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Friday, January 4, 2019 7 Brooklin Town Crier Where white doves soar: A Sleep Out for Homeless Kids By Richard Bercuson The night of Thursday, November 15 in Toronto was cool, slightly below 00, with light snow. Jim Smillie laid out a piece of cardboard on the damp ground and unrolled his sleeping bag on top of hit. To one side of him, NHL Hall of Famer Paul Coffey did the same. On the other side was ex-NHL GM Brian Burke, also bedding down for the night, outdoors. Brooklin resident Smilie recalls that "the sounds of the downtown night" - sirens, car horns, loud bangs, chatter - all conspired against him, allowing barely an hour of sleep. This, he thought, was exactly what homeless kids do nearly every night. How on earth do they get through it? Smillie's experience, he says, changed his life. "For one thing, I'm a little more relaxed now." Chance meeting How his night on the street with two prominent hockey names came about began with a chance discussion at a wedding. A couple of friends had told him about Covenant House (CH), an organization whose goal was to help homeless kids. Intrigued, he visited the organization and was given a tour of what CH represents. "There's a wall in the building," he recalls, "with white doves on it. Each dove represents a kid who didn't make it. It was very humbling." He learned there aren't many success stories though he did meet one 15 year old who managed to not only survive but also thrive and is now a full time student at York University. Yet, at any given time, CH houses as many as 96 kids between the ages of 15-20. "You know, coming from a neighbourhood like ours in Brooklin," he says, "it's really hard to understand. For instance, it was alarming to discover just how many young girls are in the sex trade. What I do in my daily job in sales seems so unimportant compared with what these kids undergo day in and day out. And so many come from the suburbs and just gravitate to downtown Toronto." Fundraiser The 'sleep out' was an annual event organized by CH to give executives and prominent individuals an opportunity to get a taste of what homeless kids experience. That November night, 57 people slept outdoors on the grounds of Ryerson University, albeit in a protected area, quite unlike what the kids themselves do. One thing they weren't protected from, however, were the rats. "That was my only fear. Let me tell you," Smillie points out, "Toronto has rats - lots of them." Covenant House's annual Sleep Out event was a fundraiser since 82% of its funds come from private donations. That particular evening raked in over $1 million with Smillie's personal campaign surpassing his $15k objective and bringing in $17,860. Over 90% of all money raised goes directly to CH's programs which run in Vancouver as well. Smillie's enthusiasm to help the cause has resulted in CH asking him to recruit other "executives" to participate in next year's campaign, an offer he readily accepts. He adds, "I will gladly do it again next year. Brooklin's First Pharmacy From Brooklin Heritage Society Russell (Russ) Short's first place of employment after graduating from University of Toronto's School of Pharmacy was with Jury and Lovell in Oshawa.In the late 1940s, he moved to Toronto to work for Hoopers Drug Store at Bloor and Sherbourne where he partnered with the son of the owner, Bill Burgess. The 1950s saw the introduction of discount retail, making retailing by the smaller service providers more challenging. So Russ decided to relocate to a town that could support a pharmacy. This was at a time when Brooklin was growing with a new residential subdivision and the community supported a medical centre. He purchased 65 Baldwin Street and moved with his wife Bernice and sons Bob, Jim and Gary to Brooklin. Construction of Short's Pharmacy commenced in 1959 with the grand opening in May, 1960. It was Brooklin's first Pharmacy. In the early days, the store was open seven days a week with extended hours on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays (9 to 9). New jobs came into the village and Russ employed local people. The pharmacy served an area well beyond Brooklin as flyers were regularly distributed to residents as far as Locust Hill in the west, Hampton in the east and Greenbank in the north. In 1971 Russ was joined by Bill Burgess who relocated from Toronto to live in Ashburn. Russ suffered a stroke in 1980 and was unable to return to work. His partner Burgess continued with the business, and at his retirement, Bill's daughter Peggy Frankovich took it over. Russ passed away in 1984 and is buried in his home town of Bowmanville.