Anna’s Perennials Nursery & Gardens, located in Kawartha Lakes between Lindsay and Bobcaygeon, is one of the 10 gardening businesses featured on this year's Peterborough and Area Garden Route. Anna’s Perennials specializes in perennials, and welcomes visitors to walk through their gardens several times a season, as there is always something new in bloom. (Photo courtesy of Anna's Perennials)
With gardening season finally here, it’s a perfect time to tour the Peterborough and Area Garden Route at gardenroute.ca.
Most people have heard of a fall studio tour, where you take a self-guided tour of local artist studios and even watch them at work. The concept of the Garden Route is similar, except it’s a self-guided tour for those who want to buy plants from local specialty growers, browse garden boutiques, and see some stunning display gardens.
More than 10 years ago, several garden business owners in the Peterborough area decided to work together to promote gardening in the community and, in turn, each other’s businesses. It was a natural collaboration, as garden lovers regularly travel to find the “best of the best” when it comes to plant species and varieties and gardening décor.
As a result, the Peterborough and Area Garden Route was born — a self-guided driving tour highlighting some of the best garden centres and garden boutiques the Peterborough area has to offer.
A new addition to the Peterborough and Area Garden Route this year is Rocky Meadows Lavender near Indian River, a local specialist on lavender varieties that grow well in our area. (Photo courtesy of Rocky Meadows Lavender)
The Garden Route features garden centres that grow many of their own plants, including The Greenhouse on the River and Griffin’s Greenhouses near Lakefield, Gardens Plus in Donwood, Anna’s Perennials in Kawartha Lakes (between Lindsay and Bobcaygeon), and Keene On Gardens near Keene. New to the Garden Route this year is garden business Rocky Meadows Lavender near Indian River.
The Greenhouse on the River, Keene on Gardens, and Griffin’s Greenhouses offer a good mix of annuals and perennials, while Anna’s Perennials and Gardens Plus specialize in low-maintenance perennials. Rocky Mountain Lavender is a local specialist on lavender varieties that grow well in our area.
Some of the garden centres also offer display gardens, where you can take a pleasant walk to stretch your legs, admire beauty, and get some planting ideas.
Look out for the Peterborough and Area Garden Route logo to let you know when you’ve arrived at a stop along the route. (Graphic: Peterborough and Area Garden Route)
Of course, gardening is about more than just plants. If you’re looking for gardening supplies and accessories and home and garden décor, or you or want to find a unique gift for your favourite gardener, you’ll want to stop by the two garden boutiques along the route.
Garden Style Bridgenorth carries garden-themed wall art for both indoor and outdoor decorating, as well as garden-inspired pieces for home décor. The shop also has a large selection of items to add interest to your garden, as well as locally made soy candles, bee houses, wooden flower stakes, pincushions, and more.
The Avant-Garden Shop in downtown Peterborough carries both functional and decorative accessories for your home and garden, as well as ornaments, wall art and statuary, premium garden tools and supplies, wind chimes, mailboxes, address plaques, and more, with a focus on Canadian-made items. The shop also carries the best selection of bird feeders and accessories in Peterborough, as well as bird seed.
The Avant-Garden Shop, open year-round in downtown Peterborough, offers a wide range of garden tools and accessories, bird feed and supplies, and home and garden décor. (Photo courtesy of The Avant-Garden Shop)
If you are interested in houseplants, you’ll also want to check out two new businesses on the Garden Route this year: Plant Goals and Burley’s Gardens.
Plant Goals is a young and funky specialty houseplant shop on Water Street in downtown Peterborough.
Burley’s Gardens on Television Road, just east of the city, specializes in unique houseplants and also offers seasonal outdoor garden products too.
A new addition to the Peterborough and Area Garden Route this year is Plant Goals, a young and funky specialty houseplant shop on Water Street in downtown Peterborough. (Photo courtesy of Plant Goals)
The Peterborough and Area Garden Route is a free self-guided tour available whenever participating businesses are open. While garden centres are open seasonally, garden shops are open year-round.
For more information, including details about each location on the route, visit gardenroute.ca.
One of the many highlights of Public Energy Performing Arts' Erring at King George multi-arts festival is this spectacular sculpture of the head of English author and poet Edward Lear, which features in one of the four chapters of "The Lear Project" by actor-puppeteer Brad Brackenridge and dance-theatre artist Dreda Blow. The festival runs from May 6 to 8 and 13 to 15, 2022, at the former King George Public School in Peterborough's East City. (Photo: Bruce Head / kawarthaNOW)
After more than four years in the making, Public Energy Performing Arts’ Erring at King George opens Friday (May 6), and kawarthaNOW got a sneak peek of what you can expect to see at the multi-arts festival that runs all this weekend and next at the former King George Public School in Peterborough’s East City.
Public Energy hosted a VIP preview of the festival on Thursday night, with invited guests gathering on the front lawn of the school where they witnessed the conclusion of a dress rehearsal for Spirit Week — Kate Story’s immersive theatre work (already sold out for this weekend) that travels through the building — as Daniel Smith emerged from the building to the accompaniment of music by the McDonell Street Gospel Quartet.
Following an land acknowledgement by Public Energy’s general manager and marketing director Eva Fisher and a sponsor welcome from artistic producer Bill Kimball, attendees were offered a copy of the festival program — cleverly designed by Rob Wilkes to resemble a school yearbook.
Public Energy Performing Arts hosted a VIP preview of the Erring at King George multi-arts festival on May 5, 2022. (Photo: Bruce Head / kawarthaNOW)
Attendees were then invited to roam the three floors of the building, browsing 25 art installations, listening to spoken word performances broadcast over the school’s PA system, and watching a selection of the film and live performances running during the festival.
The performances included all four chapters of The Lear Project (by Dedra Blow and Brad Brackenbridge), Care (by Peyton Le Barr, Alexandra Simpson, and Morgan Johnson), and Dancers Playing Basketball (by Deanna Peters and Katie Lowan). Films included The Fewings 16mm Educational Film Collection (by Josh Fewings) and One Day in December (by Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, and LA Alfonso).
The festival runs from May 6 to 8 and May 13 to 15, from 7 to 10 p.m. on Fridays, 3 to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, and 2 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. We’ve supplied a festival schedule and festival program below, but make sure to visit Public Energy’s website at publicenergy.ca/erring-at-king-george-festival-schedule/ for a comprehensive look of all the art installations and performances, including descriptions and artist bios, and for a printable PDF schedule.
Public Energy’s artistic producer Bill Kimball speaks to invited guests as general manager and marketing director Eva Fisher looks during a VIP preview of the Erring at King George multi-arts festival on May 5, 2022. (Photo: Bruce Head / kawarthaNOW)
Here’s a video and a selection of photos by kawarthaNOW from the festival’s preview night.
VIDEO: A taste of “The Lear Project” by Brad Brackenridge and Dreda Blow
Erring at King George Schedule
For a comprehensive look of all the art installations and performances, including descriptions and artist bios, and for a printable PDF schedule, visit Public Energy’s website at publicenergy.ca/erring-at-king-george-festival-schedule/.
Friday, May 6
Box Office opens at 6:30 p.m. and doors open at 7 p.m. Capacity is limited for indoor performances, please arrive early.
Pre-Show Event (SOLD OUT)
6:00 – 7:00 p.m. – Spirit Week Kate Story (Box Office)
7:00 – 10:00 p.m. – Installations open for viewing
Scheduled Events
7:00 – 7:45 p.m. – Music – Kyle Chivers (Front Lawn)*
7:00 – 9:30 p.m. – New-Growth Forest – CM Duffy (3E)*
7:00 – 9:00 p.m. – Experimental Filmmaking Drop-in – CIIC (1B)*
7:15 – 7:25 p.m. – Spoken Word Part 1 – Jasher (P.A. System)
7:30 – 7:45 p.m. – Dancers Playing Basketball – Deanna Peters, Katie Lowen (1Gym)*
7:30 – 7:41 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 1: How Pleasant to Know Him – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (3Hall)
7:40 – 8:00 p.m. – One Day in December – Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, LA Alfonso (3F)
7:45 – 8:00 p.m. – Care – Peyton Le Barr, Alexandra Simpson, Morgan Johnson (3A)
8:00 – 8:20 p.m. – No Elevator to Success – Jen Elchuk, PACA (2Hall)
8:25 – 8:31 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 2: How Unpleasant to Be Him – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (1Hall)
8:35 – 8:45 p.m. – Spoken Word Part 2 – Jasher (P.A. System)
8:45 – 9:00 p.m. – Dancers Playing Basketball – Deanna Peters, Katie Lowen (1Gym)*
8:50 – 8:58 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 3: Uncle Arly and the Two Old Men – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (2Hall)
9:00 – 9:15 p.m. – Care – Peyton Le Barr, Alexandra Simpson, Morgan Johnson (3A)
9:00 – 9:20 p.m. – One Day in December – Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, LA Alfonso (3F)
9:00 – 9:45 p.m. – Fewings 16mm Films – Selections From the Collection (1B)*
9:15 – 9:35 p.m. – No Elevator to Success – Jen Elchuk, PACA (2Hall)
9:35 – 9:45 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 4: The Owl, The Pussycat, The Nonsense – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (3D)
*A drop-in event you can visit when you like during the time indicated.
Saturday, May 7
Box Office opens at 2:30 p.m. and doors open at 3 p.m. Capacity is limited for indoor performances, please arrive early.
Pre-Show Event (SOLD OUT)
2:00 – 3:00 p.m. – Spirit Week Kate Story (Box Office)
3:00 – 6:00 p.m. – Installations open for viewing
Scheduled Events
3:00 – 3:45 p.m. – Music – Lotus Wight (Front Lawn)*
3:00 – 6:00 p.m. – For Our Childhood – Casandra Lee (2Hall)*
3:15 – 3:25 p.m. – Spoken Word Part 1 – Saleem Ansari (P.A. System)
3:30 – 3:45 p.m. – Dancers Playing Basketball – Deanna Peters, Katie Lowen (1Gym)*
3:30 – 4:30 p.m. – Fewings 16mm Films – Audience Choice (1B)
3:30 – 3:41 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 1: How Pleasant to Know Him – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (3Hall)*
3:45 – 4:05 p.m. – No Elevator to Success – Jen Elchuk, PACA (2Hall)
4:00 – 4:15 p.m. – Care – Peyton Le Barr, Alexandra Simpson, Morgan Johnson (3A)
4:05 – 4:25 p.m. – One Day in December – Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, LA Alfonso (3F)
4:25 – 4:31 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 2: How Unpleasant to Be Him – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (1Hall)
4:35 – 4:45 p.m. – Spoken Word Part 2 – Saleem Ansari (P.A. System)
4:45 – 5:00 p.m. – Dancers Playing Basketball – Deanna Peters, Katie Lowen (1Gym)
4:50 – 4:58 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 3: Uncle Arly and the Two Old Men – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (2Hall)*
5:00 – 5:20 p.m. – No Elevator to Success – Jen Elchuk, PACA (2Hall)
5:00 – 5:45 p.m. – Fewings 16mm Films – Selections From the Collection (1B)*
5:15 – 5:30 p.m. – Care – Peyton Le Barr, Alexandra Simpson, Morgan Johnson (3A)
5:15 – 5:35 p.m. – One Day in December – Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, LA Alfonso (3F)
5:35 – 5:45 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 4: The Owl, The Pussycat, The Nonsense – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (3D)
*A drop-in event you can visit when you like during the time indicated.
Sunday, May 8
Box Office opens at 1:30 p.m. and doors open at 2 p.m. Capacity is limited for indoor performances, please arrive early.
Pre-Show Event (SOLD OUT)
1:00 – 2:00 p.m. – Spirit Week Kate Story (Box Office)
2:00 – 5:00 p.m. – Installations open for viewing
Scheduled Events
2:00 – 2:45 p.m. – Music – Marsala and the Imports (Front Lawn)*
2:15 – 2:25 p.m. – Spoken Word Part 1 – Niambi Tree (P.A. System)
2:30 – 2:45 p.m. – Dancers Playing Basketball: Nogojiwanong Edition – Deanna Peters (1Gym)*
2:30 – 3:30 p.m. – Fewings 16mm Films – Audience Choice (1B)*
2:30 – 2:41 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 1: How Pleasant to Know Him – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (3Hall)
2:40 – 3:00 p.m. – One Day in December – Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, LA Alfonso (3F)
2:45 – 3:00 p.m. – Care – Peyton Le Barr, Alexandra Simpson, Morgan Johnson (3A)
3:00 – 3:20 p.m. – No Elevator to Success – Jen Elchuk, PACA (2Hall)
3:25 – 3:31 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 2: How Unpleasant to Be Him – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (1Hall)
3:35 – 3:45 p.m. – Spoken Word Part 2 – Niambi Tree (P.A. System)
3:45 – 4:00 p.m. – Dancers Playing Basketball – Deanna Peters, Katie Lowen (1Gym)*
3:50 – 3:58 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 3: Uncle Arly and the Two Old Men – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (2Hall)
4:00 – 4:45 p.m. – Fewings 16mm Films – Selections From the Collection (1B)*
4:00 – 4:20 p.m. – One Day in December – Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, LA Alfonso (3F)
4:00 – 4:15 p.m. – Care – Peyton Le Barr, Alexandra Simpson, Morgan Johnson (3A)
4:15 – 4:35 p.m. – No Elevator to Success – Jen Elchuk, PACA (2Hall)
4:35 – 4:45 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 4: The Owl, The Pussycat, The Nonsense – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (3D)
*A drop-in event you can visit when you like during the time indicated.
Friday, May 13
Box Office opens at 6:30 p.m. and doors open at 7 p.m. Capacity is limited for indoor performances, please arrive early.
Pre-Show Event (SOLD OUT)
6:00 – 7:00 p.m. – Spirit Week Kate Story (Box Office
7:00 – 10:00 p.m. – Installations open for viewing
Scheduled Events
7:00 – 7:45 p.m. – Music – Shahrazi (Front Lawn)*
7:00 – 9:00 p.m* – Experimental Filmmaking Drop-in – CIIC (1B)*
7:10 – 7:20 p.m. – Spoken Word Part 1 – D’Scribe the Poet (P.A. System)
7:20 – 7:45 p.m. – Anatomy of a Trio – Justin Million, Bennett Bedoukian, Irèni Stamou (2F)
7:30 – 7:41 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 1: How Pleasant to Know Him – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (3Hall)*
7:45 – 8:05 p.m. – No Elevator to Success – Jen Elchuk, PACA (2Hall)
8:00 – 8:15 p.m. – Care – Peyton Le Barr, Alexandra Simpson, Morgan Johnson (3A)
8:05 – 8:25 p.m. – One Day in December – Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, LA Alfonso (3F)
8:15 – 8:23 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 3: Uncle Arly and the Two Old Men – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (2Hall)
8:25 – 8:35 p.m. – Spoken Word Part 2 – D’Scribe the Poet (P.A. System)
8:35 – 9:00 p.m. – Anatomy of a Trio – Justin Million, Bennett Bedoukian, Irèni Stamou (2F)*
8:50 – 8:56 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 2: How Unpleasant to Be Him – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (1Hall)
9:00 – 9:20 p.m. – No Elevator to Success – Jen Elchuk, PACA (2Hall)
9:00 – 9:45 p.m. – Fewings 16mm Films – Selections From the Collection (1B)*
9:15 – 9:30 p.m. – Care – Peyton Le Barr, Alexandra Simpson, Morgan Johnson (3A)
9:15 – 9:35 p.m. – One Day in December – Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, LA Alfonso (3F)
9:35 – 9:45 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 4: The Owl, The Pussycat, The Nonsense – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (3D)
*A drop-in event you can visit when you like during the time indicated.
Saturday, May 14
Box Office opens at 2:30 p.m. and doors open at 3 p.m. Capacity is limited for indoor performances, please arrive early.
Panel Discussion (free admission)
11:00 am – 12:30 p.m. – Art of Accessibility (1Gym)
Pre-Show Event (separate ticket required, must be purchased in advance)
2:00 – 3:00 p.m. – Spirit Week Kate Story (Box Office)
3:00 – 6:00 p.m. – Installations open for viewing
Scheduled Events
Note: A special accessible festival day with additional programming (shown in bold text) available on the first floor to welcome visitors who require a stair-free Erring experience.
3:00 – 3:45 p.m. – Music – Ále Suárez (Front Lawn)*
3:15 – 3:25 p.m. – Spoken Word Part 1 – Sarah Lewis (P.A. System) 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. – Fewings 16mm Films – Audience Choice (1B)* 3:30 – 3:41 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 1: How Pleasant to Know Him – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (1Hall)
3:40 – 4:00 p.m. – One Day in December – Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, LA Alfonso (3F)
3:45 – 4:00 p.m. – Care – Peyton Le Barr, Alexandra Simpson, Morgan Johnson (3A) 4:00 – 4:20 p.m. – No Elevator to Success – Jen Elchuk, PACA (1Hall) 4:25 – 4:31 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 2: How Unpleasant to Be Him – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (1Hall) 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. – Circus Repurpose – Pocket Collective (1C)*
4:35 – 4:45 p.m. – Spoken Word Part 2 – Sarah Lewis (P.A. System) 4:45 – 5:05 p.m. – One Day in December – Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, LA Alfonso (1B)
4:50 – 4:58 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 3: Uncle Arly and the Two Old Men – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (2Hall)
5:00 – 5:15 p.m. – Care – Peyton Le Barr, Alexandra Simpson, Morgan Johnson (3A)
5:00 – 5:20 p.m. – One Day in December – Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, LA Alfonso (3F) 5:05 – 5:50 p.m. – Fewings 16mm Films – Selections From the Collection (1B)*
5:15 – 5:35 p.m. – No Elevator to Success – Jen Elchuk, PACA (2Hall)
5:35 – 5:45 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 4: The Owl, The Pussycat, The Nonsense – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (3D)
*A drop-in event you can visit when you like during the time indicated.
Sunday, May 15
Box Office opens at 1:30 p.m. and doors open at 2 p.m. Capacity is limited for indoor performances, please arrive early.
Pre-Show Event (separate ticket required, must be purchased in advance)
1:00 – 2:00 p.m. – Spirit Week Kate Story (Box Office)
2:00 – 5:00 p.m. – Installations open for viewing
Scheduled Events
2:00 – 2:45 p.m. – Music – Pays D’en Haut (Front Lawn)*
2:00 – 5:00 p.m. – Inclusive Dance Workshop – Propeller Dance – separate ticket required (1Gym)
2:15 – 2:25 p.m. – Spoken Word Part 1 – clifton joseph (P.A. System)
2:30 – 2:41 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 1: How Pleasant to Know Him – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (3Hall)
2:30 – 3:30 p.m. – Fewings 16mm Films – Audience Choice (1B)*
2:45 – 3:05 p.m. – No Elevator to Success – Jen Elchuk, PACA (2Hall)
3:00 – 3:15 p.m. – Care – Peyton Le Barr, Alexandra Simpson, Morgan Johnson (3A)
3:05 – 3:25 p.m. – One Day in December – Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, LA Alfonso (3F)
3:25 – 3:31 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 2: How Unpleasant to Be Him – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (1Hall)
3:35 – 3:45 p.m. – Spoken Word Part 1 – clifton joseph (P.A. System)
3:50 – 3:58 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 3: Uncle Arly and the Two Old Men – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (2Hall)
4:00 – 4:20 p.m. – No Elevator to Success – Jen Elchuk, PACA (2Hall)
4:00 – 4:45 p.m. – Fewings 16mm Films – Selections From the Collection (1B)*
4:15 – 4:30 p.m. – Care – Peyton Le Barr, Alexandra Simpson, Morgan Johnson (3A)
4:15 – 4:35 p.m. – One Day in December – Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, LA Alfonso (3F)
4:35 – 4:45 p.m. – The Lear Project Part 4: The Owl, The Pussycat, The Nonsense – Dreda Blow, Brad Brackenridge (3D)
*A drop-in event you can visit when you like during the time indicated.
Erring at King George Program
Click to view the program full screen, and use the arrows to navigate through the program.
This story was created in partnership with Public Energy Performing Arts.
Canadian alt-rockers Texas King will perform at The Red Dog in downtown Peterborough on Saturday, May 7 in support of their new EP "Changes", with special guests Motherfolk, Loviet, and Revive The Rose. (Publicity photo)
Every Thursday, we publish live music events at pubs and restaurants in Peterborough and the greater Kawarthas region based on information that venues provide to us directly or post on their website or social media channels. Here are the listings for the week of Thursday, May 5 to Wednesday, May 11.
If you’re a pub or restaurant owner and want to be included in our weekly listings, please email our nightlifeNOW editor at nightlife@kawarthanow.com. For concerts and live music events at other venues, check out our Concerts & Live Music page.
Saturday, June 4 7:30pm - Jim Love "Last Man Standing" CD release w/ Slinky and The Boys
Dr. J's BBQ & Brews
282 Aylmer St., Peterborough
(705) 874-5717
Coming Soon
Saturday, May 21 2-4pm - PMBA presents Wylie Harold and Out On Bail ($100 for table of 4, $150 for table of 6, $25 bar seat by e-transfer to . All proceeds help musicians in need)
5-7pm - Rob Foreman & Nicholas Campbell; 9pm - Diamond Dave and the Smoke Eaters
Tuesday, May 10
8pm - Live music TBA
Wednesday, May 11
8pm - Undercover Wednesdays tribute night ft songs of Tom Petty (sign-up in advance at )
Coming Soon
Wednesday, May 18 8pm - Undercover Wednesdays tribute night ft songs of Neil Young (sign-up in advance at )
The Locker at The Falls
9 Lindsay St., Fenelon Falls
705-887-6211
Sunday, May 8
2-5pm - Acoustic Sunday ft Kelly Burrows
Mainstreet Landing Restaurant
1939 Lakehurst Road, Buckhorn
(705) 657-9094
Thursday, May 5
CANCELLED - 7-10pm - Ty WIlson
Saturday, May 7
7pm - Karaoke
Coming Soon
Thursday, May 12 7-10pm - Ty WIlson
McGillicafey's Pub & Eatery
13 Bridge St.. N., Hastings
(705) 696-3600
Thursday, May 5
7-10pm - Karaoke
McThirsty's Pint
166 Charlotte St., Peterborough
(705) 743-2220
Friday, May 6
9pm - Live music TBA
Saturday, May 7
9pm - Live music TBA
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Oasis Bar & Grill
31 King St. E., Cobourg
(905) 372-6634
Sunday, May 8
6-9pm - Bruce Longman
Pie Eyed Monk Brewery
8 Cambridge St. N., Lindsay
(705) 212-2200
Coming Soon
Friday, May 27 7-11:30pm - Music At the Monk 2 ft Looking For Heather, Phil Heaslip, Cassie Noble, Nathan Truax, SJ Riley ($10 in advance at www.eventbrite.ca/e/273028785447)
If Douro-Dummer wins Kraft Hockeyville 2022 Canada, the township will use the $250,000 grand prize to upgrade the Douro Community Centre and Arena, including with new facilities for girls' change rooms and to upgrade accessibility across the entire arena. (kawarthaNOW screenshot)
Update – May 7
Sydney in Nova Scotia has been crowned Kraft Hockeyville Canada 2022. As one of the three second-place winners, Douro-Dummer will receive $25,000 in arena upgrades and $10,000 in brand new hockey equipment from the NHL Players’ Association Goals & Dreams Fund for deserving youth in the community.
If you want to see Douro-Dummer Township in Peterborough County voted the winner of the 16th annual Kraft Hockeyville contest, register now at www.krafthockeyville.ca and start voting at 9 a.m. on Friday (May 6).
Voting continues until 5 p.m. on Saturday, with the community receiving the most votes declared the winner.
Once you create an account, you can vote as many times as you like.
Douro-Dummer is one of four finalists, competing for votes against Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in Quebec, Sydney in Nova Scotia, and Princeton in British Columbia.
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This is the second year in a row a community in the Kawarthas has been a finalist in Kraft Hockeyville. Bobycaygeon was in the running last year, but lost out to Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick.
If Douro-Dummer wins this year’s contest, the community will receive $250,000 to upgrade the Douro Community Centre and Arena and the chance to host an NHL pre-season hockey game there.
The upgrades would include new facilities for girls’ change rooms and upgrade accessibility across the entire arena.
VIDEO: Why Douro-Dummer should be Kraft Hockeyville 2022 Canada
The three second-place communities will each receive $25,000 for arena upgrades, along with $10,000 in brand new hockey equipment from the National Hockey League Players’ Association’s Goals & Dreams Fund for deserving youth in the community.
To get ready to cast your votes for Douro-Dummer, register now at www.krafthockeyville.ca. Voting opens at 9 a.m. on Friday and closes at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Douro Minor Hockey and Douro-Dummer Township will be hosting a Kraft Hockeyville watch party at the Douro Community Centre and Arena on Saturday. The celebration will include food, a cash bar, and a big screen to watch the announcement of the winner and then some NHL playoff hockey. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for the free event.
On the same day the provincial election campaign began, Peterborough’s medical officer of health Dr. Thomas Piggott and two other regional medical officers of health sent a joint letter to Ontario’s chief medical officer of health asking him to temporarily resurrect the provincial masking mandate in workplaces, schools, and grocery stores and pharmacies.
The May 4th letter to Dr. Kieran Moore, signed by Dr. Piggott along with Dr. M. Mustafa Hirji of Niagara Region and Dr. Shanker Nesathurai of Windsor-Essex, points out the Ontario Science Table has reported persistently high amounts of COVID-19 in the wastewater, a key marker of transmission, along with increased hospitalizations.
“Consistent with this, in each of our respective health units, we continue to see significant impacts that are not relenting,” the letter reads.
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“In Peterborough Public Health region, we see hospitalizations of persons with COVID-19 recently exceeding any previous wave. In Niagara, for the past three weeks, hospitalizations have remained equivalent to the peaks of wave two and three, requiring our main hospital system to ramp down surgeries to 70 per cent. On Monday this week, our overstretched hospital systems had 100 patients admitted, but without a bed.”
A provincial masking mandate currently only remains in effect until June 11 for high-risk indoor settings including public transit, healthcare settings (including hospitals, doctors’ offices, and home and community care), long-term care and retirement homes, and shelters and other congregate care settings that provide care and services to medically and socially vulnerable individuals.
The joint letter asks Dr. Moore to temporarily expand the masking mandate to include other indoor settings including workplaces, schools, college and universities, ans “essential service settings” such as grocery stores and pharmacies.
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“To be fully effective and clear in communication to Ontarians we believe this is needed at a provincial, not a local level,” the letter reads.
The letter also states that the pandemic is “exacerbating inequalities in our society,” with those who have the worst social determinants of health subject to more infections, more hospitalizations, more isolation from work and school, more lost income due to isolation, and more risk of long-term disability with long COVID.
“The return of masking could help protect those with inequities and vulnerabilities, relieve the pressures on our hospitals, and most importantly protect the health of the people we serve,” the letter concludes.
A t-shirt from the 2017 Peterborough Children's Water Festival featuring "Water is Life" in three languages, including Ojibway. Although the 20th annual Peterborough Children's Water Festival returns in a virtual format for the second year in a row, the festival will continue to use traditional Indigenous teachings to help students understand their essential relationship to water and to the earth. (Photo: Karen Halley)
Each week, GreenUP provides a story related to the environment. This week’s story is by Karen O’Krafka, Education Programs Coordinator at GreenUP.
“There’s water in the sea and there’s water in me.
There’s water flowing down the old Otonabee.
Sitting by the water what a peaceful sound.
It’s a never-ending cycle going round and round and round.
It’s time for Water Wednesday Hip Hip Hooray.
Let’s make a big splash what do you say?
Flowing through Peterborough down the water way.
Hip Hip Hooray for Water Wednesday.”
This week we begin a month of Water Wednesdays. The new Peterborough Children’s Water Festival (PCWF) theme song penned by the Paddling Puppeteer Glen Caradus perfectly encapsulates the magic of our second virtual festival.
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Recorded beside the fast-flowing spring melt of Jackson Creek, the video of Glen’s song captures both the energy and the themes of this May’s online water education celebration.
Like last year’s festival, each week will begin with banjo fingers flying and tongue twisting around the rich and diverse themes of water education. The fully booked festival will welcome 100 Grade 2 to 5 classes from across Peterborough City and County to tune in for a weekly injection of local water education.
Glen’s sing-along will launch each day of our incredible 2022 festival line-up. Our line-up features local water heroes and familiar faces. Elder Dorothy Taylor from Oshkigamong/Curve Lake First Nation and Shaelyn Wabegijig from Kawartha World Issues Centre will begin the festival in a good way.
VIDEO: Water Wednesday Theme Song by Glen Caradus
Students will be inspired by many other engaging appearances during the four weeks of programming, including the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre, Otonabee Conservation, the Atlantic salmon education team at the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, the Riverview Park and Zoo education team, the Peterborough Utilities Water Treatment Plant, and the City of Peterborough Waste Water Treatment Plant.
Last May, we launched our first-ever online Peterborough Children’s Water Festival. It was a huge success, attended by 1,500 students. That success is because the virtual festival offers a unique opportunity for students to get to know local water experts.
“In addition to the practical knowledge that students obtained from presentations, I believe the variety of speakers provided the opportunity for students to hear from others who have a passion for water,” shares Tanya Hunter from Roseneath Public School. “These experts presented many different aspects of the importance of water. This is valuable because students don’t always get to hear from people who are truly passionate about a cause; this can be the spark to ignite their own passions, and if not a career with water, they see modelled how people make careers of passions.”
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“The magic of the festival every Wednesday,
Meeting water heroes throughout the month of May.
Culture, Conservation, Science Protection too
Each week a new adventure with Julius and crew.”
Host Julius the Turtle welcomes water heroes from across the region. A highlight of this second annual online festival will be virtual field trips across the Otonabee Watershed, including a stop at the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre (OTCC) located in Peterborough.
Julius and all our Grade 2 to 5 students will join Wendy, the OTCC’s education coordinator, for a backstage tour of the OTCC’s vital efforts to protect and conserve Ontario’s native turtles and their habitat. Students will discover what really happens at a turtle hospital that treats, rehabilitates, and releases injured turtles.
A visit to the OTCC is not the only new addition to this year’s festival. Also new this year, the magic of the festival is enhanced with classroom kits for registered classes. With the incredible coordination of PCWF steering committee members Shawna Corcoran and Cathy Mitchell, zoo volunteers assembled 100 classroom kits for distribution. These kits support learning in tangible ways and invite reflection on our water festival pillars.
Elder Dorothy Taylor of Oshkigamong/Curve Lake First Nation (seated) is one of the participants in the virtual 2022 Peterborough Children’s Water Festival. Here, as part of a pre-COVID watershed tour with GreenUP’s Wonders of Water program, she explains to St. Anne’s Catholic Elementary School students the materials she uses to perform an Anishinaabe Water Ceremony at the confluence of Jackson Creek and the Otonabee River. (Photo: Leif Einarson)
“In Ojibway it’s Nibi in French it’s L’eau.
We all live downstream in a never-ending flow.
Water gives us life, yes this we know
A solid, liquid, gas called H2O.”
Grounding students’ understanding that “Water is Life” is vital to inspiring our love and protection. Each classroom kit contains a book celebrating Indigenous water protectors. The book Water Walker celebrates Josephine Mandamin. Elder Dorothy Taylor is a local water walker who joined with Josephine on a number of walks hosted by the Sacred Water Circle. She will share with students her understanding of the life force of Nibi and the need to take action, including offering daily gratitude for water.
As we water young minds at the festival, Grade 2s and 3s will be watering seeds to reveal the life-giving forces of water. They will monitor soil moisture with moisture metres donated by the Peterborough Utilities Group.
Grade 4s and 5s will try a water treatment experiment, using alum like that used at water and waste water treatment plants to help flocculate suspended solids out of water. They will be able to share their successes with Kent Keeling, chief environmental officer for the City of Peterborough and long-time PCWF steering committee member.
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“Racing through the watershed to Lake Ontario
Creeks streams and rivers through our watersheds they flow.
Peterborough County, Nogojiwanong
Let’s celebrate Nibi with our Water Wednesday song.”
The injection of learning over the course of a month also provides an opportunity to become more aware of our local watershed. This awareness reinforces important learnings and inspires behavioural change. We will wrap up each festival day with an invitation for students to explore their own relationship to water, equipped with more knowledge to improve their impact on water.
The festival works in partnership with educators, water quality and quantity specialists, community volunteers, conservation groups, as well as representatives from industry and government to create a festival full of activities that are educational and fun.
Shaelyn Wabegijig, Program and Outreach Coordinator with Kawartha World Issues Centre, will be helping to begin the Peterborough Children’s Water Festival in a good way. (Photo: Genevieve Ramage)
This year’s festival is possible thanks to an amazing list of supporters and benefactors, including the City of Peterborough, Peterborough Utilities, TD Friends of the Environment, Kawartha Credit Union, Siemens, Ontario Power Generation, Trent University, Herb Lang Drilling, and other festival donors.
To find out more or to financially support the festival, please visit pcwf.net or email info@pcwf.net.
Butterflies, bees, and flowers adorn the window of creative hub Watson & Lou at 383 Water Street in downtown Peterborough. The window display is part of a fundraiser for Monarch Ultra, a local organization that aims to raise awareness for monarch butterflies by organizing long-distance running events. (Supplied photo)
If you stop by creative hub Watson & Lou at 383 Water Street in downtown Peterborough, you’ll notice a new window display that celebrates the monarch butterfly and other pollinators.
The window display is part of a fundraiser that launched on Wednesday (May 4) to support Monarch Ultra, a local organization that aims to raise awareness for monarch butterflies by organizing long-distance running events.
During May, you can purchase a $10 raffle ticket for a grand prize that includes pollinator-friendly plants, a butterfly house, a monarch painting, a monarch book, and other pollinator-inspired items.
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The items for the grand prize, which is valued at $250, were donated by local businesses Anna’s Perennials, Johnston’s Greenhouse, Griffin’s Greenhouses, Avant-Garden Shop, Watson & Lou, and
Bluestreak Records.
One grand prize winner will be announced on Friday, May 20th — just in time for the May long-weekend, so the winner can plant the butterfly-friendly plants in their garden.
The Watson & Lou window display, which was created by members from Monarch Ultra and Peterborough Pollinators, pays tribute to the monarch butterfly.
The grand prize for the Monarch Ultra fundraising raffle includes pollinator-friendly plants, a butterfly house, a monarch painting, a monarch book, and other pollinator-inspired items. (Supplied photos)
In a media release, Monarch Ultra co-founder Carlotta James explains the monarch butterfly’s annual migration, which she calls “one of nature’s greatest spectacles,” is at risk of disappearing due to vanishing habitats, extreme weather, and increased use of pesticides.
“I am excited to celebrate the beauty of monarchs by turning Watson & Lou’s store window into a captivating art installation,” James says. “This will also serve as a platform to raise awareness of important issues such as monarch population decline.”
Children are also invited to create their own native flower or pollinator art and drop it off at Watson & Lou, who will then add it to the window display. Every creation that children bring in will count as one entry for the raffle draw.
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“Kids care so much about creatures big and small,” says Anna Eidt, co-owner of Watson & Lou. “Through this community engagement project, they can help protect the very special local flowers and pollinators who make Peterborough a beautiful and healthy place to live for us all.”
Raffle tickets can be purchased for $10 each at Watson & Lou or online at www.watsonandlou.com.
Pollinator advocate and Monarch Ultra co-founder Carlotta James displays a butterfly house in front of the window display at Watson & Lou in downtown Peterborough. It’s part of a pollinator-inspired grand prize valued at $250. (Photo courtesy of Monarch Ultra)
A giant mask of English author and poet Edward Lear, casting its shadow on a wall at King George Public School in Peterborough's East City, is part of "The Lear Project" created and performed by actor-puppeteer Brad Brackenridge and dance-theatre artist Dreda Blow. The four-chapter ode to Lear's nonsense poems will be performed at Public Energy's Erring at King George" multi-arts festival from May 6 to 8 and May 13 to 15, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Brad Brackenridge)
It’s a fairly safe assumption that Edward Lear would have very much enjoyed attending the Erring at King George multi-disciplinary arts festival taking place the first two weekends of May.
After all, the late English artist, illustrator, musician, author, and poet — best known for his popular ‘nonsense’ collections of poems and short stories — was as creative and whimsical as it gets. There’s no question he would have found himself very much at home in the midst of like-minded creators gathered to showcase their talents at the former East City school at Hunter Street East and Armour Road.
With The Lear Project, Brad Brackenridge and Dreda Blow are bringing together the elements of puppetry and dance to introduce audiences to one of the 19th century’s most productive and multi-faceted creators who, among other achievements, popularized the limerick form of poetry.
Actor-puppeteer Brad Brackenridge and dance-theatre artist Dreda Blow of “The Lear Project”, which premieres at Public Energy’s Erring at King George” multi-arts festival from May 6 to 8 and May 13 to 15, 2022. (Supplied photos)
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Presented by Public Energy Performing Arts and sponsored in part by kawarthaNOW, festival dates are May 6 to 8 and May 13 to 15. Tickets range in price from $5 to $30, can be purchased online at eventbrite.ca/e/erring-at-king-george-tickets-311827001957. Tickets will also be available at the door.
“We didn’t know exactly what this was going to turn out to be but then we did a little tour of the school,” recalls Brackenridge, a longtime theatre and film actor and designer and puppeteer, who previously “worked on a little thing” with Blow, leading to a goal “to work together on something else.”
“One of the (school) rooms had a lot of children’s books — storybooks and so on. Dreda talked about one book that she was familiar with as a tot, The Book of Nonsense by Edward Lear. I had heard the name. Other than that, I wasn’t too familiar with him. But we kept coming back to that until we said ‘Okay, let’s attack the subject of Edward Lear and nonsense in his fantastical world.’ That was the seed of it.”
The first stanza of Edward Lear’s famous poem “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat”, with an illustration by Lear, first published in 1871 as part of his book “Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets.” Lear wrote the poem for the three-year-old girl daughter of a friend and fellow poet. (Photo: British Library)
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Blow, a dance-theatre artist, adds “finding a way to combine our disciplines — how dance and puppetry might meet in the middle” was a huge motivating factor in their working together again.
“This was percolating in our heads as we walked through the school for the first time and thought about what we could do in this big old building,” she says, adding she was most familiar with Lear’s famous poem ‘The Owl and the Pussy-Cat’.
“I’ve always wanted to do something with that,” Blow says. “It’s so weird and bizarre and fun and romantic and sweet. That was sort of our point of entry. As we started to read up a little more on him, we were more and more fascinated with him, as a man and with his life.”
A 74-year-old Edward Lear in 1887, a year before his death. (Public domain photo)
“He was very lonely … tales of rejection and unrequited love,” Blow explains. “He was epileptic, which caused him a lot of shame. He was one of 15 brothers and sisters. His mother sent him away to be raised by his oldest sister. He had these bouts of depression that he referred to as ‘the morbids’. We found this parallel between this beautiful, ridiculous, and lovely children’s world of fantasy characters and made-up stories and this really hard, sad, lonely and isolated life.”
The result of their research and script-writing collaboration, says Brackenridge, is “four separate pieces we’re calling chapters. We’ve taken poems, and added recorded music, puppets and movement.”
“Rather than having a clear, linear narrative that links them all, they’re like little windows into Lear’s world,” Blow adds.
Dreda Blow works with a puppet from “The Lear Project”, which premieres at Public Energy’s Erring at King George” multi-arts festival from May 6 to 8 and May 13 to 15, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Brad Brackenridge)
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The chapters are subtitled ‘How Pleasant To Know Him’, ‘How Unpleasant To Be Him’, ‘Uncle Arly And The Two Old Men’, and ‘The Owl, The Pussycat, The Nonsense’.
“One chapter is sort of a duo of two poems that we bring to life in a stairwell,” Blow says. “Another is this ridiculous sort of music hall Victorian-style song and dance. There’s a little bit of tap dancing but we bring in modern influences as well. We’re like travelling minstrels that are singing and talking and sharing, letting people know who this fellow Lear is.”
“Each chapter stands on its own. Each is entertaining and interesting in its own right. The nature of the festival is that people choose their own adventure. We had that in mind when building this thing. They don’t need to be seen in a particular order and they don’t all need to be seen to be understood.”
An early edition, circa 1875, of Edward Lear’s “A Book of Nonsense,” which contains 109 limericks and accompanying illustrations from Lear. (Public domain photo)
The four chapters of The Lear Project will be presented successively on each day of Erring at King George: at 7:30, 8:20, 8:50 and 9:35 p.m. on May 6; at 3:30, 4:20, 4:50 and 5:35 p.m. on May 7; at 2:30, 3:20, 3:50 and 4:35 p.m. on May 8; at 7:30, 8:15, 8:50 and 9:35 p.m. on May 13; at 3:30, 4:20, 4:50 and 5:35 p.m. on May 14; and at 2:30, 3:20, 3:50 and 4:35 p.m. on May 15.
The Lear Project also features an original score composed by Bruno Merz, with special The Owl and the Pussy-Cat masks and puppets created by Clelia Scala.
Both Brackenridge and Blow are excited to premiere The Lear Project at Erring at King George, with much of that excitement rooted in the venue itself.
A small puppet sitting in the eye of a giant mask of English author and poet Edward Lear. (Photo courtesy of Brad Brackenridge)
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“It’s so appropriate to have this beloved children’s literature brought to life in a school,” says Blow.
“I love unconventional theatre spaces where the audience isn’t quite so passive. They can peek through windows and go around corners. They might be looking at something on the second floor and hear us singing from above. It’s going to be fun to have that happening in one building that people can wander through.”
The plan post-Erring is to expand on The Lear Project with an eye toward presenting a fuller production, possibly staging it in a more conventional theatre space.
Edward Lear’s illustration for the opening verse from his “A Book of Nonsense”: There was an Old Man with a beard, / Who said, “It is just as I feared! – / “Two Owls and a Hen, / Four Larks and a Wren, / Have all built their nests in my beard!”. (Public domain photo)
“Before we got hands-on with creating it, we had many discussions about what we wanted or didn’t want,” Brackenridge recalls. “Once we started, we realized ‘Oh, one of those ideas we thought we were going to do, well, we can’t do that yet’ but it’s always in the back of your mind.”
“Maybe this piece could expand a bit more. In the back of your mind, it’s a bigger thing but at the same time you don’t want to spend too much time thinking about what it could be because the clock is ticking. Let’s focus on this (for now). But it’s definitely a work in progress.”
“We’re not just taking a play and reinventing it — we’re devising something totally from scratch,” Blow adds. “Do we want to meet Lear at the end of his life? Do we want to follow him through his life? Is this a story of characters he wrote? We had so many versions and so many different ideas of how we could dip into his world.”
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As they rehearse and refine their creation, Brackenridge and Blow share a common hope that audiences will come away with a better understanding of who Lear is, and why his work remains as treasured today as it was when it was first published.
“When they’ve seen what we’ve done, I hope people will say ‘I got a little piece of Lear’,” Brackenridge says. “They’re not going to say ‘I know exactly who he was.’ They’ll get an essence of him. Hopefully, we represent him well enough for that to happen.”
For her part, Blow is hopeful “people feel we’ve made a little bit of magic.”
Actor-puppeteer Brad Brackenridge and dance-theatre artist Dreda Blow work on the giant mask of English author and poet Edward Lear for “The Lear Project”, which premieres at Public Energy’s Erring at King George” multi-arts festival from May 6 to 8 and May 13 to 15, 2022. (Photo: Andy Carroll)
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“Nonsense is so fun — so playful and so ridiculous,” Blow says. “It’s delightful. It’s hilarious. We’re having fun with it. I want people to have fun with it. But there are also these quieter, poignant moments that I hope they feel. There’s life in it. There’s death. There’s marriage. There’s love. I can’t wait for when we get the lights on and we’re in our costumes and masks and all of these things come together. I have goose bumps thinking about it.”
Involving more than 70 performance and visual artists, this is the third Erring festival held in Peterborough, the last being in 2014 at Mount St. Joseph.
This story was created in partnership with Public Energy Performing Arts.
Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca, beside Peterborough-Kawartha Liberal candidate Greg Dempsey, inside the pergola at Lakefield's Isabel Morris Park during Dempsey's official campaign launch on May 3, 2022. (Photo: Justin Sutton / kawarthaNOW)
On a cool and rainy Tuesday evening (May 3) in Lakefield’s Isabel Morris Park, a large crowd of enthusiastic supporters cheered on Ontario Liberal candidate Greg Dempsey as he officially launched his campaign to become the next MPP for Peterborough-Kawartha — with Liberal leader Steven Del Duca making a previously unannounced appearance.
“Tonight is about the choices that we are going to make,” Dempsey said. “We deserve better action on climate. We deserve a health care system that works for us. We deserve an education system that isn’t suffering through $1.3 billion in cuts from this government. We deserve a better, more caring provincial government.”
Dempsey grew up in Peterborough, graduating from the French immersion program at Adam Scott CVI in 1999. He went on to earn two degrees from Bishops University (computer science and economics), a law degree from the University of Victoria and an master’s degree in International Human Rights Law from Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
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“I pictured myself as a high-powered, high-flying corporate attorney on Bay Street, and in the first year of my law degree my grandmother passed away,” Dempsey said, his voice cracking. “That year, my first year at law school was the hardest year of my life. It made me re-evaluate my own priorities about what I wanted to do with this one life that I have, so I decided I was going to serve.”
After a career working for Global Affairs Canada, with postings at the UN and Canada’s Embassy in Kabul, Dempsey revealed it was the pandemic that brought him home to Peterborough-Kawartha.
“As the pandemic got worse I knew that I needed to be at home, because Peterborough-Kawartha is my home,” he said. “It’s where my heart is, it’s where my family is.”
Greg Dempsey, the Liberal candidate for Peterborough-Kawartha in the June 2nd provincial election, welcomes Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca during Dempsey’s official campaign launch at Lakefield’s Isabel Morris Park on May 3, 2022. (Photo: Justin Sutton / kawarthaNOW)
It was at that point that Dempsey asked his supporters to leave the relative comfort of the park’s pergola to brave the rain and offer “an amazing Peterborough-Kawartha welcome” to Liberal leader Steven Del Duca, who had pulled into the Lakefield community centre parking lot later than expected.
A clearly energized Del Duca began by focusing his remarks on the broad strokes of the Liberal platform — action on climate change, funding for public education and healthcare, and support for “mom and pop” small retailers rather than “big box stores” — framing the election as a choice between a “chaotic”, “flip-flopping” Conservative government that only looks out for the very rich while leaving everyone else behind, and a Liberal government who will “do the right thing” and invest in the public services Ontarians rightly rely on.
Del Duca’s more specific policy announcements included:
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Investing $4.4 billion of “new money” over four years in community-based home care, which will benefit a claimed 400,000 seniors.
Ending for-profit long-term elder care in Ontario in favour of smaller settings of up to 10 people living together in a supportive “home-like” environment with a personal support worker or a nurse 24/7.
Promising to “kill highway 413 once and for all.” Del Duca said, if elected, the Liberals will take the $10 billion earmarked for the highway and invest those dollars in school repairs as well as building new schools.
Moving beyond a minimum wage and developing Ontario’s first-ever “living wage.”
Cancelling corporate income taxes for Ontario’s worst-hit small businesses for two years after the election.
Eliminating the HST on prepared foods up to $20.
Promising “buck-a-ride province wide” with all transit rides across the province only costing $1 From the election until January 2024.
Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca speaks to a crowd of more than 200 supporters during Peterborough-Kawartha Liberal candidate Greg Dempsey’s official campaign launch at Lakefield’s Isabel Morris Park on May 3, 2022. (Photo: Justin Sutton / kawarthaNOW)
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After listing the Liberal’s most eye-catching campaign promises, Del Duca pointed to the energized crowd of more than 200 people who came out to support Greg Dempsey in the pouring rain and said “[they’re here] because [he’s] so passionate and so dedicated to this community.”
“It’s time for positive change,” Del Duca added. “(People are) tired of the chaos, they’re tired of the cuts, they’re tired of being dragged backwards. They want optimism, they want determination, and the new Ontario Liberal team is going to deliver that.”
The 2022 provincial election will be held on Thursday, June 2nd. Along with Dempsey, there are five other candidates for the Peterborough-Kawartha riding: incumbent Dave Smith of the Conservatives, Jen Deck of the NDP, Robert Gibson of the Green Party of Ontario, Tom Marazzo of the Ontario Party, and Dylan Smith of the None Of The Above Party.
The Alderville Black Oak Savanna is located on Alderville First Nation south of Rice Lake. In the 23 years since, the natural grassland ecosystems on the land have been under active restoration. (Photo courtesy of Alderville Black Oak Savanna)
A plant nursery, located on Alderville First Nation south of Rice Lake, is helping to restore Ontario’s endangered grassland ecosystems while also growing traditional food and medicines for members of the local Indigenous community.
The Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery is part of the Alderville Black Oak Savanna, the largest intact tract of native grassland within the Rice Lake Plains and in central Ontario. In 1999, local biologist, artist, and Elder Rick Beaver noticed a mix of rare plant species (in what was then old agricultural fields) specific to two endangered grassland ecosystems: tallgrass prairie and black oak savanna.
Alderville First Nation’s Chief and Council declared the area a natural history site and protected it from development. In 2019, with the support of Chief Dave Mowat, Alderville First Nation established the Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery.
As well as supporting the work of Alderville Black Oak Savanna to restore endangered grasslands by supplying native plants, the Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery will grow traditional wild foods and medicines for members of Alderville First Nation. (Photo courtesy of Alderville Black Oak Savanna)
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Gillian di Petta is the Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery’s coordinator. She first joined the Alderville Black Oak Savanna organization in 2017 and has been instrumental in developing the nursery.
The logo of the Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery shows two Black Oak acorns, reflecting the nursery’s name: an Anishinaabemowin word meaning “seed from an oak”. Both the name and logo represent the symbiotic relationship between Alderville Black Oak Savanna and the Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery.
“The name demonstrates the relationship between the two organizations,” says di Petta. “If the Black Oak Savanna is the oak, the nursery would be the seed. We envision it as the full circle of what restoration looks like, from the time seed is collected to how the nursery production feeds into the ecological restoration on Alderville First Nation Lands.”
Gillian di Petta, project lead for the Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery. (Photo courtesy of Alderville Black Oak Savanna)
“With the ecological restoration work of the Black Oak Savanna focusing on grassland ecosystems — tallgrass prairie and oak savanna — one of the primary things we do is plant native species,” di Petta explains. “Before we had the nursery, we had to contract out our growing operations. The original idea for the nursery came from a long-term need for native plants to continue our restoration projects.”
As grasslands exist in only three per cent of their former range throughout North America, restoring them is an important way to help mitigate climate change. Grasslands are highly effective carbon sinks — meaning they absorb and store large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere, a leading contributor to climate change.
While forests are also effective carbon sinks, grassland ecosystems store carbon in their extensive root systems. This means that, when a grassland burns, the carbon remains safely stored below ground. When a forest burns, much of the carbon stored in trees is released back into the atmosphere.
The logo of the Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery. (Graphic: Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery)
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According to di Petta, restoring the native grassland landscape to what it once was is also paramount for drought resistance and increasing habitat for at-risk species.
The Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery has a series of goals under the Alderville Black Oak Savanna; one of these goals is focusing on local plant genetics by collecting seeds from existing local populations. di Petta uses the example of Big bluestem (andropogon gerardi), a perennial native tallgrass species.
“Big bluestem from this region and Big bluestem from southwestern Ontario don’t necessarily have the same genetics” she explains. “So, as much as possible, we want to retore with genetics from this area. Seed sovereignty for Alderville First Nation is a guiding principle for the plant nursery — an important consideration as the nursery grows.”
As grassland ecosystems are rare in Ontario and throughout North America, restoring them is an important way to help mitigate climate change, increase drought resistance, and for providing habitat for at-risk species. (Photo courtesy of Alderville Black Oak Savanna)
The Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery will make native plants available for purchase by Black Oak Savanna partners, including native plants such as Little bluestem, Big bluestem, Wild blue lupine, Butterfly weed, and Hairy beardtongue.
The nursery also grows traditional food and medicinal plants for the Alderville First Nation community. Alderville Black Oak Savanna staff work alongside Alderville First Nation Health and Social Services and other community-based organizations.
Another primary goal for the nursery is to provide education and outreach opportunities for the public. Tours of the Alderville Black Oak Savanna will be highlight the work of the Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery, providing a means to demonstrate the full circle of ecological restoration.
The Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery’s main mission is to supply plants to assist Alderville Black Oak Savanna’s work in restoring the tallgrass prairie and oak savanna ecosystems in the Rice Lake Plains region. (Photo courtesy of Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery)
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The Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery design currently includes a hoop house and interpretive garden, with a passive solar greenhouse on track to be constructed this summer.
“It’s a custom-design structure that’s engineered specifically for our regions climate and will be used to germinate seeds and experiment with alternative growing conditions for native plants” di Petta explains. “The hoop house will be used to grow-on the germinated plants from the greenhouse.”
“Picturing the nursery three years from now, we envision the passive solar greenhouse, the hoop house, and outdoor nursey rows,” she adds. “We will host workshops, as another one of our goals is to use the nursery to share information on how to grow and care for native plants.”
Sage seedlings being grown by the Mitigomin Native Plant Nursey for a collaboration with Alderville First Nation Health and Social Services. (Photo courtesy of Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery)
Naturally, there are necessities to make this vision come to fruition. Although the nursery received a substantial grant from the Greenbelt Foundation last October, di Petta notes on-going funding is a challenge for most not-for-profit organizations.
As a not-for-profit organization, the Alderville Black Oak Savanna and Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery relies on funding and donations to continue their ecological restoration, education, and research. You can support them by making a donation or by booking a guided tour or full-day visit this summer.
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“People need to know what we’re doing so they care to protect the land in the future,” di Petta says. “Especially youth because, whenever we get young kids here, they’re so excited about what we’re doing.”
You can learn more about the Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery and Alderville Black Oak Savanna by visiting aldervillesavanna.ca.
You can also follow the Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery on Facebook and Instagram.
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