Lang Pioneer Village in Keene receiving an award at the 2018 Kawartha Chamber of Commerce & Tourism's Awards of Excellence. Now that the Kawartha Chamber has merged with the Peterborough Chamber to form the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce, there will only be the Business Excellence Awards, which is open to all businesses and individuals within the city and county of Peterborough. (Photo: Bruce Head / kawarthaNOW)
Nominations are now open for the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 Business Excellence Awards. Businesses and individuals within the city and county of Peterborough are eligible, and do not need to be members of the Chamber.
In previous years, the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce hosted the annual Business Excellence Awards and the Kawartha Chamber of Commerce & Tourism hosted the annual Awards of Excellence. Now that the two chambers have merged into into a single organization, there will now only be the annual Business Excellence Awards.
Nomination forms are available at pkexcellence.ca. The final deadline for nominations is 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 25th.
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Nomination categories for businesses include Commercial Development or Renovation, Customer First, Employer of the Year, Entrepreneurial Spirit, Farm Family of the Year, Green Initiatives, Health & Wellness, Hospitality, Local Focus, Marketing & Promotion, Micro Business, New Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year, Not-for-profit, Professional Services, Retail, Skilled Trades, and Tourism.
Nomination categories for individuals include Business Citizen of the Year, 4-Under-40 Profiles, New Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year, Businesswoman of the Year – Entrepreneur, and Businesswoman of the Year – Organization.
Three finalists in each category will be announced in August, with the award recipients revealed in the fall.
Based in Apsley in North Kawartha Township, The Land Canadian Adventures provides authentic experiences that immerse children and youth in nature while building their skills and their confidence in the outdoors by creating opportunities for supervised risk. Here, three Young Trippers leap off the cliffs in proven-safe spot at the end of a portage from Anstruther Lake to Rathbun Lake in Kawartha Lakes Highlands Provincial Park. (Photo courtesy of The Land Canadian Adventures)
Families looking for a unique and immersive outdoor adventure for kids and teens in the Kawarthas this summer will want to check out The Land Canadian Adventures.
Based in Apsley in North Kawartha Township, the family-owned outdoor education and wilderness guiding company is offering three summer camp options for children and youth: an innovative program that brings summer camp for kids to your family cottage, a challenging backcountry canoe adventure camp for youth, and programs for young students who want to improve their English or French language skills.
Founded in 2012 by outdoor enthusiasts and married couple Briagh Hoskins-Hasbury and Bretton Clark, The Land Canadian Adventures provides authentic experiences that immerse children and youth in nature while building their skills and their confidence in the outdoors.
Briagh Hoskins-Hasbury and Bretton Clark (right) founded The Land Canadian Adventures in 2012 and incorporated in 2014. Sally Russell (left) joined the team as a co-op student in summer of 2020, then officially took on the role of wilderness guide and program coordinator in the spring of 2021. (Photo courtesy of The Land Canadian Adventures)
“Camp to Cottage is for our youngest campers aged six to 11,” Briagh tells kawarthaNOW. “Young Trippers is an overnight backcountry adventure for older kids that includes four days of paddling and portaging in Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park. For teens aged 11 to 15, we also have programs with Lakefield College School that offer the opportunity to learn French or English outdoors.”
Camp to Cottage (ages 6-11)
Camp to Cottage is The Land Canadian Adventures’ newest program, developed last year by wilderness guide and program coordinator Sally Russell. This innovative approach to outdoor education brings the forest school experience to kids, rather than the other way around.
“Camp to Cottage developed very naturally last summer,” Sally recalls. “Part of what makes it unique is how the program developed from the needs of the community.”
It began with an email early last summer from a cottager on Jack Lake, just outside of Apsley, who was looking for someone to teach her grandkids and her neighbour’s kids how to swim.
The Land Canadian Adventures’ “Camp to Cottage” program can be personalized and customized to whatever the family wants and the kids like to do, including developing more confident paddling skills. (Photo courtesy of The Land Canadian Adventures)
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“We explained that wasn’t really our area of expertise,” Sally says. “Instead, we offered an option to provide outdoor educational programming that would include water safety and the idea for Camp to Cottage was born.”
Sally went to the family’s cottage and ran a week-long day camp, engaging a group of enthusiastic kids in both play and learning.
“We paddled and worked on camping skills,” she says. “We focused on exploring their own backyard. It was very successful.”
Word about this “we bring the camp to you” experiment soon spread to other families on Jack Lake, and The Land Canadian Adventures received more and more inquiries. Sally worked out all the details for delivering the new Camp to Cottage program and soon they were booked solid for the month of August.
With its “Camp to Cottage” program, The Land Canadian Adventures brings the forest school experience directly to the family cottage, engaging kids in the natural world right in their own backyard. Here, Camp-to-Cottage camper Avery shows off her collection of natural materials, including cedar, pinecones, stones, and maybe a bit of goldenrod. (Photo courtesy of The Land Canadian Adventures)
“We had to turn some people away, so we’ve jumped in this year and expanded,” Sally says.
For the entire summer, Camp to Cottage is offering personalized half-day or full-day sessions for up to five campers ages six to 11 at family cottages, homes, or wilderness properties anywhere within North Kawartha Township, Douro-Dummer Township, Lakefield, or Curve Lake First Nation.
“We’re excited to offer this program to anyone within 40 minutes of Apsley,” Sally says. “We’d be happy to set up a camp for as many cottages as we can and make the experience customized and personalized to what the family wants, including activities the kids would like to do.”
This can include anything and everything from teaching wilderness living and bushcraft skills (including hands-on learning about shelter, fire building, water purification, and positive mental attitude), helping kids connect with nature (including through tree, plant, and animal identification, ecosystems and wild communities exploration, tracking, and more), and teaching kids how to canoe with ORCKA-certified instructors.
Through The Land Canadian Adventures’ “Camp to Cottage” program, kids can connect with nature, learn how to canoe, and explore wilderness living and bushcraft skills, including how to safely build a fire. (Photo courtesy of The Land Canadian Adventures)
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“During one of the camps I ran last summer, on the rainiest day of the whole week, a couple of the girls and I spent a good hour and a half learning how to build a fire in the rain,” says Sally. “It was a great learning opportunity.”
You don’t have to be living on a lake to take advantage of the Camp to Cottage program.
“We’re invested in getting people on and in the water safely, but if you don’t live on a lake, that’s okay too,” Sally says. “In fact, if you’re interested in something that you don’t have access to, we’re also happy to work with you to get you what you need.”
A Young Tripper shows off her muscle by hefting a canoe over her head for the 160 metre or so portage between Rathbun and North Rathbun Lakes in Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park. (Photo courtesy of The Land Canadian Adventures)
Now in its seventh year, the Young Trippers program is a six-day adventure camp for youth aged 12 to 16 that includes a four-day backcountry canoe trip in the rugged beauty of Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park — the largest provincial park in southern Ontario after Algonquin Provincial Park and one intimately familiar to the team at The Land Canadian Adventures.
Campers are taught everything from how to plan and schedule a trip, to how to build a fire and forage for wild edibles, to how to clean and properly pack gear. They connect with nature while learning about self-reliance, teamwork, and determination in an environment of supervised risk.
“You see people push themselves in a way that feels safe, but still edgy with risks,” Briagh explains. “That’s the magic of bringing people to a place and showing them how they can connect with themselves and each other. People make the unexpected happen.”
Young Trippers on their way to their campsite on Serpentine Lake in Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park after completing a challenging (but extremely rewarding) 1.5-kilometre portage from North Rathbun Lake. (Photo courtesy of The Land Canadian Adventures)
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“The best thing is when participants encourage each other and it’s obvious we’ve created a space where a positive mental attitude is the most important thing you can bring on the trip,” Briagh adds. “Working together catapults their skills and confidence to the next level.”
Along with building campers’ skills and confidence, The Land Canadian Adventures also instills in campers a respect for the environment — and the original inhabitants of the land.
“Our guides encourage campers to recognize that we are visitors to the land and to be respectful of traditional Indigenous territories,” Briagh explains. “We try to incorporate this as a foundational principle for our programs.”
A Young Tripper dances around canoes pulled up on shore in Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park. Youth learn about self-reliance, teamwork, and determination in an environment of supervised risk. (Photo courtesy of The Land Canadian Adventures)
On each trip, two skilled guides lead a group of four to seven campers. The ORCKA-certified guides provide basic canoe flatwater paddling certifications designed to turn beginners into effective paddlers. As backcountry canoe camping is inherently challenging, safety both on and around the water is an important consideration.
“A big part of our intake is getting a sense of previous experience,” Sally says. “We find out how much experience our campers have, and if they’ve never been swimming before we’re going to start with the fundamentals and wear life jackets whenever we are around the water.”
“We also consider other aspects of safety outdoors like fire safety, and even what we need to think about if we’re going to be walking around barefoot outdoors.”
A Young Tripper looks up from her magnifying glass as she examines a small Ghost Pipe plant in the Kawartha Highlands. Despite their appearance, these plants aren’t actually mushrooms. They’re a relative of blueberries that don’t produce chlorophyll; instead, they siphon nutrients from nearby tree roots through a network of underground fungi. (Photo courtesy of The Land Canadian Adventures)
Pandemic safety is also front of mind for The Land Canadian Adventures, which limits the number of campers per session and offers a 10 per cent “bubble buddy” discount for campers already in a social bubble.
Trip guides are certified wilderness first responders with an aptitude for hygiene as well as health and safety best practices. Of course, paddling and portaging also creates natural physical distancing.
For more information about the Young Trippers Canoe Adventure Camp, including session dates and pricing, visit canoecampingtrips.ca/young-trippers/.
Learning Languages in the Outdoors
The Land Canadian Adventures’ co-founder Bretton Clark, who is also an English as a second language (ESL) instructors, leads a group of Learning Languages in the Outdoors students in a lakeside language lesson at Algonquin Park. (Photo courtesy of The Land Canadian Adventures)
With its focus on experiential education, it’s only fitting that The Land Canadian Adventures has partnered with Lakefield College School to offer three unique language-learning programs as part of the school’s 2022 Summer Academy.
The programs, designed to take language learners to the next level in an outdoor setting, leverage the expertise of The Land Canadian Adventures co-founders Briagh and Bretton as English as a second language (ESL) instructors.
“We’ve taken the most fun parts of our jobs as ESL instructors — the field trips — and based our whole curriculum on the outdoors,” Briagh explains. “Teamwork inherently happens as these groups need to communicate accurately with each other. It’s a very kinesthetic learning opportunity and it engages people while distracting them from the fact that they’re learning a language. It’s a very immersive way to learn.”
A group of international students take a short break from paddling to pose for a selfie while the wind does the work of propelling their canoe raft along. The Learning Languages in the Outdoors program provides students with the opportunity to expand their English languages skills while experiencing Canadian culture. (Photo courtesy of The Land Canadian Adventures)
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The English Enrichment Program, open to students ages 11 to 13, offers a three-week introduction to camping, canoeing, and wilderness living skills in a traditional Canadian camp environment while strengthening students’ English communication skills. The program culminates with a two-night adventure into the Kawartha Highlands.
The French High School Credit is a month-long camp for students pursuing a grade 9 French credit. Students will develop their fluency in French as they learn to pitch tents, build fires, paddle, identify edible plants, imitate bird calls, and more. The program starts with online building of core language skills and is followed by three weeks of in-person learning at the Lakefield College School campus, where campers will build their skills towards at three-night adventure in the Haliburton Highlands.
Finally, the month-long English Credit Program is designed for international students, including some incoming Lakefield College School students. Newly arriving students will familiarize themselves with the school’s campus while also learning about the Canadian cultural practice of canoe camping. They will gradually improve both their camping and language skills through a series of increasingly in-depth overnight trips, culminating in a four-night adventure in the Haliburton Highlands.
To learn more about the Learning Languages in the Outdoors programs, visit canoecampingtrips.ca/llo/, where you’ll also find links to enrol in each program at Lakefield College School.
The Land Canadian Adventures logo. (Graphic courtesy of The Land Canadian Adventures)
A float plane at Elmhirst's Resort in Keene. (Photo: Province of Ontario)
Tourism-related businesses and organizations in the greater Kawarthas region can now apply for up to $100,000 in funding from the Tourism Relief Fund.
On April 6, the federal government announced $65 million would be distributed to 11 regional tourism organizations across Ontario through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), including $3 million for Regional Tourism Organization 8 (RTO8) for Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland.
The Tourism Relief Fund is intended to help the tourism sector recover from the impacts of the pandemic and to seize new market opportunities through enhanced or new products and services.
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Eligible applicants can apply for a non-repayable contribution between $25,000 and $100,000, for up to 50 per cent of eligible project costs for incorporated for-profit businesses and for up to 100 per cent of eligible costs for not-for-profit organizations and municipalities.
Businesses and organizations that are eligible to apply include incorporated businesses, cooperatives, not-for-profit incorporated organizations, municipalities, and post-secondary institutions.
Restaurants, businesses in the retail sector, hotel chains, and sole proprietorships are not eligible, although independent businesses may be considered for funding if they are an anchor product and the main reason for attracting tourists to the region.
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Businesses and organizations that are 51 per cent more Indigenous-owned and controlled (including sole proprietorships) are also eligible to apply, either through RTO8 or directly to Indigenous Tourism Ontario.
Applications will be accepted until May 15, 2022 and will be evaluated by a special committee against the criteria governing the Tourism Relief Fund.
The City of Kawartha Lakes Police Service in Lindsay. (Photo: City of Kawartha Lakes)
Kawartha Lakes police are investigating multiple reports of broken windows or doors at businesses across Lindsay.
On Wednesday (April 13) at around 11 p.m., police were called to a business on Kent Street West after a citizen reported someone had smashed the exterior glass door of the business.
The following day, police received three more reports of broken windows or doors at two businesses on Lindsay Street North and one business on Lindsay Street South.
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It does not appear that whoever committed the mischief gained entry to any of the businesses, according to police.
Police are collecting video surveillance and are asking any residents who live in the area and have security cameras to review footage from the evening hours of April 13 into the morning hours of April 14 and contact them with any information that could assist in the investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the City of Kawartha Lakes Police Service at 705-324-5252. If you wish to provide your information anonymously, you can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip online at www.khcrimestoppers.com.
The Ontario government is investing more than $2.7 million for a new workforce development program in the Peterborough region through the province’s Skills Development Fund.
Peterborough-Kawartha MP Dave Smith made the announcement on Tuesday (April 19) at the VentureNorth building in downtown Peterborough on behalf of Ontario labour and training and skills development minister Monte McNaughton.
Called “Pathways to Prosperity,” the year-long program will offer training to workers, especially those who are unemployed or precariously employed, to secure in-demand and well-paying jobs.
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“We laser-focused on job creation in our region, creating opportunities for workers and families to enter the middle class through well-paying local jobs,” said MPP Smith in a media release. “This jobs program will see hundreds of people receive the training and skills development needed to upgrade their careers and earn more money for their families.”
Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development will administer the $2,714,847 program, which will include:
pre-employment support, including readiness, participant supports, referral to training, long term retention support, including any mental health support.
job seeker training, where 15 cohorts of job seekers will receive comprehensive training designed for four sectors (line cook, manufacturing, agriculture, and construction).
business recruitment, where 50 local businesses or more will be recurited to participate and offer job placements for the job seekers at the end of their training.
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“Creating a collaborative partnership that not only supports the job seeker, but the businesses in this community that are facing a critical skills shortage, was the focus of this program,” said Rhonda Keenan, president and CEO of Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development.
“Businesses will have greater support to successfully hire people with the skill sets that are most in demand in the City of Peterborough, Peterborough County, and the City of Kawartha Lakes region,” she added. “The Pathways to Prosperity program was developed to show that an entry level position is only a starting point, and together we are building pathways for people to build a career.”
According to the provincial government, more than 360,000 jobs were vacant in Ontario in the fall of last year, and almost one-third of workers in the skilled trades are approaching retirement age.
Residents 80 years of age and older receiving their first doses of the Pfizer vaccine at the COVID-19 immunization clinic in Peterborough on March 21, 2021. (Photo: Jeannine Taylor / kawarthaNOW)
Peterborough Public Health has announced additional COVID-19 vaccine clinics have been added to the provincial booking system from today (April 19) until Friday, May 13th.
All appointments must be made through the provincial booking system, online at covid-19.ontario.ca/book-vaccine/ or by phone at 1-833-943-3900. Walk-in appointments are not available.
The clinics include first and second doses for children aged five to 11, first, second, and third doses for those 12 and older, and fourth doses for those 60 and older as well as residents who are First Nation, Inuit, Metis or their non-Indigenous household members who are 18 or older.
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Elgibility for third and fourth doses are at least 12 weeks (three months) after the previous dose, except for those ages 12 to 17 who are eligible for third doses at least six months after their seccond dose.
Here are the clinic dates, times and locations from April 19 to May 13:
Clinics for residents 5-11
Tue Apr 19 from 2 – 4 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Fri Apr 22 from 2 – 4 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Mon Apr 25 from 3 – 6 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Wed Apr 27 from 3 – 6 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Clinics for residents 12+
Tue Apr 19 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Thu Apr 21 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Buckhorn Community Centre (1782 Lakehurst Rd., Buckhorn)
Fri Apr 22 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Mon Apr 25 from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Tue Apr 26 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Wed Apr 27 from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Thu Apr 28 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at North Kawartha Community Centre (340 McFadden Rd., Apsley)
Fri Apr 29 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Mon May 2 from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Tue May 3 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Wed May 4 from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Thu May 5 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Norwood Community Centre (88 Alma St., Norwood)
Fri May 6 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Mon May 9 from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Tue May 10 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Wed May 11 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
Thu May 12 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Cavan Monaghan Community Centre (986 County Road 10, Millbrook)
Fri May 13 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Healthy Planet Arena (911 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough)
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Masks are required to be worn at all clinics.
The health unit says additional clinics for the month of May will be added within the next few weeks.
For the current vaccine clinic calendar, visit the Peterborough Public Health website at peterboroughpublichealth.ca
Even though it’s spring, Environment Canada has issued a winter weather travel advisory for the southern greater Kawarthas region for Monday evening (April 18) into Tuesday morning.
The advisory is in effect for southern Peterborough County, southern Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland County.
Precipitation will likely begin as rain early Monday evening before changing over to snow, with 4 to 8 cm of snow expected by Tuesday morning before changing back to rain.
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Above-freezing temperatures in areas along the shore of Lake Ontario may limit snowfall accumulation there, especially on surfaces such as roads and sidewalks.
Locally higher snowfall accumulations may occur over areas of higher terrain, including the Oak Ridges Moraine where temperatures will be slightly cooler.
Be prepared to adjust your driving with changing road conditions. Take extra care when walking or driving in affected areas. Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.
Francis Harris, a 45-year-old mother of three, disappeared without a trace from her Apsley-area home on April 21, 1972. The mystery of her disappearance remains unsolved 50 years later. (OPP-supplied photo)
Fifty years after his mother disappeared without a trace from her Apsley-area home, Rod Harris is still hoping to solve the mystery of her disappearance.
On Friday (April 22), Rod is hosting a candlelight vigil in memory of Francis Muriel Harris, who has been missing since April 21, 1972. The vigil takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. in the parking lot of the North Kawartha Community Centre off McFadden Road in Apsley. Rod is asking people to bring their own battery-operated candles and chairs.
Rod was 13 years old when he returned home from school at 3:40 p.m. to discover his mother was not at their home on Highway 28 just south of Apsley in North Kawartha Township.
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The unexplained disappearance of Francis has been documented over the years — including by Ryan Scott, a licensed private investigator who volunteers with Please Bring Me Home, a Canadian non-profit dedicated to helping families find missing loved ones. Over the summer of 2021, Scott published a three-part series on the case in Apsley Backroads magazine.
On the morning of Friday, April 21, 1972, the 45-year-old mother of three travelled with her 42-year-old husband Stan for one of his regular physiotherapy appointments at 9:30 a.m. in Peterborough. After leaving the appointment, they stopped in Lakefield on the way back to Apsley, where Stan went to the bank and Francis went to the post office.
A witness reported seeing the couple together in the family car on Highway 28 later that morning. Stan said the couple ate lunch together before he left for his job at the Department of Highways (now the Ministry of Transportation) by 1 p.m., although witnesses claimed seeing his car (along with another car) at the family’s home during that afternoon — a report Stam denied.
VIDEO: The Mystery of Francis Harris – Missing Since 1972 (1977 “Code 10-78” episode)
Francis was never seen again. Her husband — who reported her missing three days later — claimed she had abandoned the family, although many of her possessions (including her purse) remained in the family home. Subsequently, there were many rumours about the couple, including infidelity in the marriage.
In 2012, police received a tip that prompted them to spend three days examining the vacant land that was once the site of the family home (it had burned down in 1990 and is now where the Apsley Veterinary Services is located). Ground-penetrating radar and heavy machinery found nothing.
On April 21, 2020, the Ontario Provincial Police issued a media release stating they were continuing their investigation into Francis’s disappearance and included a forensic artist sketch of what she may have looked like in 1992 at the age of 65 if she were still alive. Today, she would be 94 years old if she were still alive.
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Her husband Stan, who had always maintained he was not involved in her disappearance, passed away in June 2021 at the age of 92.
Anyone with information about this case can contact the Peterborough County OPP at 705-742-0401 or 1-888-310-1122 (case #20090023). Anonymous tips can be made to Peterborough Northumberland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or online at stopcrimehere.ca.
Anonymous tips can also be submitted to Please Bring Me Home’s tip hotline at 226-702-2728.
In 2020, the Ontario Provincial Police released a sketch of how Francis Harris might have looked like in 1992 at the age of 65 if she was still alive. Her husband Stan, who passed away in 2021, always maintained she had abandoned the family and he was not involved in her disappearance. (OPP-supplied image)
Canopy Project Kawartha Lakes is seeking citizen sciencists to help the volunteer-led group map out significant trees. In February, five sycamore trees in Lindsay were given heritage status by Forests Ontario. (Photo courtesy of Canopy Project Kawartha Lakes)
The Canopy Project Kawartha Lakes is issuing a call for local residents to join them as citizen scientists.
The volunteer-led community group, whose goal is to protect and enhance the urban canopy in settlement areas of Kawartha Lakes, is launching a community project on Earth Day to develop a digital map of significant trees.
The group is holding a launch event from 3 to 4 p.m. on Friday (April 22) at the Fleming College Arboretum on the Frost Campus in Lindsay.
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Volunteer citizen scientists will learn how to judge whether a tree is noteworthy or significant based on its size, age, species, or historical connection. They will also learn how to add a tree and its location to an online app that also records the species and other identifiers.
“This is an easy way for people with a passion for the environment to help us identify and preserve our noteworthy or significant trees while participating in a global initiative,” says Ruth Cameron, a volunteer with Canopy Project Kawartha Lakes, in a media release.
“All it takes is a smartphone and the iNaturalist app — you share your photo observations with your fellow naturalists and the community does the rest.”
To RSVP or learn more about citizen science, email Ruth Cameron at SigTreesCKL@gmail.com.
This story has been updated to correct the email address.
The Peterborough-Kawartha riding association of the Ontario NDP has announced Jen Deck as its approved nomination candidate for the 2022 provincial election.
Deck is a teacher and the Occasional Teacher President of the Kawartha Pine Ridge Teachers’ Local of the Elementary Teachers Federation Ontario (ETFO).
“Jen is committed to campaigning on a bold and progressive agenda that responds to the climate crisis, income inequality, and increased investments in our public services,” reads an email to members of the riding association.
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The Peterborough-Kawartha riding association will hold a nomination meeting to elect the provincial candidate on Zoom at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 28th.
If Deck is confirmed as the NDP candidate for Peterborough-Kawartha, she will be challenging incumbent Dave Smith of the Conservatives, Greg Dempsey of the Liberals, Robert Gibson of the Greens, Tom Marazzo of the Ontario Party, and Dylan Smith of the None Of The Above Party.
This story has been updated with the name of the local candidate for the Green Party of Ontario.
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