Freed slaves, the Davenport brothers, built the Hillsdale Hotel (also known as Alma House, O’Neil Tavern, O’Neil House and Simcoe House) in the Springwater Township of Simcoe County, Ont., in 1882. The building currently stands to be demolished after its owners requested a demolition permit in 2009 but agreed to delay demolition.

Rosemary Sadlier ponders the significance of celebrating our accomplishments throughout the year.

“Maya Angelou inspires me. She is phenomenally awesome. She lifts my mind, soul and body.”

An award-winning filmmaker, Wilkinson directed the short films Girls Who Say Yes, Instant Dread and Dandelions.

Besides their ridiculously stylish names, Kiwi, Nimo and Metzti ooze enviable sartorial skill without a whiff of pretension. They’re just cool-looking chicks who wear what they like, wear it really well and don’t mind sharing. In the seasonal spirit of giving, they’ve graciously spilled on their favourite shops, sources of inspiration and the $7 purchase that could change your life—or at least your wardrobe.

You were my first love. I fell in love with you at 16. When we met, I was dazzled by your charm. You smelled sweet and offered me everything a girl could ever want. I saw some warning signs when some of the products I needed were not on your shelves, but chose to ignore them.

Instead of focusing on the short-lived joy of spending, we must take notes from those who lived before us.

For a novel set mainly in sombre circumstances, Half-Blood Blues is surprisingly buoyant. It’s deftly paced in incident and tone, moving from scenes of snappy dialogue, in which the band members squabble and banter humorously, to tense, atmospheric passages of description.

Warner’s first book, Viola Desmond Won’t Be Budged, is the perfect choice to share with children who are eager to learn Black history, but may have a difficult time finding age-appropriate, engaging and educational books about African-Canadian identity.

Veteran stage actress Felicia Boswell stars as an aspiring Black singer who does the unthinkable and falls for the sweet-talking, fast-moving white boy from the other side of town. “My character (also named Felicia) falls in love with a white DJ, which was forbidden back then and speaks to how things have changed,” she says.