The musical comedy "Something Rotten!" opened on Broadway in 2015 where it played for 708 performances. A love letter to musical theatre and a satirical spectacle that pokes fun at everything audiences adore about Broadway, The Peterborough Theatre Guild's production runs for 10 performances in April and May.
For its spring production, the Peterborough Theatre Guild is bringing the hit musical farce Something Rotten! to the Guild Hall stage for 10 performances in April and May.
A love letter to musical theatre and a satirical spectacle that pokes fun both at Shakespeare and everything audiences adore about Broadway, Something Rotten! features show-stopping song and dance, a wacky cast of over-the-top characters, and gut-busting comedy. Time Out New York called it “The funniest musical comedy in at least 400 years!”
Set in 1595 during the English Renaissance, the story follows brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom, who are struggling to find success in the theatrical world as they compete with the wild popularity of their contemporary William Shakespeare. A soothsayer named Thomas Nostradamus (the nephew of the famous soothsayer Nostradamus) tells the brothers the next big thing in theatre will be “a musical” — where “an actor is saying his lines, and out of nowhere he just starts singing.”
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Determined to outdo Shakespeare by writing the world’s first musical, Nigel asks Nostradamus what Shakespeare’s next hit is going to be called. After the soothsayer misinterprets “Hamlet” as “Omelette”, the brothers name their new play Omelette: The Musical.
The play’s musical numbers include “Welcome to the Renaissance”, “God, I Hate Shakespeare”, “The Black Death”, “Hard to Be the Bard”, “It’s Eggs!”, “Something Rotten!”, and more.
With music and lyrics by brothers Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick and a book by John O’Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick, Smething Rotten! opened on Broadway in 2015 where it played for 708 performances. It was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, including best musical, and won for best featured actor in a musical.
The Peterborough Theatre Guild’s production of the musical comedy “Something Rotten!” runs from April 28 to May 13. (Graphic: Peterborough Theatre Guild)
Directed and choreographed by Elizabeth Moody, the Peterborough Theatre Guild production features Robert Ainsworth, Nate Axcell, Kate Brioux, Paul Crough, Rachel Dalliday, Mark Hiscox, Matt Kraft, Marsala Lukianchuk, Brian MacDonald, and Brandon Remmelgas.
The crew includes production manager Margaret Pieper, musical director Justin Hiscox, assistant musical director and vocal director Dustin Bowers, music and vocal consultant Kate Suhr, and choreography consultant Julie Fallis.
Performances at the Guild Hall at 364 Rogers Street in Peterborough’s East City take place at 7:30 p.m. on April 28 and 29, May 4 to 6, and May 11 to 13, with 2 p.m. matinee performances on April 30 and May 7. Tickets are $32 for adults, $28 for seniors, and $20 for students and are available online at peterboroughtheatreguild.com or by calling 705-745-4211.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a media sponsor of the Peterborough Theatre Guild’s 2022-23 season.
The Peterborough Public Library will be the first public library to be recognized as a Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund Legacy Space.
The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund was founded by the late Gord Downie, frontman of The Tragically Hip, along with his brother Mike Downie and the family of Chanie Wenjack. Chanie was an Indigenous boy who had been taken away from his family home in Ogoki Post, located on the Marten Falls Reserve in northern Ontario, in 1963 and forced to live at a residential school in Kenora. In 1966, the 12-year-old boy died from exposure after he fled the school and attempted to walk the 600-kilometre journey back to his home.
Legacy Spaces are safe and welcoming places where conversations and education about Indigenous history, and our collective journey towards reconciliation, are encouraged and supported. They also serve as symbols and reminders of the important work each of us needs to undertake in responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action.
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“The library is a busy community hub dedicated to curiosity, discovery, and learning,” says Peterborough Public Library CEO Jennifer Jones in a media release. “We’re proud to welcome everyone into the space, to learn about Indigenous history, and take actions toward reconciliation.”
The Peterborough Public Library’s Legacy Space is supported by United Way Peterborough & District, Trent University Faculty Association, CUPE 3908 – Trent University Contract and Student Academic Workers, Peterborough and District Labour Council, PVNCOECTA – Catholic Teachers Union, OPSEU Local 365 – Trent University Support Staff Union, OPSEU Local 327 – Peterborough Health Unit Workers, and Kawartha Pine Ridge ETFO Teachers.
“United Way Peterborough & District is proud to be partnering in bringing a Legacy Space to our community,” says United Way CEO Jim Russell. “Peterborough Public Library is already a place for all community members to learn, and the addition of a Legacy Space provides us with a location to grow in our shared reconciliation journey.”
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The Peterborough Public Library is currently creating the Legacy Space, including developing programs and collections, and planning its launch. The library will celebrate the opening of the Legacy Space from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 27th.
“The community-based Legacy Space is a positive step for Peterborough,” says CUPE 3908 president Mitch Champagne. “As we work towards reconciliation, words ring hollow when they are not supported by actions. The Legacy Space will provide the people of Nogojiwanong a place where they can continue to learn and reflect about the truth and take active roles in working towards reconciliation.”
The Peterborough Public Library recently selected Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice, an author and journalist from Wasauksing First Nation, for its inaugural One Book, One Peterborough, a community reading initative where Peterborough residents voted on one of three finalists. Copies of the book will be available starting in May, For more information,visit www.ptbolibrary.ca.
This story has been updated to correct the location of Chanie Wenjack’s home.
The Ontario Provincial Police are now leading the investigation into this shooting incident.
Cobourg police are seeking witnesses following a shooting incident early Tuesday morning (March 7) that left a man with critical injuries.
At around 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday, police responded to a call from staff at Northumberland Hills Hospital that a man was seeking treatment for a gunshot wound.
Upon arriving at the hospital, officers were advised someone had dropped the man off at the hospital.
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The man was subsequently transported to a Toronto-area trauma centre with critical injuries.
While the investigation is in early stages, police do not believe this was a random incident and are investigating to determine where and how the incident occurred.
Anyone with information, or who was in the area of the hospital and has dash cam footage, is asked to contact the Ontario Provincial Police at 1-888-310-1122.
If you prefer to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at stopcrimehere.ca.
SIRCH Community Services of Haliburton County is auctioning off a 104-square-foot bunkie built by participants in SIRCH's Basics of Carpentry program, which gives trainees the carpentry skills they need to gain employment in the construction industry. The auction runs from March 9 to 25, 2023 at nonprofitbidding.org, with proceeds supporting SIRCH programs. (Photo courtesy of SIRCH Community Services)
Beginning Thursday (March 9), you can bid on a hand-crafted bunkie and support community-based programs and services in Haliburton County and across the greater Kawarthas region.
The bunkie was built by participants in the Basics of Carpentry employment training program offered by SIRCH Community Services (Supportive Initiative for Residents in the County of Haliburton), a not-for-profit organization that addresses gaps and needs in the community by creating programs that aim to create resilience, reduce poverty, and encourage connection.
Primarily serving Haliburton Highlands, SIRCH also sponsors programs or social enterprises in north Hastings County, the City of Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland County.
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Since 1989, SIRCH has developed dozens of community-based programs and services, including the Basics of Carpentry program that gives trainees the carpentry skills they need to gain employment in the construction industry.
The 104-square-foot bunkie measures eight feet by 13 feet with seven-foot-high ceilings. It features a large steel entry door and two high-quality Jeld Wen windows. Clad in painted board and batten style with a shingled roof, the structure is unfinished inside but is fully enclosed with a floor that is insulated and sealed.
Bidding on the bunkie, valued at $8,000, starts at $2,500 beginning at noon on Thursday, March 9th on nonprofitbidding.org, a secure online auction platform created to support the fundraising efforts of non-profit organizations and charities.
Participants in SIRCH Community Services’s Sasics of Carpentry employment training program work on the bunkie that will be auctioned off from March 9 to 25, 2023 at nonprofitbidding.org. (Photos courtesy of SIRCH Community Services)
To bid, create an account at Nonprofit Bidding and register your credit card. Credit card details are never stored on Nonprofit Bidding’s servers but are securely transmitted to and stored in an encrypted format with Stripe.
The auction will continue until 12:30 p.m. on Friday, March 25th. Proceeds from the auction will go back into supporting SIRCH programs.
For more information about SIRCH, visit sirch.on.ca.
19-year-old Syrian refugee Rashid Sheikh Hassan, pictured outside The Whistle Stop Café in downtown Peterborough where he works, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the Canadian International Medical Relief Organization (CIMRO) to purchase medicine and medical supplies for survivors of the February 6, 2023 earthquake that devastated southern Turkey and northern Syria. The Whistle Stop Café will also be donating all proceeds from poutine sales on March 13, 2023 to CIMRO. (Photo courtesy of Dave McNab)
Within a hour of arriving in his new home of Canada on June 23, 2022, Syrian refugee Rashid Sheikh Hassan found himself doing something very Canadian — digging deep into a dish of piping hot poutine while sitting on a restaurant patio not far from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
Now, eight months later, the 19 year old is doing something else very Canadian. He is giving his time and effort to the benefit of strangers in need, namely those affected in his native country by the devastating earthquakes of early February.
To complement Rashid’s GoFundMe campaign titled ‘Rashid To The Rescue’, The Whistle Stop Café at George and Charlotte streets in downtown Peterborough — where Rashid works — will donate the proceeds from poutine sales on Monday, March 13th to the Canadian International Medical Relief Organization (CIMRO).
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All money brought in will go toward the purchase of desperately needed medicine and medical supplies for those displaced in northern Syria and neighbouring Turkey, which was also ravaged by the earthquakes.
With a goal of $10,000, Rashid To The Rescue had brought in close to $1,000 as of Tuesday (March 7) but both Rashid and Dave McNab, a retired Peterborough County OPP officer who was instrumental in bringing Rashid to safety in Canada, are confident the goal will be attained with the help of poutine sale proceeds.
An 18-year-old Rashid holds the Canadian flag after arriving at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on June 23, 2022, where he was welcomed to his new home by his sponsors (left to right) Michael VanDerHerberg, Dave McNab, Matt Park, and Kristy Hiltz. (Photo courtesy of Dave McNab)Shortly after leaving Pearson International Airport with his sponsors, Rashid tried poutine for the very first time on a restaurant patio. He and his sponsors sang O Canada in honour of Rashid’s arrival in his new home. (Photo courtesy of Dave McNab)
“Mr. David asked me ‘Would you like to help?’ and I said ‘Yes, of course,'” says Rashid, referring to McNab.
“He told me about maybe raising money. I didn’t have any idea about this. I don’t know how to do it. He helped me too much. I’m learning from Mr. David. My friends asked me if I had poutine before. I said ‘I work at The Whistle Stop. Of course I have.’ I like it.”
Instrumental in ensuring the money raised will get where it’s needed to whom its targeted to help will be Mark Cameron. The Hastings resident and former longtime Peterborough paramedic is the president of CIMRO, and is a good friend of McNab and his wife, veterinarian Dr. Kristy Hiltz.
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Shortly after the earthquakes struck, Dr. Hiltz launched a fundraiser through the Sherbrooke Heights Animal Hospital that raised $2,250 to purchase 15 boxes of suture material that CIMRO could use to repair the wounds of those injured.
But Cameron’s involvement with the couple has extended beyond the humanitarian effort, bringing Rashid great peace of mind as a result.
“Mr. David told me Mark is going to Syria, so we can send him to my village (Sheikhani),” recalls Rashid, whose already constant worries for his family’s safety increased dramatically following the earthquakes.
On February 22, 2023, Rashid saw his parents and siblings for the first time in almost nine years after becoming separated from them after their family home was bombed in Syria in 2014. (Photos courtesy of Dave McNab)
McNab picks up the story from there, noting Cameron had a friend who knew two people working in Sheikhani. Inquiries were made, the end result being a February 22nd WhatsApp video call between Rashid and his grandparents and, within a few hours of that reunion, another WhatsApp call that connected him with his parents and three younger siblings. The connection was poor at best but was good enough for Rashid to learn all were safe and in relatively good health.
McNab notes it is his and Rashid’s hope that the day will come when Rashid’s family can follow him to his new home in Canada.
“We’re looking at options to sponsor them — if we can get them here, we’ll do it,” vows McNab.
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In the meantime, McNab has been busy helping Rashid adjust to life in Peterborough and so far so good. Not only has Rashid’s English improved dramatically since he arrived, but he will complete his education upgrading at Thomas A. Stewart this spring with an eye toward attending a post-secondary institution.
“I want to be an architect,” says Rashid, adding living in Peterborough “is nice.”
“School is good. I have a job. I have an apartment. I used to go to the gym but now I’m too busy.”
19-year-old Syrian refugee Rashid with Dave McNab, who Rashid refers to as “Mr. David.” McNab was instrumental in reaching out to Rashid while he was living in Turkey, helping Rashid learn English, and in sponsoring him to come to Canada from Turkey, where he was living under fear of deportation after fleeing Syria in 2019. (Photo: Paul Rellinger / kawarthaNOW)
For his part, McNab is amazed by Rashid’s progress since, together with Michael VanDerHerberg and Lee-Anne Quinn and aided by Matt Park, he sponsored his application and brought him to Canada — a process preceded by McNab’s learning, quite by accident, of Rashid’s social media plea for help to avoid being captured by Turkish police and returned to the Syria he fled.
“I never expected him to learn English this quickly,” McNab says.
“He’s done so well to come here and embrace the culture. He’s independent. He looks after his own finances. He’s a young man living his life and making his own choices. He’s doing everything we hoped he would do. The one piece that was missing was that he didn’t know where his parents were and now we know that.”
Rashid’s story
Rashid’s parents, brother, and two sisters share a selfie with Rashid on February 22, 2023. For almost nine years, they feared he was dead and he feared they were dead. (Photo courtesy of Dave McNab)
In 2014, when he was 11 years old, Rashid Sheikh Hassan’s family home in Syria was bombed. Along with his parents and his younger siblings (two sisters and a brother), Rashid made it out of the house safely but subsequently became separated from his family in the chaos that followed. He travelled 100 kilometres across a war zone to find his grandparents, hoping the rest of his family would follow. They never did.
Five years later, at the age of 16, Rashid fled Syria to Turkey out of fear for his life, leaving behind his grandparents and the hope of ever finding his family — as he would have no way to communicate with them after he left.
It took Rashid a week to successfully enter Turkey, but he could not receive refugee status because it was no longer being granted. He lived in Turkey for almost two years, supporting himself with meagre wages in a country where he was not entitled to education or health care. As a Kurd with no legal status in Turkey, he was at constant threat of being captured and deported back to Syria.
Hoping to come to Canada, Rashid went on Facebook and searched for a Canadian Facebook group. He found one and posted a desperate plea for guidance on how he could come to Canada to start a new and safer life. However, with little knowledge of English, he had inadvertently posted his request in a group intended for people posting photos of birds, where his post was met with hostile, anti-immigrant, and racist comments.
Matt Park, one of the group’s members, defended Rashid and brought his post to the attention of retired Peterborough County OPP officer Dave McNab, who began communicating directly with Rashid online. Over several months, McNab helped Rashid improve his English. McNab, along with his wife Kristy Hiltz, Matt Park, and Michael VanDenHerberg, raised funds to sponsor Rashid to come to Canada.
On June 23, 2022, Rashid arrived at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport where he was welcomed to his new home by his sponsors. He now works and attends school in Peterborough and speaks fluent English, his third language. On February 22, 2023, Rashid had a video call with his grandparents, his parents and siblings, and other family. Until an hour before the call, they feared he was dead and he feared they were dead.
Peterborough musician Rob Phillips will be performing at the keyboard for the 500th time at the Black Horse Pub in downtown Peterborough on March 9, 2023. The Rob Phillips Trio will also faeture Dennis Pendrith on upright bass and Curtis Cronkwright on drums, with Carling Stephen the featured singer. Special guests include singers Beau Dixon and Marsala Lukianchuk, the latter having fronted the trio for about six years. (Photo courtesy of Rob Phillips)
Those who know Rob Phillips well know he would have been very happy to have performed just one show at The Black Horse Pub in downtown Peterborough.
Such is the longtime musician’s desire to, and love of, sharing his immense piano talent with an audience.
As he now prepares to bring his jazz-blues trio to the George Street North pub on March 9th for its milestone 500th Thursday night performance, Phillips is as just excited now as he was close to 10 years ago when then-owner Ray Kapoor pencilled him in for a coveted spot on the weekly live entertainment roster.
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“I asked Ray, over a number of years, if I could do a jazz night,” recalls the 2015 Peterborough Pathway of Fame inductee who, for 10 years, enjoyed considerable success with Dan Fewings and Jimmy Bowskill as one third of the musical improv comedy trio The Three Martinis. “I thought it would fly. He finally gave me a night, but I didn’t really know how long it was going to last. Bands come and go.”
As it turns out, it has lasted — for an impressive 499 shows. On Thursday (March 9) at 7 p.m., Phillips will sit at the keyboard for the 500th time, with Dennis Pendrith on upright bass and Curtis Cronkwright on drums, and Carling Stephen as the featured singer. The music menu will including a generous buffet of jazz and blues standards — signature songs associated with the likes of Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Billie Holiday, and Robert Johnson to mention a few. And yes, some original tunes will be sprinkled into the mix.
And has been the case on many prior Thursday nights, there will be special guests, this time in the form of singers Beau Dixon and Marsala Lukianchuk, the latter having fronted the trio for about six years, along with Keith Guy and more.
Rob Phillips at the piano in 2009 with a young Jimmy Bowskill (left) and a not-so-young Dan Fewings performing as the musical improv comedy troupe The Three Martinis. (Photo courtesy of Dan Fewings)
“Curtis has been with me since day one,” says Phillips. “He’s a straight up guy and an incredible drummer. (Bassist) Dennis is a legend in the business. He played with Stuart McLean for his Vinyl Café, with Bruce Cockburn for 10 years, and he played with Murray McLauchlan. And he has recorded a lot. He’s on like 2,000 or 3,000 albums.”
“We’d been looking, on and off, for the last six years for a singer and then, about a year ago, Carling came in and she’s the featured singer every Thursday now. The wonderful thing about Carling is she’s bilingual, so we actually do 10 French songs. People love the French jazz café music. She’s a fabulous singer.”
All these Thursday night shows later, what’s most important to Phillips is the format has remained true to what he envisioned so many years ago.
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“After (singer) Chelsey Bennett moved back to Peterborough from Europe, she came in and sang with us and that really got the night rolling,” recalls Phillips.
“I wanted people to drop in after they had been out for dinner, and my musician friends could drop in and sing or bring their horn and play a couple of songs. We’ve had a lot of people join us over the years.”
“Ada Lee sang with us when she was in town. Bruce Cole, the dentist, comes in every week and has played with us. Rick Fines has come up on stage and sang. And there are some horn guys who have come every week for 10 years now — Doug Sutherland on trumpet and Mark Davidson on saxophone. It really is a place for community.”
VIDEO: “Brazil” featuring Marsala Lukianchuk & Rob Phillips (2017)
As for the trio’s audience, Phillips says its enthusiasm is only surpassed by its loyalty.
“There are about 40 to 50 people who come in every week, like they’re going bowling on a Monday night,” he laughs. “It’s really great when new people discover it. A couple of guys came out for the first time about three or four weeks ago. They say there going to come every week now. One guy drives in every Thursday from Hastings.”
“Other people drive in from Ajax. And everybody gets to know one another. Another phenomena is the Trent kids have discovered it. Part of the second set is now more danceable. They have a great time.”
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During the pandemic, Phillips “held the fort down” at the Black Horse on his own before Lukianchuk returned and “we started adding people. They couldn’t afford to pay as much but we all made it through.”
And just as Phillips is quick to credit Kapoor for recognizing his talents and those of his band mates should have a regular weekly home, he has nothing but admiration for current owner Desmond Vandenberg.
“Des has been fantastic,” he says. “He’s had to weather buying a new business and then the pandemic. He runs music seven days a week when just running a restaurant is a tough thing. It’s a real tribute to Des that he’s hung in there.”
Peterborough photographer Andy Carroll has documented the Thursday night jazz shows at the Black Horse Pub in downtown Peterborough for years. Pictured (left to right, top and bottom) is Rob Phillips performing in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. (Photos courtesy of Andy Carroll)
“Some of the pubs that have live music, it has been difficult for them,” Phillips notes. “But I think now that the pandemic is pretty much over, people are going to start going out even more this spring and summer. How much Netflix can you watch? People want to go out and hear live music. There’s a real appreciation of live music that I see now.”
Admitting Thursday night at The Black Horse Pub is “my happy place,” Phillips is thrilled to play the genre and style of music he has always gravitated to. As he puts it, “No one is asking me to play Brown Eyed Girl.”
Phillips has another reason to smile these days and, in the grand scheme of things, it’s the best reason of all.
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In the midst of chemotherapy treatment for amyloidosis, he remains optimistic.
“My numbers are really good,” he explains. “My experience at the hospital (Peterborough Regional Health Centre) has been unbelievable. I don’t mind talking about it. It has happened to me just like it happened to a lot of people. I’ve been very fortunate to have a good support team. My friends have been unbelievable.”
“When my illness came on, I didn’t know if I’d be able to play anymore. I was doing all this prep for someone to take over my spot. I feel very fortunate to be able to get treatment and then do the joyful thing that brings me pleasure. For me, that has always been music. Music is more fun for me now than it ever was.”
VIDEO: Rob Phillips talks about early inspiration (2015)
Against that backdrop, Phillips et al are counting down the hours to what promises to be a pretty special evening at their downtown Peterborough home away from home.
“It’s not a lot of work playing,” says Phillips. “It’s getting a parking spot, loading the piano in, getting the music together. If somebody is sick, I’ve got to get a sub. There’s all this work that has to go on.”
“I do a sound check at 10:15 a.m. with Carling before the restaurant opens. Then we all gather at 6:45 p.m. Strangely, we’ve never had a rehearsal, but I have rehearsed with the singers and I write out the music for the bass player.”
VIDEO: Autumn Leaves – Rob Phillips Trio at Live! At The Barn (2021)
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Not lost on Phillips is how fortunate he is to have the opportunity to play jazz and blues every week for almost 10 years at the Black Horse Pub.
“It’s a fun night. You hear songs that you don’t normally hear at other clubs in town. We work hard at it. We’ve got something like 170 songs in our catalogue. We run about 35 songs a night. We can change it up and put on a different show on every Thursday.”
Beyond the regular weekly gig, Phillips says he has “a recording in the can” but admits “because of the nature of my illness, I can’t sing like I used to.” Still, he hopes to record with Stephen “real soon. We’re working away at that.”
Former Peterborough mayor and city councillor Jack Doris (second from right) in the 1980s with the late Peter Adams (left) when he was MPP for Peterborough, community activist John Taylor (the late father of kawarthaNOW publisher Jeannine Taylor), and the late community activist Bruce Knapp, during a fundraiser for McKellar Hamilton Park, now known as the John Taylor Memorial Park. (Photo: Jeannine Taylor)
The flags at Peterborough City Hall and the Peterborough police station are flying at half-mast in the memory of former Peterborough mayor and city councillor Jack Doris, who passed away Sunday (March 5) at the age of 91.
Before his retirement in 2014, Doris was the city’s longest-serving municipal politician at 45 years.
“I offer my deepest condolences to the family of Jack Doris, including his wife, Sheila, his six daughters, his grandchildren, and his great grandchildren,” said Peterborough mayor Jeff Leal in a statement posted on social media on Monday.
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“Jack was a remarkable person and public servant who served the community on city council for 45 years as a councillor and mayor,” Leal said. “Through his years of public service and his work in the community, Jack was completely devoted to making Peterborough a better place. Jack touched the lives of so many. He will be greatly missed.”
Doris was first elected in 1967. After his retirement from General Electric in 1990, he ran for mayor and won. He was re-elected mayor in 1994. In 1997, he decided to run for Monaghan Ward councillor against Henry Clarke and Mike McIntyre, but lost by 50 votes. He was elected again to council again four years later.
In 2013, Doris announced he would not seek re-election. During a retirement celebration in 2015, hes received a lifetime achievement award, a certificate and personal message from Ontario’s then-premier Kathleen Wynne, and a key to the city.
'Spring forward' by an hour when daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday of March. (Stock photo)
The second Sunday of March is almost here, which means it’s time to ‘spring forward’ as daylight saving time (DST) begins at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 12th and clocks move forward an hour.
Whether you call it ‘daylight savings’ or ‘summer time’ or ‘cottage time’, the good news is that we’ll get more daylight in the evening hours (the sun will set at 7:15 p.m. on Sunday night). The bad news is that we’ll lose an hour of sleep and it will be darker in the morning (the sun will rise at 7:31 a.m. on Sunday morning).
If you still have any manual clocks, remember to set them forward an hour before you go to bed on Saturday night.
Here’s what you should know about daylight saving time (DST):
If you find daylight saving time annoying, you can blame New Zealand entomologist George Hudson. He first proposed “saving daylight” in 1895 so he could have more daylight to collect insects.
Although it’s commonly believed Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea for DST, it was actually New Zealand entomologist George Hudson.
In 1895, Hudson proposed a two-hour shift in the clocks (he wanted more daylight to collect insects).
“The effect of this alteration would be to advance all the day’s operations in summer two hours compared with the present system,” Hudson wrote in 1898, explaining his original proposal. “In this way the early-morning daylight would be utilised, and a long period of daylight leisure would be made available in the evening for cricket, gardening, cycling, or any other outdoor pursuit desired.”
A few years later, English outdoorsman William Willett also proposed advancing the clocks during the summer months (he wanted more daylight to golf).
The first governments to implement DST were Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1916, as a way to conserve coal during World War I. Britain and most other European countries adopted it shortly after, with the United States and Canada adopting it in 1918.
DST used to begin the first Sunday of April and end the last Sunday of October, but in 2007 the U.S. decided to change it to begin the second Sunday of March and end the first Sunday of November in an attempt to conserve energy.
To avoid issues with economic and social interactions with the U.S., the Canadian provinces that observe DST followed suit.
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What are the health effects of changing time twice a year?
While the evidence is mixed, some research has found that “falling back” results in more accidents involving pedestrians, while “springing forward” increases the risk of heart attacks and traffic accidents.
In any case, moving clocks forward or backward changes our exposure to daylight and affects our circadian rhythm (the body’s natural internal clock).
In the fall, gaining an extra hour of sleep sounds like a good thing but it can actually make you feel “jet lagged”.
It can take up to a week to adjust your internal clock to the shift in daylight hours.
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Why don’t we just get rid of daylight saving time?
It’s possible that we’ll soon be ending the practice of changing our clocks twice a year, but by making DST permanent rather than getting rid of it.
On November 25, 2020, the Ontario government gave royal assent to The Time Amendment Act, a private members’ bill tabled by Ottawa-West Nepean MPP Jeremy Roberts that proposed making “the time now called daylight saving time the standard time year-round.” The bill would only come into force if the province of Quebec and the state of New York also make DST permanent.
The Quebec government has said it is open to the idea of making DST permanent but, like Ontario, will only consider it if neighbouring jurisdictions do the same.
The U.S. may be closer to making that decision. On March 16, 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make DST permanent beginning in 2023. Despite passage in the Senate, the bill stalled in the House, where it remained in a committee until it died with the expiration of the previous Congress.
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Last Thursday (March 2), Florida senator Marco Rubio reintroduced the bill into the 118th Congress.
“This ritual of changing time twice a year is stupid,” Rubio said. “Locking the clock has overwhelming bipartisan and popular support. This Congress, I hope that we can finally get this done.”
The primary argument for adopting DST permanently is that, by increasing the amount of daylight at the end of the day, it would lead to more economic activity and reduce vehicle collisions, energy usage, and robberies.
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Is making daylight saving time permanent a good idea?
Researchers in chronobiology — the study of biological rhythms — disagree that daylight saving time should be made permanent.
While they also want to get rid of the bi-annual time change, they say we should be permanently adopting standard time rather than daylight saving time.
“Based on current chronobiology knowledge, permanent Standard Time (ST) would be a wiser, healthier choice,” the Canadian Society for Chronobiology has said.
Chronobiologists say adopting permanent standard time would move sunrise closer to our body’s internal clock, while permanent daylight saving time would move it further away. It’s the light in the morning that is most important in resetting our biological clocks, they say.
And it’s not just the Canadian Society for Chronobiology advocating for the permanent adoption of standard time. The U.S.-based Society for Research on Biological Rhythms, the European Biological Rhythms Society, and the European Sleep Research Society have all issued statements supporting it.
How can we reduce the health effects of the time change?
Here are some suggestions for how you and your family can adapt more quickly to the time change:
Each morning leading up to the time change on Sunday, try waking up 15 minutes earlier than normal.
Also try going to bed 15 minutes earlier than normal each night. You can help prepare your body for an earlier bedtime by not eating two hours before you go to sleep, and put down your devices an hour before bed.
Eat a healthy breakfast when you first wake up, as food is one way to tell your body it’s the beginning of the day.
After the time change, expose yourself to daylight during waking hours as much as possible.
Reduce your use of caffeine and alcohol during the day and increase your physical activity.
This photo of a winter's day at Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park by Tim Haan was our top post on Instagram for February 2023. (Photo: Tim Hann @tim.haan.photography / Instagram)
Trails, wildlife, waterways, sunsets. That could describe any month in The Kawarthas, but in this case I’m referring to our top photos for February.
This month is notorious for the worst weather of winter, but our local photographers are intrepid as ever and tagged us with these beauties this month. I hope you enjoy them.
Do you want to get on our top photographers list? All you need is an Insta account and to tag us using our hashtag #kawarthanow when posting your photo.
We share photos from across our readership area, which is the five-county area surrounding Peterborough which includes Peterborough, Northumberland, City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Hastings (we sneak in the occasional Algonquin Park picture as well, particularly if it’s by a Kawarthas photographer).
To see our daily shares of photos, follow us on Instagram @kawarthanow and check out our feed’s highlight reels for recaps of every month in 2023.
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#1. A winter’s day at Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park by Tim Haan @tim.haan.photography
Cheyenne Sundance is a 25-year-old farmer and owner and executive director of Sundance Harvest, an incubator farm and distribution hub with three locations in southwestern Ontario where more than 20 farmers grow produce, chickens, herbs, cut flowers, fruits, and mushrooms for a community supported agriculture initiative. (Photo: Sundance Harvest / Instagram)
The Kawartha World Issues Centre and the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre will be marking International Women’s Day in Peterborough with two free community events, including a noon-hour rally in downtown Peterborough on Wednesday (March 8) and a hybrid in-person and virtual evening event at the Peterborough Lions Community Centre on Thursday (March 9) featuring a young Black woman who is revolutionizing who can be a farmer.
First taking place in 1911, International Women’s Day has become a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
The theme for 2023 is “Embrace Equity”, asking people to imagine a gender-equal world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination, where difference is valued and celebrated.
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The noon-hour rally on Wednesday begins at 12 p.m. at the Peterborough Square courtyard at Water and Charlotte streets, where participants will walk north along the sidewalks of George Street to Confederation Park, across from Peterborough City Hall. Once there, Town Ward city councillor Joy Lachica will speak and local poet Emily Clarey will do a short reading.
While not required to participate in the rally, registration at eventbrite.ca/e/539285496437 is requested in case organizers need to communicate with participants before the rally.
The free evening event on Thursday will be hosted in a hybrid format, online via Zoom and in person at the Peterborough Lions Community Centre at 347 Burnham Street just south of Hunter Street West in East City.
The Kawartha World Issues Centre and the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre and community partners are presenting two free community events for International Women’s Day on March 8 and 9, 2023. (Poster: Kawartha World Issues Centre)
Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. so attendees can participate in a banner-making activity with Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag Services Circle and also view the 16 Days of Activism Quilt from Fleming College.
Emcee Czarina Garcia of the Community Race Relations Committee will officially open the event at 6 p.m., when Anne Taylor of Curve Lake First Nation will give a territorial welcome and Curve Lake First Nation poet Sarah Lewis will share an original poem she has written for the event.
At 6:40 p.m., guest speaker Cheyenne Sundance will speak for around 30 minutes on the topic ‘Diverse Youth Voices in Leadership’, based on her experiences in agriculture and food justice.
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Sundance is a 25-year-old farmer and owner and executive director of Sundance Harvest, an incubator farm and distribution hub with three locations in southwestern Ontario where more than 20 farmers grow produce, chickens, herbs, cut flowers, fruits, and mushrooms for a community supported agriculture initiative.
She began Sundance Harvest in 2019 at the age of 22, having never had any prior agricultural or educational experience, to address a diversity of concerns of equality in agriculture through the lens of workers, youth, BIPOC, and women. The inaugural president of the National Farmers Union BIPOC caucus, she successfully launched the Sundance Harvest Black Business and Farm Incubator Program, which is fully subsidized for new Black farmers.
Sundance has a deep interest in workers’ rights, community land trusts, and the idea of the commons for the betterment of all. She has been featured in The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, NOW Toronto, CBC Radio Canada, Greenpeace, The Food Network, The Narwhal, Chatelaine, and more.
Sundance Harvest founder Cheyenne Sundance has been featured in The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, NOW Toronto, CBC Radio Canada, Greenpeace, The Food Network, The Narwhal, Chatelaine, and more. (Photo: Ramona Leitao / The Narwhal)
After Sundance speaks, there will be a short intermission and then an opportunity for attendees — both in-person and virtual — to ask questions, with the event wrapping up by 8 p.m.
Light refreshments will be available during the evening event. Masks are strongly encouraged and will be provided at the door. While the event is free, registration is required at eventbrite.ca/e/531994880007 .
The rally and evening event are supported by the Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan Peterborough Chapter, Champlain College, Community Race Relations Committee of Peterborough, Diverse Nature Collective, Fleming College, Lady Eaton College, New Canadians Centre, OPIRG Peterborough, Professor Stephen Hill, Soroptimist International Peterborough, The Centre for Women and Trans People, The Seasoned Spoon, The Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Society, Trent Oxfam, Trent University School of the Environment, and Trent Wrold University Services Canada Student Refugee Program.
This story has been updated with corrections to the date for the evening community event, which takes place on March 9 and not March 8.
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