The "key to the Market."

In the glory, angst and furor that suddenly surrounds St. Lawrence Market the St. Lawrence Market Neighbourhood Business Improvement Assn. (BIA) quickly assembled an event to recognize and praise three St. Lawrence Market and community builders.

On short notice scores of Market fans and neighbourhood residents assembled at Biagio Ristorante to honour the trio. The gracious affair was arranged by BIA President George Milbrandt, owner of C’est What? Restaurant on Front Street East. Councillor Pam McConnell was mistress of ceremonies, adding sweetness to what has sometimes been a cause for bitter disappointment surrounding the Market.

Those feted are: Jorge Carvalho, the 16-year veteran as Market supervisor who was recently and inexplicably reassigned by his city Real Estate Department masters; Alan Seymour, a long-time community activist and key member of the North Market Redevelopment Initiative; and Michael Comstock, president of the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) and founder of the Market Kitchen, a beautifully appointed facility where top chefs can instruct those interested in improving their culinary skills and learning about culinary processes. It is a fitting addition to any food market and one that has rounded out the many contributions St. Lawrence Market has made to its sector. Comstock has volunteered his services over the years to Market merchants and staff.

All three honourees were presented with silver keys to the Market that were re-fashioned and donated by Sunday Antique Market owner Marlene Cook from antique keys she had acquired. Comstock, who was handed his key to the Market by city Real Estate Department manager Ray Kessler, later joked that he tried them to get in, “but they changed the locks.”

Carvalho received his ceremonial key to the Market from Odysseus Gounalakis, owner of Scheffler’s Deli and president of the Market merchants group. The irony was that, until a few days after the Market under Carvalho’s tutelage for 16 years had been named the Best Market in the World by a National Geographic publication, Carvalho had all the real keys to the Market. In fact he had the keys to the entire St. Lawrence Market Complex he oversaw, which included the St. Lawrence Hall where Biagio Ristorante is located.

Marvin Creighton, farmers and merchants representative in the North Market, known as the Farmers Market, made the key award to Seymour, commenting how when in 1999 the North Market redevelopment group was meeting he had objected to Seymour’s plan to temporarily house the farmers in a tent on the parking lot south of the South Market while the construction was taking place.

Seymour was a key member of that group which included a number of local residents meeting with staff from various city departments. Eventually, though, the city decided to have an international competition among architectural firms for a North Market plan.