Reader has close connections to women in Graystones photo

March 16, 2016 · 0 Comments

Regarding the photo in your March 3, 2016 edition submitted by the Aurora Museum and Archives asking for the name and location of the restaurant in the photo, it is Graystones Restaurant at Yonge Street and Royal Road in Aurora.
I am surmising that the photo was most likely taken between 1952 and 1954.
My father, Hugh McIntyre, owned the establishment during these years and probably a bit earlier as well. The lady on the left of the checkout counter is my mother, Helen McIntyre and, on the right, behind the counter, is a good friend of the family, Eleanor Lindsay.
Helen and Hugh [Mac] McIntyre lived on Cousins Drive in Aurora from 1948 to 1987.
Hugh was a chef and offered lunches and dinners to patrons heading through Aurora on their way up north to cottages, lodges, etc.
His Sunday afternoon brunches attracted people from Toronto and locally, as well as those returning from their northern weekend getaways.
The resident jazz band drew people from Toronto and all places in between every Friday and Saturday night.
It was a vibrant venue.

Judy McIntyre-Smith
Aurora