Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 28, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A10 OPINION A10 SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013 Previous polls: What should the city do to encourage downtown housing construction? Offer cash grants 2% Offer tax credits and rebates 14% Both of the above 11% Let the market decide 73% What do you think about quarterback Justin Goltz starting for the Bombers on Friday? It's about time 48% Get well soon, Buck 9% It won't make a difference 43% What name should William and Catherine give to their royal baby? George 19% James 21% Henry 5% Michael 12% Arthur 9% Philip 6% None of the above 27% Are you happy the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a baby boy Monday? Yes, I'm thrilled. 38% I was hoping it would be a girl. 16% I have no interest in the Royal Family. 46% Would you go to see the Winnipeg Fringe Festival play Hollywood Hen Pit? I'll ketchup to it, I relish the theatre. 15% I like the fringe, but hold the mayo. 85% Would you be willing to ride a riverboat to Bombers games? Yes 59% No 41% BLOG OF THE WEEK: WEST END DUMPLINGS A NUMBER of Main Street buildings have undergone exterior renovations of late that have given us a glimpse at their early 1900s exteriors. There was the Yale Hotel, Green Brier Inn and now the Colish Block at 1969/ 1973 Main, known to many as the home of Blondie's restaurant. The early years of this building are associated with a well- liked pillar of the West Kildonan community named Isaac Colish. He was born in Lithuania in 1878 and came to Winnipeg via London, England in 1907. Along with wife, Anne and their children Hugh, Janey and Sheila, they settled in West Kildonan. Isaac soon opened the municipality's first grocery store at the corner of Newton Avenue and Main Street, ( at the time it was next to a stream that crossed Main Street.) The family lived in a suite upstairs. The store soon became the focal point of West Kildonan's community life. In a Oct. 22, 1989 Winnipeg Free Press column headlined: Immigrant Isaac Colish lived to see the city prosper , Vince Leah wrote: " Isaac Colish never drove an automobile, walking from his home on the east side of Main Street in conducting his affairs. He is remembered as the merchant who went out of his way to help those who were impoverished and... was never quite sure what people owed him." A Dec. 3, 1970 Jewish Post and News article described Colish as an " interpreter, advocate and often judge in neighbourhood disputes... Isaac Colish earned the love, trust and respect of the entire community." In 1914, Colish was elected as an alderman to the inaugural council of the Municipality of West Kildonan. In 1916, he served as acting reeve for a few months while Reeve Edmund Partridge was serving military duty. He served on council until 1920, ( municipal elections were an annual affair back then). He did not leave community life, though. In 1922, he helped organize the West Kildonan Residents' and Ratepayers' Association. The inaugural meeting was held in this building and he was its first vice- president. He also served as Manitoba's first Jewish police magistrate. Anne, too, was very active in the community. She was president at one time or another of the Winnipeg Jewish Orphanage, Ashkenazie Women's Sisterhood and Winnipeg Hadassah. Both were active in the Ashkenazie Synagogue. Also in 1919, Isaac and his wife moved to a house at 123 Newton Ave., just a block from the store, and appear to have leased out the business through the early 1920s. Proprietors listed in the Henderson Directory, all of whom lived in the building, are Joseph Mount in 1920, John Refeen in 1921, J. Earn in 1923 and Malcolm Ridge in 1924. In 1926, Isaac's son Hugh and a man named Percy Greaves took it over and it was known briefly as as " Colish and Greave's." For a couple of these years, Isaac ran a feed store from the 1973 Main Street portion of the building. By 1930, the grocery store was again called Isaac Colish Grocery and he ran it until he sold off the business and retired in 1943. The couple sold their home and moved to the Stratford Hall Apartments at College Avenue and Charles Street. In " retirement," both stayed active in a variety of community projects. Isaac got involved in new business ventures. In the mid- 1940s, he was proprietor of the Snack Shop with son, Hugh. The shop was located, according to the Henderson Directory, in the same apartment block in which he lived. In the 1950s, he was partner with his other son William ( Bill) in the Dainty White Company, manufacturers and distributors of a range of household chemicals and cleaners, from bleach to turpentine. In 1957 the council of West Kildonan voted to rename Avery Drive to Colish Drive in his honour. By 1960, the couple lived in the Perth Apartments on Perth Street. Anne Colish died in April 1961 at the age of 78. Isaac died on April 10, 1977 at age 100 in Sharon Home. The Colish Block was owned by Morris Schwartz from 1947 into the 1960s. From 1948 to 1957, he ran Sherry's Food Store from this location then leased it to Mrs. Thelma Foy, who opened Foy's Cafe and Lunch Bar. The upstairs contained eleven suites. The current restaurant, Blondie's, opened in 1990. Christian Cassidy blogs about local history at his blogs West End Dumplings and This Was Manitoba. By Christian Cassidy The Colish Block shows some skin A WINNIPEG Fringe Theatre Festival play that featured self- administered mayonnaise enemas really got some movement out of our readers. Is this some sort of artistic comment on the Bombers' season? But seriously though, the whole point of the fringe festival is to push the envelope. If that makes some stodgy middle- aged CBC people uncomfortable, then GOOD. That's the whole point of the festival. If there aren't plays that make people uncomfortable, the festival is failing to do its job properly. - lollipopsandsunshine This is the " fringe" festival after all. There are lots of sources of mainstream entertainment for those lacking adventure. - JustWondering I remember my year in Grade 7. The guys in the class would loudly pass wind, stink up the whole class, gross out the teacher and the girls in the class as well as some of the more respectable young guys in the class. This was Grade 7 humour and entertainment. Now if these two clowns who put on this show want to be considered as having an intelligence level of gross Grade 7 boys, then so be it. I cannot understand why anyone with any intelligence would even want to watch garbage like that. - beetle Why does everything these days have to go beyond extreme? There needs to be a line drawn somewhere when it comes to a massive public festival that is also funded by gov't. Fringe is meant to be a fun and yes, sometimes adult outing, but really... is that necessary? I'd be quite angry if I walked into that one not having the proper warning. I hope in this case, fringe organizers actually listen to people that made a complaint instead of saying, " it's art, so it's OK" and do nothing. Then what happens next year? It just gets worse and worse. - manitoban74 I think people need to slow down for a second. Getting all self- righteous and judgmental, calling it sick, criminal, pornographic, etc. is over the top. First, it's the fringe we're talking about, as in out on the edge, not the mainstream. Second, lots of fringe shows really suck. That's part of the fun - you never know what you're going to get. Third, the guy is only doing what all of us do daily. He's just doing it onstage. Oh, and with mayo; which is definitely fringy, I must admit. For the record, I would rather remove my own pancreas with a shrimp fork than watch this show. But I won't start screaming that no one else should see it. As long as no one is getting hurt, whatever floats your boat, I say. - Maudoug I have attended the fringe festival with enthusiasm. I've stopped going much - partly because I'm getting old and partly because, over the years, there are fewer good plays and more unfunny comedies and cheap stunts. I have absolutely no problem saying that people shouldn't watch garbage, whether it's on TV, the Internet or in the theatre. Watching or reading garbage is not good for your mind or soul. Of course, people are free to watch garbage and I like living in a country where people are free to watch garbage. Just don't expect me to approve. I also disapprove of people eating garbage, although they're free to do it. - Spence Furby Seems like this issue is completely a media construct. Pan the shows, folks. Suggest a 18+ age limit. Walk out in the middle if you are offended. But stop trying to determine how fringe festivals are organized. I don't want you playing that role. I love the fringe as it is and think it is completely inappropriate for these paid media hacks to become the story about their being offended. I am offended by this still being in the news. - dehall These two certainly have not elevated Winnipeg's image at all have they? Come to Winnipeg and see the mayonnaise enema! This is the best entertainment that we have to offer folks, so step right up and be grossed out beyond your wildest dreams! We have really cold, long winters. We have hordes of mosquitoes in the summer. Now we have this. WOW! Talk about a selling point. - beetle Commenters engage the enema sed pstairs. lk- it th Wo Bo ho th bu li li 19 CHRISTIAN CASSIDY PHOTO The Colish Block recently had its familiar white facade stripped away. At right, Isaac and Anne Colish in a newspaper photo on their golden anniversary. POLL Do you agree with Justin Trudeau that marijuana should be legalized? Vote online at winnipegfreepress. com A_ 10_ Jul- 28- 13_ FP_ 01. indd A10 7/ 27/ 13 9: 54: 20 PM ;