Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival blew past this year’s fundraising goal of $180,000 for cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC).

Volunteers from the Survivors Abreast Dragon Boat Team and the Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival organizing committee presented the PRHC Foundation with a cheque for $202,268.41 at an event on Tuesday (October 4) at the T-wharf on Little Lake, the site of the annual festival.

The 2022 fundraising goal of $180,000 reflected the determination of festival organizers “to do a 180” after the pandemic forced the festival to cancel its in-person event for each of the past two years. In comparison, last year’s festival — a virtual race that consisted of activities participants could do safely at home — raised $91,853.20. In the first year of the pandemic, the first virtual race raised $55,449.41.

“I’m so proud of our organizing committee and my team, especially this year as we faced so many challenges,” said Michelle Thornton, festival chair and Survivors Abreast member. “We set an aggressive goal and asked participants, sponsors, donors and volunteers to ‘get back in the boat’ with us … we rekindled a sense of community spirit that had been dormant for a long time and, as you can see, our passion and dedication delivered an amazing result.”

The $202,268.41 raised by the festival will go towards equipment and technology such as new CT scanners, a second MRI machine, and RIVA technology for the robotic preparation of chemotherapy — the government doesn’t provide hospitals with funding to acquire new equipment and technology.

According to PRHC Foundation president and CEO Lesley Heighway, the number of patients from Peterborough and the surrounding region who rely on PRHC for cancer treatment continues to climb every year.

“The support of Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival and our community is vital,” Heighway said. “Proceeds of the 2022 festival will allow PRHC to invest in new state-of-the-art equipment and technology to serve more cancer patients, support earlier cancer diagnosis, and provide safer, more effective treatments. This will help save lives.”

Since the festival was first launched in June 2001 as Liberty Mutual’s “Day on the Water”, becoming Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival the following year, it has raised more than $3.9 million for breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment in the Peterborough region. Kawartha Credit Union has been the festival’s presenting sponsor every year since 2001.

“At Kawartha Credit Union, care for others is one of our core values and we are passionate about contributing to the well-being of the communities we serve,” said Kawartha Credit Union president and CEO Norah McCarthy. “Being the platinum sponsor of Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival allows us to provide financial support while also participating in a fun event that unites Peterborough and our surrounding areas in a common goal to improve local health care resources.”

Rhonda Barnet, who was this year’s top fundraiser at $7,306.06, was on hand at Tuesday’s event to reveal the fundraising total. While Barnet has been participating in the festival for years,in 2019 she was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer that is frequently undetected until it is fatal.

“Luckily I was on a high-risk screening program and the equipment, funded in part through Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival, caught this cancer before it was too late,” Barnet said. “I am a survivor in great part because people in my community paid it forward to ensure that early diagnosis could save lives like mine.”

Planning for next year’s festival on Saturday, June 10th at Del Crary Park, will take place over the next several months. Anyone interested in volunteering for the festival can email Michelle Thornton at mimthornton@nexicom.net.

The United Way Peterborough & District’s annual winter outerwear drive for local families in need is returning in October.

Previously known as Coats for Kids (and Adults too!), the Coats for our Community collection takes place in Peterborough on Saturday (October 15) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the parking lot of the Vinnies thrift store at 799 Erskine Avenue, and in Lakefield on Sunday (October 16) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of the Vinnies thrift store at 144 Queen Street.

People are asked to donate clean, gently used (or new) winter outerwear for children and adults. According to the United Way, there is a great need for children’s winter jackets and snowpants as well as an increased need for winter coats for adult women and men, especially in sizes small and XXXL. Remember to clean clothing before donating it, empty the pockets, and check that zippers are working.

All coats donated for Coats for our Community will be distributed free of charge on Saturday, October 22 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Murray Street Baptist Church (175 Murray St., Peterborough). Access to the distribution will be off the parking lot at the rear of the building.

“We know the need for warm winter coats in our community is great, not just for local youth but for economically vulnerable adults as well,” the United Way states.

In 2021, 1,580 winter coats and snowpants were distributed to local families across the City and County of Peterborough who were unable to afford the cost of purchasing their own.

For more information, or to volunteer for a shift at the collection days, contact Allison Killins at the United Way at 705-742-8839 x40 or akillins@uwpeterborough.ca.

Imagine shopping at the grocery store, knowing full well there’s a very good chance that at least one of the items in your cart will make you sick. Still, you have to eat, so you take a chance and hope for the best.

Fortunately, we can rest easy that the food we buy undergoes rigorous and regular testing. If a problem is detected or even suspected, that information is shared widely with a product recall issued almost immediately.

Across the country, and most certainly here in Peterborough, people who use illegal drugs don’t have such safeguards. When buying and using opioids, it’s a frightening game of Russian roulette.

As of the end of July this year, 31 people in Peterborough had died from using toxic illegal drugs. Another 234 received lifesaving attention from paramedics. At Peterborough Regional Health Centre during the same period, 343 emergency department visits were preceded by the use of tainted drugs.

Nancy Henderson and Carolyn King are certainly well aware of these numbers, and those recorded locally in preceding years. But rather than simply hope things will get better on their own — which won’t happen — they are wholly dedicated to the local success of a safer supply initiative funded through Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addiction Program (SUAP).

The Peterborough 360 Degree Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic is the lead organization affiliated with the project, with initial research support provided by the Trent/Fleming School of Nursing. The project enables assessed participants who use drugs to access regulated substances from a legal source.

According to Henderson, the program’s evaluation manager, what was originally envisioned as a 10-person pilot program in May 2021 is now funded to take on a total of 50 people. That’s the result of “a very big ask” in the form of an amendment that was requested in June 2021 and was subsequently approved in December of that same year.

“We were proposing a 10-person pilot program and that just didn’t make sense to me,” says Henderson, noting the deaths of 44 people from poisoned drugs in 2021 provided all the motivation she needed to apply for funding to take on more participants.

“I was out in the community doing research to understand the enablers and barriers to treatment and to safer supply. I saw the need for this program. I worked in safer supply programs in Ottawa and Toronto, so I knew the potential of these programs. I’ve seen them work really well — I wanted that for Peterborough.”

King, the safer supply program supervisor, came on board in late February of this year, initially as supervisor lead of the now nine-member program administration team. She brought to the effort her prior harm reduction experience working with PARN, which was “experiencing the brunt of the overdose catastrophe” locally.

“When I saw the opportunity to be part of a specialized, really progressive forward-thinking project, I had to be involved,” she says.

In a province where, in 2021 according to the Office of the Chief Coroner, unregulated fentanyl was a factor in 86 per cent of all opioid-related deaths, the program prescribes safe pharmaceutical opioids to those who qualify following an extensive assessment conducted by physicians and nurse practitioners. At this point, the Peterborough program has 25 participants — halfway to its funded target of 50 participants by spring 2023.

But, notes Henderson, the program isn’t simply about ensuring safe supply for those enrolled, as potentially life saving as that is.

“It’s not just a prescription,” she says, adding “It’s full primary care, it’s full social services support, and it’s support from people with lived experience.”

“We’re here to support people making change in their lives as they choose. The goal doesn’t have to be abstinence. The goal can be whatever they want it to be. We’re here to facilitate that. It’s not just saving people lives. It’s an opportunity for people to make changes if they want to.”

“When you take the focus off worrying about being dope sick, there’s an opportunity to do other things. There’s an opportunity to look into health issues that you’ve been ignoring for a long time. There’s an opportunity to look into getting your ID figured out and getting housing sorted out.”

King explains that, when program applicants come off the waiting list, they first meet with a nurse practitioner who acquires their full health history and determines their primary health and social support needs before they receive a starting prescription.

Over the following weeks, program participants meet with their prescriber to adjust their dose “up to the point where optimal outcomes can be achieved.”

“Once the prescription stabilization has been achieved, that’s when the other primary care and social support needs can start to be addressed,” notes King.

“We look to build relationships based on a trust that encourages people to engage with us in a way that they might not with other mainstream medical programs where they might have experienced stigma or harmful attitudes or, in too many cases, denial of treatment.”

“We aim to be kind of a one-stop shop where people know they can trust us and feel safe coming in, giving us the full story of what they’re wanting to work on in their lives or what is working well. Our job is to support that.”

The program, says Henderson, “started by talking to people who use drugs,” noting it was mapped out “based on what they were asking for.” Next came the formation of an advisory committee comprised of people with “lived experience.”

“People who use drugs need to be involved and need to lead the way with these programs or they’re not going to work,” Henderson adds. “People who use drugs know how to keep themselves safe. They’ve been doing that for years. We need to listen and keep improving.”

Another key ingredient, says King, has been forging and maintaining relationships with service providers such as MSORT (Mobile Support Overdose Response Team), FourCAST, Consumption and Treatment Services, local shelters, and partner pharmacies.

If you guessed Henderson isn’t satisfied with the program’s 50-participant limit imposed by its funding, you guess right. She’s anxiously waiting the next call-out from Health Canada to put in another application to secure funding for a program extension.

Meanwhile, for both Henderson and King, the work they’re doing demands a 24-7 commitment. That’s something that they’re both more than OK with.

“My life is about harm reduction,” says King. “It doesn’t stop when I clock out. I try not to talk or think too much about my paid work, but I’m always ready to have a conversation with somebody or seize on education opportunities.”

“When I go to appointments or to the grocery store and somebody finds out what I do and wants to hear about it, I take those opportunities to spread the message that harm reduction saves lives.”

At the end of the day, notes Henderson, program success is rooted in participants being “able to make changes in their lives” combined with “people coming and wanting to get into the program … people who don’t go to any other services. That shows the program is working; that people trust it.”

Safer supply, says King, “is sort of a new frontier. It’s not a new concept but it’s new in its execution across Canada. Getting the team here up to speed on a very niche area of primary care, a very niche area of harm reduction, is a huge task — a very steep learning curve.”

“We are given a tight timeline and failure is not an option. We need to take what we’ve been given and say thank you and then ask for more.”

A 51-year-old Hastings Highlands man is dead after his amateur-built aircraft crashed on Saturday night (October 1) near Maynooth.

Shortly before 9 p.m. on Saturday, officers with the Bancroft Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to a report of a person who was overdue.

Police searched the area and located the aircraft on the ground. The pilot was pronounced dead a short time later.

The pilot has been identified as 51-year-old Jason Reynolds of Hastings Highlands Township.

The investigation into the incident is continuing, involving the Bancroft OPP and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which deployed a team of investigators on Sunday.

An initial statement from the Transportation Safety Board indicates the crash happened at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday at a private airstrip near Maynooth. The wreckage of the plane, known as a “SuperBear,” was found in a forested area 160 metres from the end of the airstrip.

Investigators, who say the aircraft hit several large trees before crashing into the ground, are examining selected components of the aircraft and gathering further data.

Peterborough police are investigating several incidents of mischief, theft, and nuisance calls coinciding with Trent University’s homecoming and Head of the Trent Regatta on Saturday night (October 1).

In one incident, a crowd of young people flipped over a private security car on London Street in downtown Peterborough. In another incident, a pedestrian was struck in the area of George Street and King Street and was taken to Peterborough Regional Health Centre for treatment of injuries.

In a media release issued on Sunday, police stated they would be following up on the incidents over the next few days.

On Monday afternoon, police issued a media release indicating they had concluded their investigation into the pedestrian being stuck and determined no charges would be laid in connection with the incident.

Anyone with any information or video evidence to share is asked to call the Peterborough Police Service’s non-emergency line at 705-876-1122. If you prefer to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.stopcrimehere.ca

“The Peterborough Police Service would also like to acknowledge that despite the ongoing investigations, the vast majority of the participants in homecoming and the (Head of the Trent Regetta) were peaceful and respectful,” a media release states. “Trent University has expressed that they will assist in the investigation wherever it will be helpful.”

Police say that extra officers were on patrol, including paid duty officers through Trent University, on both Friday and Saturday to help with an anticipated increase in calls for service. In an interview on Tuesday morning with CBC Ontario Morning, a police spokesperson said that up to 500 young people were involved in the gatherings and officers did not intervene out of concerns for safety.

Several videos of the raucous behaviour, including the flipping over of the security car and large crowds of young people partying, were shared on social media.

This video was shared with our newsroom as the ‘Head Of The Trent’ festivities continue around the city pic.twitter.com/e1c8rS5qzf

— PTBOTODAY.ca (@PTBOTODAYca) October 2, 2022

More footage of @TrentUniversity Homecoming weekend activities. @PtboPolice

Also reference to for-profit enterprise: https://t.co/kmGH1sZD1d

They have monetized these antics. Maybe they should pay for property damage. 🤷‍♀️ https://t.co/F6Gyiq7ZfG pic.twitter.com/g95GlTA7t1

— Tanya (@TanyaFusco) October 3, 2022

On Sunday, Trent University — which had on September 26 prior to the homecoming weekend reminded students of their “collective responsibility to be good neighbours” and advised “behaviour that causes disruption, noise, damage or danger to yourself or others could result in university sanctions or provincial/municipal fines — issued a statement condemning the unsanctioned gatherings and “irresponsible” and “reckless” behaviour.

“We are very disappointed in the behaviour of these groups and individuals and will be working with police and the community to address the situation,” said Trent University president Leo Groarke. “Homecoming and (Head of the Trent Regatta) events were carefully planned and we were clear with students about our expectations before this event. We will be pursuing disciplinary action for any students who were involved.”

The statement says the university and its security team will be working with Peterborough police to identify any students involved in causing damage and harm in the community. Students involved will be followed up with in accordance with the Trent University Student Charter of Rights and Responsibilities, “and the outcomes will be in proportion to the level of impact on our community. Student Affairs will work with these individuals to ensure they work to repair harm and rebuild trust.”

This story has been updated with a new photo, a statement from Trent University, and an update from police on their investigation.

Local celebrities Linda Kash and Megan Murphy are emceeing a night of “song, story, and solidarity for anyone touched by cancer” in November.

The inaugural “Cancer Takedown” fundraiser begins at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 16th at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough, with all proceeds going to cancer care at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC).

Described as a “spirit-raiser” as much as a fundraiser, the evening will feature local musicians Kate Suhr and Melissa Payne and their bands, along with musical director Anthony Bastianon and singer, dancer, and actor Denise Oucharek.

Along with the performances, people with cancer will also be sharing their stories.

Tickets are $50 for assigned cabaret table seating and $30 general admission seating. Prices include all taxes and fees. You can buy tickets over the phone at 705-775-1503 or in person at the Market Hall box office at 140 Charlotte Street (3rd floor) from noon to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, or online anytime at tickets.markethall.org.

Sponsors for the event include Arrowhead Homes, Paradigm Pictures, Kemp Insurance Brokers Ltd., and Peterborough Volkswagen.

VIDEO: “Cancer Takedown” fundraiser promo