You can own a piece of Peterborough history when contents from The Garnet, the Hunter Street bar and live music venue that closed in 2021, come up for auction beginning Sunday (November 19).

Former owner Chad Emby is using Curated in Peterborough for an online auction of memorabilia from The Garnet, including the venue’s sign.

In 2021, Emby sold the bar at 231 Hunter Street West to Kim Cameron and John Clarke. After the sale, he removed the stools, decorations, light fixtures, barware, and signage as the new owners had their own vision for a British-style pub, opening Crook & Coffer in the location in 2022.

Along with Kerri Niemi, Emby originally purchased the bar in 2014, when it was called The Red Garnet, from the former owner.

The couple shortened the name to The Garnet and hosted live music and other events.

When the pandemic hit and The Garnet was forced to close its doors during lockdowns, Emby applied for a Canadian Emergency Business Account loan from the federal government to keep the business going.

Although Emby sold the business in 2021, he still needs to pay back a portion of the federal loan that is due in January. He’s hoping to raise some funds through the online auction to do that.

Items up for auction include the exterior sign, a large John Climenhage painting that hung next to the stage, a pair of Peavey stage monitors, the cash box and tip jar, special edition drinkware, and a collection of local and independent CDs and records.

The online auction opens on November 19 and runs until November 28. To register to bid, visit curated.hibid.com.

A 70-year-old Selwyn Township man died and another person was seriously injured in a three-vehicle collision on Highway 7 east of Peterborough on Tuesday evening (November 14).

At around 6:06 p.m., Peterborough County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and emergency crews responded to the scene of the collision on Highway 7 near Jermyn Line in Otonabee-South Monaghan Township, about 10 kilometres east of Peterborough.

After arriving, police and emergency crews found the first vehicle in the middle of the roadway with the driver still within it. Emergency crews extricated the driver, who was transported to a local hospital and later airlifted to a trauma centre.

The second vehicle was found in the eastbound lane with the driver uninjured. The third vehicle was found in the eastbound ditch, where the driver — a 70-year-old male from Selwyn Township — was pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger in the third vehicle was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

According to police, witnesses reported observing the first vehicle cross over the centre line, where it came into contact with the second vehicle before colliding head-on with the third vehicle.

Highway 7 remained closed between Highway 28 and County Road 38 for around eight hours while police investigated and documented the scene.

Anyone who may have witnessed or has video/dash camera footage of the collision and has not spoken with police is asked to contact the Peterborough County OPP at 1-888-310-1122.

The head of one of the world’s biggest and most important film festivals will be speaking at Trent University on Thursday, November 23rd.

Cameron Bailey, CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), will be delivering a talk entitled “Creating An Urban Cultural Hub” for Trent University’s Tapscott-Lopes Business and Society Lecture, which brings prominent speakers to the university and the community to address issues of values and ethics as they pertain to business and society.

Bailey’s talk, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. in Stohn Hall in the Trent Student Centre at 1680 West Bank Drive in Peterborough, and will also be livestreamed for those unable to attend in person. He will also be delivering the same talk earlier in the day at 1 p.m. at the Trent Durham GTA Advanced Learning Centre at 11 Simcoe Street North in Oshawa.

To register for either event, visit mycommunity.trentu.ca/tapscott-lopeslecture.

Born in London, England to parents from Barbados, Bailey spent his early childhood in Barbados before moving to Canada with his family at the age of eight. Educated at the University of Western Ontario in London, he worked as a film reviewer for various media companies including Toronto’s NOW Magazine and CBC Radio One before joining TIFF in 1990 as a seasonal programmer.

More than two decades later, he was named TIFF’s artistic director and, in 2018, was promoted to the newly created position of artistic director and co-head. Following the resignation of co-head Joana Vicente in 2021, Bailey was named the festival’s executive director and, later that year, was appointed CEO.

“Few people understand the importance of the arts and cultural sector better than Cameron Bailey,” reads a description on Trent University’s website. “Bailey brings a comprehensive wealth of experience to his position, and under his lead the festival continues to grow in size and significance every year. In his engrossing and highly customized talks, Bailey traces what it takes to grow a cultural organization, from engaging staff at all levels, to harnessing the energy of local citizens and politicians to, finally, capturing the attention of the world.”

The City of Peterborough is advising transit riders to be prepared for a possible labour disruption as soon as Saturday (November 18) as the city and the transit union local continue negotiating a new contract.

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1320 will be in a legal strike position and the city will also be in a legal lockout position as of 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, although neither side has yet indicated there will be a labour disruption.

The city and the union have began bargaining since May, including meetings with a provincially appointed conciliation officer. On November 1, the city received an official notice from the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development, known as a no board report, that starts a countdown toward a legal strike or lockout date.

ATU Local 1320 represents 103 full-time and around 20 part-time city employees. According to a media release from the city, it is not intending to lockout employees at this time. The city also says the union local has indicated it will provide notice before a strike.

The two sides have scheduled two days of bargaining meetings this week. The city says it is advising residents now of a possible labour disruption as transit riders would need time to find alternative arrangements for transportation if there is a strike or lockout.

“We are committed to achieving an agreement that is fair and reasonable for our employees and Peterborough residents,” states the city’s chief administrative officer Jasbir Raina in the media release. “We remain hopeful that an agreement can be reached to avoid a work stoppage and its impact on transit customers.”

The city will share any updates at peterborough.ca/transit and on its social media accounts.

The Township of Selwyn is one of four municipalities that have been newly certified as “bird friendly” under Nature Canada’s Bird Friendly City program.

Along with Selwyn Township, Richmond Hill in Ontario, Devon in Alberta, and Hudson in Quebec are the new municipalities that have received the certification. Selwyn Township joins Peterborough in the Kawarthas region as two of the 24 municipalities across Canada that are certified as being bird friendly.

Nature Canada grants the certification to municipalities that have met or exceeded a minimum standard in three categories: reducing threats to birds in their municipality, protecting and restoring natural habitat and increasing climate resiliency, and actively engaging their community in these actions through education and outreach. Each municipality received a certification level of entry, intermediate, or high depending on their lowest score in any of the three categories.

“The communities that make up the Township of Selwyn are proud to receive a Bird Friendly City Certificate through Nature Canada’s certification program,” says Selwyn Township Mayor Sherry Senis in a media release. “The township has increasingly made strong efforts towards becoming more sustainable by introducing new programs to our residents and taking on various corporate projects that will make positive leeway towards fighting climate change.”

“From the introduction of countertop composters to the installation of EV chargers and becoming a certified Bee Friendly Community, this Bird Friendly City Certification is another step towards becoming a greener community. As a township, we would like to express our appreciation to Nature Canada for supporting communities like ours to become a more
welcoming, safe haven for birds.”

To become certified, nature groups, municipal officials, and other community groups work with Nature Canada, one of the oldest national nature conservation charities in Canada that represents a network of over 130,000 members and supporters and more than 1,000 nature organizations.

Like many of the 24 municipalities that have received the Nature Canada certification, Selwyn Township has been certified at the entry level.

“Our work is not over by any means now that we have achieved this first goal — we have lots more we want to accomplish,” writes Carly Davenport on the Bird Friendly Selwyn website. “Priorities like increasing tree canopy in our parks, creating connected greenspaces, reducing plastic pollution from our waterways and wetlands, promoting accessible birding locations, promoting community science, educating on the threats that birds face in our community, and ultimately ensuring that as we continue to grow as a community we do so in ways that do not have a negative impact on our local biodiversity.”

The City of Kawartha Lakes may soon be the third bird friendly city in the Kawarthas. At its October 24th meeting, city council supported a resolution for the Bird Friendly Kawartha Lakes team to submit a certification application to Nature Canada. The Bird Friendly City of Kawartha Lakes group — consisting of representatives from the Kawartha Lakes Environmental Advisory Committee, Kawartha Conservation, Kawartha Land Trust, Fleming College, Kawartha Field Naturalists, Kawartha Wildlife Centre, and Kawartha Bird Control — will be preparing and submitting an application on behalf of the municipality in February 2024.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary year, the CPKC Holiday Train will be making a stop in Northumberland County on November 28 featuring a live musical performance by Canadian alt-rockers Anyway Gang.

A combination of Canadian Pacific (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS) railways, CPKC is the first and only transnational rail network in North America. For the past 25 years, the CPKC Holiday Train has been touring Canada and the United States to raise money, food, and awareness for the important work that food banks do in their communities.

Professional musicians play free concerts from the brightly decorated train’s stage, with CPKC making a donation to the local food bank at each stop while encouraging attendees to do the same. Since 1999, the CPKC Holiday Train has raised more than $22.5 million and more than five million pounds of food for community food banks across North America.

The 2023 CPKC Holiday Train runs from November 20 to December 19, with the Canadian route going across the country.

From 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday, November 28th, the train will stop in Brighton, after earlier stops in Belleville and Trenton and before proceeding on to Bowmanville, Oshawa, and Toronto.

In Brighton, the train will stop east of the CPKC railway crossing on Prince Edward Street and will feature a live musical performance by Canadian alt-rockers Anyway Gang, with CPKC making a donation to the Brighton Fare Share Food Bank. Members of the Northumberland Ontario Provincial Police will be on hand for traffic control.

VIDEO: “Big Night” – Anyway Gang

Formed in 2018, the Anyway Gang consists of four friends from four of Canada’s most notable bands: Dave Monks from Tokyo Police Club, Sam Roberts from Sam Roberts Band, Menno Versteeg from Hollerado, and Chris Murphy from Sloan.

The group released their debut single “Big Night” in September 2019 followed by their self-titled debut album in November of that year, with their second album Still Anyways released in May 2022.

For more information about the CPKC Holiday Train, visit www.cpkcr.com/en/community/HolidayTrain.

A 38-year-old motorcyclist is dead following a collision with a tractor trailer east of Warkworth late Monday afternoon (November 13).

At around 3:50 p.m., officers with the Northumberland Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and fire and emergency medical services responded to the scene of a collision between a motorcycle and a tractor trailer on County Road 30 between County Road 29 and 1st Line West.

As a result of the collision, a 38-year-old Trent Hills man was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

County Road 30 was closed between County Road 29 and 1st Line West until around 10:15 p.m. Monday night while police completed a preliminary investigation.

The investigation is ongoing and police will provide an update when available.

Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or stopcrimehere.ca.

This story has been updated with additional informatin about the victim provided by police.