Police are investigating after a man’s body was found on Harris Road in the Municipality of Port Hope on Monday afternoon (January 9).
At 1:44 p.m., the Northumberland OPP received information a man had been discovered dead near a vehicle parked on Harris Road near the hamlet of Canton.
The Northumberland OPP Crime Unit is at the scene conducting a death investigation, and Harris Road is closed at 4th Line as a result.
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Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact the Northumberland OPP at 1-888-310-1122.
If you wish to remain anonymous, you can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or submit information online at stopcrimehere.ca.
The Canadian documentary "Love in the Time of Fentanyl," which tells the story of a vibrant group of misfits, artists, and drug users who operate a renegade safe injection site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, fighting to save lives and keep hope alive in a neighbourhood ravaged by the overdose crisis, is one of the 60 films screening during the virtual 2023 ReFrame Film Festival from January 26 to February 3. (Photo courtesy of ReFrame Film Festival)
Peterborough’s ReFrame Film Festival has unveiled the full lineup of social justice documentary films screening during the 2023 virtual festival, which runs for nine days from Thursday, January 26th to Friday, February 3rd.
The 19th annual documentary film festival, available to audiences across Canada, features an extensive list of fascinating films on the international circuit, as well as Canadian films and local short films.
The festival opens on January 26 with an in-person event at Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough, featuring an exclusive screening of All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The epic story of internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin is told through her slideshows, intimate interviews, ground-breaking photography, and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharma, manufacturer of OxyContin, accountable for the overdose crisis.
Prior to the opening night screening, Alice Williams will open the festival with a prayer, Cormac Culkeen will give a musical performance, and ReFrame creative director Amy Siegel will speak about the festival program.
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VIDEO: “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” trailer
International films screening during the virtual festival include Subject that explores the life-altering experience of sharing one’s life on screen through the participants of five acclaimed documentaries, Be My Voice about exiled journalist Masih Alinejad who urges Iranian women to rebel on social media, The Seeds of Vandana Shiva that presents the incredible life story of the Gandhian eco-activist, and Devil Put The Coal In The Ground that looks at the devastation brought on by the coal industry and its decline.
Canadian films premiering at ReFrame include Norwegian Headache about a historic lawsuit that grants unborn Norwegians the right to a clean environment and Freedom Hill that explores the environmental racism washing away the town of Princeville, North Carolina. Canadian feature films include The Colour of Ink that follows acclaimed Toronto artist Jason Logan who creates incredible inks from foraged plants and found objects, and Love in the Time of Fentanyl about a renegade safe injection site in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Local short films include the world premiere of Rewilding the Classroom by educator Cam Douglas and filmmaker Rodney Fuentes, about aligning educational practices with the reality of environmental crises through the Youth Leadership in Sustainability program, and The Butch and the Baby Daddy from Trent professor Karleen Pendleton Jimenez about a trans/butch lesbian who asks her close friend to help her build a family.
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VIDEO: “The Colour of Ink” trailer
New this year, ReFrame and Artspace have collaborated on a special in-person exhibition on-view at Artspace from January 25 until February 25. Featured projects include What Fools These Mortals Be, a three-channel video installation that reimagines Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a series of tableaux vivants (living pictures) performed by formerly incarcerated women, and Intravene, an immersive audio experience about the opioid crisis.
You can get opening night tickets (which must be purchased separately), single and household virtual festival passes, and festival five-pack, eight-pack, or 10-pack of tickets (allowing you to stream five, eight, or 10 virtual films of your choice) at reframefilmfestival.ca.
Opening night tickets are $20 or pay what you can, a single pass is $100, a household pass is $120, a five-pack is $45, an eight-pack is $65, and a 10-pack is $80. Pay-what-you-can tickets for single films will be available on Wednesday (January 11).
Ten young women reside in a home for girls from the streets of Bogotá. They talk about their roommate, Alis. She is a collective invention and at the same time a protected space that makes it possible to express painful truths.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022, 117 minutes)
Following the life of artist Nan Goldin and the downfall of the Sackler family, the pharmaceutical dynasty who was greatly responsible for the opioid epidemic’s unfathomable death toll. Note: This film will screen in-person only during opening night at Showplace Performance Centre; it is not available as part of the virtual festival.
And Still I Sing (2022, 90 minutes)
Controversial Afghan pop star and activist Aryana Sayeed mentors young hopefuls as they prepare to appear on their country’s hit TV show `Afghan Star’.
Apart (2020, 86 minutes)
Against the backdrop of a Midwestern state battling industrial decline, an opioid epidemic, and rising incarceration rates, APART offers an intimate portrait of three women who return home from prison and rebuild their lives after being separated from their children for years.
Arctic Song (2022, 7 minutes)
Arctic Song tells stories of how the land, sea and sky came to be in beautifully rendered animation.
Be My Voice (2021, 90 minutes)
Exiled journalist and activist Masih Alinejad, who has millions of followers on Instagram, amplifies the voices of Iranian women.
The Benevolents (Les bienveillants) (2021, 16 minutes)
The Benevolents (Les bienveillants) takes us into the world of Tel-Aide Montreal call centre, as we follow a group of future volunteers.
Beyond Extinction documents three decades of Indigenous struggle by the Sinixt people, and their decades long struggle for recognition.
Bigger Than Us (2021, 95 minutes)
For six years, Melati, 18, has been fighting the plastic pollution that is ravaging her country, Indonesia.
Body Politics (2021, 8 minutes)
In a fatphobic image-conscious world, educator, activist and eccentric cat-lady-turned-politician Dr. Jill Andrew takes her fight for body justice, human rights, representation, access and equity to the legislature as the first queer Black person elected as a member of provincial parliament.
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On (2022, 90 minutes)
For over six decades, Buffy Sainte-Marie has put truth to music and the world has listened, even when powerful forces tried to silence her.
A Bunch of Amateurs (2022, 94 minutes)
In the northern industrial town of Bradford, England, a handful of diehard amateur filmmakers desperately cling to their dreams, and to each other, in this warm and funny look at shared artistic folly that speaks to the dreamer in us all.
Burnt. Land of Fire (2020, 14 minutes)
This short documentary captures life in a little village in Calabria in southern Italy.
The short film “The Butch and the Baby Daddy” from Trent professor Karleen Pendleton Jimenez is about a trans/butch lesbian who asks her close friend to help her build a family .(Photo courtesy of ReFrame Film Festival)
The Butch and the Baby Daddy (2022, 6 minutes)
The Butch and the Baby Daddy is about a trans/butch lesbian who asks her close friend to help her build a family.
Choices (2023, 43 minutes)
A group of men from Peterborough, Ontario reveal the stories that set the course of their destiny.
The Colour of Ink (2022, 105 minutes)
The Colour of Ink uncovers the mystery and power of our oldest medium through the eyes of Jason Logan, a Toronto inkmaker. Harvesting colours from the natural world—weeds, berries, bark, flowers, rocks, rust—he makes ink from just about anything.
Dad Can Dance (2022, 29 minutes)
Dad Can Dance is a mid-length documentary short about family secrets.
Dear Jackie (2021, 90 minutes)
Dear Jackie is a cinematic letter to Jackie Robinson, the first Black man to play in Major League Baseball, and a cultural leader in Montreal, Quebec.
Dear Mr. Dudley (2021, 13 minutes)
Dear Mr. Dudley follows a series of hand-written letters between the filmmaker and his estranged father.
Devil Put the Coal in the Ground (2022, 80 minutes)
This film follows the rise and fall of the coal industry in Appalachia, and the people who continue to live there.
Eternal Spring (2022, 86 minutes)
Confronted with government denunciations and human rights violations against their spiritual practice, a group of Chinese activists executes a bold and perilous plan to hack into state television.
Fault Lines – People, Work, and the COVID-19 Pandemic (2023, 15 minutes)
Workers in sectors hardest hit by COVID make us question the fault lines endemic to our system.
For Your Peace of Mind, Make Your Own Museum (2021, 71 minutes)
In a tiny village lives the ghost of a folk artist named Senobia Cerrud, who transformed her house into The Museum of Antiquities of All Species.
Foragers (2022, 65 minutes)
Foragers depicts the dramas around the practice of foraging for wild edible plants in Palestine, with wry humour and a meditative pace.
Framing Agnes (2022, 75 minutes)
After discovering case files from a 1950s gender clinic, a cast of trans actors turn a talk show inside out to confront the legacy of a young trans woman forced to choose between honesty and access.
Premiering at the virtual 2023 ReFrame Film Festival, “Freedom Hill” is a short documentary exploring the environmental racism washing away the town of Princeville in North Carolina. (Photo courtesy of ReFrame Film Festival)
Freedom Hill (2022, 29 minutes)
Freedom Hill is a short documentary exploring the environmental racism washing away the town of Princeville.
Galb’Echaouf (2021, 18 minutes)
The breathtaking landscapes of Western Sahara don’t seem to have a memory. Yet, the eyes of its people bear enduring signs of the tragedy that has marked their existence for decades. Through small details, fragments of a lasting conflict find their way to the screen.
Haulout (2022, 25 minutes)
A man is waiting in his hut in the desolate expanse of the Russian Arctic. He is holding out in order to observe a natural event that occurs here, every year. But ocean warming is taking its toll.
Heartbeat of a Nation (2022, 20 minutes)
In Heartbeat of a Nation, a short documentary by Eric Janvier that celebrates Dene cultural reclamation and revitalization, a father passes on traditional knowledge to his child through the teachings of a caribou drum.
High Tide Don’t Hide (2021, 82 minutes)
In the race for existence, striking teenagers discover that activism, authority and awareness make for a steep learning curve.
A Hundred Joys (2022, 5 minutes)
A Hundred Joys is a film about the main intersection of Toronto’s East Chinatown, a community whose stores spread out onto the streets.
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Imalirijit (2021, 27 minutes)
Tim Anaviapik Soucie is a young father living in Pond Inlet, Nunavut who started an inspiring research project about water quality.
In Love With A Problem (2022, 22 minutes)
The story of the women who rebirthed plastic.
Inuktitut Dialects (2020, 9 minutes)
Ulivia explores what is accessible via Internet in relation to Inuktitut.
Let the Little Light Shine (2022, 86 minutes)
Parents and students at a top-ranked African American elementary school fight to save the institution after it’s threatened with replacement by a school favoring wealthy families.
Living on the Threshold (2022, 29 minutes)
Dancer Marine Chesnais travels to Réunion Island to collaborate with migrating humpback whales.
Love in the Time of Fentanyl (2022, 80 minutes)
A vibrant group of misfits, artists, and drug users operates a renegade safe injection site in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, fighting to save lives and keep hope alive in a neighbourhood ravaged by the overdose crisis.
Make People Better (2022, 83 minutes)
A rogue biophysicist disappears after developing the first designer babies, shocking the world and the entire scientific community, but an investigation shows he may not have been alone in his attempts to create a “better” human being.
Mariposa (2022, 6 minutes)
An operatic cine-poem weaving together the stories of African-Canadian singer Portia White, South African chef Phelokazi Ndlwana, and the Free Gender activist group—a Black lesbian organization based in Khayelitsha, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town.
Meeting Point (2022, 90 minutes)
Two filmmakers theatrically explore how their fathers were imprisoned together in 1975, under the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile.
Nelly & Nadine (2022, 92 minutes)
Nelly & Nadine is the unlikely love story between two women falling in love on Christmas Eve, 1944, in the Ravensbrück concentration camp.
The New Greatness Case (2022, 93 minutes)
The New Greatness Case offers remarkable access to a group of young Russians entrapped by the secret service, resulting in unjust trials and prison sentences – echoing the intensified crackdown on dissent and free expression in Russia we see on the news every day.
Norwegian Headache (2021, 51 minutes)
In the Norwegian Constitution, there is an article that speaks for future generations. Article 112 gives all unborn Norwegians the right to a clean environment, and now it has been challenged in the Norwegian Supreme Court for the first time in history as a group of lawyers, young activists and grandparents file a historic lawsuit against the Norwegian government for granting new oil licenses in the Arctic Barents Sea.
Okay! (The ASD Band Film) (2022, 75 minutes)
Four performers on the autism spectrum form a band and take on the challenge of writing and performing their first album of original songs.
Our Glorious Bodies (2021, 7 minutes)
Enter into a liberating and intimate space that celebrates disability, joining one disabled voice with community-sourced images of and by disabled artists.
Planktonium (2021, 15 minutes)
Planktonium is a short film about the secret universe of living microscopic plankton. These stunningly beautiful, diverse and numerous organisms are invisible to the naked eye, but are drifting in every water around us.
Rebellion (2022, 82 minutes)
Rebellion is the first feature-length documentary to tell the behind-the-scenes story of Extinction Rebellion from its launch in 2018. With unprecedented access, the filmmakers follow a group of unlikely allies and capture the human drama of social movements first hand.
Premiering at the virtual 2023 ReFrame Film Festival, “Rewilding the Classroom” is a short documentary by local educator Cam Douglas and filmmaker Rodney Fuentes exploring opportunities to align educational practices with the reality of environmental crises through the Youth Leadership in Sustainability program in Nogojiwanong/Peterborough. (Photo courtesy of ReFrame Film Festival)
Rewilding the Classroom (2023, 15 minutes)
Exploring opportunities to align educational practices with the reality of environmental crises through the Youth Leadership in Sustainability program in Nogojiwanong/Peterborough.
Ricochet (2022, 76 minutes)
When an undocumented immigrant in San Francisco is accused of killing a young woman, the incident ignites a national firestorm, as two public defenders fight to reveal the truth.
Riotsville, USA (2022, 90 minutes)
Welcome to Riotsville, a fictional town built by the US military. Using all archival footage, the film explores the militarization of the police and creates a counter-narrative to the nation’s reaction to the uprisings of the late ’60s.
Sam Now (2022, 87 minutes)
Sam and his half-brother Reed use archival footage to investigate the mystery of their mother’s disappearance 25 years ago.
The Scattering of Man – DƏNE YI’INJET (2021, 75 minutes)
Director Luke Gleeson, a member of the Tsay Keh Dene Nation, unveils the story of the people who were forcibly relocated from their ancestral territory when the Williston Reservoir and the W.A.C. Bennett Dam were created in the 1960s. In the process of putting up these hydro power projects, the government of the time flooded 175,000 hectares of Indigenous territory, including villages, hunting and fishing grounds, and culturally significant sites.
“The Seeds of Vandana Shiva” tells the story of Gandhian eco-activist Vandana Shiva, who takes on powerful corporations that pollute and degrade the environment. (Photo: Camilla Becket)
The Seeds of Vandana Shiva (2021, 91 minutes)
Activist Vandana Shiva takes on powerful corporations that pollute and degrade the environment.
Sirens (2022, 79 minutes)
On the outskirts of Beiruit, young women navigate friendship and identity in their pursuit of becoming thrash metal stars.
The Smell of Money (2022, 85 minutes)
A rural North Carolina community fight the world’s largest pork corporation for their freedom to enjoy fresh air, clean water and a life without the stench of manure.
“Subject” explores the life-altering experience of sharing one’s life on screen through the participants of five acclaimed documentaries, including Ahmed Hassan. (Photo courtesy of ReFrame Film Festival)
Subject (2022, 90 minutes)
Subject explores the life-altering experience of sharing one’s life on screen through the participants of five acclaimed documentaries.
Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children (2022, 90 minutes)
Filmmaker Barri Cohen leads part detective story, part social history as she uncovers the truth about Alfie and Louis, her two long-dead half-brothers. They were institutionalized at the Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia in the 1950s.
Vibrations – Inner Music (2022, 15 minutes)
Deaf dancer Kassandra Wedel flips the switch on expectations of sound and movement as she conducts her own piece, using patterns and rhythms from her urban environment.
Wild Prairie Man (2022, 52 minutes)
An intimate look at the life of a man enthralled with the exotic and endangered lands of Grasslands National Park. Located in the Northern Great Plains of Canada, Grasslands has been a 20-year odyssey for wildlife photographer James R. Page.
Will You Look at Me (2022, 21 minutes)
As a young Chinese filmmaker returns to his hometown in search for himself, a long due conversation with his mother dives the two of them into a quest for acceptance and love.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be an official media partner and sponsor of the 2023 ReFrame Film Festival.
Holiday Shopping Passport Early Bird winner Helen Lovick shows off her winning passport at Gentry Apparel with shop owner Andrew Damiany. Lovick won the final early bird draw of the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) annual Holiday Shopping Passport program. She completed her winning passport at the Avant-Garden Shop at 377 George Street North in downtown Peterborough, where she purchased clothing during the holiday season. (Photo courtesy of Peterborough DBIA)
Helen Lovick has won a $500 Boro gift card for shopping local in downtown Peterborough, as part of the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) annual Holiday Shopping Passport program.
For ever $10 people spend at any of more than 150 participating downtown business, they receive a stamp in their holiday shopping passport. When a passport is filled with 20 stamps (representing $200 in spending), the completed passport is entered into a draw for three $500 early bird prizes and a $1,500 grand prize.
Lovick’s passport was drawn as the winner of the third and final Holiday Shopping Passport early bird prize on December 21 at Agave by Imperial, a new Mexican restaurant located at 376 George Street in downtown Peterborough. The first two early bird prizes were won by Heather Adey on December 7 and Karen Scott on December 14.
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Lovick completed her winning passport at Gentry Apparel at 377 George Street North in downtown Peterborough, where she purchased clothing during the holiday season. She was presented her $500 Boro gift card prize by Gentry Apparel shop owner Andrew Damiany.
“I love shopping downtown for the people, quality, and personal touch you experience,” Lovick says in a media release. “It’s important to support your community and neighbours. I have a deep respect for entrepreneurs and what they are able to build for our community.”
New this year, passport winners also received a Peterborough Musicfest Diner’s Book alongside their Boro gift card. The Musicfest Diner’s Book is filled with coupons valued at $600 in savings at local restaurants, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going directly towards musician fees for the summer outdoor music festival.
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The grand prize draw will take place on Wednesday (January 11), where one lucky shopper will win a $1,500 Boro Card and Musicfest Diner’s Book.
Stamp collectors eager to finish their passport cards before the grand prize draw can collect free stamps at the Peterborough Public Library at 345 Aylmer Street North and the Peterborough & the Kawarthas Visitors Centre at 270 George Street North.
One of the two West African dwarf crocodile hatchlings at the Riverview Park & Zoo in Peterborough. (Photo: Riverview Park & Zoo)
Peterborough’s Riverview Park & Zoo has announced its latest additions: two West African dwarf crocodile hatchlings.
The smallest true crocodile species, the West African dwarf crocodile can reach 1.6 metres (5.2 feet) in length. In comparison, the largest crocodile species — the saltwater crocodile, which is also the largest reptile on the planet — can reach lengths of more than 6.5 metres (23 feet).
West African dwarf crocodile hatchlings are typically 28 centimetres (11 inches) long and grow quickly. The young crocodiles eat worms, insects, tadpoles, and small fish. As adults, they eat fish, crustaceans, crabs, insects, amphibians, birds, small mammals, snakes, and lizards.
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The West African dwarf crocodile is native to the tropical lowland regions of sub-Saharan and west central Africa, from the southern tip of Senegal in the north to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the east and down to a small region of northern Angola in the south. They frequent densely vegetated swampy ponds, slow moving rivers and streams, and occasionally savannah pools.
As compensation for its small size, the West African dwarf crocodile has an aggressive temperament, with a thick body covering of heavily armoured scales protecting it from injury. The species has a life span of up to 75 years.
The Riverview Park & Zoo is Canada’s only free-admission accredited zoo. For more information about the West African dwarf crocodile along with the zoo’s 40 other species, and to support the zoo through donations, visit www.riverviewparkandzoo.ca.
West African dwarf crocodiles can reach 1.6 metres (5.2 feet) in length when fully grown. In comparison, saltwater crocodiles can reach lengths of more than 6.5 metres (23 feet). (Photo: Riverview Park & Zoo)
Haliburton Highlands OPP document the scene of a single ATV collision on Highway 35 near Matabanick Road in the Township of Algonquin Highlands that claimed the life of the 43-year-old driver on January 8, 2023. (Photo: Ontario Provincial Police)
A 43-year-old Haliburton County man is dead following a single ATV collision on Sunday morning (January 8).
Just before 7:30 a.m., the Haliburton Highlands OPP and emergency services responded to the collision on Highway 35 near Matabanick Road in the Township of Algonquin Highlands.
The driver of the ATV was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Police have identified the driver as a 43-year-old man of the Municipality of Dysart et al but have not released his name.
Highway 35 will be closed for several hours in both directions between Highway 118 and Kushog Lake Road while police investigate and document the scene.
Anyone with any information in relation to te investigation is asked to call the Haliburton Highlands OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Mike Quigg's photo of a double rainbow over Kasshabog Lake in Peterborough County was one of our top photos on Instagram in 2022. (Photo: Mike Quigg @_evidence_ / Instagram)
Since 2012 — for a full 10 years — I’ve been selecting and posting a photo of the day on Instagram, and then also sharing it on our other social media channels. I’m always on the lookout for photos from across our five-county readership area that represent the beauty of the Kawarthas, regardless of the season. I find the photos by checking for our #kawarthaNOW hashtag each day on Instagram.
In the course of 10 years, I’ve come to know and appreciate many of the photographers who regularly tag us on Instagram and allow us to share their photos. Some of them have become friends. This past year, many of our “regulars” have appeared multiple times in our top nine photos of each month, having shared so many photos with us over the year.
So it’s no surprise you’ll find many of them in our top photos of the last year which, for the first time, includes a record number of 22 photographers. There were so many wonderful captures in 2022, and I’m very grateful to all the photographers who allowed us to share their work and the beauty of the Kawarthas with you. Happy New Year to them and and to all of you, our readers!
If you want to get on our top photographers list, all you need is an Instagram account and to use 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. Rainbows and unicorns! Kayaking on Kasshabog Lake with Mike Quigg @_evidence_
Peter and Anna Bouzinelos, owners of The Pizza Factory at 1000 Lansdowne Street West in Peterborough, are closing the iconic restaurant on January 29, 2023 after almost 43 years in business. (Photo: Paul Rellinger / kawarthaNOW)
Anyone planning to drop by The Pizza Factory this month to personally thank Peter and Anna Bouzinelos best be prepared: the soon-to-retire couple is going to turn the tables on you.
With the doors of the iconic Peterborough restaurant set to close for good on January 29th — close to 43 years after they were opened — Peter and Anna are the ones who are grateful for those who have not only dined at the Lansdowne Street West landmark but have also shared their life milestones with them.
“The Pizza Factory is a unique place … a place where a lot of beginnings have occurred, where a lot of emotions have been felt,” says Anna, noting marriage proposals, anniversary celebrations, countless birthdays, and post-funeral remembrances are as much as part of the restaurant’s DNA as the tables they were marked at.
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“People have shared many of their stories with us and gone through many milestones with us. We’re very honoured to have been a part of so many lives.”
As Peter puts it, it’s “the people” that he and his wife will miss the more than anything, adding “I’m praying to be healthy and strong to see the last customer.”
That prayer, discloses Anna, is well founded as the restaurant’s imminent closing has been necessitated and hastened by stern “doctor’s orders.”
Peter Bouzinelos first opened The Pizza Factory in 1980 with Tom Malakos, a teen friend from Greece. They ran it together until 1992, when Tom purchased Trentwinds. (Photo courtesy of Peter Bouzinelos)
“My health is not the greatest,” says Peter, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and complications caused by the stress.
“Before COVID, my doctor told me ‘Peter, you can’t carry on the way you have with stress. You need to retire. You need to step back.’ When people walk into our door, I want to be able to say ‘Hi. Welcome. Have a seat.’ Now I can’t walk around the tables (to chat with customers). The strength in my legs is not there. I don’t feel 68 (years old) but my body says you have a lot of miles, so you better slow down.”
And so the difficult — agonizing, actually — decision to call it a day, made in conjunction with Anna and the couple’s four older children, was made. February will see the landmark cleared out with a new tenant — a restaurant chain, confirms Peter, but not one that is Italian food-oriented — taking possession on March 1st.
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While The Pizza Factory’s closing, on the surface, is just another on a long list of longtime hospitality business closures seen in recent years — think Trentwinds, The Carousel, Miss Diana’s, and The Rock Haven, for example — the back story behind its opening remains one that never gets old and, as such, pays homage to those who came to Canada with virtually nothing and made their way via a incomparable determination to succeed.
Peter arrived in Montreal in 1970 at age 17 from his birth home of Koutsi, Greece, disembarking from his flight with $150, an empty suitcase, and a return flight ticket he was determined not to use.
With an aunt and uncle living in Kingston, he gravitated there and took on a series of jobs, including an initial foray as a construction labourer. But more to the point, and crucially, he reconnected with Tom Malakos, a teen friend from Greece. Together, they operated a deli until, upon the invitation of Ken Pappas, they both came to Peterborough in 1975.
Anna and Peter Bouzinelos married in 1992 and have raised four children, two of whom are working at the restaurant. Anna herself first began working at The Pizza Factory in 1981. (Photo courtesy of Peter Bouzinelos)
“I knew construction (work) wasn’t for me,” says Peter. “I wanted to see people. I like to interact with people. Construction doesn’t do that. You just fight with two-by-fours. If you’re all alone, how are you going to learn English?”
Settled in the city, Peter and Tom took over management of the Tropicana Restaurant at the Simcoe Street bus terminal. A number of restaurant opportunities presented themselves and the pair took full advantage: Tom’s Pizza, Constantine’s, Toby’s, Mother’s, and Milo’s all came under their management.
However, it was their purchase of Captain’s Cove, a fish-and-chips eatery at Lansdowne Street West and The Parkway, that led to the April 10, 1980 opening of The Pizza Factory. They were partners there until 1992 when Tom bought Trentwinds.
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Peter was on his own but not for long. In 1981, Anna had come to work for Peter, serving as well as holding down hostess and bookkeeping positions. Peter was impressed by her the moment she walked in the door — so impressed that, in 1992, he took her to Greece where they were married. In a sense, Peter literally took his work home with him.
“The light came on when she came in and said ‘I want a job,'” recalls Peter, adding “You could tell she had a very good upbringing. You could tell she’d be serious and sincere about her job.”
Peter and Anna raised four children, two of whom work with them at the restaurant running the take-out and the kitchen. Now, their two other kids are helping out “because we’re so busy,” says Anna.
“It’s all hands on deck right now. A past employee has come in and helped. So many people we know are asking ‘Do you need help? We’ll come the last day. We’ll do whatever you want.'”
“When we had the romaine shortage, we were having a really hard time going all over Peterborough trying to find romaine. Customers came in and said ‘We’ll go look for you. We know how busy you are.'”
Peter and Anna Bouzinelos have decided to retire and close The Pizza Factory as Peter suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and complications caused by stress. (Photo: Paul Rellinger / kawarthaNOW)
Over the years since opening, The Pizza Factory has faced serious challenges in terms of maintaining its slice of the pizza pie. Olive Garden came in the early 1990s and left just as quickly. Boston Pizza, which is still open, is down the road on Lansdowne Street.
While acknowledging competition has been a constant in a sector where it is awfully tough to sustain any longevity, Peter says words spoken to him long ago by Don Buys (of Buys Excavating fame) served him well then and continue to ring in his ears today.
“He knew my name but he called me Greek,” laughs Peter. “He said ‘Greek, look after your customers and don’t worry about the rest. You worry about what you’re doing here.’ That was the best advice.”
“Two things. When you see a customer at the door, number one, be thankful that customer came to your door. He or she had so many choices to go any other door. The other thing is don’t judge that person if he has a tie on or just an ordinary shirt. Don’t say ‘Sir, what are you here for?’ Treat everyone with respect and dignity.”
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Now, as the days to closing check off on the calendar with increasing rapidity, both Peter and Anna are nothing but grateful for the support of customers, both of the longtime and new variety, as well as the Peterborough community as a whole.
“Peterborough people are amazing,” praises Peter. “It’s like everyone was selected to be here. I respect, I value, what Peterborough has done for me personally. It opened the door and said ‘Come on in’ with no promises of anything. I am very thankful that I settled here in Peterborough.”
At some point in February — the date is yet to be finalized — the couple will auction off restaurant tables, furniture, and other assorted items with all proceeds going to Kawartha Food Share. As well, until closing, coffee mugs, T-shirts, toques, and hats with the Pizza Factory logo on them are being sold, again benefiting Kawartha Food Share.
The Pizza Factory’s famed garlic-heavy World Famous Caesar Dressing will be returning to shelves at Foodland and Sobeys after a pandemic-forced break. (Photo courtesy of Peter Bouzinelos)
Peter also plans to keep the sign message board outside the restaurant in place. After fixing it up, he will to donate the advertising space to groups looking to post their community messages at what is arguably the city’s busiest intersection.
And for those worried about being able to access Peter’s World-Famous Caesar Dressing, fret not — they will continue to produce and distribute the dressing as well as Peter’s 100% Pure Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Peter’s Famous Foods, with plans to return it to shelves at Foodland and Sobeys after a pandemic-forced break.
As for the couple’s retirement plans, Anna is quick to answer.
“My first retirement project is to get him healthier,” she says, to which Peter says “She’s not a sergeant but she is CEO.”
The Pizza Factory customers have been leaving notes of memories, thanks, and best wishes to Peter and Anna Bouzinelos after learning they are retiring and closing the restaurant. (Photo: Paul Rellinger / kawarthaNOW)
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Now they’ll both have plenty of time to reflect on the their blessing of having had numerous loyal employees and customers whom they remains extremely grateful.
“We have a lot of people coming in crying,” says Anna.
Fighting back tears of his own, Peter’s final words are simple but dripping with sincerity.
“I’m going to miss you all. I love you all.”
Peter and Anna Bouzinelos will continue to welcome customers to The Pizza Factory until it closes its doors for the last time on January 29, 2023. Before the restaurant closes, the couple will be auctioning off items from the restaurant and selling branded merchandise to raise funds for Kawartha Food Share. (Photo: Paul Rellinger / kawarthaNOW)
This story has been updated with some additional information about Peter’s World-Famous Caesar Dressing.
The two men suspected of stealing a grey 2022 Hyundai Elantra from a Port Hope car dealership on January 5, 2022. (Police-supplied photos)
Police are seeking two men suspected of stealing a car from a Port Hope car dealership on Thursday night (January 5).
At around 8:14 p.m. on Thursday, Port Hope police responded to a report from the dealership of a stolen vehicle.
Police were told two men driving a black Toyota 4 Runner had arrived at the dealership at around 7 p.m. They then took a grey 2022 Hyundai Elantra out for a test drive.
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After returning to the dealership at around 7:55 p.m., one of the men got into the Toyota 4 Runner that they had arrived in, while the other man remained in the 2022 Hyundai Elantra. Both vehicles quickly took off from the dealership.
The driver’s license provided to the dealership staff belonged to a Caledon man. Police observed video footage inside and outside of the dealership and observed one man wearing a red coat, white shirt, black bands, and a black baseball cap with the word “security” on it. The other man is described as wearing a black coat, white hooded sweatshirt, black or grey pants, and black and camo baseball cap. Both men appear to have dark hair and dark beards.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Port Hope police at 905-885-8123 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
The two car heft suspects arrived at Port Hope car dealership in this black Toyota 4 Runne. (Police-supplied photo)
Highlands East volunteer firefighter Todd Bertram took this photo of the fire that broke out on January 5, 2022 at The Homestead Trailer Park on Eels Lake between Apsley and Bancroft. (Photo: Todd Bertram)
A popular seasonal camping destination in the Township of Highlands East in Haliburton County suffered major damage from a fire on Thursday evening (January 5).
The Homestead Trailer Park, located at the north end of Eels Lake between Apsley and Bancroft, offers 150 camping sites on its 45-acre property — many of which are occupied by trailers.
At around 7 p.m. on Thursday, a local called 911 to report the fire. As the trailer park is closed for the winter season, there was no-one at the property when the fire broke out.
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Highlands East fire chief Chris Baughman tells kawarthaNOW that between 20 and 25 volunteer firefighters responded to the fire.
As a locked gate prevented direct access to the property, firefighters used side-by-side ATVs with tracks to get to the fire and pumped water from the lake to bring the fire under control.
According to Baughman, two buildings were destroyed in the fire: the on-site store and an adjoining building used to store boats, ATVs, and more.
Barry Ferguson, who has a cottage near The Homestead Trailer Park, took this this photo of the fire that broke out on January 5, 2022. (Photo: Barry Ferguson)
Owners John and Diane Doomernik were in Florida at the time of the fire.
“We are blessed that no one was in the park, but my heart has been broken that I’ve lost my store,” Diane wrote in the park’s private Facebook group, adding that her husband would be taking a flight back to Canada as soon as possible.
Baughman, who spoke to the owners on Thursday night, says the cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Fire services will be at the property on Friday to assess possible causes.
The Homestead Trailer Park was originally established in the early 1960s and has become a popular summer camping destination, with many long-time seasonal residents having trailers at the park.
Kylee McGrath and Jenn MacDonald of Habitat for Humanity Peterborough and Kawartha Region with Rebecca Schillemat, Shanelle Jackson, and Mitch Cleary of the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Home Builders Association and Tania-Joy Bartlett and Dave Linkert of New Beginnings Contracting Services. (Photo courtesy of Peterborough and the Kawarthas Home Builders Association)
The Peterborough and the Kawarthas Home Builders Association (PKHBA) has raised over $19,000 for Habitat for Humanity Peterborough and Kawartha Region.
The funds were raised during PKHBA’s charity auction on December 8, the first in three years due to the pandemic.
With almost 40 sponsors, including presenting sponsor New Beginnings Contracting Services, and almost 100 businesses donating items for the auction, a total of $19,012 was raised — making it PKHBA’s most successful charity auction to date.
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Proceeds from the charity auction will help Habitat for Humanity Peterborough and Kawartha Region in its mission to build and rehabilitate decent and affordable homes, from single-family houses to multi-unit developments.
PKHBA plans to host another charity auction with Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region on December 7 2023. Interested donors and sponsors can email info@pkhba.com for more information.
Established in 1956, PKHBA is a volunteer association involved in all facets of the new home construction and residential renovation industry. The association helps homeowners and builders connect with one another, and advocate for the industry at all levels of government.
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