Cheers to Kay Gardner, who rang in her 90th birthday on Feb. 24. Gardner did much for Midtown first as a local librarian and then as a city councillor, including having the vision to pry an old railway right of way free from potential development and convert it into a much-loved recreational trail that snakes right across Midtown Toronto dubbed the Kay Gardner Beltline Trail.

Although it’s been 20 years since she served as a councillor, she still has her finger on the pulse of Midtown.  In the coming years, Gardner says she hopes the city will focus on early childhood education and poverty. “Here I am, an old woman, and there are still as many poor people on the street as I saw during the Depression. A whole lifetime has gone by.”