‘Tis the season for holiday cheer but respiratory illness is also near, and circulating, at this time of year.

As a result, Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) and area health care partners are encouraging residents, should they get sick, to consider treatment options in the community before turning to the hospital’s emergency department for care.

“With mounting seasonal pressures being felt at PRHC, we encourage our community members to assess the urgency of their condition and consider alternative options,” stated PRHC, Peterborough Family Health Team (PFHT), and Peterborough Public Health (PPH), in a joint news release.

“If you have a family doctor or nurse practitioner, they should be contacted first with non-urgent health concerns. Your health care provider may offer same-day appointments. PFHT-affiliated physicians also offer extended-hours clinics to serve patients with non-urgent health concerns.”

More information about the extended-hours clinics is available on the PFHT website at www.peterboroughfht.com/extended-hours-service.

For residents who don’t have a primary care provider, the health care trio points to alternatives, including regular and after-hours services offered by PFHT and other primary care providers, virtual care clinics, PRHC’s pediatric urgent care clinic, walk-in clinics, and Health 811.

More information about these options, along with tips on how to determine what type of care is appropriate, is available on the PRHC website at www.prhc.on.ca.

Meanwhile, PRHC’s emergency department is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for people who need emergency care.

When it comes to influenza and COVID-19, the health care providers remind residents that flu and COVID-19 vaccines are available for anyone over the age of six months old. PRHC itself does not offer these vaccines.

Community members can find more information about locations for COVID-19 and flu vaccines on the Peterborough Public Health website at www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca or connect with their local pharmacy for details.

The health care providers ask residents to check out the health unit’s COVID-19 and Other Respiratory Virus Risk Index “for guidance on staying safe during holiday gatherings.”

Updated every Wednesday, the index consolidates available local data for COVID-19 transmission, influenza, and influenza-like illnesses. As of December 20, the COVID-19 risk factor is considered high while the risk level for other respiratory viruses is ranked as moderate.

Health care providers ask residents to consider borrowing a CO2 monitor from the library to monitor indoor air quality to prevent the spread of respiratory infections.

“This holiday season, please stay home if you are ill to prevent spreading infections to friends and loved ones.”

Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPRDHU) is also reminding residents in its catchment area “to be vigilant and stay up-to-date with vaccinations.”

The colder months bring increased spread of respiratory illnesses, including influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), HKPRDHU stated in a news release.

“The holiday season is typically when we see higher rates of respiratory illnesses, including influenza, COVID-19, and RSV,” said Dr. Natalie Bocking, HKPRDHU’s CEO and medical officer of health.

“It’s important that we continue to protect one another by using the public health precautions we are all familiar with. In doing so, we are providing our best defence against getting sick, reducing the spread of illness, and we are ensuring that critical health care services are there for those who need them most.”

COVID-19 and flu shots are accessible through participating pharmacies, primary care teams, and HKPRDHU.

The health unit said residents can book appointments by calling the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre at 1-833-943-3900 from Monday to Friday (excluding holidays) between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. or they can book appointments online at ontario.ca/book-vaccine.

Following a walk and interpretive talk about Peterborough’s Ashburnham Memorial Park this fall, local elementary school students put their impressions on canvas to capture the varied vistas and flora and fauna of the urban forest in Peterborough.

The experience has culminated in a art exhibit at the Peterborough Museum & Archives running now through to December 30.

Called “Open Your Eyes,” the project was spearheaded by the Ashburnham Memorial Stewardship Group (AMSG), a local volunteer-driven organization dedicated to conserving, improving, and appreciating Ashburnham Memorial Park, better known to locals as Armour Hill.

Among other activities, the organization leads clean-ups of the park every spring and fall.

This past fall, the group partnered with Kaawaatte East City Public School — which is located within Ashburnham Memorial Park — to offer outdoor art education for students so they could learn more about the natural habitat of the park.

Volunteers with the group took 25 Grade 7 and 8 students from the school on the hike and interpretive talk about the park. Local artist and instructor Laurel Paluck then guided the students on site afterwards through art activities and the techniques of painting outdoors.

Jane Wild, AMSG volunteer, hopes Open Your Eyes proves to be educational for the general public as it was for the students.

“Everyone loves the Armour toboggan hill, but the park offers so much more,” Wild said. “It’s an important urban forest with diverse flora and fauna, hiking trails, beautiful vistas, and an opportunity to bird watch and sky gaze. The AMSG aims to conserve, improve and foster appreciation of Peterborough’s natural resource.”

“Open Your Eyes is a project to encourage reflection on the importance of Ashburnham Memorial Park. It’s heartening to take the students outside, to react to the bounty of nature at our doorstep, to absorb the sensations of wind, light, and grasses at your feet, and to practise sketching and painting without the distractions of the classroom,” Wild explained.

“Through this project, we hope everyone comes away with an appreciation for the importance of both nature and of art,” Wild noted.

The students’ artworks are on display in the lower level of Peterborough Museum & Archives at 300 Hunter Street East until December 30. The museum is open 9 a.m. to noon on December 22, closed December 23 through 26, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from December 27 through 29, and open from Noon to 5 p.m. on December 30.

Those interested in learning more about the Ashburnham Memorial Stewardship Group can visit the group’s website at ashburnhamstewardship.com.

Suspected human remains have been found in an Ennismore home that was destroyed by fire early Tuesday morning (December 19).

At around 3 a.m. on Tuesday, Peterborough County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) received a call about a fire at a home on Deerfield Crescent.

When officers arrived at the home, it was already fully engulfed in flames and firefighters with the Selwyn Fire Department were battling the fire.

Investigators from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office were called in to investigate the source of the fire.

The following day, Ontario Fire Marshal investigators located what they believe to be human remains within the collapsed structure. The remains have been sent to the Centre of Forensic Sciences to assist with identification.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

After almost 10 months without one, the Peterborough Police Service now has a new deputy chief, drawn from the ranks.

Police services board chair Mary ten Doeschate announced on Thursday (December 21) that Jamie Hartnett has been appointed to the position.

According to a media release, Hartnett joined the service in 2001 and has held positions in all ranks and divisions since that time, most recently as acting staff inspector.

“During his recent assignment as acting staff inspector, through his leadership and initiative, deputy designate Hartnett has demonstrated to the board that he is the best choice for the role of deputy chief and will support the board and Chief Betts in an effective and collaborative way as the Peterborough Police Service continues to work towards enhancing community relationships, public safety and the modernization of our police service,” reads the release.

Peterborough had been without a deputy police chief since March 1, when previous deputy chief Tim Farquharson departed the police service to become the new chief of the Port Hope Police Service. A month earlier, Farquharson had announced he was leaving the Peterborough Police Service after 36 years.

Farquharson’s departure came less than a month after Stuart Betts took on the role of chief, replacing Scott Gilbert who had unexpectedly retired in February 2021. Farquharson had previously been serving as acting chief until Betts was hired.

Hartnett will officially assume his new role on January 9.

“I am pleased to extend my congratulations to deputy chief designate Jamie Hartnett on his appointment, as well as my appreciation to the Peterborough Police Services Board for their continued support,” said Chief Betts in a statement.

“As a chief who is still relatively new to the organization, having joined in January 2023, the appointment of a deputy chief from within the organization will assist me to leverage organizational knowledge and history, while building a new and exciting future.”

“I have had the opportunity to work closely with deputy designate Hartnett this past year, and we will continue to work closely together to support the men and women of the Peterborough Police Service as well as the community.”

Kawartha Lakes residents who rely on the mobile app Pingstreet to keep apprised of all-things municipal will need to adapt new habits in 2024.

Pingstreet is no longer available for download and, as of January 6, 2024, the municipality said it will not have access to technical support from the developer.

Residents currently use the location-based app as a way to stay informed about local news, current events, and waste collection.

“If you already have the application on your mobile device, you will be able to use it until June 7, 2024,” the municipality stated in a news release. “After this date, the application will be taken offline.”

According to the news release, the app is being discontinued because the developer has decided the product is at the end of its life.

“They came to this decision based on market demand and evolving mobile app technology requirements,” the municipality noted.

Pingstreet was developed by Waterloo-based eSolutionsGroup, which has also developed many municipal websites in Ontario, including the City of Kawartha Lakes website. eSolutionsGroup was acquired by Australian-based multinational technical professional services firm GHD in 2014 and began operating under the GHD Digital brand last year.

“We know that our mobile app is an important way for residents to get the information they need,” states the news release. “The municipality is re-tendering its four websites in 2024, at which time we will explore our options for a new mobile app.”

In the meantime, Kawartha Lakes said it will use other communication channels to provide residents with relevant information. Residents can visit the municipality’s website at www.kawarthalakes.ca to subscribe for news updates via email, and can check for updates on the municipality’s social media sites.

Kawartha Lakes also encourages residents to check its website for municipal information that used to be available through Pingstreet, including important waste updates. Information about waste collection, recycling, and landfills locations and hours are also available in the 2024 Municipal Calendar.

The municipality also uses the separate mobile Recycle Coach app, which is available on the web as well as from the Apple App Store and Google Play. The app provides a personalized waste and recycling schedule, notifications about collection changes and more, as well as a “what goes where” tool for sorting waste and recycling.

For event information, the municipality suggests Pingstreet users visit the events calendar on the website, where residents can also subscribe for email updates about different types of events.

If you happen to pass Rachelle Richard Mack while she’s lying in a field, waist deep in a lake, or wandering through the woods at all hours of the night, don’t be alarmed. She’s just trying to capture the perfect shot.

“I love changing my perspective and trying to take pictures that you wouldn’t normally see,” says Mack.

While it’s true there’s no limit to where the call of the birds, path of sunlight, or splash of a frog will take the nature and wildlife photographer, most of the time Mack can be found with the flora and fauna of Lake Scugog where she lives.

Mack moved to Viewlake, just west of Janetville on the boundary of Kawartha Lakes and Durham Region, almost 25 years ago. Having been raised on a hobby farm in Port Elgin, she was already accustomed to life in the country, but living on the water was all new for her.

That’s hard to imagine now that Mack spends nearly every day of the summer paddling in her kayak with her Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera in hand.

Earlier this year, Mack shared some of these photos of life on the lake at her very first solo show, called “Shore Life on Lake Scugog,” held at the Kawartha Art Gallery in Lindsay.

“I’m out there taking pictures every single day,” Mack says. “It helps me reconnect with nature and I feel like it gives me purpose to take photos.”

Just as now she can’t even go to the store without taking her camera, Mack grew up taking photos of anything she could on the hobby farm. That passion encouraged her to major in media arts in university, before briefly working in production and then in schools as a media specialist for 13 years.

Shortly before moving to Viewlake, Mack was in the “right place at the right time” and found herself as a high school teacher for the next 20 years of her career.

When Mack retired just before the pandemic, she was the departmental head of technology at Clarington Central Secondary School in Bowmanville, where she taught graphic design, yearbook, video production, and even introduced a photography program.

It was while teaching these high school students that she really began honing her photography skills and became increasingly inspired by the property she lives on.

“Growing up in Port Elgin, we had amazing sunsets on Lake Huron and now, living on (Lake Scugog), I face west so it’s another amazing sunset,” Mack says. “I think that’s partly how I kept up with photography. I just always had to take a picture of the sky because it’s so gorgeous.”

Over time, she incorporated different plants and animals into her sunset photos, and though she had explored travel, architecture, and event photography, she discovered that nature was where she is “happiest” and wanted to make it the focus of her art.

Today, her work often features the animals that she has befriended while living on the lake, from chipmunks to frogs and birds. One of them, Sid the Heron, has become quite as a regular feature on kawarthaNOW’s social media channels.

“He’s quite popular,” says Mack. “My son swears (Sid) loves me because I can get within the nose of a kayak length to him now, especially near the end of the season, when he’s really used to me.”

That’s high praise, given that Mack named the Blue Heron (which, despite his name, she has been unable to identify as male or female) after punk-rock musician Sid Vicious because of its temperamental and territorial behaviour when it comes to other herons on the lake.

After photographing Sid the Heron for years, Mack is now able to get within a close enough distance to capture shots without disturbing the bird.

“You have to be respectful of their space and distance,” she says. “I don’t want to mess up their hunting or anything that’s going on, so you have to be respectful. You have to be ethical, no matter what you’re doing.”

A key proponent to respecting the animals while still capturing those award-winning shots is to remain patient, no matter what that entails. One time, Mack waited for more than an hour in the rain, camera in place with protective covering, waiting for a snail to pop its antennae out.

“You can’t be afraid to do things — I’m not afraid to get down there with them,” she says, adding that on her bucket list is to take photos of a bear, a moose, and an owl out in the wild.

“Get low, change your perspective and the way you look at things. You don’t know what’s going to happen when you do.”

Patience and perspective are two of the “four Ps” which Mack thinks about when she’s trying to capture her photos, alongside practice and planning.

“You really have to spend some time learning it because so many people are just standing and taking a picture,” says Mack. “That makes the difference. I don’t take a picture — I make a picture.”

Planning her photos and their composition is often what gets Mack amazing captures. But occasionally, she gets lucky with the unexpected, like the chipmunk that ran by with a peanut in its mouth while Mack was photographing blades of grass — one of her favourite photos.

“I try to control most things I can, but then sometimes it’s the unexpected stuff that is pretty cool and gets you some neat results,” says Mack.

Reverting to her role as a teacher, Mack has started offering four-week photography workshops to beginners in the community. There, she teaches them how to use their camera, and what it means to change the ISO, shutter speed, and aperture of their device.

But, of course, the difference between just taking a photo and making a photo has nothing to do with the camera functions.

“The worst thing anyone could ever say to me is ‘That’s a great picture — you must have a really good camera’,” she says. “It’s not about the equipment. You have to know how to use your stuff, but it really doesn’t make matter if it doesn’t work for your composition.”

A key element of composition, according to Mack, is one of the four Ps: perspective.

“One of the things I teach in my classes is to think about how would a three-year-old look at the world,” she explains. “They look underneath things. They look upside down. They tilt their heads. They’re looking at the world differently, and we tend to not let ourselves do that as adults.”

Clearly, her advice is not something to take for granted, since her work has been admired by a large audience, featured and winning contests for publications including Our Canada, Nature Canada, and Reader’s Digest.

Most recently, Mack was awarded the second-place prize in Cottage Life magazine’s 2023 photography contest for capturing a grasshopper who looks like he’s smiling.

Though she says that this year was a “strong year” for a lot of her photos, she is already eager for next year, when she will be showcasing at the SPARK Photo Festival in Peterborough.

Mack has teamed up with fellow Kawarthas-based photographers Linda Kassil, Maris Lubbock, and Cindy Bartoli to form a group called Serenity Seekers. Their exhibit, “For the Love of Nature,” will be showing for all of April at Peterborough’s Cork and Bean.

Until then, Mack can likely be found in the most unlikely of places, aiming to get those perfect shots.

To see Mack’s latest photos, follow her on Instagram at @rachelle_richard_photography.

In a move to take a stand against discrimination, the City of Kawartha Lakes has joined the Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities.

Kawartha Lakes Mayor Doug Elmslie said it’s important to be a part of the Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities, an initiative that fosters diversity, equality, and inclusivity across Canadian municipalities.

“Kawartha Lakes is committed to the fight against racism and discrimination,” said Elmslie in a news release.

“We hope that our commitment will inspire other municipalities to follow suit and collaborate in promoting inclusive communities and equality for all,” Elmslie added. “We eagerly look forward to sharing updates on the initiatives and events organized by our municipality with the coalition.”

Earlier in December, the Canadian Commission for United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) congratulated Kawartha Lakes on joining the coalition.

Uniting with 110 municipalities across Canada including Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes is part of the International Coalition of Inclusive and Sustainable Cities, an initiative launched by UNESCO in 2004.

VIDEO: Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities

As a member, Kawartha Lakes now has access to a network of Canadian municipalities that can help to identify tools, best practices, and resources for combating discrimination, the municipality noted.

“This will contribute to our role as policy maker and guarantor of human rights,” reads the news release.

Earlier this year during a Kawartha Lakes committee meeting, Christine Briggs, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility partner, shared a report requesting council give authorization for the mayor to sign the declaration to join UNESCO’s Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities.

The Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities said its member communities advance initiatives to improve their practices to promote social inclusion, establish policies to eradicate all forms of racism and discrimination, and promote human rights and diversity.

“Because it values and respects all its members, an inclusive municipality builds a society without fences, where everyone has an equal chance at participating in its economic, political, social, cultural, and recreational life, and to thrive there,” the coalition noted on its website.

Coalition members can share their experiences and undertake initiatives together to eliminate all forms of discrimination.

Learn more about the Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities on the Canadian Commission for UNESCO’s website.