Holiday Shopping Passport grand prize draw winner Noah Sloan was presented with his grand prize of a $1,500 Boro gift card by Iceman Video Games store manager Holly Butler on January 14, 2023. Sloan completed his winning passport after purchasing a new game console at the downtown Peterborough business. (Photo courtesy of Peterborough DBIA)
Noah Sloan is $1,500 richer thanks to a passion for video games and shopping locally.
Sloan won the grand prize in the annual Holiday Shopping Passport program of the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA).
Sloan’s winning passport was drawn last Wednesday (January 11) at The El (P), a restaurant at 380 George Street North in downtown Peterborough. He completed his passport at Iceman Video Games at 390 George Street North in downtown Peterborough, where he had purchased a new game console.
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“I still can’t believe I won — it’s surreal,” says Sloan, who was presented with his grand prize by Iceman Video Games store manager Holly Butler on Saturday.
“I think now more than ever it’s important to support small businesses with the economy the way it is,” he adds. “I really appreciate our downtown and love that I can bring my dog along while shopping the stores. I’m still wrapping my head around winning and look forward to exploring all the new shops and restaurants with my gift card.”
The Holiday Shopping Passport program ran from November 14 to January 11. Throughout the program, shoppers were rewarded with a passport stamp for every $10 they spent at a participating downtown Peterborough location. Each completed passport (20 stamps) were entered into a draw, including three early bird draws of $500 Boro gift cards.
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Heather Adey, Karen Scott, and Helen Lovick were the early bird draw winners. This year, winners also received a Peterborough Musicfest Diner’s Book, 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.
According to the Peterborough DBIA, this season’s Holiday Shopping Passport program generated just over $2.3 million in local spending.
“What I love about this program is anyone can win when they shop downtown,” says Peterborough DBIA executive director Terry Guiel. “Some past winners filled out dozens of passports, while others completed just one.”
Port Hope pop surrealist artist Oli Goldsmith, known for his album art and video work for the rock band Our Lady Peace, is showing 23 mixed media artworks in his solo exhibition "Threading Perennial" on display until March 23, 2023 at the Art Gallery of Northumberland in Cobourg. (Photos courtesy of Art Gallery of Northumberland)
A new solo exhibition called “Threading Perennial” by Port Hope artist Oli Goldsmith is on display at the Art Gallery of Northumberland in Cobourg until March 25.
The 43-year-old Toronto-born Goldsmith defines his work as “pop surrealism.” He combines digital and traditional paint techniques with various additions including custom vinyl die-cuts, silkscreen, digital transfer, and graffiti paint markers in layered art resin and acrylic sheets on wood panel.
Goldsmith is known for his work with the Toronto-based rock band Our Lady Peace. His album art for the band’s 2000 record Spiritual Machines was nominated for a Juno award for best album artwork. He also directed and animated the music video for the album’s song “In Repair,” which won awards for best video, best director, and best post-production at the MuchMusic Video Awards in 2001.
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Goldsmith’s “Threading Perennial” exhibition features 23 mixed media artworks finished in resin on wood panels, with up to 100 images combined together in a single composite work.
According to a media release from the Art Gallery of Northumberland, the exhibition is a multi-sensory experience that encourages the viewer to stretch their mind as they take in the details, images, words, and transitionary experiences relayed in the art.
“This exhibition will not let go of you,” says the gallery’s executive director Olinda Casimiro. “A million visual cues pulling you into the narrative of one artwork alone will leave you contemplating the tricomplexity;s of the work itself. The art is fluid, the mood is hyper yet appealing, and the process is speckled with symbolic and nonsensical cues that leave the meaning behind the art up to interpretation of the viewer.”
‘Doublewide Chunky Hopeful Ironrail’ and ‘Face to windy patterned existence’ are two of the 23 mixed media artworks by Port Hope pop surrealist artist Oli Goldsmith in his solo exhibition “Threading Perennial,” on display until March 23, 2023 at at the Art Gallery of Northumberland in Cobourg. (Photos courtesy of Art Gallery of Northumberland)
Goldsmith himself describes his exhibition as “a collection of several strands of recent work in my idiosyncratic manner — something of a magic carpet.”
“All are welcome to come check out my world,” he says. “This art show celebrates that which can never be said.”
A collection of domes and spheres crafted by Goldsmith are also on display within the gallery and are available for purchase.
The Art Gallery of Northumberland is located on the third floor of the west wing of Victoria Hall at 55 King Street West in downtown Cobourg. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and from 12 to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is free. For more information, visit artgalleryofnorthumberland.com.
Environment Canada has issued a freezing rain warning for a large portion of the Kawarthas region for Tuesday morning (January 17) into the afternoon.
The freezing rain warning in in effect for the City of Kawartha Lakes, southern Peterborough County, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.
A period of freezing rain possibly mixed with snow is expected beginning Tuesday morning. A few millimetres of ice accretion is possible on some surfaces.
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Freezing rain is expected to change over to light rain Tuesday afternoon, but may linger into the evening for some areas.
Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become icy and slippery. Slow down driving in slippery conditions. Watch for taillights ahead and maintain a safe following distance. Poor weather conditions may contribute to transportation delays.
All school buses are cancelled for Tuesday in the City and County of Peterborough, the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.
This story has been updated with the latest forecast information from Environment Cnada.
Details of works by Peterborough-area artists Casandra Lee, John Climenhage, Brooklin Holbrough, and Jeffrey Macklin (left to right, top and bottom) selected for the first stage of the City of Peterborough's Indoor-Outdoor public art project. The artworks will be installed this winter in four city facilities. (Photos supplied by City of Peterborough)
Four local artists — Casandra Lee, John Climenhage, Brooklin Holbrough, and Jeffrey Macklin — have had their artworks selected for the first stage of the City of Peterborough’s Indoor-Outdoor public art project.
The artworks will be installed this winter and displayed at Peterborough City Hall, Kinsmen Civic Centre, Healthy Planet Arena, and the Peterborough Sport and Wellness Centre for a term of one year to 18 months. The artworks, which will rotate between sites at the end of each term, will be mounted in the main foyers of each facility and be among the first things visitors will see.
The Indoor-Outdoor project will integrate artwork into city parks, recreation facilities, and other city buildings. The outdoor stage of the project will be completed later this year.
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“The Indoor-Outdoor project, which allows for the display of art in unexpected places, was made possible by a resolution passed by the council in November 2021,” says councillor Alex Bierk, chair of council’s arts, culture and heritage Portfolio, in a media release. “The goal of this project is to support local artists and enhance the community by bringing art to a wider audience. The success of this project is evaluated not only by the benefits it brings to artists, but also by the pleasure it brings to the many people who will experience the artworks.”
Held in December, the call for submissions for the Indoor-Outdoor public art project sought original new, recent, or past works for municipal indoor facilities in the City of Peterborough and was open to professional artists and cultural practitioners living in the City of Peterborough, County of Peterborough, Hiawatha First Nation, and Curve Lake First Nation. The commission value for each artwork is $4,500.
Submissions for the city’s public art projects are reviewed by selection committees composed of five members of the community with interests or expertise in contemporary art, architecture, design, engineering, history, or cultural tourism. The members of the Indoor-Outdoor selection committee were Miguel Hernandez, Leslie Menagh, and Jon Lockyer from the community at large, and Su Ditta and Julia Kady Denton from the city’s arts and culture advisory committee.
The Stop-Gap Drop-in Centre at Trinity United Church, located at 360 Reid Street in Peterborough, will operate overnight from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. until the end of April. (Photo: Jeannine Taylor / kawarthaNOW)
A new overnight drop-in centre, where people living outside can warm up, is opening Monday night (January 16) at Trinity United Church in Peterborough.
Supported by a coalition of community agencies without any municipal funding, the Stop-Gap Drop-in Centre at 360 Reid Street will run from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. until the end of April.
The centre is being operated by One City Peterborough, which ran a similar drop-in centre last winter in The Bridge Youth Centre, with the support of the United Way Peterborough and District, Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough, Fourcast, Canadian Mental Health Association of Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge, John Howard Society of Peterborough, Elizabeth Fry Society of Peterborough, and Research for Social Change Lab (Trent University).
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In an interview Monday morning with CBC Radio Ontario Morning host Ramraajh Sharvendiran, United Way CEO Jim Russell said the overnight drop-in centre is intended for unhoused people who are unable to access the city’s shelter system. For every shelter bed that exists, according to Russell, there are three people who are unhoused.
“There’s a number of reasons people can’t access the shelter system,” Russell said. “They could be banned, they could have pets, they may not feel safe.”
The centre has opened despite a December decision by Peterborough city council not to provide $100,000 for the operation of the centre, which the coalition had proposed as an emergency winter response to the city’s homelessness crisis.
“There was a handful of agencies that were able to find budgets — unspent budget lines — and cobbled together some dollars to make sure we could open some doors this year,” Russell explained. “We had to come together because we weren’t willing to take the chance that people would die this winter, and so people felt the necessity to do that in the absence of a city response.”
The entrance to the Stop-Gap Drop-in Centre at Trinity United Church is located off Simcoe Street. (Photo: Jeannine Taylor / kawarthaNOW)
As for city councillors who have claimed there are sufficient beds in Peterborough’s shelter system for the number of unhoused people in Peterborough, Russell explained there is a difference between shifts in homelessness and individual people who are unhoused.
“It’s disingenuous to say that people are simply choosing not to come inside,” Russell said. “What happens is you may have one person that’s moved six or seven or eight or 10 times in and out of transitional housing, or in and out of permanent housing … and so when they say ‘We’ve housed 300 people,’ (they) haven’t. The city has shifted people — had shifts from homelessness to being housed — but that’s not necessarily 300 individuals. It could be 50 individuals cycled in and out six different times.”
Russell noted the ability of the coalition of agencies to “pull this together in a matter of weeks, not months,” hiring and training 20 people and securing a space for the drop-in centre, will serve as an example for how the city can react more proactively to the homelessness crisis.
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“That’s the thing we hope for the most — that this engenders a sense of urgency (at) the city,” Russell said. “Homelessness is deepening; we know that from our own research. The city (says) the number of people that are moving into being homeless for more than six months is increasing.”
“That’s troublesome because the longer people are unhoused, the harder it is to get people a safe place to live. So my hope is that it engenders a sense of urgency and that we work together: the municipality and agencies that are front-facing and serving people that are unhoused.”
The Stop-Gap Drop-in Centre is located at Trinity United Church at 360 Reid Street in Peterborough (enter through the church’s Simcoe Street entrance). It will run from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily from January 16 to April 30. The phone number for the drop-in centre is 705-313-4714. For more information, call 705-313-9856.
Each year, Kawartha Conservation offers forest therapy walks at its conservation areas for participants to experience the therapeutic benefits of nature. For 2023, the walks will be sponsored by Lindsay law firm Wards Lawyers, including three walks at Ken Reid Conservation Area on Bell Let's Talk Day on January 25. (Photo: Kawartha Conservation)
Lindsay law firm Wards Lawyers is sponsoring Kawartha Conservation’s forest therapy program for 2023, the conservation authority announced on Friday (January 13).
The annual program, designed to promote mental health and wellness in the community using the therapeutic benefits of nature, will kick off in 2023 with a special three-session event at Ken Reid Conservation Area near Lindsay on January 25 during Bell Let’s Talk Day, which aims to raise awareness and break the stigma surrounding mental health.
Research has shown spending time in nature can help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, and also improve mood, cognitive function, and overall well-being. The guided walks in Kawartha Conservation’s conservation areas help participants disconnect from the stresses of daily life and reconnect with the natural world. The program also includes activities such as mindfulness and meditation that can further enhance the therapeutic benefits of nature.
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“At Wards Lawyers, we understand the importance of mental health and the impact it has on individuals, families, and the community as a whole,” says CEO Melissa Wemyss in a media release. “Our commitment to the community goes beyond providing legal services. We believe that by giving back to the community and supporting programs like the Forest Therapy program, we can make a positive impact on the lives of those around us.”
Wards Lawyers’ sponsorship of the program throughout 2023 means participation in the forest therapy walks are free, although donations are accepted. All proceeds from donations will support the Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge.
Each 90-minute forest therapy walk is led by Kristie Virgoe, a certified forest therapy guide who is also Kawartha Conservation’s director of stewardship and conservation lands.
Participants in Kawartha Conservation’s forest therapy walk on Bell Let’s Talk Day in 2022. Each forest therapy walk is guided by certified forest therapy guide Kristie Virgoe (bottom right), who is also Kawartha Conservation’s diretor of stewardship and conservation lands. (Photo: Kawartha Conservation)
“We are so pleased to be able to partner with Wards Lawyers for 2023 to provide Kawartha Conservation’s Forest Therapy program at no cost to the community, and can’t think of a better time to kick off the 2023 forest therapy sessions than on Bell Let’s Talk Day,” Virgoe says. “And we hope to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and the benefits of spending time in nature.”
The forest therapy walks at Ken Reid Conservation Area run at 9:30 to 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 1:30 p.m to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, January 25th. While each walk is free, advance registration is required at kawarthaconservation.com/foresttherapy.
Additional sessions will be scheduled in the coming months.
Award-winning two-spirt Anishinaabe artist Waawaate Fobister performs as the titular character in their latest work 'Omaagomaan', which raises awareness of the decades-long impact of mercury poisoning on Grassy Narrows First Nation in northern Ontario. (Photo: Dahlia Katz)
The decades-long impact of mercury poisoning on a northern Ontario First Nations community is the basis for Dora award-winning Anishinaabe artist Waawaate Fobister’s performance Omaagomaan, presented by Public Energy Performing Arts on Thursday, February 2nd at the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough.
The contamination of the Anishinaabe community of Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation (also known as Grassy Narrows First Nation), located around 100 kilometres northeast of Kenora, began in 1962 when Dryden Chemicals Ltd. — which used mercury to produce large amounts of chlorine and sodium hydroxide for the Dryden Pulp and Paper Company for bleaching paper — discharged almost 10,000 kilograms of the toxic substance into the Wabigoon River, upstream from Grassy Narrows.
Considered one of Canada’s worst environmental disasters, the mercury dump not only poisoned the fish that were the community’s staple food, but continues to affect the physical and mental health of Grassy Narrows First Nation’s 1,500 members more than 60 years later, long after the mercury first entered the food chain. A study published last March in the journal Environmental Health estimates 90 per cent of the community’s members still have symptoms of mercury poisoning, ranging from neurological problems to seizures and cognitive delays.
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In addition to dealing with the ongoing effects of mercury contamination, Grassy Narrows First Nation is also continuing to defend its territory from the Canadian forest industry, after the Ontario government issued a clear-cutting forestry licence in 1997 to Abitibi-Consolidated Inc.
Waawaate Fobister grew up on Grassy Narrows First Nation and, at the age of 18, came out as two-spirited. They got their spirit name Waawaate — pronounced wah-wah-tay, it’s an Anishinaabemowin word for the Northern Lights — as they began to explore their native spirituality.
An actor, dancer, playwright, choreographer, instructor, and producer, Waawaate trained and studied theatre arts and performance at Humber College, Indigenous dance at Banff Centre for the Arts, and intensives at Toronto Dance Theatre, Centre for Indigenous Theatre, and Kahawi Dance Theatre. Waawaate has performed in many major theatre companies across Canada and their work and research has taken them to many places around the world as an artist.
VIDEO: Waawaate Fobister is Omaagomaan
Waawaate’s experiences as a two-spirited member of Grassy Narrows First Nation, where they encountered homophobia and abuse, was the basis for their semi-autobiographical one-person play Agokwe (“two-spirited”), which premiered in 2008 at Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and went on to win six two Dora awards, including for outstanding actor and outstanding new play.
In their latest work Omaagomaan (an Anishinaabemowin word that loosely translates as “someone biting someone else really hard”), Waawaate embodies the titular two-spirit being that is a manifestation of man-made poisons including mercury that have seeped into the earth. A fierce shape-shifter inspired by Anishinaabe cosmology, Omaagomaan is a collision between the maanaadizi (“ugly”) and the onizhishi (“beautiful”).
“It’s about the fierce land defenders of Grassy Narrows, my reserve, because of the mercury poisoning and forestry happening that’s been plaguing my people,” Waawaate told APTN News after the performance premiered in Winnipeg in 2019.
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“I take on the role and responsibility of storyteller, to tell the story of my community — of my people and thinking about the seven generations behind and the seven generations ahead, and me being a vessel to tell what’s happening right now,” added Waawaate, who himself suffers from mercury poisoning,
With original direction by Troy Emery Twigg, sound and composition by Marc Meriläinen, and costume by Sage Paul, Omaagomaan takes the audience on a journey of dance, storytelling, spectacle, surprise, and a unique blend of original soundscapes and musical composition. Remounted in 2022 after pandemic restrictions were lifted, Omaagomaan was performed in Munich, Germany, this past November to critical acclaim.
“Fobister combines ritual dance and sound elements with increasingly desperate gestures of defence, anger, mechanical subordination, and rebellion,” writes Yvonne Poppek in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. “A nature-loving lifestyle meets industry, fishing meets poison, birth meets infant death. Fobister delivers gestural scraps of association, fed by the power of a struggle against the injustice done to people and nature.”
In ‘Omaagomaan’, Waawaate Fobister takes the audience on a journey of dance, storytelling, spectacle, surprise, and a unique blend of original soundscapes and musical composition. (Photos: Dahlia Katz)
Waawaate will perform Omaagomaan at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre for one night only, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 2nd.
Tickets for the all-ages performance are pay what you can, from $5 to $30, and 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.
You can also reserve tickets by email or phone (no credit card required) by emailing admin@publicenergy.ca or calling 705-745-1788.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a long-time media sponsor of Public Energy Performing Arts.
Peterborough Police Service headquarters on Water Street in Peterborough. (Photo: Pat Trudeau)
Peterborough police are investigating after a dog became ill Saturday (January 14) after ingesting illicit drugs while on the property of Monsignor O’Donoghue Catholic School.
Police were notified by the dog’s owner that the dog ate something while they were on the school’s property at 2400 Marsdale Drive and subsequently became ill.
Further investigation determined the dog had ingested a substance containing illicit drugs. The dog is now recovering.
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A search of the property by officers and police service dog Isaac, a drug detection specialist, did not reveal any more items or suspicious substances.
The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board has been made aware of the incident and is working with police to ensure the safety of the property.
Residents are urged to report any suspicious activity or incidents in their neighbourhoods. Anyone with information specific to this incident is asked to contact Peterborough police at 705-876-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at stopcrimehere.ca.
Eliza Braden-Taylor, Chief Keith Knott, and Anne Taylor of Curve Lake First Nation at a new Jackson Creek Trail trailhead sign during an event on January 14, 2023 to celebrate the the completion of Ontonabee Conservation's Jackson Creek Trail revitalization project. Curve Lake First Nation Cultural Centre helped develop the educational signs that were part of the project, which also included installing new trailhead signs and benches, fixing erosion along the trail, installing culverts, regrading slopes, enhancing bridges and railings, and resurfacing the length of the trail. (Photo courtesy of Otonabee Conservation)
Otonabee Conservation was joined by partners and supporters to celebrate the completion of the Jackson Creek Trail revitalization project at a ribbon-cutting event on Saturday (January 14) at the trail’s eastern trailhead near the cement bridge in Peterborough’s Jackson Park.
More than 60 people attending the celebration, including delegates from Curve Lake First Nation and federal and municipal governments, community members, local interest groups, and project engineers and contractors.
The event featured the unveiling of new trailhead signs, educational signs that were developed in partnership with the Curve Lake First Nation Cultural Centre, and accessible wayfinding signs to allow more visitors to safely access the trail. Community members, supporters, and donors also participated in a birdwatching hike led by the Peterborough Field Naturalists.
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Along with the addition of signage, the Jackson Creek Trail revitalization project addressed points of erosion along the trail, installed culverts, regraded slopes, enhanced bridges and railings, and resurfaced the length of the trail, and added benches.
This project was primarily funded with a $523,917 investment from the Government of Canada’s Canada Community Revitalization Fund, administered by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).
“This project will bring more Canadians outdoors to experience the trail whether through walking, hiking, or cycling,” said Filomena Tassi, the federal minister responsible for FedDev Ontario, in a message.
More than 60 people gathered at the Jackson Creek eastern trailhead on January 14, 2023 to celebrate the re-opening of the trail after the completion of Otonabee Conservation’s trail revitalization project. (Photo courtesy of Otonabee Conservation)
“On top of that, it will also increase environmental and historical awareness of the area, help nearby neighbourhoods thrive, and increase local business sales,” Tassi said. “Projects like these are exactly the ones we love to see as they are a win-win for our communities.”
In addition to the FedDev Ontario investment, Trans Canada Trail provided $61,500 and community members donated over $60,000 through Otonabee Conservation’s Your Metres Matter and Close the Gap fundraising campaigns over the past two years.
“We are grateful to our funders who have made this project possible and we are especially humbled by the response from the community, who has come together to support the revitalization of the beloved Jackson Creek Trail,” said Otonabee Conservation’s CAO and secretary-treasurer Janette Loveys Smith.
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“The community has raised over $60,000 in the past two years to help resurface the trail and to ensure benches, educational signs, trail markers, and accessible wayfinding signs could be added along the length of the trail,” Loveys Smith added.
Otonabee Conservation is looking to raise another $10,000 to complete the final aspects of the project through the Close the Gap fundraising campaign.
Members of the Peterborough Field Naturalists led birdwatching hikes along the Jackson Creek Trail on January 14, 2023 to celebrate the re-opening of the trail after the completion of Otonabee Conservation’s trail revitalization project. (Photo courtesy of Otonabee Conservation)
Presented by Wild Rock Outfitters and Kawartha Nordic Ski Club, the 8-Hour Ski Relay for Mental Health takes place on January 22, 2023 at Kawartha Nordic in North Kawartha Township. A group of Peterborough-area skiers will be cross-country skiing to raise funds for the Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge's Garden Homes Project, which aims to provide affordable small homes for vulnerable people in the Peterborough area at risk of homelessness. (Photo: Wild Rock Outfitters / Facebook)
For the second year in a row, a group of Peterborough-area cross-country skiers will be hitting the trails to raise funds for mental health.
Presented by Wild Rock Outfitters and Kawartha Nordic Ski Club, the 8-Hour Ski Relay for Mental Health takes place on Sunday, January 22nd at the Kawartha Nordic Ski Club, located off Highway 28 just north of Haultain in North Kawartha Township, with opening ceremonies at 10 a.m. and skiing continuing until 6 p.m.
The event will raise funds for the Garden Homes Project of the Canadian Mental Health Association Halliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (CMHA HKRP). Through the association’s supportive housing program, the new project aims to provide affordable small homes for vulnerable people in the Peterborough area at risk of homelessness.
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“Much of our community has been challenged with access to affordable housing,” says CMHA HKRP chief executive officer Mark Graham in a media release. “Through the support of this fundraiser, we hope to develop creative solutions to a highly complex issue in our region. With low vacancy rates and many people facing homelessness, this initiative is needed now more than ever.”
Skiers of all ages and abilities are encouraged to participate in this fun recreational event; there is no requirement to ski for the full eight hours. To register as an individual or as a team, or to donate, visit canadahelps.org.
With three loop options that cross paths with the rustic warming cabins at Kawartha Nordic Ski Club, skiers will be able to take a break during the relay. Peterborough’s Ashburnham Ale House will be providing chili to all registered skiers (you need to bring your own mug and spoon from home to receive a serving).
John Hauser, a staff member at Wild Rock Outfitters and a board member of Kawartha Nordic Ski Club, is organizing the 8-Hour Ski Relay for Mental Health. He organized a similar event in 2022 after losing a cousin to suicide during the pandemic and feeling the toll of the pandemic on his own mental health. (Photo: Wild Rock Outfitters / Instagram)
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The event, which aims to raise $15,000 for the CMHA HKRP Garden Homes Project, is being organized by Wild Rock staff member and Kawartha Nordic board member John Hauser.
“As a worker in Peterborough’s downtown, I walk from my home in East City on my commute to work and have seen the struggles of people experiencing homelessness,” Hauser says. “The Garden Homes Project will be a step forward in addressing the housing crisis in the area. The relay seemed to be a great way to bring community together to raise funds for this much-needed cause.”
Hauser also organized last February’s 24 Hour Ski Marathon for Mental Health, after losing a cousin to suicide during the pandemic and feeling the toll of the pandemic on his own mental health.
For updates on the 8-Hour Ski Relay for Mental Health, visit @knsc_8_hour_relay on Instagram. For more information on the relay, email Hauser at johnh@wildrock.net.
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