When members of the Rotary Club of Peterborough let their hair down, they don’t hold back.

Full evidence of that was on display on Monday (December 22) at Northminster United Church when the service club hosted its annual Christmas lunch, a seasonal affair replete with festive-themed sweaters, a traditional turkey dinner, and more laughs than you can shake a candy cane at.

But, of course, it wouldn’t be a Rotary function without the presentation of a sizable cheque to one of the many organizations the service club habitually supports. To that end, the proceeds from September’s Linwood Homes Fore The Kids Golf Tournament — $17,000 split evenly between the club and the Five Counties Children’s Centre — were revealed via a big cheque.

And then there was the awarding of the Koeslag Cup to the Rotarian breakfast club team makes the most nutritious and delicious breakfast for Princes of Wales Elementary School students. In contention were five Rotary breakfast club teams, each responsible for one morning a week at the Monaghan Road school.

With some serious bragging rights on the line, the Friday breakfast crew — Rotarians Nick Avlonitis and Doug Armstrong with Rotary “friends” Linn Thain, Donna Burley-Chestnut, Jeff Clark, Dale Wilson, and Brian Wilson — raised high the cup that’s named after the late Peter Koeslag, who was a dedicated Prince of Wales breakfast club volunteer.

According to those in the know, Nick’s world-famous pancakes, laden with chocolate chips and topped with whipped cream and sprinkles, did the trick.

As for the best Christmas sweaters, there were three winners as voted by members, with Bruce Gavel’s deemed the funniest, Marie Press’s voted the most creative, and Bruce Clark’s contribution, which he dramatically stripped to reveal, named the best overall sweater.

“It’s a misconception that the Rotarians don’t get together and have a lot of fun,” said club president Tony Grady, who joined Rotary in 2019 with his wife Kelli. “We do a lot of good for the community, but we have fun while doing it.”

Speaking to the club’s daily involvement with the Prince of Wales breakfast club program, Grady noted the important role a good breakfast plays in students’ academic success. Prince of Wales vice-principal Brad Conlin, a guest at the meeting, concurred.

“It’s an incredible program that sets our students up for success every day,” he said. “It also gives them the opportunity to see some happy faces first thing. Each day, a different team comes out. Our students get to know these people. They know who’s coming each day of the week and they’re ready with the jokes and, of course, have an awesome breakfast to start their day.”

According to Conlin, about 100 breakfasts are served each day at the school, and about the same number are served at lunch. While Rotary is the main provider of volunteer help, there are other partnerships that make the program work. For example, just last year, Leon’s provided new appliances.

“We notice a huge difference when kids have a full belly,” Conlin said. “They’re ready to learn when they get into their class. When kids go into their classrooms without something to eat, we often see them dysregulated and having a hard time concentrating. They have this opportunity — whether it’s a bowl of cereal, a glass of milk, or pancakes — to come into class ready to learn and ready to be successful.”

As for the Linwood Homes Fore The Kids Golf Tournament, Grady said Rotary’s $8,500 share of the golf tournament proceeds is destined for the building of a wholly accessible playground at Riverview Park and Zoo.

Grady pointed out that Peterborough would look and feel a lot different if it weren’t for the funds raised and donated by local service clubs, Rotary among them.

“Service clubs give back so much. We’re all volunteers to help the city out. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that people don’t even get recognized for.”

The past six years, added Grady, have been immensely rewarding.

“When my wife and I became empty-nesters, it was hard to make friends at our age. We wanted the social aspect of it. There are 50 to 60 members that get together regularly, so that’s a big thing for us. And then there’s giving back on top of that.”

Asked his favourite thing of this annual pre-Christmas lunch, Grady is quick to answer: seeing the Christmas sweater creations that members model.

Organizing that portion of the program was Kelli Grady.

“It’s a chance to be a little silly,” she said, adding “Bruce Clark is usually one of our more serious members, so for him to win for the best overall (sweater) was hilarious.”

She noted that she and her husband Tony “were looking for something we could do together” when they joined Rotary.

“We wanted to give back to the community, but we also wanted to make new friends really. Rotary seemed like the perfect fit because you get to enjoy that social time and have a fun time together, but then you also get to make a difference together. It’s a perfect balance of those two things.”

As for why they joined the Rotary Club of Peterborough instead of one of the other Rotary clubs in the area, she said the lunchtime meeting was a factor.

“There was no way we were getting up early in the morning,” she laughed, referring to the Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha’s breakfast meetings at 7:20 a.m. meetings.

Now, as the calendar page flips to 2026, the club’s next big project looms in the form of the 40th annual Carl Oake Rotary Swim, a fundraiser for Easter Seals and Rotary Club of Peterborough projects.

Founded by the late real estate businessman in 1987 (Oake swam in the event every year until 2016), the fundraiser is scheduled for Friday, February 27 at the YMCA of Central East Ontario’s Balsillie Family Branch on Aylmer Street. For updates and to register online, visit carloakerotaryswim.com.

Since it was established in 1921, the Rotary Club of Peterborough has supported many local and international programs and events, from its early sponsorship of local initiatives including the Five Counties Children’s Centre, the Rotary Spelling Bee, and the Prince of Wales Elementary School breakfast program, to worldwide initiatives such as polio eradication, the provision of clean water, world peace, and literacy.

For more information about the Rotary Club of Peterborough and to become a member, visit www.peterboroughrotary.ca.

As the chair of a Peterborough neighbourhood group facing a financially onerous legal settlement over the holidays, Sarah McNeilly asked for a Christmas miracle — and she got one.

In just three days, the Peterborough community stepped up in a big way by donating $15,000 to Northcrest Neighbours for Fair Process (NNFP), which is required to pay a $22,500 legal settlement to the City of Peterborough and Brock Mission.

The negotiated settlement followed NNFP’s failed legal challenge against Mayor Jeff Leal’s use of his strong mayor powers to exempt Brock Mission’s proposed six-storey transitional housing project at 738 Chemong Road from the zoning by-law amendment application and site plan control requirements that normally apply to projects of this kind.

On Monday (December 22), three days after NNFP launched the fundraiser and three days before Christmas, McNeilly announced the $15,000 goal has been met.

“Right now, I feel like George Bailey in the final scene of It’s a Wonderful Life — when the whole town pours into his living room with whatever they can spare,” McNeilly shared on GoFundMe. “Coins. Envelopes. Gestures of love to let him know he wasn’t alone.”

Although the GoFundMe campaign goal was originally $15,000, McNeilly lowered it twice after receiving more than $5,300 in offline donations over the weekend.

As a result of an earlier fundraising campaign, NNFP already had around $8,000 available to put towards the $22,500 settlement, which must be paid within 60 days.

If NNFP could not raise the remaining required funds, McNeilly — as sole director of the NNFP corporation — was on the hook for the settlement cost.

Recognizing the dire financial straits NNFP and McNeilly were facing, the group’s lawyer — Mark Pedersen, a partner with Belleville-based law firm O’Flynn Weese LLP — forgave NNFP’s outstanding legal fees so the group could redirect its remaining funds toward the settlement agreement, which McNeilly called “a Christmas miracle.”

“But it’s not enough on its own,” McNeilly said when launching the fundraiser. “We’re going to need another Christmas miracle, and that’s where our community comes in.”

The Peterborough community delivered NNFP its second Christmas miracle, with 100 donations through the GoFundMe totalling $9,685 and the remaining amount funded by offline donations.

“I am crying while writing this,” McNeilly shared on GoFundMe. “Over one single weekend — during the holidays no less — you showed up for me and my neighbours and raised $15,000. I don’t know how to properly thank you for that.”

Referring again to It’s a Wonderful Life, McNeilly wrote “I keep thinking about what Clarence writes to him at the end: ‘No man is a failure who has friends.'”

“Your support is deeply meaningful to me and my neighbours. Beyond your incredible generosity, your willingness to put your name on this and stand with us — your solidarity, your friendship — means more than you’ll ever know.”

“After nearly a year of constant pressure, fear, intimidation, and exhaustion — after being made to feel small, isolated, and villainized — you have reminded me why I love this place. Why community still matters. Why standing up is worth it. Thank you for standing with me and my neighbours.”

Throughout 2025, one name appeared again and again in kawarthaNOW headlines: that of Peterborough mayor Jeff Leal.

Whether it was because of his controversial use of strong mayor powers, his use of a racial slur, the finding that he contravened city council’s code of conduct, or his support of a substantial increase to the police budget, Leal was front-and-centre in local news over the past year.

Regardless of whether residents supported or objected to the mayor’s decisions and actions, there’s no question Jeff Leal had a significant impact on the community, as the third year of his four-year term wraps up and citizens prepare for a municipal election in October 2026.

Strong mayor powers

In February, Mayor Leal announced he would be using his strong mayor powers to expedite Brock Mission’s proposed transitional housing project, which would see a six-story building constructed in the middle of a residential neighbourhood, by amending the city’s zoning by-law and exempting the project from the city’s site plan requirements.

During a heated and sometimes confrontational five-hour city council meeting later that month, three of 10 city councillors joined the mayor in support of his motion — despite vocal community opposition to the proposed development, including its location and both the process and the speed at which it was proceeding. Under the province’s strong mayor powers, Mayor Leal only needed the support of one-third of council, including himself.

That decision led to the formation of a neighbourhood association called Northcrest Neighbours for Fair Process (NNFP), which announced in the spring that it would be launching a legal challenge of Mayor Leal’s use of his strong mayor powers to expedite the project.

The city, later joined by Brock Mission, aggressively defended itself by demanding that NNFP provide $30,000 in security for legal fees before the case could proceed. In the fall, the judge considering the merits of the case ruled in favour of the city and Brock Mission, a ruling that resulted in NNFP dropping its legal case before it was heard and ultimately agreeing to pay $22,500 in costs to the city and Brock Mission to settle the case.

Racial slur

During a speech to students of a business administration class at Trent University in March, Mayor Leal veered off topic and began talking about U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson.

He was recorded saying that Johnson “used this language that you would never use today, and he talked about poor n*****s and Mexicans that he taught Sunday school to.”

Although the mayor subsequently apologized for his use of the n-word, claiming he was “quoting” Johnson, there were calls for his resignation — including from the Afrocentric Awareness Network of Peterborough — and the Trent Central Student Association held a protest in front of City Hall.

Integrity commissioner report

In May, one of the City of Peterborough’s integrity commissioners issued a report that found Mayor Leal had contravened city council’s code of conduct by intimidating one city councillor and bullying another in 2024 with respect to the controversial Bonnerworth Park redevelopment.

The report from Guy Giorno, which also found Leal’s decision-making on the redevelopment did not involve a “private advantage” for him or for his wife, concluded the mayor’s comments to councillor Alex Bierk that “You’re going to regret you ever said that” and “I’ll carve you like a Thanksgiving turkey” — comments made after Bierk mentioned the mayor’s pickleball-playing wife by name during a council meeting — constituted intimidation.

Giorno also found that Mayor Leal had bullied councillor Joy Lachica by yelling at her in a city hall corridor following a council meeting on the Bonnerworth Park redevelopment, as well as through his behaviour toward her at a subsequent closed session.

Despite Giorno’s findings, city council meeting as general committee voted 7-3 against penalizing the mayor for breaching city council’s code of conduct, with councillors Bierk, Lachica, and Keith Riel voting against the motion (Leal had recused himself from the discussion and the vote). The arguments in support of the mayor were that he had already been penalized enough through the public shame of the integrity commissioner’s report.

Prior to a subsequent city council meeting where council’s decision was to be endorsed, community residents held a “Rally for Integrity” in front of City Hall where they urged council to penalize the mayor.

Despite the rally, seven public delegations, and requests from councillors Bierk and Lachica to their colleagues that Mayor Leal be held to account for his behaviour, council voted 6-4 in favour of a motion to not impose any kind of penalty on the mayor, with only councillor Matt Crowley changing his vote from the previous week to join councillors Bierk, Lachica, and Riel in voting against the motion. Again, Mayor Leal had recused himself from discussion of the issue and the vote.

Support of the police budget

During 2025, Mayor Leal — who sits on the police service board — made no secret of his support of the Peterborough Police Service.

Using his strong mayor powers, Leal directed city staff in May to prepare a draft operating and capital budget for 2026 and to assume a 10 per cent increase to the police operating budget — despite the fact the police service had not determined its 2026 budget requirements — because of legislative requirements under the province’s Community Safety and Policing Act.

In November, police chief Stuart Betts presented city council with the police service’s request for a 9.8 per cent increase to its 2026 budget — an increase of over $3.7 million resulting in a 2026 budget of over $41.5 million — that included 10 new full-time equivalent positions as well as non-personnel costs including training and information technology.

Chief Betts said the requested increase (later reduced to 9.22 per cent to reflect an estimated $220,000 reduction in benefits for police employees) was driven by personnel costs related to legislative and regulatory requirements of the province’s Community Safety and Policing Act.

Later that month, city council voted 6-5 to send the proposed police budget back to the police service board for potential reductions. The following day, the police service board met in a closed session for 20 minutes before returning to public session, with Mayor Leal reading a motion unanimously approved by the board that stated the 9.22 per cent increase request would not be changed.

In December, city council voted 8-3 to endorse the city’s 2026 budget, with councillors Joy Lachica, Alex Bierk, and Keith Riel voting against it, largely because of their objections to the 9.22 per cent increase in the police service’s operating budget as well as a $91.9 million project to renovate and expand two police stations.

“My responsibility as mayor is to give the best resources possible to the men and women who wear the uniform of the Peterborough Police Service and to make sure our civilian force has the adequate resources to back them up each and every day,” Leal said during the meeting, defending his support of the police budget.

As for the project to renovate and expand two police stations, council met as general committee in September to consider a $25.4 million budget increase for the project, raising the total estimated budget to $91.9 million — an increase of over 38 per cent from the originally approved budget of $66.4 million. Similar to the operating budget, Chief Betts said the increase was required to meet legislative and regulatory requirements of the province’s Community Safety and Policing Act.

At the meeting, council voted 6-5 in favour of a motion by councillor Alex Bierk to defer the request back to city staff for details on what costs were related to mandatory versus discretionary requirements Community Safety and Policing Act.

However, at the council meeting the following day when Bierk’s motion was to be considered for final endorsement, council abruptly voted to move into closed session — a session that councillors Bierk, Joy Lachica, and Keith Riel left before it was completed. When council reconvened in chambers, debate resumed on councillor Bierk’s motion followed by a vote, which lost 5-6. Councillors then voted 7-4 to approve the original main motion to support the $25.4 million increase.

The YMCA of Central East Ontario has named Peterborough-area activists Linda Slavin and Lesley Kirton as the recipients of its 2025 YMCA Peace Medal.

For the YMCA, “peace” is more than just the absence of violence and conflict: it means developing fairness, inclusion, empathy, security, and respect for diversity. The charity use peace as an acronym for the values of participation, empathy, advocacy, community, and empowerment.

YMCAs across Canada present Peace Medals every year to individuals or groups who — without any special resources, status, wealth, or position — demonstrate a commitment to those values through contributions made within their local, national, or global community. The Peace Medals recipients are announced every year during YMCA Peace Week, which took place this year from November 15 to 22.

“Our Peace Medal recipients demonstrate that peace-building is not one moment in time — it’s a lifelong commitment to lifting others up,” says YMCA of Central East Ontario president and CEO David Allen in a media release. “Their work gives us hope and reinforces the YMCA’s belief that strong, connected communities are created when people lead with empathy, courage, and purpose.”

The YMCA of Central East Ontario is recognizing Linda Slavin of Peterborough for her decades of leadership in social justice, gender equity, and community building.

Known to her colleagues as the region’s “mother of the movement,” Slavin is a long-time educator, community activist, environmentalist, and social justice leader. She helped establish the Kawartha World Issues Centre (KWIC), co-chaired Sustainable Peterborough, and has been involved with groups such as GreenUP, the Elizabeth Fry Society, the Social Planning Council, and the Community Opportunity and Innovation Network (COIN).

Slavin was a member of the anti-nuclear-weapons group Kawartha Ploughshares, co-founded the annual One World Dinner and launched Peterborough’s Persons Day Breakfasts, and supported local women’s participation in the 1995 UN Conference on Women. Most recently, she has worked with the climate action group For Our Grandchildren and the Kawartha Commons Cohousing group.

She also ran for political office five times — four times provincially and federally for the NDP and once for mayor of Peterborough.

“Along with her partner Al, she has offered leadership and support that has strengthened every project they have championed together,” states the media release. “Celebrated for her inclusive spirit, collaborative leadership, and tireless advocacy, Linda’s impact is felt widely across the community. She is regarded by many as one of Peterborough’s most inspiring and deserving champions of peace.”

The YMCA of Central East Ontario is recognizing Lesley Kirton for more than two decades of “extraordinary service” to Peterborough and the Kawartha Lakes.

As a former crisis intervention worker with Victim Services of Peterborough and Northumberland, Kirton was at the forefront of the fight against human trafficking, assisting vulnerable girls and women in the sex trade. She was also a member of the board of the Kawartha Haliburton Children’s Aid Society.

In 2014, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada named Kirton as its community leader for Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland — a cause close to her heart as she was struck by an impaired driver when she was a college student in Oakville. In 2017, Kirton received Peterborough County’s Community Volunteer of the Year award for Selwyn Township and, the following year, received an excellence in volunteering award from MADD Canada. Most recently, she received a 10-year service award from MADD Canada and a King Charles III Coronation Medal for her advocacy work.

“Lesley has consistently modelled empathy, resilience, and community responsibility, quietly delivering meals to those in need, supporting victims of trauma, and empowering others to step forward and help,” the release states. “Her work has had meaningful impact locally, nationally, and globally, and her unwavering commitment to peace, justice, and human dignity makes her a truly deserving recipient of the YMCA Peace Medal.”

The YMCA of Central East Ontario will hold a formal ceremony in 2026 to recognize both Slavin and Kirton, with full details to be released in January.

Other YMCA of Central East Ontario Peace Medal recipients in recent years include Kristin Crowe in 2024, Lee-Anne Quinn, Jason King, and Husayn Dharshi in 2023, Crystal Hebert (Mkwa Ghiizis) in 2022, and Dave Morello and David McNab in 2021.