Excitement, Relaxation Just A Ferry Ride Away

Whether you're looking for golfing, boating, yachting, swimming, volleyball, tennis, softball, or something more sedate such as a bicycle ride or leisurely walk, you'll find it all at Toronto Island Park. Indeed, if you just want to relax on the beach, Toronto Island Park has you covered—or uncovered, as it were—yes, clothing is optional at Hanlan's Point Beach.

History buffs will delight in Gibraltar Point Lighthouse. Built in 1809, the lighthouse is the oldest landmark in Toronto. With walls nearly six feet thick at the base, the structure stands over 63 feet tall. Today many believe the structure is haunted by the ghost of the first lightkeeper, who is said to have met an untimely and suspicious death.

Children and kids at heart alike will find great pleasure at Centreville Amusement Park, which has more than 30 rides and 14 food outlets on the park's 600 acres. The park's carousel is an original Dentzell (circa 1905) and is the only operating Dentzell carousel in Canada. Centreville boasts a flume ride, antique cars, train and pony rides, and an antique windmill Ferris wheel. Centerville will be open May 20 to 23 daily from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Youngsters will also be fascinated by Franklin Children's Garden, inspired by the character Franklin the Turtle in the Paulette Bourgeois series of children's books. The garden is a great place to play and to learn. In addition, storytelling abounds, with some of Canada's best children's performers reading.

The islands were originally a peninsula formed by a series of continuously moving sandbars. By the early 1800s Lake Ontario's currents had extended the bars some nine kilometers (about five and a half miles), forming a natural harbor between the lake and the mainland. In 1858, however, a fierce storm permanently separated the peninsula from the mainland.

First surveyed by the British Navy in 1792, Europeans established permanent settlements beginning in the 1830s. By the 1920s Toronto's wealthier citizens were retreating to the islands each summer, and soon crowds were attending baseball games at an island stadium (where Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run—a statue and plaque still mark the spot) and spending the weekends at the amusement park. With the advent of World War II the stadium and original amusement park were demolished to make way for Toronto Island Airport, where the Royal Norwegian Air Force once trained.

Of the nine actual islands, two—Wards (the largest) and Algonquin—are the only ones today with full-time permanent residents. Beautiful Victorian summerhouses, built by some of Toronto's wealthiest families, still line Lake Shore Avenue along with St. Andrew-by-the-Lake Anglican Church.

More information on Toronto Island Park is posted at<www.toronto.ca/parks/island/index.htm> and at<http://torontoisland.org>.▪