A model displays the best-selling Katy Romper from Rosie and Faith, an online women's and children's clothing shop owned and operated by best friends Megan Carr and Kelly Winslow. Rosie and Faith has launched a "Real Beauties" Facebook group to promote inclusivity and a positive body image. (Photo: Rosie and Faith)
“You are more than the size on your clothing tag,” says Megan Carr, who owns and operates the online women’s and children’s clothing shop Rosie and Faith with her best friend Kelly Winslow.
The pair of entrepreneurs is helping to change the way women perceive themselves when it comes to clothing, by promoting inclusivity and a positive body image. To help do that, Rosie and Faith is hosting a “Real Beauties” event at Peterborough Yoga Wellness Centre on Saturday afternoon (March 19).
“It’s a free photo shoot opportunity for ladies of all shapes and sizes to come and feel confident and fabulous in front of the camera,” Carr tells kawarthaNOW.
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The event grew from a Facebook group called Rosie & Faith’s Real Beauties that Carr created in January when she put out a call for models to wear Rosie and Faith’s women’s romper.
“It’s become a group for all women, of all walks of life and shapes and sizes to gather, to discuss what they are looking for in their clothing,” Carr explains. “As I am growing the line from the ground up, there is much opportunity for discussion and fine tuning, and my biggest focus group has been these women.”
With the group growing daily — it now has more than 470 members — Carr decided to offer the free photo shoot event, where women will have the chance to come in clothing of their choice and receive two free digital photos taken by photographer Martina O’Reilly, along with a swag bag. Both Rosie and Faith and Peterborough-based baby shop Soleil Baby will also be selling products at the event.
The “Real Beauties” event at Peterborough Yoga Wellness Centre on March 19, 2022 is a free photo shoot for women of all shapes and sizes. (Graphic: Rosie and Faith)
“The aim of the event and my group has been to start the conversation about women and how they feel about their bodies,” Carr says. “There has been much discussion about lack of general confidence coming from these women, and we are going to change that.”
One of the changes Carr is planning is how Rosie and Faith’s clothing sizes are labelled.
“Our sizes range from XS to 4XL but we are not going to be settling for those labels,” she explains. “Instead we are changing the way we label clothing in our brand, by using words of affirmation to describe what would usually be a size. You may see the word ‘beautiful’ for an XS or ‘confident’ for a 4XL instead of the regular size on the clothing tag.”
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Carr and Winslow launched their clothing business over two years ago, starting with a romper for newborns. Since then, their Kayla Romper — named after Winslow’s daughter — has become their best seller.
Carr, who has a 10-month-old daughter herself, became acutely aware of body image issues after she became pregnant.
“When I became pregnant with my daughter I gained over 50 pounds and started to discover a different tribe of women who had also gained baby weight,” she recalls. “It then made me realize that just because I have gained this weight does not make me less of a person — in fact it makes me, and many other women, strong. We made a safe home for our babies for nine months and that is something to celebrate.”
Best friends Megan Carr and Kelly Winslow launched their online clothing business Rosie and Faith more than two years ago. (Photo: Rosie and Faith)
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That led Carr to begin pivoting the Rosie and Faith brand with “real women” in mind.
“My motto through all of this is, ‘Do you have a body?’ — meaning there is no perfect or imperfect body,” she says. “Every body is worth it, and women need to know this and carry this mantra with them.”
The “Real Beauties” event takes place from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 19th at Peterborough Yoga Wellness Centre, which is located at 107 Hunter Street East in Peterborough’s East City, in the Subway plaza on the southeast corner of Hunter and Mark Street. The entrance is in the parking lot in the back, but there is limited parking there so Carr recommends people park on Mark or Hunter Street.
Some of the members of the Peterborough Singers singing the national anthem of Ukraine during a choir rehearsal on March 8, 2022. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of YouTube video)
The Peterborough Singers have paid tribute to the people of Ukraine by singing the country’s national anthem.
At the choir’s rehearsal last Tuesday (March 8), artistic director Syd Birrell led the choir in learning and then performing the anthem.
The choir sang in Ukrainian, accompanied by organ and piano.
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“We handed out the music, we practised the words, we rehearsed the melody, and then with the cameras rolling we rose and sang the Ukrainian national anthem,” Birrell says. “We gave it our all. And we wept.”
You can watch the performance below.
The lyrics of the Ukrainian national anthem (translated to English) have special resonance given the Russian invasion:
The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished
Luck will still smile on us brother-Ukrainians.
Our enemies will die, as the dew does in the sunshine
And we, too, brothers, we’ll live happily in our land.
We’ll not spare either our souls or bodies to get freedom
and we’ll prove that we brothers are of Kozak kin.
VIDEO: Peterborough Singers sing the Ukraine National Anthem
Public Energy is presenting Montreal transdisciplinary artist Alexis O'Hara solo show OUFF at Peterborough's Market Hall on March 24, 2022. The performance combines cabaret, spoken word, stand-up comedy, electronic music, video projection, and giant inflatable sculptures to deliver a message that will make you both laugh and squirm in your seat. (Photo courtesy of Public Energy)
Public Energy presents OUFF by Alexis O’Hara
When: Thursday, March 24, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. Where: Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte Street, Peterborough) How much: Pick-your-own price
Tickets available at tickets.markethall.org. Mature content advisory: This performance is recommended for ages 12+. The performance will also be livestreamed.
Something completely different is coming to the stage at Peterborough’s Market Hall on Thursday, March 24th when Public Energy Performing Arts presents Alexis O’Hara’s OUFF.
The Montreal transdisciplinary artist’s solo performance, which premiered in 2019 at La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines in Montreal, combines cabaret, spoken word, stand-up comedy, and electronic music — along with larger-than-life video projection and giant inflatable sculptures created by her collaborator Atom Cianfarani — to deliver a message that will make you both laugh and squirm in your seat.
Covering themes of white privilege, late-stage capitalism, and perimenopause, OUFF is described as “the heaviest of sighs … a spectacle of confrontation by a solitary but fragmented femme negotiating her own role, as victim and victor, pawn and princess in a commodity-crazed-brink-of-collapse world propped up by the violent dominance of whiteness.”
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“Ouff” (or “ouf”), which is the French equivalent of the English interjection “phew”, also has another meaning in verlan, a common French form of slang that involves mixing the letters in a word to create a new word with a similar meaning — in this case, “fou”, the French word for “crazy.”
“O’Hara’s double-wigged blonde white woman is a high-camp familiar figure spewing emotional excuses and social-media hashtags,” writes Robyn Fadden in a review of the 2019 performance. “She’s an angry, complicated mess we can’t take our eyes off of, whether she’s stuffing her elasticized dress full of balloons or posing selfie-like in video projections. Her confounded rage triggers a full-blown noisy, fleshy outburst across and beyond the stage.”
O’Hara’s hard-hitting performance in OUFF follows the French theatre tradition of “bouffon”, a style of performance work whose main focus is the art of mockery — one which in part has inspired British actor and satirist Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm).
VIDEO: Digital remix of OUFF for CBC Arts featuring Alexis O’Hara
“Set in an unsafe place between satire, observational comedy and scathing social commentary, OUFF makes us laugh, contemplate and cringe a little as an audience, not quite sure we’re in
on the joke or even want to hear the kernels of truth that make it work,” Fadden writes.
Born in Ottawa, O’Hara has been a transdisciplinary artist for 25 years who has presented work in Scotland, Austria, Mexico, Germany, Belgium, France, England, Ireland, Slovenia, Australia, Finland, Denmark, Brazil, Monaco, Serbia, Switzerland, the U.S. and across Canada. O’Hara and her drag king alter ego, Guizo LaNuit, are pillars of the Montreal cabaret scene. O’Hara has also published a book of poetry, released a number of solo music albums, and exhibited sound and sculpture installations in North America, Europe, and Latin America.
“We haven’t seen an artist like Alexis O’Hara in Public Energy’s 27 years,” says Public Energy’s executive director Bill Kimball.
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O’Hara will perform OUFF one night only, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 24th, at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte St, Peterborough). Curated by Patti Shaughnessy, the show runs for 75 minutes and includes a 15-minute question-and-answer session following the show. This performance is recommended for audience members 12 years and older due to mature content.
In recognition that this is a time of particular financial difficulty for many, and with a goal of eliminating cost as a barrier to attending the performing arts, Public Energy has instituted a pick-your-own-price policy for the show. Tickets are available online at tickets.markethall.org. If you’re not yet ready to attend an in-person performance, the show is also being livestreamed through Market Hall.
On the day after her performance, O’Hara will be leading a sound production workshop for female, female-identified, and non-binary artists. “Noise School for Feminists” runs from 2 to 6 p.m. on Friday, March 25th in the lecture hall at Sadleir House (751 George St. N., Peterborough).
Alexis O’Hara’s performance of OUFF at Peterborough’s Market Hall on March 24, 2022 includes larger-than-life video projection and giant inflatable sculptures created by her collaborator Atom Cianfarani. (Photo courtesy of Public Energy)
At this workshop, designed to approach live and recorded sound production from a creative and collaborative standpoint, O’Hara will help demystify a basic technical set-up for live and recorded sound production in a series of collaborative exercises to unleash audio creativity.
Peterborough native John Freeman, 51, and his dog Mira (known as "Mira La Perra" on social media), bike around 100 kilometres a day through all kinds of terrain and weather. Together they're planning to visit all seven continents by bike over the next six years, taking brief breaks in between trips to return home to Alberta. (Photo: John Freeman / Instagram)
Peterborough-area native John Freeman is continuing an epic six-year cycling trip around the world with his dog, hoping to inspire others to embrace life.
The 51-year-old resident of Canmore, Alberta and his border collie-heeler mix Mira, who’s almost five years old, are preparing to make their way through Central and South America.
After they complete that leg of the journey, they will head back home to Alberta to plan for the next leg through Antarctica, although Mira won’t be able to join Freeman in Antarctica due to travel restrictions. After that, they plan to head east to explore Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia.
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“I’ve taken months-long trips before, but this adventure is much larger and more encompassing than anything I’ve done,” Freeman says in a media release. “It’s 80 pounds of gear, plus Mira, and camping in all kinds of weather. It will take resilience, but it will be a life-changing experience and I know Mira will keep me going.”
The pair travel around 100 kilometres daily, stopping in towns and villages along the way. Freeman posts photos and videos of his and Mira’s adventures — including meeting locals, camping, bike repairs, and more — on Instagram @mira_la_perra and YouTube @OmniTierra.
“She loves the running and meeting new people,” Freeman says of Mira. “When she’s in her crate on the bike, she takes in the world like a dog with her head out a car window.”
VIDEO: John Freeman and Mira’s Dogpacking World Tour
Through his Patreon and sponsorships, Freeman hopes to raise funds for portions of his trip, especially for the Antarctica expedition which will be especially daunting and costly.
Freeman says people tell him that the pair’s journey has been inspiring, especially during the pandemic.
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“Some are feeling trapped by COVID or are having a tough time at work, and to see Mira so happy, it gives them a breath of fresh air,” Freeman says. “I feel very lucky to be able to do this and share it with others.”
A certified alpine guide who works as a rope access supervisor specializing in mountain safety and rope access training when he’s not cycling, Freeman has more than a decade of experience with road, track, and MTB bike racing. He began travelling on his bike through different countries many years ago, first with his late dog Melon and then with Mira when she was three months old.
“I enjoy seeing the world and different cultures and different people, in these remote and beautiful places you can only access on a bicycle,” Freeman says. “I want to show viewers that it’s never too late to embark on your own journey, no matter how old you are. Maybe I’ll inspire them to explore somewhere new.”
John and Mira visiting Peterborough native and cyclist Chloë Black at her Arizona home. Chloë and John used to race together when they were teenagers in Peterborough. (Photo: Chloë Black)
Carl Oake, who founded the Carl Oake Rotary Swim in 1987, congratulating his daughter Renee Oake after she completed 156 lengths at the 36th annual swim on February 25, 2022, which has raised over $50,000 in support of the Rotary Club of Peterborough projects and Easter Seals. (Photo: Rotary Club of Peterborough / Facebook)
This year’s Carl Oake Rotary Swim has raised more than $50,000 so far in support of Rotary Club of Peterborough projects and Easter Seals.
Donations will continue to be collected until Friday (March 18) at carloakerotaryswim.com.
After going virtual last year due to the pandemic, the 36th annual swim was held in person on February 25 at the YMCA of Central East Ontario. The swim saw more than 50 swimmers and volunteers participating, with 12 teams swimming sponsored laps from 7 to 9 a.m.
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The event was founded in 1987 by real estate broker and Rotary member Carl Oake. Now 76, he last swam in the 2017 event. His three daughters have since carried on the tradition, with Renee Oake completing 156 lengths in an hour for this year’s swim.
Since it began, the annual charity swim has raised over $1.3 million for Rotary projects and Easter Seals.
The 50th annual Easter Seals Telethon in Peterborough takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 10th at the YourTV studio. It will be broadcast on YourTV and Global Peterborough.
Malaika Collette, playing the role of the federal minister of environment and climate change, discusses the environmental effects of climate change during a mock press conference outside of MP Michelle Ferreri's office in Peterborough on March 12, 2022. The event was one of 50 "Day of Action for a Just Transition" events organized across Canada by 350.org and The Council of Canadians. (Photo: Tricia Clarkson)
A crowd of around 60 people gathered outside of MP Michelle Ferreri’s office at 417 Bethune Street in Peterborough on Saturday (March 12) to demand the federal government accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
The Peterborough event was one of 50 “Day of Action for a Just Transition” events organized across Canada on Saturday by 350.org and The Council of Canadians to hold the Trudeau government to its 2021 re-election campaign promise to assist Canadian workers and communities reliant on fossil fuels by introducing “Just Transition” legislation and by launching a Clean Jobs Training Centre.
The organizers encouraged event participants to hold a mock press conference outside their local MPs’ offices to unveil a “Ministry of Just Transitions” clean jobs training centre.
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For Our Grandchildren and the Peterborough Alliance for Climate Action held a mock press conference outside of MP Ferreri’s office on Saturday, with mock federal ministers announcing a clean jobs training centre in Peterborough.
“The ‘Ministers’ of Environment and Climate Change, Health, and the new Just Transition portfolio explained how fossil fuels are affecting our health and our environment,” states a media release from the event organizations. “They also explained how a Just Transition would ensure that existing fossil-fuel workers will obtain good, well-paying jobs retrofitting homes for better energy efficiency and expanding the electrical grid to provide the necessary renewable electrical energy.”
The event organizers also read a letter from MP Ferreri which, after apologizing for not being there in person, stated what a Conservative government would do to address climate change. Organizers compared the Conservative’s proposed actions to what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states is necessary to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees.
“The (Conservative’s) stated goals for reducing greenhouse gases and encouraging electric-vehicle purchases were both less than current Canadian targets,” the media release states.
A series of nine Valentine's Day themed photos by eight local photographers, including this feature photo by Brian Parypa, was our top Instagram post in February 2022. (Photo: Brian Parypa @bparypa73 / Instagram)
From the winter that will not end, we bring you the month of love — February.
As the days grow longer in February, I always appreciate how the sun changes too. It’s a bit higher, a bit brighter. and a bit warmer.
While February tends to not have a lot of redeeming qualities, our selection of top photos this month are stunning. We hope you enjoy them.
A special thank you to Rachelle Richard for her snowy peace sign — it was a welcome addition in a challenging end to the month.
Do you want to get on our top photographers list? All you need is an Insta account and to tag us using our hashtag #kawarthanow when posting your photo.
We share photos from across our readership area, which is the five-county area surrounding Peterborough which includes Peterborough, Northumberland, City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Hastings (we sneak in the occasional Algonquin Park picture as well, particularly if it’s by a Kawarthas photographer).
To see our daily shares of photos, follow us on Instagram @kawarthanow and check out our feed’s highlight reels for recaps of every month in 2022.
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#1. Happy Valentine’s Day from eight local photographers
Posted February 14, 2022. 9.9K impressions, 706 likes
Ontario Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks David Piccini and Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith check our some turtles during a funding announcement at the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre on March 11, 2022. The centre is receiving an additional $250,000, as one of 80 projects receiving up to $4.5 million under Ontario's Species at Risk Stewardship Program. (Photo: Office of David Piccini)
The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre is receiving an additional $250,000 from the provincial government to mitigate threats to at-risk turtle species in Ontario, as part of up to $4.5 million in funding for 80 projects under Ontario’s Species at Risk Stewardship Program.
David Piccini, Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks and MPP for Northumberland-Peterborough South, made the funding announcement at the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre at 1434 Chemong Road in Selwyn on Friday (March 11), where he was joined by the centre’s executive and medical director Dr. Sue Carstairs, Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith, and Trent University vice-president of research and innovation Cathy Bruce.
“The on-the-ground work carried out by stewardship organizations is extremely important to protecting at-risk plants and wildlife in Ontario,” Piccini said in a media release. “Our government is proud to support its partners and the many important research and recovery projects they are undertaking this year to help preserve our province’s rich biodiversity for generations to come.”
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The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre is one of several multi-year projects receiving funding under the Species at Risk Stewardship Program, which was created under the Endangered Species Act to encourage people to get involved in protecting and recovering species at risk through stewardship activities.
Trent University is also receiving multi-year funding for three research projects: assessing changes in population size and genetic structure to determine population targets for self-sustaining populations of small-mouthed salamander and unisexual ambystoma on Pelee Island, and evaluating value and feasibility of conservation interventions; studying the conservation genomics of the Lake Superior caribou by investigating evolutionary origins, inbreeding, and adaption to identify priorities for habitat connectivity; and delineating boreal and eastern migratory ranges and investigating metapopulation dynamics of boreal caribou using genome-wide data from non-invasively collected samples.
Elsewhere in the greater Kawarthas region, Haliburton Highlands Land Trust is receiving new funding to search for species at risk in the Haliburton Highlands, to increase knowledge, awareness, and stewardship of species at risk through surveys for branched bartonia (a threatened spindly flowering plant) and ‘lost’ lady beetles, while engaging the community with outreach and education.
Ontario Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks David Piccini, Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre executive and medical director Dr. Sue Carstairs, Trent University vice-president of research and innovation Cathy Bruce, and Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith during a funding announcement at the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre on March 11, 2022. Trent University is also receiving additional funding under Ontario’s Species at Risk Stewardship Program for three research projects. (Photo: Office of David Piccini)
“I’m grateful to Minister Piccini for his leadership on this file,” Smith said. “Last summer, he joined us on a tour of the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre and we saw firsthand the critical work they do, being the only such centre in all of Ontario. This historic investment will strengthen their work in ecological restoration and rehabilitation projects locally and across the province.”
The funding for the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre will be used to protect and recover at-risk turtles through rehabilitation of adult turtles, education, field research, and disease surveillance.
All eight turtle species found in Ontario are considered at risk under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act: spiny softshell (endangered), spotted turtle (endangered), wood turtle (endangered), eastern box turtle (extirpated — no longer found in Ontario), snapping turtle (special concern), northern map turtle (special concern), eastern musk turtle (special concern), and blanding’s turtle (threatened).
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The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre rehabilitates around 1,500 injured turtles each year and hatches as many as 5,000 turtle eggs each year from injured turtles, introducing the hatchlings back into their native environments.
“The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre greatly appreciates the funding provided by the Species at Risk Stewardship Program to support our many vital conservation programs,” Carstairs said.
Recreate Space can help turn a cluttered or disorganized room into a functionally efficient space. Owner and operator Caitlin Smith's services include organizing kitchens, closets, basements, and garages, sorting, purging, packing, and unpacking during a more, or helping with life transitions including downsizing, parents moving, and estate sales. (Photo courtesy of Caitlin Smith)
Spring is not only nature’s time for renewal — it’s also the time when many of us take stock of our households and embark on the tradition of spring cleaning. Spring is also a popular time to sell a home or to move into a new one. Either way, we can face an immense challenge in organizing, decluttering, and simplifying our households.
That’s where Caitlin Smith, owner and operator of ReCreate Space in Peterborough, can help. She shares her professional organizing skills with her clients, helping them create beautiful and efficient spaces.
When Caitlin explains the passion that led her to professional organizing, she refers back to her childhood. At about 10 years old, she became inspired by how the public library catalogued its VHS tape collection. The system made it simple and entertaining to flip through a book of the videos, select one, and find its location using a category number. She thought it would be fun to categorize her own family’s VHS tapes the same way.
If you’re faced with clutter, don’t throw up your hands. Caitlin Smith, owner and operator of ReCreate Space Professional Organizing in Peterborough, helps her clients with home organization, moving, and life transitions. ReCreate Space’s services are tailored to the individual needs of clients, including one living out of the country who needed Caitlin’s help organizing and moving items out of a storage unit. (Photo courtesy of Caitlin Smith)
“My mom loved it,” Caitlin laughs. “I always say organizing is in my DNA, and I get it from my mom.”
But not everyone in her family shares Caitlin’s organizing gene. She says her sister and father have opposite organizational habits and become overwhelmed if faced with a major organizing task. While growing up in a household where some family members struggled to keep things in order, Caitlin began along the path that informs her professional organizing business today.
Later in life, Caitlin realized many people are like her sister and father, struggling to keep their home organized and free of clutter, and she has the knowledge and skills to help them.
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“When I was deciding what direction to take my life, I knew I wanted to work with people and connect with them,” Caitlin says. “I wanted to help people using my skill set. As I learned more about the world and people, it became clear that organizing is a service that many people can benefit from.”
She launched her business in March 2021, when she purchased ReCreate Space from its previous owners. Last December, she was awarded a $5,000 microgrant from the provincially funded Starter Company Plus program administered by the Peterborough & the Kawarthas Business Advisory Centre.
While some of Caitlin’s clients need help with their organizational skills, others have the skills but don’t have the time to do a project on their own — Caitlin compares it to hiring a house-cleaning service when you are too busy to do it yourself. Others come to ReCreate Space with a project they know is essential, but they lack the direction or motivation to get it started.
Whether the project is organizing a walk-in closet, or unpacking during a housing move, ReCreate Space helps overwhelmed families, individuals, and businesses clear clutter and develop systems that reclaim their space. (Photo courtesy of Caitlin Smith)
“For a lot of people, they want to declutter but they haven’t been able to,” Caitlin explains. “Having accountability to another person is a really big motivator. We’re there with them through the entire process, keeping them on track.”
While do-it-yourself organizing shows like Netflix’s Tidying Up with Marie Kondo have become immensely popular, many people still can’t do it on their own and need the help of a professional organizer like ReCreate Space to guide them through the process.
As owner and operator, Caitlin works one-on-one with each client as a nonjudgmental sounding board, bringing in ReCreate Space team members to help with larger projects — reducing the time it takes to tackle a project and relieving some of the client’s stress.
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“I encourage the client to be involved in the process because that’s when they’re going to learn the skills and techniques,” Caitlin points out. “It also gives me a chance to get to know them better, to learn how they function, and to decide what might be a good solution for them.”
Caitlin is a pro at optimizing space and knows how to make a room feel larger and easier to navigate.
“I think a lot of people who try to do it on their own don’t necessarily get to a point where it’s a functioning space, because they haven’t gone through the process of sorting through things, downsizing, and putting things together,” says Caitlin. “A lot of the time, they buy bins, put everything in them, and then say ‘Okay, I organized’. But there’s a lot more involved than that.”
Recreate Space owner and operator Caitlin Smith is a member of the Professional Organizers in Canada. As well as helping people to organize rooms and spaces in their homes, Caitlin can help those who are moving to a smaller home, joining another household, or preparing to sell their home or the home of a loved one who has passed away. She can also help those who need to tackle a project but have practical limitations like location or health. (Photo courtesy of Caitlin Smith)
“You need to know what you’re storing before you buy those solutions,’ she points out. “Some people want clear bins. Some people don’t want to see what’s in the bins. Some people want labels or don’t want labels on their bins. Some people want this particular thing front and centre because they use it every single day.”
Some projects may entail reorganizing and decluttering an entire home or business, while others may focus on specific problem areas like a room or a closet. ReCreate Space can help clients tackle these smaller-scale projects as well.
For instance, they can develop a filing system for the papers cluttering a client’s desk drawers, or they can help organize and catalogue a client’s collectible items, like a collection of hockey cards.
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A member of the Professional Organizers in Canada, Caitlin can also help clients who are moving to a smaller home, joining another household, or preparing to sell their home or the home of a loved one who has passed away. While she is not a professional home stager, Caitlin also offers cursory staging services.
Caitlin can also help those who need to tackle a project but have practical limitations like location or health. For instance, Caitlin recently assisted a client with a physical disability who needed help moving.
“I was with her through the process of packing and unpacking her two apartments and setting up,” Caitlin recalls. “We went to stores together and shopped for products and furniture. We did errands, and I helped get her space set up in a way that was comfortable for her.”
ReCreate Space can help also clients tackle smaller-scale projects such as decluttering a specific room or creating a system to organize collectibles. (Photo courtesy of Caitlin Smith)
Another client reached out to ReCreate Space recently from another country. When the client sold her Peterborough home from outside Canada last year, her parents packed up her belongings and put them in a storage unit.
“She hasn’t been able to get back into the country so she hired me,” says Caitlin. “I donate things where they need to be donated and save the things she wants. I’m going to move those things to her parent’s home, so she’s not paying for storage. That was a stress relief for her because she’s paying over three hundred dollars a month for a storage unit.”
The pandemic has created new organizational challenges for people, with more working from home than ever before. Disorganized home office spaces may cause people to spend more time looking for items, distracting from their work. Cluttered dining rooms collect paper and lose their appeal for family dinners and entertaining.
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“With COVID, people having spent so much time in their space are now realizing a lot more the impact their environment and surrounding has on their well-being,” Caitlin says. “We’re feeling a bit stagnant, so a refresh and tidy does wonders for people’s mental health.”
When spaces function the way they’re supposed to, according to Caitlin, they not only look more spacious and beautiful, but the people using the space experience improvements in well-being, mental clarity, and time efficiency.
“A lot of people want to sort out a space or environment but, when they’re faced with the task, it’s really easy to become overwhelmed,” Caitlin says. “It’s hard to know where to start.”
With ReCreate Space, owner and operator Caitlin Smith has turned her passion for organization into a business. She loves to help others create beautiful spaces, where everything has a place and where functionality allows for comfort and inspiration. She is a member of the Professional Organizers of Canada. (Photo courtesy of Caitlin Smith)
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She says organization projects are not one size fits all and every project ultimately comes down to a client’s individual needs. That’s why interpersonal connection with her clients is so important — it helps each client walk away with a sense of relief, having enjoyed the experience, and with a completed project they can maintain for years to come.
“People are always saying they feel a sense of renewal after we work together,” Caitlin says. “They feel lighter and refreshed.”
For more information about ReCreate Space Professional Organizing, their services, and to book a free phone consultation, visit recreatespace.ca. You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram.
This story was developed in partnership with ReCreate Space.
Detective Constable Keith Calderwood of the Peterborough Police Service talks about fraud, how you can protect yourself, and some resources to help during Fraud Prevention Month. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of YouTube video)
An 82-year-old Peterborough resident has been defrauded of $10,000 in a variation of the grandparent scam.
In the grandparent scam, a victim receives a call from someone pretending to be their grandchild and in trouble, and asks the victim for a credit card number of to send money. A more recent variation of the scam has someone pretending to be a member of law enforcement or a lawyer asking for money for a grandchild who they claim has been arrested or in an accident.
On Thursday (March 10), the 82-year-old Peterborough resident received a call from a man claiming to be a police officer who told the victim $10,000 was required for their granddaughter’s release from custody.
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The man made arrangements to come to the victim’s residence to collect the money. After handing over the money to the man, the victim became concerned and called police.
The suspect was described to police as a white man in his early twenties.
“Peterborough police are concerned that someone went to a residence and are asking people to be extra cautious,” reads a media release from the Peterborough Police Service, who add police do not call residents requesting money for the release of a suspect.
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Police advise that, if you suspect you have received an email or call that may be a scam, to report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online at www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca or by calling 1-888-495-8501 (Monday to Friday).
If you are a victim or have questions about an interaction, you can call Peterborough police at 705-876-1122 x274 or you can fill out a report online.
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