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Peterborough-area children will learn all about water on Water Wednesdays throughout May

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)

“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)
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)
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.

Peterborough’s Watson & Lou launches monarch butterfly window display and fundraiser

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)
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.

For more information about pollinator-friendly gardens, visit peterboroughpollinators.com. For more information about Monarch Ultra, visit www.themonarchultra.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)
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)

Puppetry and dance unite at Erring at King George to pay homage to revered English author and poet Edward Lear

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)
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)

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)
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)

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)
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)
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)

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)
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)
A small puppet sitting in the eye of a giant mask of English author and poet Edward Lear. (Photo courtesy of Brad Brackenridge)

“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)
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.”

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)
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)

“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.”

For the complete Erring at King George schedule of performances and related special events, visit publicenergy.ca/erring-at-king-george-festival-schedule/

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 makes appearance at Peterborough-Kawartha candidate Greg Dempsey’s campaign launch

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)
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)
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)

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.

Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery is helping to restore Ontario’s endangered grassland ecosystems

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)
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)

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)
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)
The logo of the Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery. (Graphic: Mitigomin Native Plant Nursery)

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)
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)
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)

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)
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.

“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.

Our top nine Instagram photographers for April 2022

Mike Quigg's photo of his first sunset paddle of the season on Kasshabog Lake was our top post on Instagram for April 2022. (Mike Quigg @_evidence_ / Instagram)

April is my favourite month — not only because of it being my birthday month but because it’s the true launch of spring in The Kawarthas. The ice moves out, we move the kayaks out of storage, and the herons return.

And even though we had chilly weather and snow, it’s still the best month. When you see the beautiful photos taken during April by local photographers, I think you will agree.

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. First sunset paddle of the season on Kasshabog Lake by Mike Quigg @_evidence_

Posted April 10, 2022. 8K impressions, 647 likes

 

#2.Sunset on Millbrook Mill Pond by Kirk Hillsley @kirkhillsley

Posted April 22, 2022. 6.4K impressions, 777 likes

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#3. Sunset paddle on Lower Buckhorn Lake by Memtyme @memtyme

Posted April 18, 2022. 6.2K impressions, 518 likes

 

#4. Kawartha clouds by Joe Yusiw @kawartha_joe

Posted April 5, 2022. 6.1K impressions, 517 likes

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#5. Great blue heron by Curtis Parypa @curtis_snapshot

Posted April 7, 2022. 5.5K impressions, 530 likes

 

#6. Pileated woodpecker in Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park by Colin Bruce @canoe_carrier

Posted April 14, 2022. 5.5K impressions, 475 likes

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#7. Mackerel sky over Chemong Lake by Allyson Latta @allyson_latta

Posted April 3, 2022. 5.1K impressions, 373 likes

 

#8. Spring snow by Anne Arnold @annearnold727

Posted April 20, 2022. 4.9K impressions, 432 likes

 

#9. Spring in Peterborough County by Brian Parypa @parypa2020

Posted April 9, 2022. 4.8K impressions, 376 likes

Applications open for ‘Spark’ program encouraging tourism innovation in Peterborough area

The "Spark" Mentorships and Grants Program, led by the Tourism Innovation Lab in collaboration with Peterborough & the Kawarthas Tourism, is encouraging entrepreneurs, small businesses, and organizations in the City and County of Peterborough to submit tourism ideaas for a chance to win a $3,000 seed grant and a three-month mentorship. (Graphic courtesy of Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development)

A program encouraging innovative tourism ideas has officially launched in the Peterborough area.

The “Spark” Mentorships and Grants Program will match selected applicants with a mentor and provide a $3,000 seed grant to help take their new tourism idea to the next level.

The non-profit Tourism Innovation Lab at the University of Windsor first launched the program in Windsor-Essex in 2018, and it has since expanded to more than 20 regions in Ontario and British Columbia.

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“We are very excited to be launching the Spark program in Peterborough and the Kawarthas,” says Justin Lafontaine, program lead with the Tourism Innovation Lab, in a media release. “Innovative tourism ideas brought forward by entrepreneurs, small businesses, and organizations will elevate Peterborough and the Kawarthas tourism offerings and experiences and inspire travel to the region.”

The goal of the program is to find, foster, and support new tourism ideas that will enhance current offerings, address gaps or challenges, motivate travel and longer stays, and increase year-round visits.

Program organizers are especially interested in experiential and sustainable culinary tourism and agritourism tourism ideas as well as ideas that address the shoulder season.

The application deadline for "Spark" Mentorships and Grants Program is May 31, 2022. (Graphic courtesy of Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development)
The application deadline for “Spark” Mentorships and Grants Program is May 31, 2022. (Graphic courtesy of Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development)

The “Spark” program is being led by the Tourism Innovation Lab in collaboration with Peterborough & the Kawarthas Tourism, a division of Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED), and the official destination marketing organization for the City and County of Peterborough.

“We are pleased to offer this opportunity to tourism businesses in this region,” says Joe Rees, director of tourism with PKED. “This collaboration with a nationally recognized leader in innovative tourism development furthers our goal of supporting the sustainable growth and expansion of tourism businesses through experiential product development.”

Entrepreneurs, small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and community groups in the City and County of Peterborough are encouraged to apply with their new tourism ideas by the deadline of Thursday, May 31.

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Finalists, selected by a juried review process, will be invited to a virtual pitch session in June.

Six winners — three from the City of Peterborough and three from the County of Peterborough — will each win a $3,000 grant and a three-month mentorship (with a tourism innovator, experienced operator, industry leader, or sector expert), along with access to a support network of tourism innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders and additional support and resources.

For more information and to apply, visit tourisminnovation.ca/peterborough.

Province announces $17.7 million in funding for Peterborough Regional Health Centre

Signs point to the main entrances at Peterborough Regional Health Centre, including the Emergency Department. (Photo: PRHC)

The Ontario government will be providing an additional $17,669,000 in funding for Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC).

The amount includes $6.5 million in operating funding for 2022-23, an increase of 2.6 per cent over last year, as well as $11,669,000 in operational funding to support 43 new hospital beds.

Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith made the announcement on Tuesday (May 3), part of a series of announcements for hospital funding made by MPPs across the province this week.

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According to a media release, the funding is part of an additional provincial investment of $827 million in hospitals across Ontario, representing a four per cent increase from last year and ensuring all publicly funded hospitals receive a minimum two per cent increase to their operating budgets.

“This funding is another landmark investment in our hospital to end hallway health care and deliver better services for our region,” Smith said. “This funding marks a significant investment at Peterborough Regional Health Centre.”

PRHC executive vice president and chief of staff Dr. Lynn Mikula said the funding is “absolutely critical,” as the hospital has operated with more than 40 surge beds in recent years to accommodate an increased number of patients, and as the hospital faces ongoing staff shortages due to the pandemic.

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“As a regional hospital, PRHC is already bursting at the seams, with patient volumes at or above 100 per cent of our capacity at any given time,” Mikula said.

“We know that significant growth and expansion will be needed in the years and decades ahead. As the population in Peterborough and the surrounding region continues to grow and age, our programs and services at PRHC must also grow to meet the needs of the communities we serve, and today’s investment is an excellent step in that direction.”

According to the media release, the funding for new beds is part of a capital plan expansion with more than 50 major projects that will add 3,000 new beds over 10 years and support the continuation of over 3,100 acute and post-acute beds in hospitals and alternate health care facilities, and hundreds of new adult, paediatric, and neonatal critical care beds.

 

This story has been corrected to indicate the $11,669,000 in funding is operational funding to support 43 new hospital beds.

Long-time councillor Doug Elmslie announces run for Kawartha Lakes mayor

Doug Elmslie. (Supplied photo)

Long-time councillor Doug Elmslie has announced his intention to run for Mayor of the City of Kawartha Lakes in the October 24, 2022 municipal election.

Currently Ward 3 councillor, Elmslie moved to Kawartha Lakes in 2001 and was first elected to council in 2006 in Ward 6.

In a media release, Elmslie says his campaign will focus on improving public services.

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“The key areas of concern are waste management, roads and infrastructure, and the landfill crisis,” he says. “It is also time that we prioritize the completion of our secondary plans, so that our housing targets can be achieved. We will continue the downtown improvements in our urban areas, and while focusing on these issues, we will also strengthen our collaboration with our citizen and volunteer groups to help them achieve their goals.”

“We will keep fiscal responsibility and the continuation of our 10-year financial plan at the forefront. The Trails and Active Transportation Plans will be completed and implemented. Ensuring service levels through employee retention and recruitment will continue to be a primary consideration. In addition, we will look to streamline and improve turnaround times for planning, permitting, and building inspections.”

Elmslie is currently the only Kawartha Lakes mayoral candidate. Last fall, Lindsay lawyer Jason Ward had announced his intention to run for mayor, but withdrew in March after citing personal health and family reasons.

Henry Clarke to run for Mayor of Peterborough

Henry Clarke. (Supplied photo)

Long-time Monaghan Ward councillor Henry Clarke will be running for Mayor of Peterborough in the October 24, 2022 municipal election.

A media release states Clarke will file his nomination on Thursday morning (May 5).

He will formally launch his campaign that evening at the Peterborough Lions Community Centre at 347 Burnham Street in East City.

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Clarke is the second person to declare an intention to run for mayor. In March, Northcrest Ward Stephen Wright also announced he would be seeking the office. Incumbent mayor Diane Therrien announced in November she would not be seeking a second term.

Clarke was first elected as Monaghan Ward councillor in 1998 and was subsequently re-elected five times. He was deputy mayor from 2004 until 2018, and was also chair of the city’s finance committee from 2007 until 2018.

A lifelong Peterborough resident, Clarke lived in East City as a child where he attended King George School. After graduating from Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School, he studied history at Trent University and joined the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment of the Canadian Army in 1971, retiring as its commanding officer in 1997.

After briefly working in banking, he joined Quaker Oats in 1976 where he worked until his retirement in 2019.

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