Work at CSI for the day with our new Lounge Pass!

The Story of the Waffle Iron & CSI Annex (or how we bought a building)

Kyle Shantz

Kyle Shantz

Director of Communications and Marketing

 

The Story of the Waffle Iron & CSI Annex (or how we bought a building)
By Shona Fulcher

This post is part of a new lore series at CSI; stories of myth and legend. While true, they may be highly subjective, or as a wise man once said: “…what I told you was true, from a certain point of view.”

This morning marked Annexes 5th (yes 5th) tasty, sweet, filling, communal, warm and wonderful waffle breakfast.

And what better way to warm February morning!

So, Why do we have an annual Waffle Breakfast at our Annex location?
Because Waffles and CSI Annex are incontrovertibly linked.

You might even say that Waffles were the catalyst that created CSI Annex…

I’m serious!

CSI lore has it that many moons ago Tonya Surman had a craving and a brilliant idea!
Salad club was such a core part of CSI’s identity by what about breakfast? Couldn’t breakfast build community too?
And what brings people together better than crunchy, steaming, soft, syrup-full waffles.
And so, the word went out that CSI would throw its first epic Waffle Breakfast!

Now this is before CSI Annex existed and our community of changemakers were all at our CSI Spadina location.
An we were thwarted! Our then landlords rained on our waffle parade and told us we could not have a waffle irons at 215 Spadina.

We were shocked, we were saddened but more importantly we were maddened!
Our Community deserved a Waffle Breakfast!!!

So what did we do? Tonya said if we can’t have a waffle iron in this building…
We’ll buy our OWN building!

And we did! And CSI Annex was created! And there were Waffles for everyone!

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CSI Spadina in the ground floor kitchen, looking out towards the lounge and meeting rooms. In the foreground is a kitchen counter, with waffles, toppings, and glasses of coffees and teas. In the background, CSI CEO Tonya Surman is speaking into a microphone on the left. In the middle and on the right, a variety of people stand and sit, listening to her speak.
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