What happens when a small-town funeral home owner and his family meet his secret online Russian bride-to-be (and her sister)? That's the premise behind Canadian playwright Kristen Da Silva's award-winning comedy "Gibson & Sons," playing at the Peterborough Theatre Guild for 10 performances from February 24 to March 11, 2023. (Photos: Peterborough Theatre Guild)
The Peterborough Theatre Guild wants to help you beat the mid-winter blahs with the next show of its 2022-23 season. Canadian playwright Kristen Da Silva’s award-winning comedy Gibson & Sons runs for 10 performances in late February and early March at the Guild Hall at 364 Rogers Street in Peterborough’s East City.
In this feel-good 90-minute play, a rural Canadian family is struggling to run Gibson Funeral Services, their small-town funeral home, in the face of new competition. Harry Gibson is helping his father operate the business, but it’s gotten in the way of his love life.
Missing his recently departed mother and hungry to settle down and have a family of his own, Harry secretly turns to an unconventional method of meeting a woman: an online Russian bride service. When his bride-to-be Katya arrives, with her acerbic sister Eva in tow, the Gibson family is thrown into a tailspin.
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Harry needs to convince his traditional father that he knows what he’s doing, convince his friends and family that he hasn’t lost his mind, and explain to his bride-to-be that they will be sharing their marital home with the dearly departed.
Described as “a hilarious, touching comedy about family, love, and making all kinds of relationships work … even the unexpected kind,” the play won the 2016 Stage West Comedy Award, presented annually to a member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada — the first of two wins of the award by playwright Kristen Da Silva.
Also an actor, Oakville-based Da Silva sets her plays in Ontario locales from Sudbury to Stayner. Her other plays include Book Club, Five Alarm, Sugar Road, Hurry Hard, Where You Are, The Rules of Playing Risk, and Beyond the Sea. Canada’s most-produced playwright Norm Foster has called her “one of the brightest new comedic playwrights in all of Canada.”
Canada’s most-produced playwright Norm Foster has called playwright and actor Kristen Da Silva “one of the brightest new comedic playwrights in all of Canada.” (Photo: Hayley Andoff)
“Laughing with someone is a really quick way to find common ground,” Da Silva said in a January 2022 interview with James Hutchison. “There’s a science behind what laughter actually does in our brain, and some of those brain chemicals allow us to feel a little more open for a while after. In that way, comedy is like a doorway into being able to examine ourselves without the level of fear we might feel doing that directly.”
Danny Gaisin of Ontario Arts Review called Gibson & Sons a “continual giggle with quotable lines too numerous to list,” adding “There’s also some very touching and identifiable bits that make Gibson & Sons hit a personal chord.”
The Peterborough Theatre Guild’s production of Gibson & Sons is directed by Jerry Allen (Annie, The Cripple of Inishmann, Buddy Holly) and produced by Pat Hooper (Annie, Cats).
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Ticket giveaway
kawarthaNOW will be giving away tickets to Gibson & Sons to our VIP readers! To become a VIP reader, sign up for our weekly enews.
Featuring some of Peterborough’s best comic actors — Luke Foster, Dan Smith, Lyndele Gauci, Jade O’Keeffe, Brian McIntosh, Bethany Heemskerk, and Sheila Charleton — performances take place at 7:30 p.m. on February 24 and 25, March 2 to 4, and March 9 to 11, with 2 p.m. matinee performances on February 26 and March 5.
While masking is encouraged at all performances, a special evening performance on March 9 will be available for those more comfortable attending a show with COVID protocols (masking will be required for that performance and there will be limited audience capacity with spaced seating).
Tickets for Gibson & Sons are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $15 for students, and are available online at peterboroughtheatreguild.com or by calling 705-745-4211. Tickets for the March 9 performance are available by calling the box office at 705-745-4211.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a media sponsor of the Peterborough Theatre Guild’s 2022-23 season.
Five local hockey moms and Pink In The Rink campaign ambassadors (Jennie Ireland, Dara Gosselin, Elke Rye, Karen Tarkington, and Dana Thorn) joined PRHC Foundation president and CEO Leslie Heighway and PRHC oncologist Dr. Neera Jeyabalan for a ceremony before the 14th annual cancer fundraising game on February 4, 2023. (Photo: Kenneth Anderson Photography
Although the Peterborough Petes lost to the Oshawa Generals at the 14th annual Pink In The Rink fundraising campaign at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Saturday night (February 4), cancer patients and survivors were the ultimate winners.
The campaign, which raised a preliminary total of $62,600 for cancer care at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC), also celebrated and honoured local hockey moms who have been affected by cancer.
Before a record crowd of 3,912, five local hockey moms and campaign ambassadors — Jennie Ireland, Dara Gosselin, Elke Rye, Karen Tarkington, and Dana Thorn — joined campaign ambassador and PRHC oncologist Dr. Neera Jeyabalan and PRHC Foundation president and CEO Leslie Heighway on the ice before the game for a ceremony recognizing the moms’ cancer journeys.
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Pre-game funds were raised through the five hockey mom ambassadors’ fundraising pages and Chuck-a-Puck and T-shirt sales, along with the auction of game-worn Pink In The Rink jerseys, with the single highest bid $3,000 for the jersey worn by Petes left-winger Brennan Othmann. One fan attending the game also won a record $9,360 in a 50/50 draw.
Despite the fundraising success, the Generals beat the Petes by a score of 7-5. Tommy Purdeller led the scoring for the Petes with two goals, while Jonathan Melee added a goal and two assists. J.R. Avon and Sam Mayer also each had a goal, and Owen Beck had two assists. Brian Zanetti, Gavin White, Chase Stillman, and Jax Dubois also each had an assist.
The Petes and the Generals will face off again at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Thursday night (February 9) for the Indigenous Heritage Night game.
Nova Scotia's Juno award-winning singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joel Plaskett will perform an acoustic show at Peterborough's Market Hall on March 22, 2023 with all proceeds supporting Peterborough Musicfest's 2023 summer season. (Photo: Robert Georgeff)
Concert rescheduled
Due to inclement weather, the artist’s flight was cancelled and the concert date has been changed from February 23rd to Wednesday, March 22nd. All tickets will be honoured for the new date.
Juno award-winning musician Joel Plaskett is returning to Peterborough, for the first time in almost eight years, to perform an acoustic show at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre on Wednesday, March 22nd, as a fundraiser for Peterborough Musicfest.
Although the 47-year-old Nova Scotia native last performed here at the 2015 Peterborough Folk Festival, he has a strong connection to Peterborough in local musician Benj Rowland.
Not only did Plaskett produce Rowland’s 2022 10-song album Community Garden, which was recorded at Plaskett’s Dartmouth studio before the pandemic, but the two musicians also performed together on two of the songs from the record (“Accident” and “Mountain Road”) as well as Plaskett’s song “Absentminded Melody.”
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The tunes appear on Plaskett’s latest release The Window Inn Sessions, a series of songs he recorded with his musical friends — Rowland along with Dave Marsh, Erin Costelo, Garrett Mason, Bill Stevenson, and Mo Kenney — and which was supported by his Patreon fans.
Plaskett’s connection to Rowland dates back to the 2014, when Mayhemingways (Rowland and Josh Fewings) were performing at the Peterborough Folk Festival. Unbeknownst to them, Plaskett was in the Nicholls Oval Park crowd and caught up with the duo at a festival after-party. He invited them to his Dartmouth recording studio the next time they visited the east coast, which they did in the summer of 2016, and Plaskett caught their act in a neighbouring Halifax pub.
At the time, Plaskett was completing work on Solidarity, an album written and recorded with his father Bill — also a musician and a cofounder of the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival. Later that fall, Plaskett contacted Rowland and Fewings and asked them to join him and his father on a cross-Canada tour in early 2017, performing as the opening act as well as the backing band.
VIDEO: “The Next Blue Sky” – Bill and Joel Plaskett with Mayhemingways
VIDEO: “Frontlines of the Hard Times” – Joel Plaskett
VIDEO: “Accident, Absentminded Melody, Mountain Road” – Benj Rowland and Joel Plaskett
A singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Plaskett began his musical career as lead singer and guitarist for the 1990s Halifax-based alt-rock band Thrush Hermit and then, in 1998, as drummer for experimental band Neuseiland. After both bands broke up, he released his first solo album, In Need of Medical Attention, which featured previously unrecorded songs he had written near the end of his days in Thrush Hermit.
While his debut was well-received by critics, Plaskett’s break-out album came with 2001’s Down At The Khyber, which he recorded with his new band The Emergency (Plaskett with bassist Tim Brennan and drummer Dave Marsh). Calling themselves Joel Plaskett Emergency, the trio earned a 2002 Juno nomination as best new artist. The band’s next album, 2003’s Truthfully Truthfully, was Plaskett’s first commercial success. Joel Plaskett Emergency went on to record five more albums, including 2007’s Ashtray Rock, which won six East Coast Music Awards.
During his time with Emergency, Plaskett also continued to release solo records, with 2009’s Three earning him the Juno for adult alternative album of the year, as well as multiple Canadian Folk Music Award and East Coast Music Awards wins.
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His 2015 album The Park Avenue Sobriety Test received another Juno nomination, and 2017’s Solidarity with his father Bill received multiple East Coast Music Awards nominations and a Music Nova Scotia Award win as folk recording of the year. On his the eve of his 45th birthday in 2020, Plaskett released the quadruple album 44, with each 11-song record having its own title and theme.
Joel Plaskett performs at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22nd at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough. General admission tickets are $45, with all proceeds supporting the 36th season of Peterborough Musicfest — Canada’s longest-running free-admission outdoor summer concert series.
Tickets are available in person at the Market Hall box office at 140 Charlotte Street from 12 to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday or online anytime at tickets.markethall.org.
Joel will be playing an acoustic show in Peterborough at The Market Hall February 23rd. Get your tickets here: Peterborough Musicfest
Sarah Susnar and Sonja Martin, owners of Peterborough preganancy and parenting studio Lavender and Play, have announced they are closing their business as of February 28, 2023. (Photo: Naomi Lucienne Photography)
After eight years in business, Peterborough’s pregnancy and parenting studio Lavender and Play will be closing at the end of February.
Owners Sonja Martin and Sarah Susnar made the announcement on their social media channels on Thursday (February 2).
“We just wanted to start off by sharing our gratitude with everyone who has supported our small business over the years,” they write. “It is with mixed emotions that we share with you some big news. We will be closing our doors as of Feb 28th, 2023.”
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“What started as a dream to connect families in our community and support wellness, has been more than fulfilled over the last 8 years. We have expanded ourselves in so many ways. We have so many skills, memories and connections to take with us.”
Susnar originally founded the business as Play Café in 2015, located in Brookdale Plaza. To accommodate her quickly growing business, she moved to a larger space in 2019 — the current location at 1434 Chemong Road — just before the pandemic hit.
As much of Play Café’s success had depended on drop-in customers as well as birthday parties, mom and baby groups, and family paint nights, pandemic lockdowns and subsequent public health restrictions threatened the viability of the business.
Lavender and Play owners Sonja Martin and Sarah Susnar in 2020, shortly after they merged their businesses Rooted Lavender and Play Café. (Photo: Heather Doughty)
In mid-2020, Susnar proposed to Sonja Martin of Rooted Lavender — who had already been teaching part-time yoga, meditation, infant massage, and baby sign language classes at the café — that they merge their businesses and open a kids’ boutique coupled with family support services and classes for moms trying navigating the stages and challenges of parenthood.
The two women launched Lavender and Play in September 2020. Since then, the business expanded to include massage therapist and manual osteopath Nicole Settimi, Ashley Wynne’s Sage and Sunshine Indigenous culture-based private school, and others.
With the closure of Lavender and Play, Susnar will be working at the Children’s Aid Society and Martin will be teaching prenatal classes, offering postpartum doula support, and accepting new behaviourist clients. Settimi will be moving her business to her new home at 566 Grange Way, and Wynne will continue to offer Indigenous education to the community.
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Prior to closing, Lavender and Play will be hosting an open house from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, February 18th, where clients are encouraged to take photos, ask questions, and play and reminisce.
Lavender and Play is currently having a closing sale, and is reminding customers to pick up any orders before February 20th. Anyone who has consigned with them is also asked to pick up their products.
“We are so grateful for the support and love this community has given us,” Martin and Susnar write.
Dear Lavender and Play ( Formally Play Cafe) families.
We just wanted to start off by sharing our gratitude with…
"Team Ptbo" at a morning coffee meeting at Black Honey in downtown Peterborough: Community Futures Peterborough's new executive director Devon Girard (left), Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Sarah Budd (second from left), Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area executive director Terry Guiel, and Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development president and CEO Rhonda Keenan. (Photo courtesy of Terry Guiel)
Devon Girard, the new executive director of Community Futures Peterborough, has a vision for the not-for-profit organization that provides loans and financing for small businesses in the City and County of Peterborough.
She recently spoke with kawarthaNOW about her plans, which include strengthening partnerships with the area’s other economic development organizations, better communication and marketing of what Community Futures offers, and improving diversity and inclusion — all intended to enhance the ecosystem for Peterborough-area entrepreneurs.
A former long-time board member of Community Futures Peterborough, Girard’s vision is informed by her many years of experience in communications, government, not-for-profit, and media. She most recently led the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy program at Northumberland Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC), where she oversaw the innovative financial technology lending platform for female entrepreneurs called DELIA — an acronym for Develop, Educate, Lead, Innovate, Accelerate — and founded StrikeUP Canada, Canada’s largest digital conference for women entrepreneurs.
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“DELIA launched in fall of 2020 and then we put on our first StrikeUP conference in 2021,” Girard recalls. “We thought we were putting on a little conference to attract women entrepreneurs from southern Ontario into the ecosystem and, through the power of digital, it blew up into this global event with more than 3.000 women attending. It grew into an event that corporate partners wanted to invest in. It was a great opportunity to showcase what the path of connectivity can be for a woman entrepreneur and how they can be connected to both corporate support and government support.”
Making that path of connectivity clear for Peterborough entrepreneurs, according to Girard, means strengthening the “team approach” of the area’s economic development organizations.
“Peterborough entrepreneurs are really lucky with the services that are available,” she explains. “What I’m most excited to do is showcase and work with our partners to help make that ecosystem clear — helping to work entrepreneurs through what those levels of support are and how they can be connected. If you want to start a business, you should go here. If you want to grow your business, you should go here. If you want funding for your business, you should go here. Peterborough has an abundance of business resources for entrepreneurs that are free. I can’t wait to help grow and expand that message.”
Community Futures Peterborough recently refreshed its existing website to make it easier for entrepreneurs to navigate and understand, and will be launching a brand new website in 2023. (kawarthaNOW screenshot)
That work has already begun, with Community Futures recently refreshing its existing website at communityfuturespeterborough.ca to make it easier for entrepreneurs to navigate and understand, with a brand new website coming later this year.
“The message should be clear to someone wanting to start a business, or to someone owning a business, who they can go to for what areas of support,” Girard says. “And we are that local funding and financing provider.”
“We’re actually starting a full rebrand,” she reveals. “We’ll have a new logo, we’ll have a new look, and we’ll have a brand new website to launch for our annual general meeting.”
It’s an ideal time to revisit how local entrepreneurs are supported, Girard says, with new leadership at both Community Futures Peterborough and the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce, where Sarah Budd took over from Stuart Harrison as president and CEO last year.
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“The Innovation Cluster will soon have a new leader as well,” Girard points out. “Traditionally those organizations, along with the Downtown Business Improvement Area and Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development, have made a conscious effort to provide complementary services and supports to entrepreneurs, and ensuring the work we’re doing best serves the needs of our community.”
“Those conversations and meetings take place at the executive level once a month, and there’s also working groups at the staff level as well. We’re trying to show that interconnectivity and help shape the entrepreneurial journey so that it’s clear to entrepreneurs. That’s something we hope to help communicate clearly out to the public — through some fun campaigns in the future — about how they can navigate these services and best use these services.”
That includes clearly defining the role of Community Futures in the ecosystem for supporting local business, Girard says.
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“If you’re an entrepreneur, we are that local lender who is able to provide you with financing and with support,” she notes. “We should be top of your mind. It should be really clear in the entrepreneurial community that we are the first choice.”
Another one of Girard’s goals for Community Futures is improving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE & I) for Peterborough-area entrepreneurs.
“What I’ve grown in the women entrepreneur ecosystem in Northumberland will be applied to all that I do here,” Girard says. “We took a small regional approach which grew into a national conference and a national loan fund. I have a vested interest in ensuring women — as well as people of colour, Indigenous, and LGBTQ — have the same opportunities. I think all organizations are looking through a new DE & I lens, and that’s something that we will do for sure at Community Futures Peterborough.”
Girard’s fresh approach resonates with Terry Guiel, executive director of the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area, who says he is thrilled to have her join “Team Ptbo” — a collective that includes Guiel, Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Sarah Budd, and Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development president and CEO Rhonda Keenan.
“Devon is amazing,” Guiel tells kawarthaNOW. “She brings such creativity to the role and she is not afraid to explore unique opportunities and strategies. I feel really positive about this team.”
The female suspect in an armed robbery of a Lindsay business on February 2, 2023. (Police-supplied photo)
Kawartha Lakes police are seeking the public’s help in identifying a suspect in the armed robbery of a Lindsay business on Thursday night (February 2)
At around 10:10 p.m. on Thursday, officers were called to a business on Lindsay Street South after an employee reported the female suspect entered the store and demanded money and cigarettes.
She removed what appeared to be a handgun from their pocket and showed it to the employee before fleeing the store with a quantity of cash and cigarettes.
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The employee was not injured.
Officers searched the area but did not locate the suspect.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Kawartha Lakes Police Service at 705-324-5252. If you prefer to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip online at khcrimestoppers.com.
The 19th annual YWCA Empty Bowls fundraiser takes place at The Venue in Peterborough on February 25, 2023. All proceeds from the event, where ticket holders can choose from a selection of hand-crafted bowl donated by local artisans of the Kawartha Potters Guild and Kawartha Woodturners Guild and receive a local restaurant coupon card, will directly support YWCA Nourish Food programs to prevent and relieve hunger in the city and county of Peterborough. (Photo courtesy of YWCA Peterborough Haliburton)
Tickets are on sale for YWCA Peterborough Haliburton’s Empty Bowls fundraising event taking place Saturday, February 25th at The Venue in downtown Peterborough.
All proceeds from the 19th annual event will help address food insecurity in the Peterborough area. Last year’s event raised $31,000 for YWCA Nourish Food programs to prevent and relieve hunger in the city and county of Peterborough.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on February 25, ticket holders will visit The Venue at 286 George Street North where they’ll have a 30-minute time slot to browse and select a hand-crafted bowl donated by local artisans of the Kawartha Potters Guild and Kawartha Woodturners Guild.
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Each $50 ticket also includes a local restaurant coupon card featuring discounts from participating restaurants and businesses, redeemable for six months, including Amandala’s, Baked 4U, Black Honey, Central Smith, Fresh Dreams, Gerti’s, Naked Chocolate, Pastry Peddler, Sam’s Place, Stickling’s, That’s A Wrap!, and The Cheese Fromage.
“In Peterborough, one in seven households are experiencing food-insecurity,” explains YWCA’s Nourish manager Joëlle Favreau. “Every ticket for YWCA Empty Bowls helps individuals and families most at risk of experiencing food insecurity put fresh, local, affordable food on their tables, while also supporting the systemic changes required to end food insecurity and poverty.”
Tickets are available online at www.ywcapeterborough.org or by calling YWCA Peterborough Haliburton at 705-743-3526. Don’t delay getting your tickets as they sell out fast.
Some of the hand-crafted ceramic and wooden bowls donated by local artisans of the Kawartha Potters Guild and Kawartha Woodturners Guild for the 2022 YWCA Empty Bowls fundraiser, which raised $31,000 to help address food insecurity in the Peterborough area. (Photos courtesy of YWCA Peterborough Haliburton)
“We’re extremely grateful for the continued support of our community and our sponsors — including Kawartha Cardiology Clinic, Cornerstone Family Dentistry, and The Venue — who truly understand that food insecurity is a critical health issue and a core barrier for women experiencing gender-based violence,” says YWCA executive director Kim Dolan.
Empty Bowls is a grassroots movement by artists and crafts people in cities around the world to care for and feed the hungry in their communities. Annual events support food-related charitable organizations, raising millions of dollars to help end hunger and address food insecurity.
YWCA Peterborough Haliburton collaborates with organizations like Peterborough Public Health and Peterborough GreenUP to support the creation of a network of places dedicated to eating, cooking, growing, and advocating for good food throughout Peterborough City and County.
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For more information about Nourish and YWCA Peterborough Haliburton, visit www.ywcapeterborough.org.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a media sponsor of the 2023 YWCA Empty Bowls fundraiser.
Peterborough musicians Benj Rowland, Nicholas Campbell, and Nathan Truax will be joining host Melissa Payne for a songwriters' revue at Jethro's Bar + Stage in downtown Peterborough on Sunday night. (kawarthaNOW collage)
Every Thursday, we publish live music events at pubs and restaurants in Peterborough and the greater Kawarthas region based on information that venues provide to us directly or post on their website or social media channels. Here are the listings for the week of Thursday, February 2 to Wednesday, February 8.
If you’re a pub or restaurant owner and want to be included in our weekly listings, please email our nightlifeNOW editor at nightlife@kawarthanow.com. For concerts and live music events at other venues, check out our Concerts & Live Music page.
With the exception of karaoke, we only list events with performing musicians. Venues may also host other events during the week (e.g., dancing, DJs, comedy shows).
Saturday, February 11 7pm - Valentines Dance ft The Harry Peterson Band
Crook & Coffer
231 Hunter St. W., Peterborough
705-876-0505
Thursday, February 2
7-9pm - Marsala Lukianchuk & Tyson Galloway
Friday, February 3
8-10pm - Sing along with Jimmy
Saturday, February 4
7:30-10:30pm - The Hippie Chicks
Tuesday, February 7
7-9pm - All Request Tuesdays w/ Rod MacDonald
Dominion Hotel
113 Main St., Minden
(705) 286-6954
Saturday, February 4
4:30-7:30pm - Jeff Moulton
Dr. J's BBQ & Brews
282 Aylmer St., Peterborough
(705) 874-5717
Coming Soon
Saturday, February 18 1-4pm - Peterborough Musicians Benevolent Association (PMBA) presents Joey Lips & The Kissers (Joe Stats, Shane Davey, Chris Collins, Sean Daniels, Jeremy Spencley)i (PWYC, with proceeds to PMBA)
Erben Eatery & Bar
189 Hunter St W,, Peterborough
705-304-1995
Thursday, February 2
8pm - Mike MacCurdy (no cover)
Friday, February 3
9pm - High Waters Band
Saturday, February 4
9pm - Hitcher w/ Super Delicious
Wednesday, February 8
8-11pm - Open mic hosted by Mike MacCurdy
Coming Soon
Thursday, February 9 8pm - River Jensen (no cover)
Ganaraska Hotel
30 Ontario St., Port Hope
(905) 885-9254
Saturday, February 4
2-6pm - Blue Print
Coming Soon
Friday, February 17 8pm - Brooks & Bowskill w/ The Hometown Beauts ($20, tickets available at The Ganny and Zap Records in Cobourg)
Saturday, February 18 8pm - Brooks & Bowskill w/ The Hometown Beauts ($20, tickets available at The Ganny and Zap Records in Cobourg)
Sunday, February 19 2pm - Brooks & Bowskill w/ The Hometown Beauts ($20, tickets available at The Ganny and Zap Records in Cobourg)
Friday, February 24 8pm - Walk The Line - A Tribute to Johnny Cash fundraiser for Greenwood Coalition ($20 in advance at https://walktheline.eventbrite.ca)
Saturday, February 11 (rescheduled from January 27) 8pm - Rock of Slayges ft drag performances by Lily Padz and Banshii Waylon and live music by No Small Affair ($10 at door)
The Granite
45 Bridge St. W., Bancroft
613-332-1500
Coming Soon
Friday, February 10 5-8pm - Melodi Ryan
Friday, February 17 5-8pm - Ed Stephenson
Saturday, February 18 5-8pm - Kirk Bates
Sunday, February 19 5-8pm - Matt Smith
Graz Restobar
38 Bolton St., Bobcaygeon
705-738-6343
Coming Soon
Sunday, February 19 3-5pm - Sean Jamieson and Catherine Sugrue
Jethro's Bar + Stage
137 Hunter St. W., Peterborough
705-931-0617
Thursday, February 2
6-8pm - Little Fire; 8-10pm - Calvin Bakelaar & Jordan Sukumaran; 10pm - The Union
8-10pm - Wild Cards; 10pm - Diamond Dave & The Smoke Eaters
Sunday, February 5
3-6pm - Open Blues Jam; 7-9pm - Songwriters Revue w/ host Melissa Payne ft guests Benj Rowland, Nicholas Campbell, Nathan Truax ($10 suggested donation)
VIDEO: "Accident" by Benj Rowland
VIDEO: "Coming Home To You" - Nicholas Campbell
VIDEO: "Broke" by Nathan Truax
Monday, February 6
8pm - Karaoke
Wednesday, February 8
9pm - Tribute to the 80s w/ host Kayla Howran ft. Emily Burgess
Kelly's Homelike Inn
205 3rd Street, Cobourg
905-372-3234
Saturday, February 4
4-8pm - Darrin Johnson & The Can’t Hardly Playboys
Mainstreet Bar & Grill
1939 Lakehurst Road, Buckhorn
(705) 657-9094
Saturday, February 4
7pm - Open jam
Coming Soon
Saturday, February 11 8pm - Po' Boy Jeffrey and Calamity Jane
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McThirsty's Pint
166 Charlotte St., Peterborough
(705) 743-2220
Friday, February 3
9pm - Live music TBA
Saturday, February 4
9pm - Live music TBA
Sunday, February 5
7pm - Open mic
Tuesday, February 7
8pm - Emily Burgess
Wednesday, February 8
9pm - Greg Dowey
The Muse Gallery & Cafe
23 Bridge St., Bancroft
613-332-1573
Coming Soon
Saturday, March 11 6-8pm - Rob Bearson and Virginia deCarle from The Salt Cellars ($15, tickets available at The Muse)
Oasis Bar & Grill
31 King St. E., Cobourg
(905) 372-6634
Friday, February 3
6-9pm - Cale Crowe (no cover)
Sunday, February 5
6-9pm - PHLO
Pastry Peddler
17 King St., Millbrook
(705) 932-7333
Coming Soon
Friday, February 10 5:30pm & 7:45pm - Valentines Dinner Night ft Marsala Lukianchuk, Michael Monis, Tyson Galloway ($65 per person, reservations required)
Pie Eyed Monk Brewery
8 Cambridge St. N., Lindsay
(705) 212-2200
Coming Soon
Friday, March 17 8pm - St. Patrick's Day ft John Turner ($15 at )
The Publican House
300 Charlotte St., Peterborough
(705) 874-5743
Thursday, February 2
7-9pm - River Jensen
Friday, February 3
7-9pm - David Shewchuk
Puck' N Pint Sports Pub
871 Chemong Rd., Peterborough
(705) 741-1078
Friday, February 3
7pm - Andy & The Boys
Red Dog Tavern
189 Hunter St. W., Peterborough
(705) 741-6400
Coming Soon
Friday, February 10 9pm - The Mickies w/ Down Goes Jasper ($10, all proceeds to benefit One City Peterborough)
Friday, March 31 9pm - BA Johnston, the Mickies, Beef Boys ($10 at door)
Saturday, April 1 10pm - The Human Rights w/ Dub Trinity, MUVA Soundsysterm, DJ Chocolate ($16.50 in advance at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/475884131247, $20 at door)
The Thirsty Goose
63 Walton St., Port Hope
Friday, February 3
8pm-12am - Live music TBA
Saturday, February 4
8pm-12am - Live music TBA
The Venue
286 George Street North, Peterborough
(705) 876-0008
Environment Canada has issued an extreme cold warning for the entire Kawarthas region for Thursday night (February 2) into Friday morning, and again for Friday night into Saturday morning.
The extreme cold warning is in effect for Peterborough County, the City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton County, Hastings Highlands, and Northumberland County.
In the wake of a strong cold front, a blast of cold Arctic air will reach southern Ontario late Thursday night.
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In the southern Kawarthas region, wind chills are expected to reach -35°C to -40°C late Thursday night into Friday morning, with wind chills reaching -40°C to -45°C in the northern region. After moderating during the day Friday, wind chills are again forecast to reach as low as -40°C Friday night into Saturday morning.
Environment Canada issues extreme cold warnings when very cold temperatures or wind chill creates an elevated risk to health such as frost bite and hypothermia. Risks are greater for young children, older adults, people with chronic illnesses, people working or exercising outdoors, and those without proper shelter.
Dress warmly in layers that you can remove if you get too warm (the outer layer should be wind resistant) and cover up. Frostbite can develop within minutes on exposed skin, especially with wind chill.
Remember: if it’s too cold for you to stay outside, it’s too cold for your pet to stay outside.
Peterborough GreenUP's Climate Leadership Camp for Girls, Two-Spirit and Gender Diverse Youth is a week-long camp at Ecology Park during July and August tailored to ages 11 to 13. The camp offers gender-diverse youth the chance to build the skills and confidence needed to become climate leaders, with a focus on green building, food security, cycling skills, climate adaptation, and water protection. (Photo: Genevieve Ramage)
Youth in our region have proven that they can have a real and sustained impact on the environment and climate.
Each week, GreenUP provides a story related to the environment. This week’s column is by Karen O’Krafka, Program Coordinator at GreenUP.
Youth are conscious consumers, discerning digesters of media, and they can get down and dirty to retrofit their school yards for climate resilience, all while tackling responsibilities at school and at home. How can we further support and encourage these inspiring climate leaders?
As many families are currently planning for summer camp, GreenUP is excited to shout “There are camps that can do that!”
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Gearing up for a fourth season, GreenUP’s Climate Leadership camp for Girls, Two-Spirit and Gender Diverse Youth is one of many camps in this region that offers children and youth opportunities to flex their leadership muscles.
While writing this column on the International Day of Education (January 24), we were inspired to take a deeper look at the diverse patchwork of nature-inspired camps offered here in Peterborough and the Kawarthas. These camps play an important role in the community by developing biophilia (nature connectedness) in our youngest generation.
To help reiterate this point, Jacob Rodenburg, executive director of Camp Kawartha and leader of the Pathway to Stewardship and Kinship, asks, “What are the key seminal experiences that will help motivate? A lot of it is not rocket science, right? Little kids need a chance just to love the earth, to activate their senses.”
Not only does the climate crisis magnify inequalities people may face, but it also exacerbates the emotional anxiety that is disproportionately experienced by youth. Camps are a powerful tool in addressing this anxiety by engaging in thoughtful dialogue and supporting youth agency in creating change. (Photo: Jessica Todd / GreenUP)
The tremendous local contingent of nature-based camps certainly offer this for campers. Our region is home to Trent TRACKS camps, Jumping Mouse Outdoor School, Gritty Classroom, Camp Kawartha, and Rowantree Children School, to name just a few.
Summer camps provide children and youth with opportunity to connect to nature. They can also benefit the youth by strengthening their resiliency during times of duress.
“We often underestimate the positive impacts that time in nature can have on our mental well-being and resilience,” explains Anne Corkery, renowned environmental educator and founder of the Gritty Classroom Camps. “At a time when resilience is lacking in our younger population and our climate is in crisis, we need now, more than ever, to cultivate a connection between our children and the natural world.”
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As our campers grow, so do their interests and what engages them. Tweens and teens benefit most from authentic opportunities for hands-on experience combined with real work. Rodenburg notes that “as [young people] get older, they need to engage in direct action.”
Enter climate leadership camps.
GreenUP’s Climate Leadership Camp for Girls, Two-Spirit and Gender Diverse Youth is again set to wheel our way through the community with week-long camps tailored to ages 11 to 13.
Climate leadership camps at GreenUP provide outlets for youth to discuss, act upon, and relate back to issues in climate change through meaningful action. (Photo: Jessica Todd / GreenUP)
The impacts of climate change are felt disproportionately across many intersections of lived experience, and continue to magnify the inequalities in our society.
“One solution is to increase access to educational programming that responds to inequalities,” offers GreenUP’s executive director Tegan Moss. “At GreenUP, this is exactly what we’ve been doing with the Climate Leadership program.”
Camp can create inspiring environments that hone skills, engage in respectful dialogue and have fun, too — all in the name of climate leadership.
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During the Climate Leadership program, GreenUP education staff introduce this group of campers to trusted mentors who generously share own their professional expertise and passion around climate action.
This summer, this cohort will have the opportunity to learn from B!KE, The Diverse Nature Collective, Elder Dorothy Taylor from Oshkigamong/Curve Lake First Nation, The Endeavour Centre, Nourish, and the Gender Equity team from Kawartha World Issues Centre.
With the support of an incredible community of climate action heroes and opportunities like nature-based camps, young people have the chance to build the skills and confidence they need to be climate leaders, now and into the future.
Peterborough GreenUP’s Climate Leadership Camp for Girls, Two-Spirit and Gender Diverse Youth includes a cycling skills component in partnership with B!ke – The Community Bike Shop. B!ke’s community outreach manager Ness Pringle says they “really enjoyed getting to work with the kids because it allowed me to be a part of the process of helping them settle in and open up socially. Many of them by the end of the day, I noticed, had already become more knowledgeable about the mechanics of their bikes.” (Photo: Genevieve Ramage)
Thanks to the support of the Community Foundation, we are able to both enhance our programming and to offer four fully funded equity priority spaces for Climate Leadership campers this year.
The Community Foundation of Peterborough’s Gender Equality Grants are made possible thanks to a collaboration between Community Foundations of Canada and the Equality Fund, with support from the Government of Canada.
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