A Weekend of Fun and Community After A Violent Week.
Good Morning Markhamites,
Everybody’s working for the weekend, and that goes double in Markham this week - there are so many events to attend that showcase our communities' cultures and experiences.
The Markham Village Music Festival will be going all weekend starting Friday night. Just a heads up: Main Street closes at 2 PM on Friday and won’t open up until Midnight on Saturday. The Lucky Lion Night Market is also back this weekend, taking over Markville’s parking lot. But that’s not all; there are way more events further down.
In council news, The Mount Joy Secondary plan was revised and approved yesterday; we wrote about this previously and the region’s desire for Transit-oriented communities. The new approved plan checks both those boxes. It will be interesting to see how that area grows over the next decade.
Today’s reading time is about 5 minutes.
What to make of a scary week in Markham.
I usually avoid talking about crime and violence because the editorial philosophy of this newsletter is that stories should reflect community pride and appreciation. However, after a rash of potentially violent incidents this week, one has to wonder what we can do to help protect this community. And no, it doesn’t involve dressing up like a bat and dishing out vigilante justice.
Within a week, we’ve had shots fired into an occupied home, an attempted murder, a man showing up to the hospital with an unexplained gunshot wound, and several instances of a person setting fire to cars at businesses in the area across from Markville mall.
Police are investigating all of these cases, but the frequency and audacity of the acts within a week is highly unusual for this city. The best thing that can be done is to look out for one another. If you’ve got any information or camera footage on these events, contact the police - it could benefit their investigations. The Police also actively support the formation of neighbourhood watch groups (Like neighbourhood WhatsApp chats and Facebook Groups, but more formalized). You can also register any external cameras with the YRP so that they don’t need to canvas the area if something happens in the neighbourhood you live or work in.
We may not get to choose our neighbours, but we can choose to look out for one another.
Community Notes
Il Postino in Unionville ranks high on OpenTable’s top 100 outdoor dining lists.
Chinese business leaders’ fundraising surpasses the $2.4M milestone for Markham Stouffville Hospital.
Markham Cycling Day was the Wheel Deal ( I didn’t write this headline; Markham Review did)
What’s Happening in Markham this week
June 13
6:00 - 7:00 PM - JoyRide 150 - BMX Flatland trick Workshop with 360Allstars - Free Event
June 14
3:00 PM - 11:00 PM - Markville Mall - Lucky Lion Night Market
4:00 pm - Markham Village Music Festival - See Lineup and Events here.
June 15
9:00- 1:00 PM - Markham Village Farmer’s Market
11:00 - 11:00 PM - Markham Village Music Festival - See Lineup and Events Here
12:00 - 11:00 PM- Markville Mall - Lucky Lion Night Market
June 16
12:00 - 9:00 PM - Markville Mall - Lucky Lion Night Market
June 18
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm - Rouge River Brewery - Learn to Line Dance. Tickets here
If you would like to submit your photos of Markham - feel free to follow and tag our Instagram page, and we’ll credit you!
If you’ve got a story pitch, send it to themarkhamite@Substack.com