REVISITING THE SUMMER OF LOVE

David DePoe's Yorkville was a place that blared Janis Joplin, smelled
of marijuana smoke and buzzed with talk of political and social change
- - basically the exact opposite of what the upscale neighbourhood is
today.

Dressed in a blue T-shirt emblazoned with the word "peace" and a
wide-brimmed hat, the 63-year-old elementary school teacher walked
down Yorkville Ave. yesterday and pointed at high-end boutiques,
pricey restaurants and luxury condominiums that now sit where there
used to be all-night cafes, boisterous bars and rooms to rent for as
little as $40 a month.

That was back in the summer of 1967, when Yorkville, now a playground
for the city's well-heeled, was the epicentre of the country's hippie
movement, and DePoe was one of its leaders.

"Yorkville today is the antithesis of what we wanted," said DePoe, who
compared 1960s Yorkville to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury or New
York's Greenwich Village. "It's consumerism and rich people whereas we
were trying to live the simple and cheap life."

Indeed, Yorkville is now a metaphor for the hippie movement, which was
characterized by a potent mix of music, drugs and talk of political
and social change. It began as a rebellion against society and its
values ended up becoming swallowed whole by popular culture.

Nevertheless, DePoe was one of several current and former hippies who
returned yesterday for a Summer of Love event, part of this weekend's
Luminato festival.

The sight was slightly surreal as local 1960s- and 1970s-era bands
rocked out on a stage in front of a towering Williams-Sonoma sign.
Meanwhile, a handful of hippies in their 50s smoked pot next to
curious passersby who clutched cellphones, Holt Renfrew shopping bags
and specialty coffees.

"It's a bit of a flashback," said Jannine Kelly, 53, who recalled
running away from the suburbs at 13 into the open arms of Yorkville
and its culture of community. Others, like Sebastian Agnello, 54,
remember the neighbourhood as a giant, drug-fuelled party. "Lots of us
didn't take the political stuff too seriously. It was just a lot of
fun."

While yesterday was clearly about the music and the fashion (dozens of
onlookers stood in line at kiosks to have flowers painted on their
faces or placed in their hair), some, like DePoe, are convinced the
Toronto hippie movement, short-lived as it was, did bring about social
change.

"It was peace and love and all of that, but what we were actually
trying to do was establish a community where people treated each other
differently and everyone was accepted," he said.

"I don't think we would have a Charter of Rights if it wasn't for the
social movements of the 1960s."

But rebellion also brought resistance from the establishment. DePoe's
summer of love included a clash with police over traffic in Yorkville.
On Aug. 20, hundreds of hippies sat on the road and chanted "no more
cars, no more cars." Police then dragged kids, some by the hair, into
paddy wagons while others were clubbed and kicked.

DePoe ended up in a jail cell and later recalled being shocked at the
use of force. "What woke me up was realizing that these were the
people that have all the power."