David DePoe's Yorkville was a place that blared Janis Joplin, smelled of marijuana smoke and buzzed with talk of political and social change – basically the exact opposite of what the upscale neighbourhood is today. Dressed in a blue T-shirt emblazoned with the word "peace" and a wide-brimmed hat, the 63-year-old elementary school teacher walked down Yorkville Ave. yesterday and pointed at high-end boutiques, pricey restaurants and luxury condominiums that now sit where there used to be all-night cafes, boisterous bars and rooms to rent for as little as $40 a month.
That was back in the summer of 1967, when Yorkville, now a playground for the city's well-heeled, was the epicentre of the country's hippie movement, and DePoe was one of its leaders. "Yorkville today is the antithesis of what we wanted," said DePoe, who compared 1960s Yorkville to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury or New York's Greenwich Village. "It's consumerism and rich people whereas we were trying to live the simple and cheap life."
Indeed, Yorkville is now a metaphor for the hippie movement, which was characterized by a potent mix of music, drugs and talk of political and social change. It began as a rebellion against society and its values ended up becoming swallowed whole by popular culture.
Nevertheless, DePoe was one of several current and former hippies who returned yesterday for a Summer of Love event, part of this weekend's Luminato festival. The sight was slightly surreal as local 1960s- and 1970s-era bands rocked out on a stage in front of a towering Williams-Sonoma sign. Meanwhile, a handful of hippies in their 50s smoked pot next to curious passersby who clutched cellphones, Holt Renfrew shopping bags and specialty coffees.
"It's a bit of a flashback," said Jannine Kelly, 53, who recalled running away from the suburbs at 13 into the open arms of Yorkville and its culture of community. Others, like Sebastian Agnello, 54, remember the neighbourhood as a giant, drug-fuelled party. "Lots of us didn't take the political stuff too seriously. It was just a lot of fun."
Actually it was for me too. I came from a poor family and there certainly wasn’t money for all of us to go to events like the circus together so family outings were going to Yorkville to watch the freaks in action. It was also were I saw first-hand the undesirable consequences of drug addiction in action. Personally, I’ll take today’s Yorkville over a bunch of dirty smelly people passed out on the sidewalks any day. Though I got to wonder how you prepare yourself for that kind of trip down memory lane….give up bathing - just like they did in 1968?
1 comment:
I read this today, David Depoe also turns up in CBC's archives on Yorkville as a spoiled brat Hippie and member of the Company of Young Canadians. Imagine that a Hippie in the pay of the Government! Too bad they couldn't knock some sense into him.
Robert Fulford had a good piece on narcisism in the Post - a fitting subtext for this article.
Post a Comment