The UK CONNEXION

The reflection of harbour lights dancing and glistening on the marina water outside added to our pleasure. A lovely evening was enjoyed by all.
Sonia

Note to our fearless leader John Pettitt: When I emailed him that I would be going in his SUV his email said in caps “LEAVING 9:40 SHARP” from rotunda Kipling subway. No one knew what a rotunda was - took l5 min at Kipling Station to find it! I was hyperventilating thinking he would be there, flashers on, patting the wheel... he didn't arrive until 9:43 - forgot his wallet and had to go back. Our fearless leader is not as precise??? YAY to that for a New Year's resolution!

Had a great day!
Nancy

We were all high spirited and very pleased with ourselves for coming to this event on this cold day. Thanks to all the members that attended.
ZamieJ

This has been a standard event for some time. This is very convenient meetup to get to as it is near the St. Andrew Subway station (at King and Simcoe). The food is good, the company great. We get a chance to mingle before dinner. E&C provide us with a snack platter before dinner, and a discount on our food.

As you can see from the photos, a very fine time was had by all. Sonia has taken over this event and does a great job in organizing it.
SPBrunner

We sat down to dinner shortly after 9pm. I found the food much better than last year, but I believe we got a more expensive menu. I had the Classic Chicken Cordon Bleu for my main course and it was delicious.

After dinner, we danced the night away until 12pm. At that time the Duke served us all champagne. All in all it was a great way to ring in the New Year.
SPBrunner

The Duke of York is a very popular local pub with great beer, wine and food. The service is also great, so we had a fine time.

Bob does a great job in organizing this meetup.
SPBrunner

The Squire and Firkin always give us a separate room to mingle before dinner. This is where they give us the snack. We meet at 6 pm and usually go to dinner at 7 pm.

Tonight, the long table was enough for all of us. The food was good as usual, as was the conversation. Maz always does a great job in organizing this pub night for us.
SPBrunner

We lunched at the Half Way house Inn and I bought a fresh loaf of oven baked bread for $4.00. The end of day came quickly and we each embraced as we said good to face the 21st century.
Silva

It was a wonderful exhibit. It not only had Chagall, but it also featured a vibrant collection of works by 23 other remarkable Russian contemporaries. See www.ago.net/chagall-and-the-russian-avant-garde at the AGO site.

Around 8 pm we went over the Sin and Redemption, Restaurant and Pub on McCaul Street for drinks and dinner.
Susan Brunner

The have a large and rather reasonable menu. The food was very good, as was the company.
SP Brunner

We socialized, and had some drinks and pizza. Later Roger played and we sang Christmas songs. Roger is well organized and had song books so we all could participate. Before we realized it, it was after 10pm and it was time for us to leave.

All in all, another great evening at Roger’s.
SP Brunner

Martin Brown has also provided us with a poem for this meetup, below:
The Elephant and Castle.
This is where
the elite meet
to eat
and greet.
SP Brunner

The Duke of York is a very popular local pub with great beer, wine and food. The service is also great, so we had a fine time.

Bob does a great job in organizing this meetup.
Susan Brunner

We followed Tom as he guided us through the winery. We walked the cat-walk and gaped with awe at large stainless steel vats and oak barrels – silently aging the wine. From Tom’s most interesting narrative, we learned the art of wine making from every aspect: agriculture; chemistry; bottling to packing and finally to the art of wine tasting – the "Best Part."

We left there, with our "Yellow Bags" full of goodies, Happy; Happy – then we continued our journey to historic Niagara-on-the-Lake; where we enjoyed lunch at the Angel Inn.

Many thanks go to Michael for hosting such a delightful event.
Zamie

The food is very good here and it is also very reasonably priced. This restaurant is also right on the east/west and north/south subway lines at Spadina, so it is quite easy to get to.

This is a favourite meetup for me.
SP Brunner

The Squire and Firkin always give us a separate room to mingle before dinner. This is where they give us the snack. We meet at 6 pm and usually go to dinner at 7 pm.

Most of us sat at a long table, but there was some spill over into a close by table. The food was good as usual, as was the conversation.

Maz always does a great job in organizing this pub night for us.
SP Brunner

We enjoyed some great beer and wine. We also had some excellent food. This place is rather inexpensive, but quite good. Bands are not paid by management, so they pass around a jar for tips.

We had a chance to chat between sets. 11 people turned up, so this was good. This is one of Roger’s favorite places and it was great as usual.
SPBrunner

This pub reserves a special area for us. I think that why people like this meetup is because you can a chance to mingle before we sit down to dinner. Some 19 people showed up, so we got a discount on our dinners. They also provide a snack platter.

Beer, wine and meals are good and reasonably priced. This time we also had an almost even divide between men and women. It was another great evening at this pub.
SPBrunner

The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art was donated to Toronto by George Gardiner to house his and his wife’s collection of ancient American artifacts and European pottery and porcelain. It is a wonderful museum and well worth a visit.

After we finished our tour of this exhibit we went to the close by Duke of York or some dinner and drinks. Some 8 people showed up for the event run by Ann Garnett. This was a great idea for a Friday night.
SPBrunner

The food was very good, especially the personal pizzas a number of people had. Unfortunately, the restaurant was short-handed, so lunch took a long time to come. This is did not prevent us from having a great afternoon.

They had a limited variety of beer and wine, but all was good what they had to offer. I had their red wine and it was reasonable priced and quite good. I also had the Lasagna and, like to pizzas, it was very good.

It was a good turn out with some 18 people showing up. It would be a good place to return to.
Susan Brunner

Lots of good appetizers were served at the lovely home of our gracious hostess Angela.
Michael Wilkinson

There was a great turn out for this performance by the Nags Players at the Tranzac Club, at Bloor and Brunswick. There were 18 of us and Angela (the host) had reserved a nice table for us.

We were able to enter the theater at 7:30 and there was a bar in the theater also. We had a bit of time to socialize until the play started at 8:00. The play was great. This was, of course, amateur theatre, but both the casting and direction was very good. Everyone seemed to enjoy the play. The price was also right at $20 a ticket.
Susan Brunner

This is a charming old pub and I have been going here for some time.  The food is always good here.  We met at 7 pm and left around 9:30 pm. You get to know UK Connexion members better at some of the meetups where few show up.

Bob does a great job in organizing this meetup.  The food, beer and wine is always good here.
Susan Brunner

Most of us sat at a long table, but there was some spill over into a close by booth.  The food was good as usual, as was the conversation.

Maz always does a great job in organizing the pub night for us.
Susan Brunner

Our thanks to Joan for organizing a lovely day of Golf.
Jack

After about two hours strolling, we returned to John's lakeside deck for a picnic lunch.
Michael W.

After we finished our coffee (and teas) we had an enjoyable stroll to see the local community center. This was the North Toronto Memorial Community Centre, which won the Governor General's Award for Architecture in the early 1990s. This center also had great landscaping around it and a community garden. Our walk continued past the site of Montgomery's Tavern. The post office now at that location is one of the few buildings in the Commonwealth with the insignia of King Edward VIII.

Marvyne did a great job in organizing this lunch for us.
Susan Brunner

Sonia has taken over running this meetup and she did a very good job for her first time out. About 20 people showed up.

We had drinks and mingled until dinner time. The food here again is pub food and they do a good job of serving our large group.

After dinner, we again got up and mingled, with some playing a game of pool. Great evening!
Susan Brunner