Only 12 days until July 4th and the big celebration of our own Thrill of the Grill and the official lighting of the Bloor Viaduct Bridge. Once lit, it will be THE most beautiful gateway to our Danforth BIA. The permanent lighting of this bridge is the culmination of 10 years of work by our Danforth BIA and we would love to have you all join in the celebration on the night of the 4th. There are a few ways that you can do that:
1. VIP Gift Bags
We are organizing 100 gift bags which will be given to our VIP guests. This guest list includes local and provincial politicians, key sponsors, Olympic and Pan Am athletes and members of the public who have won a contest to be part of the VIP area. All Danforth BIA member businesses are invited to contribute something to the gift bags. It can be whatever you feel best represents your business and we would need 100 of whatever you choose to donate. Examples of what you could do include: a 2 for 1 coupon; a percentage off coupon, a free appetizer coupon - the possibilities are endless. If you are interested in donating 100 items we ask that you do so by dropping the pieces off with our Board Member, Elizabeth Bugajski - owner of Dessa, 161 Danforth Avenue no later than noon on Tuesday, June 30. Elizabeth's store is open late and I've also included her email address above if you need to check on specific times.
2. Buy a Ticket
Tickets to attend the event are $20.00 and include 7 ribs from 7 of our great Danforth BIA businesses (Allen's, Globe Bistro, Factory Girl, The Combine Eatery, Das Gasthaus, Tapas at Embrujo and The Meat Department); fresh grilled corn, Gnarly Head wine, SteamWhistle beer, ESKA water and beverages and desserts from our own Second Cup. It's a really good deal for a wonderful Saturday night out. Tickets are available on-line through our website www.thedanforth.ca or you can buy actual tickets at the Second Cup, The Combine Eatery and Riverdale Cleaners.
3. Volunteer
If anyone would like to volunteer during the event we'd love to have you! But I know you all work long days and it's hard to turn around after a busy Saturday and volunteer - so if you know someone else who would like to volunteer please have them email me. We're also taking high school students as volunteers. They need to complete a certain number of volunteer hours in order to graduate and we're happy to help them reach those volunteer goals!
A Special Promotion:
The Organizing Committee for Thrill has taken the 41 countries that participate in the Pan Am games and for the past several weeks we have been tweeting one country per day and have promoted you, our business members, through the tweets. If you go to our website and click on 41 Countries you can see what we've been doing as we lead up to July 4th.
Post Thrill SteamWhistle Shuttle
SteamWhistle will have their official bus on site at Thrill this year and will be offering guests free rides back to our Danforth BIA after Thrill is over for anyone who wants to pop into one of our restaurants or bars for a "Light The Night" Night Cap. Road & Bridge Closures:
Attached please find the City's notice regarding all of the closures and times associated with the July 4th event. Please review and let your staff and customers know that alternate travel routes will be needed over that weekend.
Also, The Danforth Music Hall has Brian Wilson performing on the night of July 4th. This will be a very popular concert. So expect a full theatre of people in addition to 2,500 people at Thrill and approximately 8,000 on the City's side of the bridge. It's going to be a very busy night in our Danforth BIA!