Philip Decina
AUDIO INTERVIEW
SUMMARY
April 13, 2016
00:07 INTRODUCTION: April 13 2016, Philip Decina
00:40 IMMIGRATION: lived on Westmount, from Sicily, with his whole family, 3 sisters and parents, sponsored by his uncle a couple of years before.
01:33 They arrived in 1967, speaking no English, not a word of it. Doesn’t recall not being able to speak English
01:50 SCHOOL: St. Clare’s: In Miss Dunn’s kindergarten class Phil and his friend sent to get a jar of paint from a closet. Friend put his hand in the jar of gooey paint and put it on Phil’s shirt - results in a paint fight in little closet. Teacher came in putting hand on their heads. They were green from head to toe.
03:40 They were living at 201 Westmount in a flat, eventually moved next door and they rented house at 203 Westmount - lived there for 4 or 5 years and then bought a house at 179 Northcliffe.
04:40 NEIGHBOURHOOD STREET LIFE/LIFE OF CHILD: Summer Games: It was lots of fun to play throughout summer, with dinky cars, bottle top game - shooting bottle caps, hide and seek with kids on the street, park hockey and football.
05:30: Team Sports: competitive with street teams, little part of the street upper Westmount and lower Westmount and they played against the other teams, teams from Northcliffe would have played in school yard at St. Clare’s. Played in evenings and weekends. Played street hockey, yelled car every time a car came by and pick up nets and let car go by. Lots of people would watch. Some people wouldn’t want them on their lawn but okay on the street.
06:49 LIFE OF A CHILD: Winter Sports: They would go to Earlscourt Park, walking, with skates tied over their shoulders and their sticks, cold toes, minor frostbite, shinny hockey.
07:22 Ball Hockey: Eventually had ball hockey league that ran out of Oakwood Collegiate gym. When he was 12 or 13 yrs old - pretty intense.
07:50 Rainy Days: played board games when weather wasn’t good, congregate on someone’s porch played Monopoly, Clue, Billionaire.
08:17 DEMOGRAPHICS: Lots of Italians, immediate neighbours from Yugoslavia.
09:07 DELIVERY PEOPLE / LIFE OF A CHILD: Ice cream trucks, popcorn men with push cart with candy apples, pushed with a bicycle. Yoyo people, in a van, they would have tricks that they would teach, In order to do tricks you needed a Yoyo that could do tricks. You got badges for tricks. Sold yo-yos.
11:10 LIFE OF A CHILD / CORNER STORE: Franks Store: They bought their yo-yo at the store on the corner of Northcliffe and St. Clair on northwest Side - sold yoyos and strings candies, Vendors would come once a week or every two weeks.
12:00 LIFE OF A CHILD: Yo-yos: When they were around 10 years old, maybe younger played yoyos. The vast majority of boys - no recollection of girls.
12:05 SCHOOLS: St. Clare’s: Remembers boys and girls all went through one entrance at school
12:30 NEIGHBOURHOOD STREETLIFE / LIFE OF A CHILD: Cage Game: Can still do the yo-yo tricks, older brother of guy on the street who would fix the yoyos if they broke with a little piece of dowling. This boy came from a family that had no television. One of the brothers would suggest the the kids (then 8 or 9 yrs) get into a wooden cage and pretend that they were in prison then he locked them in there for hours. Parents would be calling for them and they would be yelling. When the boy felt it was time he would be let out. The boy never got into trouble. Phil got into trouble for being late even though they were locked in Jimmy’s cage.
15:52 Evening activities: In evening congregate under the streetlights sitting on cars - on the boots or backs of cars. People didn’t mind. Just sitting talking until you were called to come in. Would have been from younger years to early teens.
16:48 LIBRARIES: Earlscourt LIbrary: Now called Dufferin St Clair, was his neighbourhood library.
17:25 SHOPS: Blue Mountain Fish and Record Store: Sold fish and records, Jamaican owner on eastside of Dufferin, south side St. Clair - bought records there - walked by that store everyday of childhood, not as a teenager. Sold 45s and LPs - not large selection. Fish counter on one side records on the other side, narrow store.
19:05 ENTERTAINMENT: Cinema: Theatre between Westmount and Dufferin on the northside of St. Clair - St. Clair Theatre overhang - lots of little lightbulbs - overhang created shade on sidewalk so people would congregate there, - showed Italian films. Variety of films, comedies, R rated, things he wasn’t supposed to go in and watch but older boys got him in.
22:15 NEIGHBOURHOOD STREET LIFE: Porch life: Occasional household would have a grandparent who would sit on the porch and watch the kids play maybe knit or read.
22:31 SCHOOLS: He had 3 sisters, older sisters, same school when they first arrived, then his sisters went to RW Scott then they went on to high school - only together while he was in kindergarten.
23:30 LIFE OF A CHILD: Ball Hockey: Congregated in one person’s backyard. They would play ball hockey there -no skates
23:56 RECREATION/PARK: Fairbanks Park: Tobogganing, big hill.
24:10 LIFE OF A CHILD Walked up and down the snow banks all the way to school for fun in the winter, they wouldn’t use the sidewalk.
24:30 LIFE OF A CHILD / NEIGHBOURHOOD STREET LIFE: Winter: Still playing in winter under the light standards-they would just move their nets there until called to come in.
24:50 Soccer: Started at pretty young age playing in schoolyard then on school team at St Clare, and R.W.Scott in grade 7 and 8 and then in high school Oakwood (OCI) also in grade 9 started to play competitive soccer in leagues played in Downsview, played for Toronto JETS, drove there borrowing sister’s car, then played for semi-professional team called Toronto Italia playing at Lamport Stadium, and York Stadium (Rogers and Caledonia), that stadium no longer exists. They would go to watch games there.
27:15 Territory: His boundaries would be Lansdowne area over to Bathurst, he had a friend on Wychwood. There were tennis courts probably at Hillcrest Park, he would cycle over.
28:20 Ball Games: Baseball, lots of it at Earlscourt Park, also games in the school yard and touch football, baseball afraid to break windows, Baseball at Earlscourt or OCI. He played with Oakwood’s baseball team
29:10 SHOPS: Pusateri’s main grocery store, the owner Sam Pusateri was a friend of Phil’s father. They went to school together in Sicily so they kept in touch. They arrived earlier than Phil’s family. The bought 3 separate stores that took them to the corner of Northcliffe and St. Clair on north side. The original store was just one unit, 2 or 3 stores east of Northcliffe, as businesses came up for sale they bought them, then the corner unit. They had deli products, fresh vegetables, canned goods, cookies that kind of thing.
30:52 Grocery Stores: The closest big store was the Dominion near Winona ( at Alberta). There was also an IGA on the same side as Pusateri’s just east of it and some people went there. But a lot of the Italian people shopped at Pusateri’s. IGA was close to it, 4 or 5 stores away.
31:43 Bakery: Palermo Bakery: A Sicilian Bakery on the other side of the IGA. His dad would buy bread there every third day or so. It was the traditional bread, kept in bread box.
32:25 NEIGHBOURHOOD STREET LIFE: Didn’t use the TTC much, mostly walking because everything was in the neighbourhood. Furthest they went to Earlscourt Park at Caledonia.
32:48 WORK and SHOPS: Pusateri’s: His very first job was packing groceries at the cash, putting them in boxes because they offered home delivery, load them into van and drop off boxes. All lined up on the sidewalk outside. Some large orders, 3 - 5 boxes of goods, boxes loaded according to route. Phil would help Mr. Pusateri’s son-in-law to be who did all the driving, and they would carry all the boxes up to the houses. Most people would come into the store, pay at the store, and then they would have them delivered.
34:35 NEIGHBOURHOOD STREET LIFE: Not car owners: Most of the people didn’t have cars. Not a lot of vehicular traffic, lots of people walking
35:16 RESTAURANTS: La Marra Pizzeria: His favourite was a pizzeria, southwest corner of St. Clair and Northcliffe. There was a crosswalk there at the time. It was owned by a friend of the family. Excellent pizza, veal sandwiches, panzarottis. They delivered and they had that store for several years. They sold the business to another Sicilian fellow who moved the business across the street from Oakwood Collegiate. They kept the same name. It was bigger, larger seating area. Lots of the faculty at OCI would go there. After they graduated from Oakwood they used to have get-togethers at the pizzeria. They closed down when the owner passed on and they sold the business. They had excellent veal sandwiches - Phil felt it was the best in the city!
37:31 SCHOOLS: Richard W. Scott: South of St. Clair - street that the new Loretto College School is built. School was 2 storey. Loretta College moved from Bathurst and Bloor area to site. Phil still gets together twice a year with friends that went to R.W.Scott.
39:00 DEMOGRAPHICS: School: Mostly Italian students, but not all - student council president was Jamaican - Peter Thurten.
39:25 Neighbourhood: Not a hugely diverse area; mostly Italian, some black people and some Portuguese.
39:37 SHOPS: Bakeries: All along St. Clair, between Dufferin and Earlscourt Park there were so many bakeries- Tremari, Capri Bakery all selling bread, pastries and some would sell deli meats as well.
44:00 La Paloma Scandal: Even right next to where streetcar turned near Earlscourt Park there was another bakery, remembers this bakery because there was a murder in that area that they linked to it. Early to mid 70s. Lots of rumours of Mafia, worried a bit but soon forgot about it.
41:00 SCHOOLS / YOUTH GROUPS AND TEENS: At RW Scott the music teacher coerced him to be part of a band. He played the accordion because his father strongly encouraged him to do this. Band played school concerts
41:48 RECREATION / SCHOOLS: School Teams: They became close to the teachers through helping coach younger teams. The grade 9 were coached by older grades. He helped coach young baseball, soccer, volleyball teams. He also played all those sports. Always in the gym.
42:42 RECREATION/LIFE OF A CHILD: Community Pools: Piccininni, went there to swim in pool. They preferred going to Fairbanks because the water was much warmer and deeper. Had long lineups so they would buy a Lola, flavoured ice in a big triangle and have one while waiting in line.
44:07 NEIGHBOURHOOD STREET LIFE: There was a lot of comraderie - didn’t feel in danger or at risk. It was a fairly close knit community. There were rivalries between kids on one part of the street and the other part of the street but all in good fun. Rarely got into mischief.
46:00 NEIGHBOURHOOD STREET LIFE/ LIFE OF CHILD: Weekends: Played from sunrise to sunset Saturdays and Sunday. Only time they went inside was to eat. Sometimes they would just go inside, make a sandwich, and then eat outside.
46:18 SHOPS: Department Stores: Woolworths: At Dufferin. Sister worked at the lunch counter. Learned how to make Western omelettes. She then made at home for family.
47:00 SCHOOLS: Oakwood: Good memories, it was a fun time got along well with teacher, a large group of friends, some of his best friends came from Winona Middle School.
48:04 MEMORABLE PEOPLE: Clare Exelby: His grade 9 geography teacher memorable. Big man, he was a former player for the Toronto Argos.
48:46 SCHOOL: Oakwood Gym:The gym looked big to him but it wasn’t that big.
49:00 School Teams: He played volleyball, rugby, soccer, baseball. He played on the school teams. He felt that Oakwood’s community felt like a small community compared to some schools like Central Tech.
49:49 Upper Canada College: They used to have exhibition rugby games with UCC who fed them donuts and pop. Oakwood would win every time they played them. Then they would be fed these treats. He found UCC regal.
50:01 ENTERTAINMENT: School Dances: Dances in the gym, usually had a DJ.
51:16 Memorable Band: Recall a band made up of classmates put together the band to recreate the Beatles. They were excellent. One of them went on to be a group called Platinum Blonde.
52:40 MEMORABLE TEACHERS: Al Quance and Raptors: The gym teacher, Al Quance, went on to work with the school board. He became a community PR person for the Raptors. He worked with kids at the grassroots level to get involved in basketball.
53:56 Italian/French teacher - took Italian and French. Quite a nice and funny character.
54:26 Mr. James Morwick: Chemistry teacher: Taught ”special chemistry” that was organic chemistry, quite a unique fellow, published an article on the Schrodinger Wave Equation. When they had a reunion at 10 or 15 years, Phil told him he remembered a quote that they had told him. It was about this wave equation a wave equation. He described it as “a mathematical monstrocity bristling with Greek letters having all the allurement of a barbed wire”. Mr. Morwich was floored when he recited it to him after all those years.
55:52 RECREATION: Toronto Blizzard: Recalled being very busy with sports in high school, both school teams and outside leagues. Had a tryout with Blizzards but didn’t make it.
56:33 DATING: Went to the movies downtown with dates. Didn’t really take dates out along strip aside from hanging out at pizzeria, down to Eaton Centre. Dated a girl on Alameda.
57:26 HOUSE OF WORSHIP: St. Clare’s: His mother was a church-goer. She would take the children to church. Phil worked the overhead projector that displayed the words for the hymns for parishioners - age 9 /10 to 13/ 14.
59:09 DOMESTIC LIFE: Sunday Activities: They didn’t have a lot of money growing up so his parents were working most of the time. After Sunday service would be the time to do things that there wasn’t time for during the week. Both of his parents worked. Sometimes they had other family members over or went visiting. He didn’t enjoy this. He would have preferred to be outside playing. It was a battle to get dressed up, required to clean up and dressed up to go visiting.
1:00:27 SCHOOLS: Oakwood: Had one of the best basketball teams in the city, won championships. He didn’t play basketball. They also won soccer and rugby championships. Late 70’s and early 80’s. He graduated in 1981.
1:01:11 MEMORABLE PEOPLE: Paul and Mark Jones: Both played sports at Oakwood. Both have gone on to broadcasting in basketball. Mark was in Phil’s year. He has gone to work in the U.S. for a sports network. Paul works for Raptors broadcasts.
1:02:02 Leo Rautins, who commentates for the Raptors TV broadcasts, went to St. Mike’s. Phil watched Leo play Oakwood.
1:02:44 MEMORABLE PEOPLE: Pusateris: were good friends so they attended Phil’s wedding.
1:02:54 CHURCH: St.Clare’s hasn’t changed much over the years.
1:03:14 STREETS: St. Clair: He feels it is a lot smaller than he remembers it.
1:04:21 NEIGHBOURHOOD LIFE: He has no bad memories of growing up in this area which is good.
1:05:03 RECREATION: Dominion store and Marlie Games: At Dominion they would wait outside store and ask for customers receipts. If you accumulated $100 worth of the receipts they would give you Toronto Marlies tickets. They would go and watch the Marlies play at Maple Leaf Gardens every Sunday afternoon. John Anderson played on the Marlies and later was a Maple Leaf. Played John line with John Sanelli and John Smrke.
1:05:52 Dominion store and CNE: Also collected receipts to get CNE coupons. They would go to CNE by the Dufferin Bus.