West-end Peterborough homeowner Ray Scott's backyard garden soaks up the sun on a bright May afternoon, and so do his rooftop solar panels. The panels produce enough electricity for him to power his home, store energy in batteries for backup storage, as well as charge his electric vehicles. The Home Energy and EV Expo at the McDonnel Street Activity Centre on June 14, 2025 will feature homeowners such as Ray, who will share their experiences they've had on their electrification journeys. (Photo: Clara Blakelock / GreenUP)
Each week, GreenUP provides a story related to the environment. This week’s story is by Clara Blakelock, Home Energy Program Manager, GreenUP.
Technological advances are coming fast and furious these days, in all areas of life. Homes and cars are no exception — heat pumps, solar panels, and electric vehicles (EVs) offer great energy and greenhouse gas emission savings. Not only are these technologies good for the climate, they’re good for the home — effective, quiet, and efficient!
The Home Energy and EV Expo, taking place on Saturday, June 14 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the McDonnel Street Activity Centre, aims to demystify these technologies and help residents get their questions answered.
Co-hosted by the City of Peterborough, For Our Grandchildren, the Electric Vehicle Society, and GreenUP, this event combines two popular events held in Peterborough in 2024: the Home Energy Expo and the Electric Vehicle Show.
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West-end Peterborough homeowner Ray Scott has gone all-in on electrification.
After purchasing his first EV in 2019, he now has a 14-kilowatt solar system with battery backup, installed by local company Generation Solar (who will be represented at the June 14 event), a second EV purchased in 2022, and a cold climate electric heat pump for heating and cooling the home. The only gas still left in his home is for the water heater, which he plans to replace soon.
Scott proudly showed GreenUP around his home on a recent visit.
“The car is now charging at a speed of nearly seven kilowatts per hour, and it’s all coming from sunlight — it’s free,” he explained, as the sun beat down on his large rooftop solar system.
This electric heat pump provides both heating and cooling for Ray Scott’s west-end home in Peterborough. His neighbour (whose home is adjacent to the heat pump) has commented on how much quieter it is than a traditional air conditioner. The Home Energy and EV Expo at the McDonnel Street Activity Centre on June 14, 2025 will feature homeowners such as Ray, who will share their experiences they’ve had on their electrification journeys. (Photo: Clara Blakelock / GreenUP)
New technology can be intimidating. While some early adopters will embrace it right away, many will need more convincing to make a major switch. Investing in a new home heating system, renewable energy, or a new vehicle means a significant expenditure as well as potentially a learning curve.
A key element of the event is the inclusion of people like Scott, who have completed home retrofits, installed heat pumps and solar panels, and drive EVs (or maybe, like Scott, all of the above).
Attendees will have the opportunity to meet with their fellow residents and hear about the experiences they’ve had on their electrification journeys.
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The trade show also includes exhibitors from the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), renewable energy, and building trades, as well as energy advisors and incentive program representatives.
Better Homes Peterborough, the newly launched loan program for home energy efficiency upgrades in the City of Peterborough, will also be featured at the event (visit betterhomesptbo.ca/ for more information on the program).
In the parking area, EV drivers will be on hand with their vehicles so attendees can get a close look at different types of EVs and chat with drivers about their experience driving EVs in all seasons, installing charging infrastructure at home, as well as charging at public stations while on the road. Local car dealers have also been invited to attend.
West-end Peterborough homeowner Ray Scott’s electric vehicle is shown charging at a speed of nearly seven kilowatts per hour at no cost, thanks to solar panels installed at his home. The Home Energy and EV Expo at the McDonnel Street Activity Centre on June 14, 2025 will feature homeowners such as Ray, who will share their experiences they’ve had on their electrification journeys. (Photo: Clara Blakelock / GreenUP)
Inside the hall, homeowners who have completed retrofits will show photos and talk about their costs and energy savings, as well as any pitfalls they may have experienced.
While Scott undertook his retrofits because of a commitment to tackle climate change, he’s also been pleased with the results.
“The heat pump is a dream,” he enthused. “It has a large electric backup system built in, but it has actually never had to come on. Two years ago, we had two full days where the temperature never got above minus 31 degrees, and the heat pump was still able to keep up.”
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Like many home upgrades such as steel roofs or new driveways, electrification spreads through neighbourhoods.
Scott has received inquiries about his solar panels from his neighbour across the street who is interested in getting his own. His neighbour next door has also commented on how much quieter the heat pump is than a traditional air conditioner.
Find out how to get started on home electrification by stopping by the Home Energy and EV Expo at the McDonnel Street Activity Centre at 577 McDonnel Street on Saturday, June 14 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sign up for the event on Facebook or just drop in.
Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region (Habitat PKR) CEO Susan Zambonin has received an award from Habitat for Humanity Canada in recognition of her leadership, dedication, and innovation towards advancing affordable housing in the country. (Photo: Habitat PKR)
Having spent more than two decades championing safe and affordable housing in Peterborough and beyond, Susan Zambonin is being recognized on a national stage.
The CEO of Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region (Habitat PKR) has received the Terry Petkau Legacy Award – Outstanding Staff, the highest honour bestowed by Habitat for Humanity Canada.
Named in memory of Petkau, who was known as “the heart of Habitat,” the national award recognizes exceptional leadership, innovation, and dedication towards advancing affordable housing across Canada.
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“I’m deeply honoured to receive the Terry Petkau Legacy Award,” Zambonin told kawarthaNOW. “This recognition is incredibly meaningful to me because it reflects the collective efforts of so many who believe in the power of decent, safe, affordable housing to transform lives.”
Habitat for Humanity Canada presented Zambonin with the award on May 16 at the national awards gala in Halifax, during the closing day of the 2025 Habitat Canada National Conference.
The ceremony included a tribute video that celebrated Zambonin’s impact, and contained messages from colleagues, volunteers, board members, and Habitat homeowners reflecting on her leadership and passion.
VIDEO: Susan Zambonin Wins National Habitat Canada Terry Petkau Legacy Award
Zambonin’s journey with Habitat began more than 20 years ago as a volunteer board member with Habitat Prince Edward Island. She has since gone on to lead three local Habitat affiliates — PEI, Kingston Limestone Region, and now Peterborough & Kawartha Region — “supporting more than 120 families on their paths to safe, decent, and affordable homeownership,” a media release noted.
“Susan is a force,” said Habitat PKR’s board of directors Hope Lee in a statement.
“She lives and breathes the mission of Habitat. Whether she’s wearing a blazer on Parliament Hill advocating for change, or a hard hat on a building site swinging a hammer, Susan shows up with purpose and passion. No job is too small, no challenge too big — and this award is a powerful recognition of the heart and grit she brings to everything she does.”
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Under Zambonin’s leadership, Habitat PKR took on its most ambitious projects to date. The CEO was at the helm of the region’s first multi-residential build, a 53-unit condo on Leahy’s Lane in Peterborough, which is the largest development in the organization’s history.
She has also championed innovative construction methods, including 3D printing. Habitat PKR recently broke ground on its first 3D-printed home in Fraserville, which will soon provide a local family with a sustainable and affordable place to call home.
This summer, Habitat PKR will put shovels in the ground again for another build. In partnership with a Peterborough group called Our Daughters’ Home, Habitat PKR is working on an accessible duplex in Peterborough’s East City.
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The home is being constructed to provide safe, supportive housing for seven women who have developmental disabilities and a live-in caregiver — “an important step in building housing that is inclusive, accessible, and community-focused,” the release noted.
“At Habitat PKR, we believe everyone deserves a safe, decent, and affordable place to live. Susan’s leadership continues to move that vision forward — one home, one family, and one bold innovation at a time.”
Habitat PKR is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to mobilize volunteers and community partners in building affordable housing and promoting affordable homeownership. Habitat gives a “hand-up, not a ‘hand-out” to lower-income families by offering no down payment and geared-to-income monthly payments. Since 2002, Habitat PKR has supported 96 local families into affordable homeownership.
Canadian actor, playwright, and director Cameron Grant performing as Montague in the Stratford Festival's 2021 staging of "Serving Elizabeth" by Marcia Johnson, which offers a different perspective of Princess Elizabeth's 1952 trip to Kenya when she learned she had become the Queen of England than was portrayed in the hit Netflix series "The Crown." Grant will be reprising the role when New Stages Theatre presents a staged reading of the play at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough on June 14, 2025. (Photo: David Hou)
On the heels of King Charles’ visit to Canada at the end of May, New Stages Theatre in Peterborough is closing out its 2024-25 season with a staged reading about a different monumental international visit made by a monarch-in-waiting more than 70 years ago.
Tickets are on sale for Serving Elizabeth by Canadian playwright Marcia Johnson, which will be performed for one night only on Saturday, June 14 at 7 p.m. at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough.
Johnson wrote Serving Elizabeth in response to an episode of the hit Netflix series The Crown, a historical drama chronicling the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The second episode of the first season, titled “Hyde Park Corner,” covers Princess Elizabeth’s 1952 trip to Kenya where she learned her father had died and she had become the Queen of England.
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Johnson wrote Serving Elizabeth as a fictionalized retelling that offers a Kenyan perspective of the event, given that it was happening during a time of anti-colonial uprisings in the east African nation.
“My goal in Serving Elizabeth was not to beat (the monarchy) up,” Johnson said in a 2023 interview with CBC. “My goal was to say there’s a part of this story, a part of colonialism, that isn’t talked about enough, and if I show respect to all sides to say these are human beings who are affected by this system — some really negatively, and some really positively. If I am to tell that kind of story and a few different people look at things a different way, that makes me happy.”
In the interview, Johnson explains that the episode of The Crown only represented “one emotion” that Black people in Kenya paid to Queen Elizabeth when she arrived: “adoration and awe.” But, she says, that doesn’t reflect the reality of the time, given that the Mau Mau uprising was stirring in Kenya and many people were anti-monarchy. Johnson saw the episode as a “missed opportunity” to reflect the voices of Kenyans who were against British rule, and so she wrote her own fictionalized version of Elizabeth’s visit to Kenya.
Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip arrive in Nairobi in Kenya in February 1952, which was when Elizabeth learned her father had died and she had become Queen of England. In an episode about the Kenya trip, the Netflix series “The Crown” only portrayed Kenyans as being in “adoration and awe” of Elizabeth, and ignored the burgeoning Mau Mau uprising against British colonial rule in Kenya, primarily driven by the Kikuyu people who were displaced by white settlers and land policies, which marked a crucial period in Kenya’s struggle for independence. (Photo: Camera Press/The Times/Redux)
Serving Elizabeth depicts two stories, with the 1952 timeline following Mercy, a restaurant proprietor in Kenya who is boldly anti-monarchy but is asked to cook for Princess Elizabeth at a time when Mercy’s husband is ill and her daughter has been accepted into university. In the 2015 timeline, Kenyan-Canadian film student Tia is interning on a series adjacent to The Crown, and the episode about Elizabeth’s Kenya visit has her questioning her role in the production.
A multi-talented Canadian artist, Johnson herself starred as Mercy in the production’s 2020 world premiere in Kamloops, British Columbia.
For the Market Hall staged reading, directed by New Stages’ artistic director Mark Wallace with stage management by Esther Vincent, Toronto actor and New Stages veteran Ordena Stephens-Thompson will take on the role of Mercy, while Katherine Cullen, who starred in the New Stages production of Rosamund Small’s Vitals earlier this season, will be making her return to the theatre company in the iconic role of Elizabeth.
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Rounding out the cast members, each of whom has a role in both timelines of the story, are Chelsea Russell, Robert Dodds, and Cameron Grant — who will be reprising the roles of Montague and Steven he played when Serving Elizabeth was staged at the Stratford Festival in 2021.
“I’m fascinated by them,” says Grant, speaking of the royal family. “I’m fascinated by their world, how removed we are from it, and the lore and the stories that inevitably come out of their secluded lives and public lives. I love that this play engages with that.”
Grant is a Brampton-based actor, playwright, director, and educator who has worked across Canada and spent several years with the Shaw Festival. Beyond his interest in the royal family, his interest in Serving Elizabeth was personal in that he attended theatre school with Johnson’s goddaughter and Johnson was frequently in the audience.
“She was always really supportive and kind to me and I was always in awe of her,” he recalls. “She’s such an incredible playwright. She teaches playwriting too, and I think Serving Elizabeth and the response that it’s gotten really, in my opinion, matches the quality of her work.”
Marcia Johnson is the playwright of “Serving Elizabeth,” a historical fiction retelling of Queen Elizabeth’s 1952 trip to Kenya when she discovered she had become Queen of England. Johnson was inspired to write a play by an episode of the Netflix series “The Crown” about the Kenya trip, which she felt did not accurately reflect the Kenyan perspective about the historic event which took place during a time of anti-colonial uprising in the east African country. (Publicity photo)
As for the interest he has in the characters he plays, Grant says Montague and Steven are “both really interesting characters who are young and grappling with the beginning of their careers and their lives.”
“Montague is from Kenya, but he was educated at Cambridge University and then comes back to Kenya, and is working through the colonial political system at a time when that system is starting to be challenged pretty significantly,” he says. “He sees a pathway to the country’s prosperity through the colonial system, which is interesting,”
In the 2015 timeline, Steven is a character Grant can relate to because they are both young rising actors, though his character gets into “sticky” situations.
“He has this moment where he realizes, ‘Oh, the function that I would take in this story will leave me without agency and will leave me, as an actor, feeling quite exposed and maybe in opposition to the things that I actually believe or that I stand for,'” says Grant, noting this power of art in historical fiction is a theme of the play.
“They’re both really interesting characters to sink into and I’ll have to flip between them within the course of the play quite often.”
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Grant notes there are times when the timelines will come together in “unexpected” ways, where the historical and fictional aspects of the story work in conversation with each other.
“I think sometimes history, when we find out something’s real or it’s about this particular event that we have a general awareness of, that’s the thing that invites the audience to lean in,” Grant says. “And it allows us to ask questions, like ‘Did this really happen?’ It allows you to listen differently and maybe more critically.”
“Historical fiction is an enticing drama genre. There’s a responsibility to getting the story and the history accurate, but there’s also fiction — and in the fiction, there’s an opportunity to fill in the gap. There’s an opportunity to view the story from another perspective, to centre another perspective, or to at least include another perspective. And I think there’s an opportunity and responsibility now to do both.”
Along with Cameron Grant, the New Stages’ staged reading of “Serving Elizabeth” stars (left to right, top and bottom) Ordena Stephens-Thompson, Katherine Cullen, Chelsea Russell, and Robert Dodds, Katherine Cullen, Chelsea Russell, and Robert Dodds. Each actor portrays a role in thw play’s two timelines, on taking place in 1952 and the other in 2015. (kawarthaNOW collage of supplied photos)
Though his performance at the Stratford Festival happened during the pandemic, which limited the opportunity for educational talks surrounding it, Grant knows there was positive feedback to the play and hopes that, for its first time on a Peterborough stage, Serving Elizabeth will elicit the same critical thinking from the audience.
“It gets them thinking about the role of the monarchy in our lives and also the show The Crown and how we tell stories,” he says. “It’s not just about doing your research — it’s about doing your research and broadening that research.”
“I think the audience will see the play grapple with that — and some of the characters grapple with that in this play — and it leads to this really exciting final scene where those ideas come to a head.”
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Serving Elizabeth will be performed at 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 14 at Market Hall Performing Acts Centre, and runs for approximately two hours including an intermission.
Tickets are priced at $28 plus fee (half-priced for students, art workers, or for the under waged) and are available online at markethall.org, by calling 705-749-1146, or by visiting the box office at 140 Charlotte Street.
At the performance, New Stages will also be announcing the lineup for its 2025-26 season. Subscriptions will go on sale that evening with the chance to reserve a preferred seat, as all New Stages shows at the Market Hall in 2025-26 will have reserved seating.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be media sponsor of New Stages Theatre Company’s 2024-25 season.
Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal spoke about pickleball at city council's general committee meeting on April 2, 2024 where council discussed the controverial Bonnerworth Park redevelopment. Earlier in the meeting, he told councillor Alex Bierk "You're going to regret you ever said that" and "I'll carve you like a Thanksgiving turkey" after Bierk publicly mentioned the mayor's wife by name. The City of Peterborough's integrity commissioner concluded the mayor had breached council's code of conduct by intimidating Alex Bierk and, following the meeting out of public view, also bullied councillor Joy Lachica. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of City of Peterborough video)
A Peterborough resident appalled by city council’s recent decision not to penalize Mayor Jeff Leal for breaching council’s code of conduct is organizing a protest at city hall on Monday afternoon (June 9).
Danielle Turpin is asking other concerned residents to send a message to council by attending the “Rally for Integrity” at 5 p.m. on Monday. Following the rally, Turpin is encouraging participants to fill the public gallery in council chambers for the city council meeting at 6 p.m., when council’s decision will be ratified.
At its general committee meeting this past Monday night (June 2), city council voted 7-3 to not penalize Mayor Leal in response to a joint inquiry report from the City of Peterborough’s integrity commissioner Guy Giorno that concluded the mayor had contravened the code of conduct by intimidating councillor Alex Bierk and by bullying councillor Joy Lachica in relation to the controversial Bonnerworth Park redevelopment.
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“I decided to organize the rally for integrity because, like so many others who were at city hall on Monday night, I left feeling very angry and disappointed — even sad,” Turpin tells kawarthaNOW.
“What we saw was a failure of leadership and a dismissal of accountability on the mayor. This decision council made on June 2nd was wrong. It did not reflect the integrity report. It did not reflect what community wants. And it didn’t reflect the code of conduct.”
At the meeting, councillor Gary Baldwin brought forward a motion that proposed no penalty for the mayor for contravening the code of conduct and proposed referring remedial measures suggested by the integrity commissioner to staff for consideration.
Danielle Turpin, who attended city council’s general committee meeting on June 2, 2025 when council voted 7-3 in favour of a motion not to penalize Mayor Jeff Leal after the City of Peterborough’s integrity commissioner concluded the mayor had breached council’s code of conduct by intimidating councillor Alex Bierk and by bullying councillor Joy Lachica, is organizing a “Rally for Integrity” on Monday, June 9 at city hall to protest the decision. (Photo: Danielle Turpin / Facebook)
Only five of the 10 members of council present during the discussion (the mayor had recused himself) spoke about the findings of the report.
Councillors Baldwin and Dave Haacke stated that no penalty was warranted — council could have chosen to either reprimand the mayor or suspend his pay for up to 90 days — and Bierk, Lachica, and Keith Riel stated that Baldwin’s motion and commentary downplayed the mayor’s behaviour and negated the intention of the code of conduct.
After the discussion, council voted 7-3 in favour of Baldwin’s no-penalty motion, with only councillors Bierk, Lachica, and Riel voting against it.
“Council had an opportunity to send a message that they believe in integrity and transparency and they chose not to instead,” Turpin says. “They chose to do nothing.”
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Turpin, who is a personal support worker and the founder and managing director of the Home Care Workers’ Co-operative, was one of the nominees for Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Luminary Awards for women in business. She has been considering running for city council in the October 2026 municipal election.
“It’s always been in the back of my mind to run for city council and after last Monday’s meeting it lit a fire under me,” she says. “Change needs to happen with this council and we need more people who can actually represent the city of Peterborough and not their own agenda.”
Turpin admits that what she witnessed on Monday night “gave me pause and concern about whether I as a woman should run” — a point she also made in a public Facebook post following the meeting.
“If someone like me — strong, resilient, and determined — can feel so shaken, imagine how many other important voices we’ve lost before they even had a chance to speak.”
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For Monday’s rally, Turpin is encouraging people to bring signs to the rally and also to wear pink shirts, which symbolize a commitment to stand up against bullying.
“We should not accept bullying or intimidation as the norm and it’s time to make our voices heard,” Turpin says.
The Talk Now Child, Youth and Family Walk-in Clinic is located at Peterborough Youth Services at 459 Reid Street in downtown Peterborough. (Photo: Google Maps)
Children and youth in Peterborough are being encouraged to take advantage of a local resource if they need to “talk now” about emotional or behavioural challenges.
The Talk Now Child, Youth and Family Walk-in Clinic, a mental health resource available with no appointment necessary, has adjusted its hours for the summer.
Located at Peterborough Youth Services at 459 Reid Street, the clinic will run on Tuesdays from 1 to 4 p.m. in July and August, instead of its usual 2 to 6 p.m. schedule.
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Talk Now is a collaborative initiative of the Peterborough Ontario Health Team delivered in partnership with seven community agencies, including Kinark Child and Family Services, Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Peterborough Family Health Team, Peterborough Youth Services, Fourcast, Canopy, and Canadian Mental Health Association, Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (CMHA HKPR).
CMHA HKPR communications and community relations specialist Caitlin Morris told kawarthaNOW the walk-in clinic services remain the same and the change in hours “is aimed to accommodate families this summer” when their routines and availability often shift.
The ultimate hope through the adjustment to the Talk Now walk-in clinic hours is “to support more youth and families,” Morris added.
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The Talk Now walk-in clinic offers dedicated barrier-free mental health walk-in counselling for children, youth, and families navigating behavioural and emotional challenges.
Mental health services providers from Peterborough Youth Services and partner agencies are on-site, available to meet people in-person every Tuesday afternoon.
“We know children and youth are struggling, and we want them to know they’re not alone,” said Matt Sheridan, child and youth mental health program director at Peterborough Youth Services, in a media release. “This clinic is here for them — no referrals, no long waits, just real help when they need it.”
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Staffed by a nurse practitioner and therapists, the clinic offers single-session counselling or therapy to address immediate concerns and develop a plan, support connecting to longer-term services if needed, and confidential virtual services available as often as needed.
While single-session therapy is a therapeutic model that supports clients to work through a presenting issue and develop a plan within one session, clients can access the therapy as often as they need. Follow-up with the nurse practitioner and psychiatry is necessary in many cases, and is still offered on a walk-in basis to be as accessible to clients as possible.
Staff members collaborate as a virtual team and regularly meet to work through logistical details and participate in clinical supervision. The clinic is overseen by the steering committee made up of senior leaders of the participating agencies.
A high-quality luxury swimwear brand based in the Township of North Kawartha in Peterborough County, Bikinis by Bridget recently showed off their latest and largest collection to date, "Verano in Mexico," at Miami Swim Week. As founder and designer Bridget McCluckie continues to gain international attention and get her products into more boutiques across Canada, she uplifts other businesses in the local community by partnering with local small business owners and artisans to host events at her flagship brick-and-mortar store, HERmanas, in Apsley. (Photo courtesy of Bikinis by Bridget)
Bikinis by Bridget has stunned on runways in fashion capitals from Milan to Miami, and have even been featured in British Vogue, Red Hot Monde, and the New York Post. And yet, founder Bridget McCluckie always returns to her humble beginnings in the Township of North Kawartha, one of eight townships in Peterborough County, where she found her success.
Learning from her grandmother, McCluckie began sewing as a child, making clothes for her dolls and designing her own prom dress. But she also caught the entrepreneurial bug from a young age, as, throughout high school, she would make clothing in her school colours to sell to classmates to wear to sports games and she began making custom-made swimsuits for friends. When more and more friends sought out her swimwear, she officially launched Bikinis by Bridget.
As a first-generation Canadian, McCluckie’s designs take inspiration from the florals and vibrant hues found on the streets of Mexico, which helps her stay connected to her family and heritage.
After competing as the only female entrepreneur in a university pitch competition, McCluckie was awarded a grant and opportunities that allowed her to take Bikinis by Bridget to the next level, selling online and sponsoring sororities across Canada while she still made every piece by hand.
In summer 2020, she and her sister Victoria McCluckie opened HERmanas (meaning “sisters” in Spanish), a boutique in Apsley where they cottaged during the pandemic. The Highway 28 storefront is stocked with exclusive clothing, accessories, and lifestyle products from high-end European brands purchased through Canadian distributors. Tailoring, hemming, and adjustments are also offered at HERmanas.
A young entrepreneur and first-generation Canadian, Bridget McCluckie has held a passion for fashion and sewing since she was a child who made clothing for her dolls. After custom- making bikinis for friends in high school, she decided to launch Bikinis by Bridget, handmaking collections of luxury swimwear inspired by the vibrant colours and florals found in Mexico. The brand has since found international success, though McCluckie remains committed to uplifting regional small businesses by hosting in-store events at her Apsley luxury boutique HERmanas. (Photo courtesy of Bridget McCluckie)
To meet the demand, Bikinis by Bridget products are now made by a manufacturer in Brazil that uses high-quality recycled fabrics, with all textile scraps going towards making dog beds for local shelters.
However, McCluckie still does all the designing herself from Apsley and also makes custom orders using materials from Ann’s Fabric Shop, a Hamilton family-run business that’s been operating for more than 50 years and from which McCluckie has been sourcing since her earliest projects. These Canadian-sourced fabrics are used in the runway collections.
While she continues to grow her business, with her current goal to get Bikinis by Bridget into boutiques across Canada, McCluckie remains dedicated to uplifting the community where her business first began to make waves.
At HERmanas in Apsley, the McCluckie sisters regularly host events that are led by residents and local small business owners, including permanent jewelry popups from Eternal Verity Co., and candle painting workshops by Shoreline Furniture Co. Coming up in June, HERmanas will host a bouquet-making workshop led by Sue Rankin of Fresh Flowers Friday by Sue and using locally grown flowers. Every event hosted in store is catered by Apsley’s The Grape and Wedge.
“It really is so important in a small town to build that community and that’s something that we’re so grateful for,” says McCluckie. “Without our community, we wouldn’t have what we have, and I think that’s what makes our story just a little bit more special.”
You can see the latest Bikinis by Bridget collection, “Verano in Mexico,” at bikinisbybridget.com. To browse what’s available at HERmanas, visit shophermanas.ca.
The Local Advantage in Peterborough County is a branded editorial feature series about locally owned independent businesses in Peterborough County, created in partnership with Peterborough County’s Economic Development & Tourism Division.
As part of its response to the impact of U.S. tariffs, Peterborough County is showcasing the many unique businesses located in the county, both by sharing their stories of success and how they support both residents and other businesses in their communities.
Whether by shopping at local businesses, dining at local restaurants, staying at local accommodation, or enjoying local experiences, residents and visitors can enhance the economic resilience of Peterborough County during these challenging times and help establish a sustainable foundation for the future.
For more information about economic development and tourism in Peterborough County, visit www.ptbocounty.ca/ecdev and The Kawarthas Tourism at thekawarthas.ca.
An abstract painter and musician, Lakefield's David Goyette is well known in Peterborough for his community support, philanthropy, and tireless promotion of the arts. Goyette is the sole finalist for the Peterborough Arts Awards' Arts Champion award, which recognizes a person who has consistently provided outstanding support and encouragement for the development of the arts in Peterborough through philanthropy, volunteerism, or the development of partnerships and collaborations. The winner of the $2,000 award gives it to a local not-for-profit professional arts organization. (Photo: Victoria Pearce)
The Electric City Culture Council (EC3) has announced the 15 finalists for the Peterborough Arts Awards.
The winners, selected by a peer jury from a multi-disciplinary pool of nominated candidates, will be announced at a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 12 at the Canadian Canoe Museum (2077 Ashburnham Dr., Peterborough).
Funded entirely by private-sector sponsors, corporations, and businesses, the Peterborough Arts Awards provide cash awards of $2,000 to winners in each of the six categories listed below and cash awards of $250 for each of the two runners-up in each category, for a total of $15,000 in awards.
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Outstanding Emerging Artist
Sponsored by Tim Barrie of Merit II Realty Limited, this award recognizes outstanding achievement by an artist, working professionally in any discipline, who has been practising in their field for at least two years.
The finalists are Káhnitha, Elisha May Rubacha, and Lynda Todd.
Outstanding Mid-Career Artist
Sponsored by an anonymous donor, this award recognizes outstanding achievement by an artist, working professionally in any discipline, who has been practising in their field for at least five years.
The finalists are Michael C. Duguay, Nicole Malbeuf, and Olivia Whetung.
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Outstanding Senior Artist
Sponsored by Paul and Kristine Hickey, this award recognizes outstanding achievement by an artist, working professionally in any discipline, who has been practising in their field for at least 15 years.
The finalists are Syd Birrell, Kim Blackwell, and Frank Flynn
Outstanding Achievement by an Indigenous Artist
Sponsored by Bill Lockington of LLF Lawyers LLP, this award recognizes outstanding achievement by an Indigenous artist, working professionally in any discipline, contemporary or traditional form.
The finalists are Sarah DeCarlo and William Kingfisher.
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Arts Champion
Sponsored by Paul Bennett of Ashburnham Realty, this award recognizes a person who has consistently provided outstanding support and encouragement for the development of the arts in Peterborough through philanthropy, volunteerism, or the development of partnerships and collaborations (the prize is given to an individual who, in turn, gives it to a local not-for-profit professional arts organization).
The sole finalist is David Goyette.
Arts Catalyst
Sponsored by Kate and Alex Ramsay, this award recognizes outstanding achievement by a professional arts administrator or manager, fundraiser, art critic, curator, educator, programmer, or producer who has worked behind the scenes to build excellence in the arts.
The finalists are Lindy Finlan, Chad Hogan, and Jason Wilkins.
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Along with the announcement of the award winners, the June 12 event will feature canapes and cocktails and pop-up performances by 11 of the city’s best artists: Curtis Dreidger (fiddle), Jennifer Elchuck (Praying Mantis-Woodland and the Wilds Promenade), Kelli Marshall (pow wow dancing), Victoria Yeh (fusion violin), Dan Fortin (jazz stand-up bass), Janet McCue (Indigenous drumming and singing), Brad Brackenridge (puppetry), Justin Million (instant poetry), Samantha Banton (poetry), and Kate Suhr and Melissa Payne (closing musical number).
Missy Knott, an acclaimed musician from Curve Lake First Nation and a member of the Ontario Arts Council Board, will be the guest speaker.
An independent not-for-profit service organization supporting the arts in Peterborough and the surrounding region, EC3 established the Peterborough Arts Awards to honour and recognize excellence and outstanding achievement of professional artists, arts organizations, and arts supporters living and working the city and county of Peterborough.
Peterborough Public Health closed the beach at Rogers Cove in Peterborough's East City in July 2023 after a harmful blue-green algae bloom was confirmed. For summer 2025, the health unit will no longer be testing the water quality at the beach, and the City of Peterborough will no longer be providing lifeguard services. (Photo: Bruce Head / kawarthaNOW)
If you decide to swim at Rogers Cove beach in Peterborough’s East City this summer, you’ll be doing so at your own risk.
Not only will swimming at the beach no longer be supervised by city lifeguards, but the regional health unit will no longer be testing water quality at the beach.
In prior years, the City of Peterborough has paid lifeguards to supervise the city’s two public beaches — one at Rogers Cove and the other at Beavermead Park — daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. from the last week of June to the end of August.
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However, during its deliberations on the draft 2025 budget, city council decided to eliminate lifeguard services at Rogers Cove to save $40,000. Lifeguard services are still provided at the more popular Beavermead Park beach.
Also in prior years, Peterborough Public Health tested the water quality of the city’s two public beaches on a daily basis from Monday to Friday. However, concurrent with the city’s decision to eliminate lifeguard services, the health unit will no longer be conducting water quality testing at Rogers Cove. Weekday testing will continue at Beavermead Park.
People who plan to swim at Rogers Cove beach this summer should be aware that, on several occasions in 2023 and 2024, the health unit closed the Rogers Cove beach because of suspected toxic blue-green algae blooms.
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The health unit’s beach water testing began on Monday (June 2) and, aside from Rogers Cove, will be regularly testing public beaches in Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations and the city and county of Peterborough to ensure the water quality conditions are safe for recreational use.
The program will run through to the end of August, with most public beaches in the county sampled at least once a week and a few sampled once a month.
Results take approximately 24 hours to be analyzed. If levels of bacteria exceed recommended thresholds for recreational water use, the beach will be posted as unsafe and to avoid becoming ill, people should not use the beach for swimming. If a significant risk to human health is identified, such as a toxic spill or the identification of a harmful algae bloom, a beach may be closed to the public.
Stay tuned to kawarthaNOW in June for The Beach Report™, our weekly report of the results of water quality testing at beaches in the greater Kawarthas region, including the city and county of Peterborough, the City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton County, Northumberland County, and Hastings County.
Mayor Jeff Leal at Peterborough city council's general committee meeting on June 2, 2025. The mayor recused himself during council's discussion of and voting on a joint inquiry report from the City of Peterborough's integrity commissioner Guy Giorno that concluded the mayor had intimidated councillor Alex Bierk and bullied councillor Joy Lachica. Council voted 7-3 in favour of councillor Gary Baldwin's motion against penalizing Mayor Leal for contravening the code of conduct, with only Bierk, Lachica, and councillor Keith Riel voting against the motion. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of City of Peterborough video)
Peterborough city council has voted against penalizing Mayor Jeff Leal for breaching city council’s code of conduct by intimidating councillor Alex Bierk and by bullying councillor Joy Lachica in relation to the Bonnerworth Park redevelopment.
At council’s general committee meeting on Monday night (June 2), councillors voted 7-3 in favour of a motion from councillor Gary Baldwin for no penalty, with councillors Bierk, Lachica, and Keith Riel voting against the motion. Mayor Leal had recused himself from council chambers during discussion of the report and also did not participate in any votes related to the report.
Baldwin brought forward his motion in response to the findings of a joint inquiry report from the City of Peterborough’s integrity commissioner Guy Giorno, which also concluded the mayor did not breach the code of conduct by influencing general committee’s decision on the Bonnerworth Park redevelopment for the private advantage of himself or his wife.
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Baldwin’s motion included a two-part amendment to the original agenda item, which was only for council to receive the integrity commissioner’s report. The first part of his amendment proposed no penalty for the mayor for contravening the code of conduct, and the second part of his amendment proposed referring remedial measures suggested by the integrity commissioner to staff for consideration.
In his report, Giorno’s recommendations noted that it is the role of council to determine a penalty, if any, for a member of council who contravenes the code of conduct. If council decides on a penalty, it can either be a reprimand or a pay suspension for up to 90 days.
Giorno also noted council could adopt one or more remedial measures in addition to a penalty, and suggested such remedial measures could include providing “focused training related to harassment, abuse, bullying and intimidation,” amending the code of conduct to add a definition of bullying, reconciling the code of conduct with the procedure by-law to define council meeting conduct that is the responsibility of the meeting chair versus the integrity commissioner, and reviewing the code of conduct for its use of multiple terms related to private interest.
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In putting forward his motion, Baldwin briefly summarized the allegations against Mayor Leal and the integrity commissioner’s findings, selectively quoting from the report with respect to the mayor’s comments to councillor Bierk that “You’re going to regret you ever said that” and “I’ll carve you like a Thanksgiving turkey” after Bierk mentioned the mayor’s wife by name during a general committee meeting.
“The integrity commissioner has concluded that the mayor’s words to councillor Bierk were figurative, and cannot be reasonably be interpreted as a threat of physical violence,” councillor Baldwin said. “This is an important distinction. The integrity commissioner concludes that the mayor’s words were inappropriate, and the mayor has apologized in public.”
While acknowledging that the mayor’s “carve you up like a turkey” comment was “a figurative expression that was not meant or reasonably interpreted as a threat of violence or physical harm,” Giorno had added in his report that “intimidation is not confined to physical threats.”
“The ‘regret’ and ‘turkey’ comments, taken together, were reasonably understood to threaten consequences for having angered the Mayor by mentioning the Mayor’s wife,” Giorno writes in his report. “Certainly, Councillor Bierk took the comments that way, and he was intimidated.”
Councillor Gary Baldwin reacts to a comment from a fellow councillor at Peterborough city council’s general committee meeting on June 2, 2025, when Baldwin brought forward a motion against penalizing Mayor Jeff Leal in response to a report by the City of Peterborough’s integrity commissioner Guy Giorno that concluded the mayor had intimidated councillor Alex Bierk and bullied councillor Joy Lachica. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of City of Peterborough video)
With respect to Lachica’s complaint, Baldwin noted that the integrity commissioner found the mayor had contravened the code of conduct, but did not mention that Giorno had concluded that Mayor Leal had bullied the councillor.
“What I find unusual in this circumstance is the mayor, rightly so, has chosen to recuse himself — he’s not in council chambers, not involved in the discussion, and will not be involved in the decision-making process — while other parties, either directly named or indirectly, are sitting here and will be participating in the —,” Baldwin said before being interrupted by a point of order from Bierk.
“It’s an unfair criticism to name me and councillor Lachica as having some pecuniary interest in this situation, where we are in fact the victims of what happened,” Bierk pointed out. “Mayor Leal recused himself because there is a pecuniary interest (for him) — we’re dealing with his pay. And if we were dealing with my pay or councillor Lachica’s pay, or any other conflict as stated in our code of conduct and our municipal guidelines, we would recuse ourselves.”
At this point in the meeting, councillor and meeting chair Andrew Beamer asked members of the public in the gallery to be respectful with “no verbal outbursts.”
After outlining the punitive options available to council, Baldwin offered his perspective on the mayor’s response to the allegations.
“My own impression, having known the mayor for 58 years, I believe in my heart that the mayor apologized in public,” Baldwin said, before looking across the chamber and saying “Shake your head, councillor Lachica, that’s fine.”
Lachica then raised a point of order, calling Baldwin’s comment a “disparaging remark made in a cross-talking fashion that’s out of decorum for councillors to do to another councillor” and asking Beamer to rule it out of order. In response, Beamer said he hadn’t noticed the comment and added he would do “a better job … of paying attention.”
After apologizing to Lachica “and the public,” Baldwin asked CAO Jasbir Raina whether he could speak to his experience with Mayor Leal “with respect to any behavioural concerns you have or any red flags —”
Councillor Keith Riel raised a point of order, saying the CAO’s opinions about the mayor have “nothing” to do with the integrity commissioner’s report. As Beamer was ruling the question in order, Lachica also raised a point of order, saying the nature of the question to the CAO was “inappropriate.” Beamer said he would allow the question.
As Raina began answering the question, Bierk raised another point of order, saying “This has nothing to do with the report that we’re discussing.”
“We’re talking about a very specific event between the mayor and members of council,” Bierk said. “The report makes no mention of the relationship between the mayor and staff.”
After Beamer allowed Raina to answer the question, the CAO called Mayor Leal “extremely professional” in his dealings with staff and in his behaviour and said he had seen no “red flags.”
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In his comments, Riel said he wanted a motion that wouldn’t be “a slap on the wrist and do nothing.”
“I think we are all held to a standard. I think the mayor, as the voice and the face of the city, is held to a higher standard than all of us. If that has been broached, then something should be done about it, and I’m prepared to do that tonight.”
For her part, Lachica said she originally didn’t intend to speak to the integrity commissioner’s report.
“I will speak because what the previous speaker has stated, through a motion, and the message is loud and clear: that it’s okay. That it’s okay what happened in that corridor. That it’s okay what happened a second time amongst council, and what council has witnessed. And that it’s okay, whatever continued occurrences may or may not have occurred.”
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She also said, with respect to Baldwin’s comment about the mayor’s apology, that he was not privy to the session between the integrity commissioner, the mayor, and herself, noting there was a reason the investigation took so long for the integrity commissioner to reach his conclusion.
Lachica then described her motivation to be a city councillor, and said councillors should be treated with respect at all times.
“If I ever do this again, and I want to continue to serve this community, I will do it because there’s a bar of respect and professionalism that this council and chamber upholds,” she said. “That’s why I brought this complaint forward — not just for myself, but for the integrity of this work environment and the integrity of this city so that we will not be distracted and we will do the work together that we should be doing.”
“Sometimes things need to be called. The nature of a person can be one thing, but behaviour can be another. And when there’s a pattern, there should be a consequence.”
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For his part, Bierk also said he had not planned “to say much tonight unless I had to, and it looks like I have to,” referring to Baldwin’s motion.
“Not only within the motion but the speech that was given, to me, is a continuation of an effort to try to downplay and minimize what happened,” Bierk says. “It was evident in the speech (by Baldwin) tonight, which primarily focused away from the harm the mayor has caused to us,” adding that it was an attempt to characterize “toxic behaviour more mildly.”
“I just wanted to speak up to say that I feel like there has been an effort to downplay what happened. I wanted to speak up to say that I stand in solidarity with my Town Ward partner Joy Lachica, who’s grown to be a friend of mine, who is someone I believe in, and who I believe demonstrated great courage to be a woman, a queer woman, in a hallway with one, two, three, four men and in a toxic violent situation that left her shaken and rattled.”
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Bierk noted that Baldwin in 2016 was the one “who rallied council to adopt a code of conduct in the first place, and it was voted down,” and he should understand the need for a code of conduct and abiding by that code of conduct.
“How it was taught to me to make things right is this: if I go and break a window with a baseball, it’s not good enough for me just to apologize for breaking that window. I have to go to the property owner and I have to replace the window, and then I have to be in a position where I’m not throwing the baseball in a direction that’s going to break the glass. And to me, that is a formula in which proper amends can be made.”
“To me, a good leader is someone who most definitely makes mistakes, but there would have been an avenue for these behaviours to have happened, and for the person who did it to make it right, and that hasn’t happened.”
Bierk added that it is up to council to come up with an appropriate way to make the situation right.
“If you around the table feel that the way to make this situation right is do nothing, then we don’t have much in common.”
Members of the public in the gallery at Peterborough city council’s general committee meeting on June 2, 2025 react to a 7-3 vote by council in favour of councillor Gary Baldwin’s motion against penalizing Mayor Leal for contravening the code of conduct in response to a report by the City of Peterborough’s integrity commissioner Guy Giorno that concluded the mayor had intimidated councillor Alex Bierk and bullied councillor Joy Lachica. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of City of Peterborough video)
In his second set of comments, Riel spoke to the specific findings of the integrity commissioner’s report with respect to the mayor’s behaviour, noting that it “fits a classic definition of gaslighting,” and also referred to the use of strong mayor powers as a “vehicle to consolidate authority and to silence dissenters.”
“We must be clear: this kind of conduct has no place in our council chambers, in our city, or in our institutions that purports to represent the public good. It sends a damaging message, not only to us as elected officials, but every resident who expects ethical, fair, and principled leadership.”
In his comments, councillor Dave Haacke said “There’s no greater consequence, to me, than public shame.”
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After claiming the mayor’s personal property was damaged as a result of the controversy around the Bonnerworth Park redevelopment, Haacke added “I think the mayor has suffered, and the biggest thing, and I’m going to come back to it, is public shame. And he is ashamed, rightly so.”
In his final comments, Bierk said if council does not reprimand the mayor for breaching the code of conduct, “we might as well rip up that sheet of paper.”
“I don’t believe that the mayor is the victim in this case. I believe what was done happened to her (Lachica) and it happened to me, and I’m not asking for anything outlandish. I’m asking for us to simply uphold our council code of conduct. How egregious the incident was is very well laid out in the report. We are setting a precedent tonight by not acting on that.”
After Lachica objected to the second part of Baldwin’s amendment, that proposed sending the integrity commissioner’s suggested remedial actions to staff for consideration, stating that it was out of order, Beamer ruled it in order. Lachica challenged the chair, and her challenge lost 6-4, with Lachica, Bierk, Haacke, and Riel voting against the chair.
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Council then voted on the first part of Baldwin’s amendment, that proposed no penalty be imposed on Mayor Leal for breaching the code of conduct. The motion passed 7-3, with councillors Matt Crowley, Don Vassiliadis, Lesley Parnell, Kevin Duguay, Haacke, Beamer, and Baldwin voting in favour, and Bierk, Lachica, and Riel voting against.
After the vote, Beamer addressed members of the public in the gallery who objected to the vote, saying “Ladies and gentlemen, please” several times, adding “I ask you to be respectful.”
For the second part of Baldwin’s amendment, that proposed sending the integrity commissioner’s suggested remedial actions to staff for consideration, council voted 6-4 in favour, with Lachica, Bierk, Haacke, and Riel voting against.
Council then voted on the main motion to receive the integrity commissioner’s report for information, combined with Baldwin’s two amendments, which passed 7-3 with Bierk, Lachica, and Riel voting against.
Items endorsed by general committee will be considered by council for final approval next Monday (June 9), when registered public delegations will have the opportunity to address council.
encoreNOW for June 2, 2025 features (from left to right, top and bottom) "Fireside Munsch" by M. John Kennedy at Peterborough's Jalynn Bennett Amphitheatre, Film Access Northumberland's Eye2Eye Film Festival at Cobourg's Concert Hall at Victoria Hall, LeRoy Anderson and Donna Ramsay of "The Tommy Hunter Show" with Whiskey Jack at Peterborough's Air Force Club, Tom Cochrane at Lindsay's Academy Theatre, "Waitress" at Port Hope's Capitol Theatre, and "The Wizard of Oz" at Campbellford's Westben. (kawarthaNOW collage)
encoreNOW is a bi-weekly column by Paul Rellinger where he features upcoming music, theatre, film, and performing arts events and news from across the Kawarthas.
This week, Paul highlights the opening of the Heaslip Foundation Summer Festival at Trent’s Traill College, the Eye2Eye Film Festival at Cobourg’s Victoria Hall, a showcase of CBC TV Country Music Stars at Peterborough’s Air Force Club, Tom Cochrane’s Songs and Stories concert at Lindsay’s Academy Theatre, the Capitol Theatre’s staging of Waitress in Port Hope, and Westben’s summer festival opener in the form of The Wizard of Oz.
Jalynn Bennett Amphitheatre the place to be this summer
VIDEO: “Fireside Munsch” trailer
How do you take something very good and make it even better? By adding another element to what’s already made it very good.
As it returns for its second full season, the William and Nona Heaslip Foundation Summer Festival has partnered with New Stages Theatre to add a theatrical dimension to its shows on Thursdays at the intimate Jalynn Bennett Amphitheatre at Trent University’s Traill College on Dublin Street in Peterborough.
The result is four theatrical performances added to the lineup, including this Thursday (June 5) when Fireside Munsch, featuring stories by Robert Munsch adapted and performed by M. John Kennedy, opens the season.
Performances, both musical and theatrical, will continue most Thursday nights until August 28. Admission is free to each 7:30 p.m. performance but seating is limited. Should Mother Nature not cooperate, performances shift inside to the college’s Bagnani Hall.
Nominated for eight prestigious Dora Mavor Moore Awards, Fireside Munsch is a high-energy retelling of classic Munsch stories, such as “Paperbag Princess” and “Mortimer.” Kennedy has a number of acting credits on his resumé, including The Great Shadow staged by Millbrook’s 4th Line Theatre in July 2022. When he’s not performing or writing, Kennedy mentors as a faculty member at Randolph College for the Performing Arts in Toronto.
Funding for the festival has been provided by the William and Nona Heaslip Foundation. Organized and cheerled by Traill College principal Dr. Michael Eamon, many of the acts scheduled this summer feature Peterborough-based performers, Trent alumni, and some Trent staff and faculty. For the full lineup, visit www.trentu.ca/news/story/42699.
Film Access Northumberland’s premier event back in Cobourg
VIDEO: “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” trailer
Film buffs rejoice — Northumberland’s popular Eye2Eye Film Festival is back for a fourth year, offering a full slate of cinematic offerings this Friday to Sunday (June 6 to 8) at Cobourg’s Concert Hall at Victoria Hall.
With the simple but sincere mission of promoting the art of film in the community, Film Access Northumberland (FAN) has done just that, not only through festival screenings, but also by offering audience talks with filmmakers, workshops and award honours for emerging filmmakers. Evidence of the support for this annual initiative can be found in the exceedingly long list of community sponsors.
The festival opens Friday with a 9:30 a.m. screening of the classic 1950 psychological drama Sunset Boulevard, with the 2024 documentary Red Fever, the 2025 documentary The Legend in Me, and the 2019 musical fantasy Rocketman following.
On Saturday at 9:30 a.m., things get underway with the 1977 space opera that started it all, Star Wars: A New Hope, followed by the 2024 drama Thelma, the 2024 drama Falling, and the 2024 mystery A Thousand Cuts. Closing things out film-wise on Sunday are the 2023 documentary The Long Rider at 3:30 p.m. followed by the 2025 drama Home Free.
Also featured is Spotlight, a program featuring talks by guest filmmakers and other creative minds, with Sunday morning dedicated to the Film Newcomer Showcase featuring short films from local high school students, a workshop about directing actors, and the Film Forward Showcase and Awards featuring short films by emerging filmmakers in Ontario.
For the full schedule of films, speakers, and related events, visit www.filmaccessnorthumberland.ca. Admission to individual films costs $12 ($80 for a table of six to eight), with limited $95 weekend passes also available.
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CBC-TV country music stars of yore reunite for local showcase
VIDEO: Maple Sugar / Big John McNeil / St. Anne’s Reel Medley – Whiskey Jack (2015)
For those of a certain age, if you weren’t a fan of The Tommy Hunter Show, you were at least familiar with the long-running signature CBC-TV country music showcase.
Aired weekly from 1965 to 1992, the show’s incredible run introduced a number of emerging Canadian country music stars to a huge audience, and reintroduced an equal number of longtime genre favourites.
Along with the host, regulars included Donna Ramsay and LeRoy Anderson, along with the band Whiskey Jack, which had and still has more Peterborough connections than you shake a slide guitar at. Think Douglas John Cameron and John Hoffman — both members of the band early on and both still very much involved in the business of entertaining.
This Sunday (June 8) at Peterborough’s Air Force Club on King Street, CBC TV Country Music Stars will be nothing short of an entertaining trek down memory lane as Ramsay, Anderson, and Whiskey Jack reunite. Also making an appearance will be Hoffman, best known in these parts — now that’s a country term — for his work organizing and performing at the In From The Cold concert held annually each Christmas season. Hoffman was a co-founder of Whiskey Jack way back when.
Presented by Banjodunc Productions, which is run by Whiskey Jack co-founder Duncan Fremlin, tickets to the 2 p.m. concert are pay what you can at the door, with $35 the suggested price.
Life is indeed a highway, and it leads to Lindsay on June 10
VIDEO: “Life Is A Highway” – Tom Cochrane (1991)
If you have to google Lynn Lake, Manitoba to learn its exact location, you’re no doubt not alone. But really all you have to know, for purposes here, it’s the fourth-largest town in that province that gifted Canada, and the world, a musical gem in Tom Cochrane.
Lindsay is a long way from Lynn Lake, for sure, but that hasn’t deterred the eight-time Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter and Order of Canada recipient from making an appearance at the Academy Theatre next Tuesday (June 10).
“Tom Cochrane: Songs & Stories” will see the musician run through much of his material, written and performed as both the frontman of Red Rider and, later, as a solo artist. Between his two musical lives, Cochrane has recorded and released 21 albums and toured incessantly. His always crowd-pleasing hits number many, and include “Big League,” “No Regrets,” “Sinking Like A Sunset” and, of course, his internationally known calling card “Life Is A Highway.”
As a bonus, and something anyone who has caught him in concert at Peterborough Musicfest or anywhere else well knows, Cochrane is an engaging storyteller, and boy, does he have stories of life on the road, those he has met along the way, and all things in between.
A pie-in-the-sky dream anchors a fun musical at the Capitol
Real-life couple Sayer Roberts and Kaylee Harwood play the leading roles of Dr. Pomatter and Jenna in the Capitol Theatre’s production of the musical “Waitress,” which runs for 19 performances from June 13 to 29, 2025 at the historic Port Hope venue. (Photo: Sam Moffatt)
The more I’ve come to be familiar with Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre, the more I’ve come to appreciate how fortunate that venue is to have Rob Kempson as its artistic director.
It seems everything Kempson touches turns to stage gold, and there’s no doubt Waitress, which he’s directing, will follow script.
Opening next Friday (June 13), the hit musical is based on the film of the same name by Adrienne Shelly. It relates the story of Jenna, an expert pie maker who sees a way out of her small town, and her rocky marriage, by entering a pie competition. However, when she meets her new doctor, her plan gets complicated to the point where her sugar, butter, and flour creations won’t solve her dilemma on their own.
Directed by Rob Kempson, the play features real-life couple Kaylee Harwood and Sayer Roberts in the leading roles of Jenna and Dr. Pomatter. The ensemble cast includes Malinda Carroll, Michael Cox, Oliver Dennis, Beau Dixon, Taylor Lovelace, Lia Luz, Clea McCaffrey, Caulin Moore, and Margaret Thompson, with a live band led by music director Jonathan Corkal-Astorga with Matt Ray, David Schotzko, and Tami Sorovaiski.
Billed as a “heart-filled and hilarious musical about finding your voice,” Waitress features music and lyrics by Sarah Bareilles and book by Jessie Nelson. However, as it contains mature themes, it is recommended for those 14 years old and up.
Curtain is 7:30 p.m. on June 13 and 14, 19 to 21, and 26 to 28, with 2 p.m. matinee performances June 15, 17 to 19, 21 and 22, 24 to 26, and 28 and 29. The June 13 staging is a preview performance with pay-what-you can admission. Tickets for remaining dates cost $48, $40 for 30 and under, and are available to order at capitoltheatre.com.
Westben in Campbellford opens its 44-date summer festival with a classic tale
Rehearsal photos from the Westben production of the musical “The Wizard of Oz,” which runs for six performances from June 13 to 22, 2025 at The Barn in Campbellford. (Photos: Westben / Facebook)
There’s a reason everyone and their brother has staged The Wizard of Oz — it’s a can’t-miss winner with audiences, both young and old, and everyone in between.
Campbellford’s Westben well knows that and, as such, has chosen to stage a musical adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s beloved story as its summer festival opener next Friday (June 13) and running until June 22 at The Barn at Westben.
With ruby slippers, the yellow brick road, and the Emerald City, this staging is based on the still-popular original film and features all the songs millions worldwide have come to know and love. Helping things along greatly are the talents and energy of the Westben youth and teen choruses.
The Wizard of Oz is the first of a very ambitious 44 events presented by Westben until September 21, including concerts by the likes of Lighthouse, Susan Aglukark, Colin James, Matt Andersen, and Michael Kaeshammer.
The musical runs for six performances, with 7:30 p.m. stagings on June 13 and 20 and 2 p.m. matinees on June 14 and 15 and 21 and 22. Tickets are $45 for adults, $43 for seniors, $30 for those under 30, and $5 for those under 18. For tickets and the full summer festival lineup, visit westben.ca.
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Encore
When does summer truly arrive for you? Different people have different answers but, for me, there are two instances: when the first note resounds at Peterborough Musicfest, and when Millbrook’s 4th Line Theatre invites the media to its Winslow Farm venue to preview the opening production of its two-play summer slate. There’s something invigorating around being at the scenic property that 4th Line calls home. On June 18, I’ll be there to learn more about The Housekeeper and will subsequently share the details with kawarthaNOW readers. This job of mine offers up its fair share of frustrations and related stress, but a morning with Kim Blackwell et al makes any hardship melt away, and reminds me why I love to do what I’m still privileged to do.
On July 3, prior to the Lakers’ game at the Memorial Centre, the Kawartha Music Company will perform a four-part harmony version of “O Canada.” To that end, the choral group has put out the call for female voices, aged 12 to 99, to be part of that performance. No experience is necessary, except the ability to carry a tune. The company rehearses on Mondays at 6:45 p.m. at The Village On Argyle at 780 Argyle Street. To learn more, email kmc.ptbo@gmail.com. Elbows up!
kawarthaNOW.com offers two enews options to help readers stay in the know. Our VIP enews is delivered weekly every Wednesday morning and includes exclusive giveaways, and our news digest is delivered daily every morning. You can subscribe to one or both.
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