Catherine Dewar, Consultant, Investors Group Financial Services Inc. (photo: Tammy Simon)
[tabs style=”1″]
[tab title=”About Catherine“]
Catherine Dewar, Consultant, Investors Group Financial Services Inc. (photo: Tammy Simon)
Painter, artist, designer, photographer, and marketing professional, Catherine Dewar even strongly considered a career in journalism — not what you’d expect from a financial consultant with Investors Group Financial Services Inc.
The Quaker plant in Peterborough as seen from the Hunter St. bridge (photo: Pat Trudeau)
This week, CHEX Newswatch reported that Pepsi-QTG has laid off 35 people who held unionized positions at the local production facility here in Peterborough.
According to the report, the 35 layoffs are just the first of 50 to 75 that the company requires to maintain profitability at the plant.
These 35 are new to the long line of people in the city that find themselves jobless. Most recent employment stats put Peterborough’s jobless rate at over 10%, and this most recent news doesn’t do anything to help that.
The financial impact of losing 35 jobs is a big one. Say that those 35 people make (conservatively) $50,000 annually. That would mean that we just lost $1,750,000 of local buying power within the community. Keep in mind that this number doesn’t take into consideration whether or not these people receive employment insurance benefits. Even still, the loss is considerable.
A retired banker who describes himself as “a renaissance man, walking stick carver, writer, editor, and proud Rotarian”, Lloyd Graham is a partner in the publishing company Parnassus Enterprises Ink and owner and operator of Peterborough Pedal and Paddle.
Some time ago, his fellow Peterborough businessman and writer Dean Pappas had an idea for a book. He invited Lloyd and six other Kawartha-area writers and friends to gather at Pappas Billiards.
Dean supplied a short biography for eight characters named from the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. Each writer drew a character’s name from a coffee mug and subsequently wrote a story about that character — based on the common setting of the Raven Café.
Since Earth Day falls on Monday April 22, most community clean-up events are taking place on Saturday, April 20.
The Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough (CFGP) is hosting “7 Days of Green” from April 16th to 22nd in the City and County of Peterborough.
The purpose of the 7 Days of Green initiative is to highlight and support local green activities during Earth Week while building awareness around green living and giving.
Photographs by Philip Chee at The Spill Cafe (photo: Philip Chee)
The downtown area of Peterborough has literally been taken over by the Spark Photo Festival.
The works of a wide and talented array of image makers seem to cover every nook and cranny of available wall space around. It’s a good thing, as the works are highly varied both in subject matter and tone.
A high-fibre, healthy and tasty veggie bean burger
Spring is in the air!
With spring comes being more active and trading in those comforting casseroles for something a little more daring — and generally a little on the lighter side.
Over the last couple of decades or so, environmental consciousness has become more and more mainstream.
Schools have recycling and compost programs, global warming has become a daily discussion, and the value of green space has grown immensely.
As the population grows, we end up with positive and negative effects. If you look at the Kawarthas as an example, it doesn’t take long to realize one of the largest negative effects: traffic management.
Peterborough is unique in that it was a handful of boroughs that grew into each other. This evolution left us with a labyrinth of streets, especially through the downtown core.
Lansdowne Street was long established as the main east-west corridor through the city, and has adapted to increased traffic flow and business growth over the years, leading to what we have today.
The Gusto Burger at Brio Gusto. Chef Andrew Orde is renowned for his creativity and food combinations (photo: Julie Gagne Photography)
In Italian, brio is a musical term meaning “fire” or “vivacity” and gusto means “taste” or “flavour”.
Peterborough’s Brio Gusto restaurant is aptly named. Its kitchen is where Chef Andrew Orde performs his magic and its dining area where patrons appreciate the results of his unique culinary artistry.
Chef Andrew is renowned for his creativity, pushing the boundaries of flavour and food combinations and resulting in dishes that brim with soulful authenticity.
He uses only fresh local produce and makes everything from scratch, offering generous portions that are of the highest quality and value.
The Highland Park Funeral Centre building was designed with accessibility and flexibility in mind (photo: Michael Hurcomb)
Everyone who knew Mary McGee’s mother knew that she loved a cup of tea.
When her mother died, Mary thought a lovely way to honour her memory would be to serve tea at the reception — using her mother’s own collection of tea cups.
This intimate gesture would capture the essence of who her mother was and keep her memory alive in the hearts of everyone present, providing Mary with a sense of closure and peace.
As President and CEO of the Little Lake Cemetery Company in Peterborough, Mary McGee understands how important it is that a funeral service reflects the uniqueness of the life it honours.
“We want to help families plan a service that is personalized, and as individual and unique as their loved one,” McGee explains.
One of very few female management leaders in what has traditionally been a man’s field, McGee brings a fresh perspective and innovative ways of doing business in the funeral industry. Originally from the financial sector, McGee became CEO just as the legislation passed allowing cemeteries and funeral homes to operate together on the same site.
Mary McGee, Chief Executive Officer, Little Lake Cemetery Co. (photo: Michael Hurcomb)
In 2010, the Little Lake Cemetery Company opened the Highland Park Funeral Centre, a state-of-the-art full service funeral centre designed to assist with all funeral planning needs in a single location.
The Little Lake Cemetery Company also operates the Little Lake Cemetery, the Highland Park Cemetery, and the Highland Park Crematorium. The Highland Park Funeral Centre is located at the Highland Park Cemetery.
“We see a real benefit to families in having the option of funeral and cemetery services in one place,” McGee says. “Working closely with countless local businesses in the design, construction and furnishing of this facility, we created the building with the future in mind, offering full accessibility and flexibility in all of its services.”
Designed by local architect Ken Trevelyan, with décor and furnishings by Hughes Interior Design and Bennett’s Home Furnishings (photo: Michael Hurcomb)
There is a deliberate non-secular design to the Highland Park Funeral Centre building, which provides a multi-faith gathering hall where a service of any denomination can be held.
The building has comfortable meeting rooms for private moments of quiet reflection, and well-appointed reception rooms that can host intimate gatherings or expand to offer a service accommodating as many as 300 guests.
“The flexibility of the facility and the accommodating nature of our staff have allowed us to host everything from a traditional service to an Irish wake,” McGee says.
“We have even hosted a service featuring the deceased’s most prized possession — his motorcycle,” McGee recalls. “Instead of walking into the visitation room to find a casket or an urn, his friends and family members were touched to find his beloved motorcycle front and centre, surrounded by flowers and adorned with his picture.”
Personalized services can be arranged to best reflect the personality of your loved one (photo: Michael Hurcomb)
By engaging in conversations, discussing options, and informing families of the choices they have ahead of time, Highland Park Funeral Centre makes the entire process of funeral planning easier, which ultimately reduces stress on loved ones.
The centre offers services as personal as the individual, tailored to any type or size of gathering or service, and designed for any religious or secular sector — all while being sensitive to budgets and offering families peace of mind.
“Families know their loved ones best,” explains McGee. “Our goal is to ask the right questions, offer thoughtful suggestions, and then guide the families through a difficult time.”
A living wall adorns the lobby of Highland Park Funeral Centre's beautiful, modern building (photo: Michael Hurcomb)
The Centre's dedicated staff. L-R: Joe Farace, James Belk, Cecilia Simmons, Danny Bronson, Jeff Wakeford (photo: Michael Hurcomb)
The Highland Park Funeral Centre offers facilities for private moments of quiet reflection (photo: Matt Stimpson)
The Roots of the Past
Little Lake Cemetery (photo: Michael Hurcomb)
Highland Park Funeral Centre arose from the deep community roots established more than a century ago by Little Lake Cemetery.
Founded in 1850, Little Lake Cemetery was incorporated as the first private trust cemetery. Never municipally owned, Little Lake Cemetery has always been a rural, landscaped, not-for-profit and non-denominational cemetery.
Its volunteer board of directors ensure that the cemetery is self-supporting and is managed by the local community, by drawing board members from owners of burial lots and from the local business community.
In 1964, the board committed to opening a second cemetery in Peterborough and, in 1967, opened Highland Park Cemetery under the same principles as Little Lake Cemetery: “built by Peterborough, for Peterborough”.
Highland Park Cemetery is leading the way in cremation services (photo: Michael Hurcomb)
In 1976, the Little Lake Cemetery Company established the first crematorium between Toronto and Ottawa within Highland Park Cemetery, serving Peterborough and its surrounding region.
With a varied selection of burial and cremation plots and cremation niches, Little Lake Cemetery and Highland Park Cemetery offer a beautiful setting to have one’s life permanently recorded, recognized, and remembered.
Little Lake Cemetery and Highland Park Cemetery provide an archive of the history of the Peterborough region. Trent Valley Archives — a public advocacy group in Peterborough that promotes the preservation, identification, and care of archives — is instrumental in supporting these historical records.
“With our roots planted deeply in history and community relationships, we’re moving forward with a vision that is built on caring, professional, and personalized planning,” explains Mary McGee, President and CEO of the Little Lake Cemetery Company. “We’re designing our services to provide both restful remembrance and a place of permanence.”
Peterborough is in for a rare treat on Sunday, April 28th, as one of Canada’s great singer-songwriters and guitarists will grace The Spill with an intimate concert.
Stephen Fearing is touring his new record, Between Hurricanes — his first solo studio work since 2006, when he released the Juno Award winning record Yellowjacket.
The new album’s title and theme are essentially one and the same: a culmination of Fearing’s experiences and life changes over the past seven years.
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.
Submit your event for FREE!
Use our event submission form to post your event on our website — for free.
To submit editorial content or ideas, please contact us.
