Tuesday 11 June 2013

Were You There?

On the last weekend of March 2013 we closed the old EVC at 758 Dundas. Yes, after working for 5 years to make the little EVC a success, we were closing our doors. I thought about all the good times we had in that space, the parties, the groups, the events, the art showings, the music, and all the cool people who came in daily, weekly, and even monthly. I thought about our struggle with our landlord and our ultimate triumph at his appeal of the appeal. And I thought about our goal of creating a community space, and how that actually seemed to happen. Lots of reflection, lots of reason to feel a little sad about closing our doors.

We thought others might feel a bit of the same so we invited everyone to drop by just to say good-bye to the old place. Business had already dropped off since the word was going around that we were closing. Nonetheless, I hoped to see a few more faces than usual since we were in our last days. Glenn, Liza, Kyle and I were somewhat lost, not knowing what to do if we weren't dashing around to prepare for our regular level of business. We wanted to savour our last open days but it was hard to know how to do that, how to sit back and relax with the space and the fact that it would soon be gone. After 5 years of working almost every day, the reality of our situation seemed so unreal, so impossible. That's when you came to the rescue.

It started with the odd person dropping in and buying 1/2 dozen Carob Bars or Date Squares. Then the Rice Crispy Squares began to roll out the door. In no time the Spanakopita and Quiche were gone and the place was alive with a constant surge of fabulous folk! No sooner would I finish chatting with one person then another well-wisher would walk through the door. The macaroons sold out and the Oatmeal Cookies were going fast. People I hadn't seen in a while showed up alongside the great folks I had seen only the day before but it was all amazing. We had no time to feel sad, and no inclination to. Our last couple of days flew by in a blur of hugs, handshakes, smiles and thank yous. The days that I had kind of dreaded turned out to be very special, a spontaneous mini-event that we will always remember. Were you there?



                       

 






 







 

No comments:

Post a Comment