee shops and restaurants this has been home to families, seniors, young families, kids walking to any one of three schools or church on a Sunday morning or to Story Time at the library on a summers day.

Aside from broken windows a week ago, freedom and security was (temporarily) threatened for the residents of this area.

Come, today Enjoy our streets. Walk our neighbourhood.

We thank you for your support and good karma