Following these signs is futile
Whittamore’s Farm has closed, but signs still fruitlessly direct visitors
Some street signs are best ignored, like the ones that point people to a berry dead end.
A lot of GTA residents no doubt have fond memories of Whittamore’s Farm, the iconic, pick-your-own strawberry ranch on Steeles Ave. E. that delighted families and tickled their taste buds for 60 years.
When Steeles was still a country road, the Whittamores bought a small farm in the 1950s and grew strawberries. They soon realized that people enjoyed picking their own fruit, which planted the seeds for a much larger operation that eventually sprouted from it.
As word spread that it was an adventure for city kids, the Whittamores expanded, offering more pick-your-own fruits and vegetables, a farm shop and bakery, a pumpkin patch and a much-loved Fun Farm Yard.
It became a destination for tour buses and school groups, providing a taste of the country in the city for hundreds of visitors daily in warm weather.
But the grind eventually wore down the Whittamore family, who announced last year that it would close at the end of 2017, no doubt disappointing many families who treasured an annual trip to the farm.
All of this was unknown to us until we got a note from a reader who said that while driving recently on Meadowvale Rd., north of Sheppard Ave., he was “surprised to come across two blue city of Toronto (road) signs directing traffic to Whittamore’s Farm.
“Since Whittamore’s Farm has been closed (since last year), it might be good for the directional signs to be removed to save people from a long drive up to Steeles that will be fruitless, and vegetable-less, too.”
We found three signs: one on the east side of Meadowvale, at the eastbound off-ramp from Highway 401; a second at Meadowvale and Old Finch Ave.; and a third at the very rural intersection of Plug Hat Rd. and Beare Rd. Status: Allen Pinkerton, who’s in charge of city street signage, agreed that drivers shouldn’t be given a bum steer to a farm that’s no longer open to the public. He said the signs will be taken down right away. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. Email jlakey@thestar.ca or follow @TOStarFixer on Twitter