Before nine-year-old Sofie Roberts died from a rare brain cancer earlier this year, she told her mother she hoped her experience would help other families going through the same thing.

This strength and selflessness are what motivate Brooke Roberts to honour her daughter by supporting families affected by cancer in the region. She has partnered with Peterborough hair salon Hair by Fusion and its owner Sherri Wilfong to host a fundraiser in support of pediatric cancer care at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC).

Proceeds from all blow dries and select product sales will be donated to the PRHC Foundation, and donors will have the chance to win one of four gift baskets full of quality products at a “birthday party” for Sofie to end the fundraiser on Saturday, December 14.

“I just really want to help in her honour, and it’s a good time because she would be turning 10 on December the 16th,” says Brooke. “It’s a beautiful way to celebrate her and her little spirit, because she was just so courageous and never complained about anything.”

The Roberts family first learned that Sofie had a “massive” tumour in her brain in September 2022 when she was just seven years old. After being immediately transferred to SickKids Hospital in Toronto where she had a craniotomy the following day, Sofie spent six weeks in a children’s rehabilitation hospital with her mother, and away from her father Darren and younger sister Stella.

Though there was no cancer present at the time, a year later the tumour returned and Sofie underwent another craniotomy. With the surgeon unable to take out the entire tumour, Sofie was diagnosed with high-grade glioma — the same type of brain cancer that took The Tragically Hip singer Gord Downie’s life.

Starting at the end of June 2023, Sofie went through 33 rounds of radiation and chemotherapy requiring 33 round trips to Toronto with her mother. During this time, Sofie needed weekly blood tests and was able to get them locally out of the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario satellite program, a collaboration with SickKids at PRHC.

“As a family, we spent a lot of time at SickKids, but when we could do things here, it was such a blessing,” Brooke recalls. “I’m five minutes from the hospital where I live, so she could get the blood work in the morning, then go back to school and be a kid.”

Sofie getting to have moments of fun with her friends and her sister Stella — “they were two peas in a pod,” says Brooke — meant all the world to her parents. Throughout the whole cancer journey, registered nurse Shay Cannon and the rest of the team at PRHC supported Sofie and her family with everything they needed.

Brooke hopes that supporting pediatric cancer care at PRHC will help even more young sick kids just be kids again.

“You’re dealing with such sad, awful things that the little comforts become everything,” says Brooke. “It’s already heavy enough to deal with all of these pokes and medicines so, if we could get blood tests at home and she could go to school and be a kid, that’s incredible.”

When, in March 2024, the Roberts learned that Sofie’s aggressive brain cancer had returned and was untreatable, the family cared for her at home. Sofie passed away on May 17, 2024 at the age of nine.

“It was really fast — it’s an awful disease,” says Brooke. “They’re here and then they’re gone in an instant.”

Brooke notes that there’s “always an outpouring” of support that comes from the community during difficult and tragic times like these, and Hair by Fusion’s owner Sherri Wilfong was one such support.

Almost exactly 10 years ago, just before she had Sofie, Brooke was a sales representative for hair products and worked with Sherri on a weekly basis. She got so close with the salon, in fact, that the team got Brooke her first stroller for Sofie, and one of the stylists set up Brooke with her now-husband Darren.

“I used to do (Sofie’s) whole family’s hair — her mom’s hair, her aunt’s hair, her sister’s hair,” says Sherri, noting she was always keeping in touch with the Roberts and one day even happened to run into the family at the hospital when Sofie was transported by air ambulance to Toronto after a seizure.

“It’s just such a hard thing, because what can you do for someone when you’re in that situation?” Sherri asks.

What she did, Brooke says, was be there for her friend.

“Sherri’s been so kind and generous with services to make me feel good and it’s always been such a gift to just go into the salon and spend time in there,” Brooke says. “Stella always has a great time too.”

Until December 14, proceeds from all blow dries and select sales at Hair by Fusion at 1625 Sherbrooke Street in Peterborough will go towards the pediatric cancer care unit through the PRHC Foundation’s Campaign for PRHC. Sherri has also donated several products that will be included in gift baskets along with $1,000 worth of products donated by RedKen, where Brooke was formerly employed.

“That’s just incredible because I have not worked there in ten years, but they’re still being so generous and donating,” says Brooke. “I’m just so grateful.”

Those who make a $20 donation to the fundraiser will have their name entered to win one of the four gift baskets. The draw is happening at the “birthday party” event being held at the salon on Saturday, December 14 at 4 p.m.

At the event, Brooke will share Sofie’s story, and there will be gift bags for everyone in attendance. From the cupcakes to the sparkling drinks and the balloons, there will be no shortage of purple, Sofie’s favourite colour, in honour of the brave little girl.

“It’ll be a really nice way to wrap up the fundraiser,” says Sherri.

While Brooke admits that living without Sofie “gets harder every day,” she notes that her daughter’s fight that motivates her own. Not long after Sofie’s death, the Roberts held the inaugural “5K for Sofie Maye” in support of the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, inviting a community donned in purple to join them.

“I have her little spirit and thinking about her eggs me on,” Brooke says. “The fact that Sofie could do all those hard things just makes me think I’m going to press on here, and that I want my time here on earth to mean something. I want to serve other families that have to live the same type of situation and just give back as much as I can.”

To participate in the fundraiser, make an appointment at Hair by Fusion by visiting www.hairbyfusion.com or by calling 705-743-6600. The salon is open Mondays to Fridays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

To donate directly to the PRHC Foundation, visit prhcfoundation.ca.

Peterborough city council will be reconsidering its decision to give a historic property at 1400 Monaghan Road a heritage designation when it meets as general committee on Monday (December 2).

GTA-based J & J Developments, which purchased the property known as the Martin House in late 2023 with the intention of demolishing the building and redeveloping the property’s large lot for a six-storey residential housing complex, has filed a notice of objection to council’s decision.

Located on the northeast corner of Monaghan Road and Homewood Avenue, the Martin House was built between 1930 and 1931 for local businessman Herbert Samuel Martin — an innovator in the emerging industry of corrugated containers in the early 20th century — by Henry Thomas Hickey, a prolific contractor who worked on more than 100 buildings in Peterborough.

On September 23, council voted 6-5 in favour of the heritage designation in a surprising reversal of a vote at the previous week’s general committee meeting to not designate the property. A heritage designation prevents the owner of the property from tearing down the building or making modifications that would destroy heritage features of the building.

After council’s decision, the City of Peterborough was required under the Ontario Heritage Act to publish a notice of intention to designate, which it did on October 1. The owner of the property then had 30 days to object to the notice. The city received a letter dated October 31 from Toronto legal firm Overland LLP, representing J&J Developments, with a formal notice of objection.

While a notice of objection would have previously gone directly to the Ontario Land Tribunal for review, changes made to the Ontario Heritage Act in 2022 now require that council consider the objection and make a decision whether or not to withdraw the notice of intention to designate the property.

If council votes withdraw the notice, the property is removed from the heritage register and J & J Developments could proceed with its plans for the property.

If council votes to proceed with the heritage designation by passing a designating by-law, the city would publish a notice on the by-law’s passage, triggering a second 30-day objection period during which an appeal can be made to the Ontario Land Tribunal, which would issue a binding decision to either dismiss the appeal or repeal or amend the city’s by-law.

Overland LLP’s letter to the city objecting to the city’s notice of intention to designate includes a report from ERA Architects Inc. of Toronto, which was hired by the legal firm to review the city’s notice of intention to designate the property, as well as the “Heritage Designation Brief” prepared by the Peterborough Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (PACAC) that was considered by council when making its decision. The report also includes ERA Architects’ own research into and analysis of the property’s cultural heritage value.

“There are numerous concerns with the purported basis for designation in the Heritage Designation Brief,” reads the letter from Overland LLP. “In summary, the Heritage Designation Brief grossly overstates the tangential cultural heritage value exhibited on the property. In particular, the existing structure exhibits modest value, certainly not to the level of significance to warrant designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.”

Overland LLP’s letter also expresses concerns with the process of designation, stating that at no time during the process in which J&J Developments was working with city staff to develop initial concepts for the property did city staff inform the developer that the Martin House was being considered for heritage designation.

It should be noted that the Martin House is listed in the City of Peterborough’s heritage register, which includes properties in the city identified as having cultural heritage value or interest that are designated or could be designated. At the September 23 council meeting, John Cooper, principal of J & J Developments, admitted he was aware the property was listed on the heritage register.

Overland LLP’s letter also states that, “As a general proposition, the process of designation does not typically originate at the request of a local heritage advisory committee.”

“City staff did not initiate the designation process in response to an impending development proposal or demolition permit,” Overland LLP’s letter states. “Rather, it was PACAC that commenced the designation process while the owners worked with city staff to refine a development proposal that implements key objectives of the city’s strategic plan.”

It should also be noted that, under the province’s More Homes Built Faster Act, municipalities were required to review their heritage registers by January 1, 2025, identifying properties on the registers that would be designated and removing other properties from the registers so they could be made available for potential development. After objections from municipalities, the province extended the deadline to January 1, 2027.

As for the report from ERA Architects Inc., it questions the assertions made in PACAC’s Heritage Designation Brief, stating that that the Martin House “is a typical contractor-designed Georgian Revival house with some minor Spanish Revival elements” comparable to neighbouring houses at 627 and 631 Gilmour St., and that it does not meet the threshold of demonstrating a high degree of craftsmanship or artistic merit.

“The Martin House … is a typical, builder-designed house that reflects mass-produced, made-to-order interior and exterior elements — including interior woodwork applied with glue,” the report states, adding that architect-designed residences are a usual threshold test for craftsmanship or artistic merit. “It would be exceedingly rare for a contractor-built residence to rise to the level of high craftsmanship or artistic merit.”

The ERA report questions the historical value of the Martin House and its original owner Herbert Samuel Martin and their significance to the Peterborough community, noting there is no “physical evidence” that Martin even lived in the residence.

As for the significance of Martin’s business to Peterborough, the report states that “the Martin-Hewitt Container Company was a relatively small-scale business that originated in Toronto, and eventually shifted to Peterborough, driven by business opportunity. This is a typical story common to all kinds of private businesses throughout history. The company’s decision to co-locate with companies like Quaker Oats to provide them with containers does not make it key to the facilitation and growth of those more significant businesses.”

“There is no evidence that the Martin-Hewitt Container Company occupies any space in the public consciousness in Peterborough. This was a company active in Peterborough for 24 years at the very end of Peterborough’s significant industrial period, from 1929 until it was acquired in 1953. It is not a company name with which locals are familiar today, and the only place it exists on the internet is in reference to the proposed designation of the site at 1400 Monaghan Road.”

“In our view, the fact that Herbert Samuel Martin existed as a professional and a businessperson in Peterborough does not make him, or his company significant to the community, nor does the site exemplify or have strong evidence of his connection.”

The ERA report also questions the assertion made in PACAC’s Heritage Designation Brief that the Martin House is “physically, functionally and historically linked to its surroundings as a cornerstone of the West End neighbourhood landscape and as an example of an affluent residence well designed in the prevalent architectural styles of the day.”

“Every house of this era would reflect the lowered foundations, simplified massing, electrical lighting and indoor plumbing found at the Martin House,” the ERA report states. “Meanwhile, the Old West End is replete with prominent and highly-visible integrated or attached garages.”

“In our view, the Martin House is not such a significant representation of technological and social change in the early 20th century that would merit designation above any of its neighbours that exemplify all the same elements and attributes.”

The ERA report concludes that the Martin House “is not so exceptional or outstanding that it should be elevated to individual designation status.”