"Peterborough Celebrates!", a new Facebook group created by local musician Ken Tuck, aims to bring together the arts and business communities to plan a post-pandemic celebration in Peterborough, such as a city-wide event with all different genres of music. Pictured are members of Celtic group Hunt the Hare, who performed in 2018 at the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area's series of outdoor "Live and Local" live music events in downtown Peterborough. (Photo: Peterborough DBIA)
If you need definitive proof that it’s the journey and not the destination that matters most, a new Facebook-driven initiative that’s quickly gaining traction fits the bill nicely.
Founded and administrated by Peterborough musician Ken Tuck, the Facebook group “Peterborough Celebrates!” is closing in on 200 members, most offering a specific talent or professional service for the staging of an event, or events, heralding the yet-to-be-determined return to some sort of pre-pandemic norm for the local music and business communities.
The private group, which can be found at facebook.com/groups/peterboroughcelebrates, has the stated intent “to plan and implement a celebration when restrictions are fully raised. It is my (Tuck’s) wish to exchange ideas on how we can give our local businesses and entertainers the kick start they need. We need to get organized and prepared.”
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The journey-destination equation comes into play via Tuck’s admission that, while he’s not sure what the end result of his call to action will be — whether it’s one grand event or a series of smaller ones, the real value lies in the fact that so many are willing to collaborate to make it happen and feel good to be able to work toward something positive.
“People are looking for something to do that has meaning … something that’s going to bring something good to their lives,” says Tuck, a website developer and internet marketer by trade.
The “Peterborough Celebrates!” Facebook group was established by Peterborough musician Ken Tuck. A website developer and internet marketer by trade, Tuck is also developing a website for the initiative. (Photo courtesy of Ken Tuck)
“The target for me is two fold. I want to channel some hope for people but also get things going with a solid plan for something in the future,” Tuck adds.
What that “something” is, says Tuck, will emerge as an organizing team is put together and starts hashing out specific ideas.
“It could change, but really my initial vision was go big or go home. How do you get people really excited about something? Usually you have to go big. I see a city-wide event catering to all different genres of music. I also realize there are a lot of small business people that would like to be a part of this. It’s a symbiotic relationship. Business has a huge role to play here.”
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The music community that he’s a part of, says Tuck, has, not unlike so many other sectors, been severely affected by pandemic restrictions as opportunities to play live have all but evaporated.
Coupled with what was going on before the pandemic — the closure of live music venues such as The Pig’s Ear, The Spill, and Dobro, and the loss in recent years of notable local music talents such as Jan Schoute, Buzz Thompson, Charlie Earle, and Jimmy Deck — it’s a community that needs to feel good about itself again.
“Peterborough has such a great breadth of talent … we need to foster that in any way, shape or form we can,” says Tuck.
“I had been thinking about this for awhile. It was like ‘What can I do?’ I want to focus on something positive. I want to work towards something. I don’t want to fight something. I’d rather work with people. I love collaborating. I really want to lean on some people.”
One of organizer Ken Tuck’s ideas for a post-pandemic celebration in Peterborough is having musicians perform on the streets. From 2015 to 2018, Artsweek Peterborough hosted “Porchapoloza”, where local musicians played from the porches of homes in different Peterborough neighbourhoods. Pictured are Hank and Kristine Fisher performing during the first Porchapoloza in 2015. (Photo: Artsweek Peterborough)
While not a fan of Facebook (“I call it the marketplace of bad ideas”), Tuck put his disdain aside and turned to the social media platform as the best and most immediate way of bringing forth willing collaborators.
“Facebook has become a toilet book — you know, those silly little books you have beside the toilet that you sit down and read for five minutes and then forget about,” Tuck says. “But give people the chance to do something good and they’ll jump all over it. I think that’s why this message has really taken off. I think there’s a much better prize ahead of us.”
The end result of any collaboration, admits Tuck, isn’t close to being known, but he has floated the idea of Peterborough musicians making the city streets their stage.
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“It was a visual I was feeling at the time,” he explains.
“I did a lot of busking when I was in Australia. There were always magical moments when somebody would come out the crowd. I was doing Twist and Shout with a friend and this guy came out and starting singing La Bamba in Spanish. The crowd went nuts. It was totally random.”
“Then this little Italian guy came out with his apron on and asked ‘Can you sing O Sole Mio for me?’ I said ‘No, but you can.’ So he did that. It was magical just because of people interacting with the music.”
Peterborough Celebrates is “a conversation starter”, says Tuck. And whatever emerges as a result, he’s convinced it will be a huge success.
“I think the reception to live music is going to be better than it was before. There’s something genuine about seeing a happy person singing in a bar or even on the street. That creates a real interaction between human beings. We’ve been missing that.”
Tuck makes no apologies for his optimism nor does he feel he has to.
“At the end of the day, I just want to see happy faces again,” he says.
In the meantime, as the membership of the Peterborough Celebrates group grows, Tuck is developing a website for the initiative.
Ahead, he says, is the formation of an organizing team that will start the discussion around a post-pandemic event or series of events.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
No update on Family Day
kawarthaNOW will not be posting an update on Family Day (February 15), since the Ontario government and two of the three local health units are not issuing reports on the statutory holiday.
Today, Ontario is reporting 981 new cases. However, the number of cases for Toronto in today’s report (122) is underreported due to Toronto Public Health’s ongoing migration to the province’s Case and Contact Management System. The actual case count for Toronto for February 13 is unavailable from the health unit.
Today’s total includes 6 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant and 3 more cases of the B.1.351 South Africa variant.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 7 new cases to report and 4 additional cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 3 to 100. Today’s update does not include numbers for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton as the health unit does not issue reports on Sundays.
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Most of today’s new cases are in Peel (209), and York (171), Toronto (122), although Toronto’s case count is underreported today.
There are double-digit increases in Ottawa (49), Windsor-Essex (46), Northwestern (41), Hamilton (40), Thunder Bay (35), Durham (35), Halton (35), Middlesex-London (33), Simcoe Muskoka (31), Waterloo (27), Niagara (19), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (15), Lambton (14), and Southwestern (10), with smaller increases in Eastern Ontario (7), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (7), Peterborough (6), and Grey Bruce (6).
The remaining 13 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 4 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 52% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (365) among people ages 20-39, followed by 294 cases among people ages 40-59.
With 1,235 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.1% to 93.4%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.3% to 2.6%, meaning that 26 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on February 13.
Ontario is reporting 42 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 15 in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 27 new daily deaths over the past week.
Hospitalizations have decreased by 81 from yesterday to 705, but more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for today’s report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has increased by 5 to 292 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators remains unchanged at 203.
A total of 48,701 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 16,197 to 15,947.
A total of 467,626 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 10,679 from yesterday, with 174,643 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine (1.19% of Ontario’s population), an increase of 10,336 from yesterday.
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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 7 new cases to report, including 5 in Peterborough and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward. Updated numbers are unavailable for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton as the health unit does not issue reports on Sundays.
The number of close contacts in Peterborough has increased significantly since yesterday, rising to 182 from 60.
An additional 4 cases have been resolved, including 3 in Hastings Prince Edward and 1 in Peterborough.
There are currently 100 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 3 from yesterday, including 37 in Kawartha Lakes, 26 in Northumberland, 23 in Peterborough, 12 in Hastings Prince Edward (1 in Quinte West, 5 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 2 in Prince Edward County, and 2 in Tyendinga Mohawk Territory), and 2 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 576 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (544 resolved with 9 deaths), 505 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (430 resolved with 51 deaths), 406 in Northumberland County (371 resolved with 9 deaths), 52 in Haliburton County (50 resolved with no deaths), and 386 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (369 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Kawartha Lakes on February 12.
The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).
Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 576 (increase of 5) Active cases: 23 (increase of 4) Close contacts: 182 (increase of 122) Deaths: 9 (no change) Resolved: 544 (increase of 1) Hospitalizations (total to date): 24 (no change)* Total tests completed: Over 42,450 (increase of 100) Outbreaks: Peterborough Retirement Residence (no change) Vaccine doses administered: 976 (as of February 12)
*As of February 12, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 3 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 17 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive.
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.
The health unit provides reports from Monday to Saturday, excluding Sundays and statutory holidays. These numbers are from February 13.
Confirmed positive: 963, including 505 in Kawartha Lakes, 406 in Northumberland, and 52 in Haliburton (increase of 7, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 4 in Northumberland)* Active cases: 65, including 37 in Kawartha Lakes, 26 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (net decrease of 4) Probable cases: 3, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland (no change) High-risk contacts: 254, including 135 in Kawartha Lakes, 85 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (net increase of 18)** Hospitalizations (total to date): 37, including 25 in Kawartha Lakes, 10 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (decrease of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)*** Deaths (including among probable cases): 60, including 51 in Kawartha Lakes and 9 in Northumberland (no change) Resolved: 851, including 430 in Kawartha Lakes, 371 in Northumberland, 50 in Haliburton (increase of 10, including 8 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland) Tests completed: 133,499 (increase of 604) Institutional outbreaks: Caressant Care McLaughlin Road long-term care home in Lindsay, Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Regency long-term care home in Port Hope, Hyland Crest long-term care home in Minden, Extendicare Cobourg long-term care home, Extendicare Cobourg Landmark retirement home, Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, Cobourg Police (decrease of 1)****
*The health unit states that total counts and counts for individual counties may fluctuate from previously reported counts as cases are transferred to or from the health unit based on case investigation details and routine data cleaning.
**This total includes an additional 31 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
***As of February 12, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 1 patient is hospitalized with COVID-19.
****One of the two outbreaks at Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay was declared resolved on February 13.
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 386 (increase of 2) Active cases: 12 (decrease of 1) Deaths: 5 (no change) Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change) Resolved: 369 (increase of 3) Tests completed: 55,096 (increase of 4,137) Vaccines administered: 1,379 (no change) Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 285,868 (increase of 981)* 7-day average of daily new cases: 1,094 (decrease of 73)* Resolved: 267,128 (increase of 1,235, 93.4% of all cases) Positivity rate: 2.6% (increase of 0.3%) Hospitalizations: 705 (decrease of 81)** Hospitalizations in ICU: 292 (increase of 5) Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 203 (no change) Deaths: 6,693 (increase of 42) 7-day average of daily new deaths: 27 (increase of 3) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,797 (increase of 17) Total tests completed: 10,375,912 (increase of 48,701) Tests under investigation: 15,947 (decrease of 16,197) Vaccination doses administered: 467,626 (increase of 10,679) People fully vaccinated (two doses): 174,643 (increase of 10,336), 1.19% of Ontario’s population Total COVID-19 variant cases: 303 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 6); 6 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 3); 1 of P.1 Brazilian variant (no change)
*The number of cases reported for Toronto for February 13 in today’s report (122) is underreported due to Toronto Public Health’s ongoing migration to the province’s Case and Contact Management System. The actual case count for Toronto for February 13 is unavailable. This underestimate also affects the seven-day average of new cases.
**More than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for today’s report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher.
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from January 14 – February 13, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from January 14 – February 13, 2021. The red line is the number of tests completed daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from January 14 – February 13, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from January 14 – February 13, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from January 14 – February 13, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
Environment Canada has now issued a snowfall warning for all of the Kawarthas region for Monday night (February 15) into Tuesday morning.
The snowfall warning includes all of Peterborough County, the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, Hastings County, and Haliburton County.
Two rounds of snow are expected on Monday into Tuesday morning across portions of southern Ontario.
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The first round of snow is expected on Monday morning, continuing into early afternoon, with 5 cm of snow possible.
The snow may become light during the afternoon, but another round of heavier snow will move in Monday evening and persist into Tuesday morning, with an additional 15 to 20 cm likely.
Prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions. Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.
Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become difficult to navigate due to accumulating snow.
This photo by rcamp14 of fresh snow on Stoney Lake was our top post on Instagram in January 2021. (Photo: rcamp14 @rcamp14 / Instagram)
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that the best way to de-stress during this uncertain time is by getting outside.
Luckily the temperatures in January co-operated, and our local photographers delivered some of our top images ever.
The trails and parks of The Kawarthas are more important than ever right now — please be sure to take care of the natural spaces when you are using them.
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 Kawartha 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 2021.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 1,300 new cases, including 22 new cases of the more contagious B.1.1.7 UK variant. The seven-day average of new cases has decreased by 13 to 1,167.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 13 new cases to report and 13 additional cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region decreasing by 1 to 97.
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Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (433), Peel (253), and York (116).
There are double-digit increases in Waterloo (61), Hamilton (48), Durham (47), Windsor-Essex (45), Halton (38), Niagara (33), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (32), Simcoe Muskoka (31), Ottawa (29), Lambton (24), Thunder Bay (23), Middlesex-London (17), Northwestern (11), and Eastern Ontario (10), with smaller increases in North Bay Parry Sound (7), Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (7), Brant (7), and Huron Perth (6).
The remaining 13 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 4 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 52% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (506) among people ages 20-39, followed by 395 cases among people ages 40-59.
With 1,434 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases remains unchanged at 93.3%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.1% to 2.3%, meaning that 23 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on February 12.
Ontario is reporting 19 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 3 in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 24 new daily deaths over the past week.
Hospitalizations have increased by 23 from yesterday to 786, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 8 to 287 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators decreasing by 1 to 203.
A total of 58,760 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 6,202 to 32,143.
A total of 456,947 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 14,506 from yesterday, with 164,307 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 13,025 from yesterday.
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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 13 new cases to report, including 6 in Peterborough, 4 in Northumberland, and 3 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no new cases in Hastings Prince Edward or Haliburton.
An additional 13 cases have been resolved, including 8 in Kawartha Lakes, 2 in Northumberland, 2 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 1 in Peterborough.
The outbreak at Peterborough Regional Health Centre and one of the two outbreaks at Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay were declared resolved on February 13.
There are currently 97 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 1 from yesterday, including 37 in Kawartha Lakes, 26 in Northumberland, 19 in Peterborough, 13 in Hastings Prince Edward (2 in Quinte West, 7 in Belleville, 1 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, and 3 in Tyendinga Mohawk Territory), and 2 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 571 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (543 resolved with 9 deaths), 505 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (430 resolved with 51 deaths), 406 in Northumberland County (371 resolved with 9 deaths), 52 in Haliburton County (50 resolved with no deaths), and 384 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (366 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Kawartha Lakes on February 12.
The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).
Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 571 (increase of 6) Active cases: 19 (increase of 5) Close contacts: 60 (increase of 6) Deaths: 9 (no change) Resolved: 543 (increase of 1) Hospitalizations (total to date): 24 (no change)* Total tests completed: Over 42,350 (increase of 50) Outbreaks: Peterborough Retirement Residence (decrease of 1)** Vaccine doses administered: 976 (as of February 12)
*As of February 12, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 3 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 17 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive.
**The outbreak at Peterborough Regional Health Centre was declared resolved on February 13.
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.
The health unit provides reports from Monday to Saturday, excluding Sundays and statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 963, including 505 in Kawartha Lakes, 406 in Northumberland, and 52 in Haliburton (increase of 7, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 4 in Northumberland)* Active cases: 65, including 37 in Kawartha Lakes, 26 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (net decrease of 4) Probable cases: 3, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland (no change) High-risk contacts: 254, including 135 in Kawartha Lakes, 85 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (net increase of 18)** Hospitalizations (total to date): 37, including 25 in Kawartha Lakes, 10 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (decrease of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)*** Deaths (including among probable cases): 60, including 51 in Kawartha Lakes and 9 in Northumberland (no change) Resolved: 851, including 430 in Kawartha Lakes, 371 in Northumberland, 50 in Haliburton (increase of 10, including 8 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland) Tests completed: 133,499 (increase of 604) Institutional outbreaks: Caressant Care McLaughlin Road long-term care home in Lindsay, Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Regency long-term care home in Port Hope, Hyland Crest long-term care home in Minden, Extendicare Cobourg long-term care home, Extendicare Cobourg Landmark retirement home, Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, Cobourg Police (decrease of 1)****
*The health unit states that total counts and counts for individual counties may fluctuate from previously reported counts as cases are transferred to or from the health unit based on case investigation details and routine data cleaning.
**This total includes an additional 31 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
***As of February 12, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 1 patient is hospitalized with COVID-19.
****One of the two outbreaks at Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay was declared resolved on February 13.
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 384 (no change) Active cases: 13 (decrease of 2) Deaths: 5 (no change) Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change) Resolved: 366 (increase of 2) Tests completed: 50,959 (increase of 1) Vaccines administered: 1,379 (increase of 78) Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 284,887 (increase of 1,300) 7-day average of daily new cases: 1,167 (decrease of 13) Resolved: 265,893 (increase of 1,434, 93.3% of all cases) Positivity rate: 2.3% (increase of 0.1%) Hospitalizations: 786 (increase of 23) Hospitalizations in ICU: 287 (decrease of 8) Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 203 (decrease of 1) Deaths: 6,651 (increase of 19) 7-day average of daily new deaths: 24 (decrease of 3) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,780 (increase of 3) Total tests completed: 10,327,211 (increase of 58,760) Tests under investigation: 32,143 (decrease of 6,202) Vaccination doses administered: 456,947 (increase of 14,506) People fully vaccinated (two doses): 164,307 (increase of 13,025) Total COVID-19 variant cases: 297 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 22); 3 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (no change); 1 of P.1 Brazilian variant (no change)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from January 13 – February 12, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from January 13 – February 12, 2021. The red line is the number of tests completed daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from January 13 – February 12, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from January 13 – February 12, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from January 13 – February 12, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
Environment Canada has issued an extreme cold warning for Haliburton and Hastings counties for Saturday morning (February 13).
Extreme cold wind chill values near -35°C are expected for several hours early Saturday morning, before moderating as temperatures rise later in the morning.
It will also be very cold elsewhere in the Kawarthas, with wind chill values near -29°C expected in Peterborough County and the City of Kawartha Lakes and -24°C in Northumberland County.
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With these wind chill values, there is a risk of frostbite on exposed skin.
In all areas in the greater Kawarthas region, wind chill values will moderate to -18°C by early afternoon and stay there Saturday overnight and into Sunday morning.
Snow will develop in all areas early Saturday evening, with around 5 cm expected before Sunday morning.
A person who found this old munition during renovations took it to the Brighton OPP Detachment. Police are cautioning people not to touch or transport any military ordnance or explosive devices they may find but to contact police. (OPP / Facebook)
The Northumberland OPP is cautioning the public not to touch or transport any military ordnance or explosive devices they may find.
On Friday (February 12), a citizen who found a World War II era mortar round during renovations transported the explosive in their vehicle to the Brighton OPP Detachment.
Police closed off the entrances to the detachment to contain the area and contacted the Canadian Armed Forces, which removed the device.
If you find a piece of military-grade equipment such as flares, military ordnance, or explosive devices, police advise not to touch it or transport it.
These devices still pose a risk of detonation and can be highly unstable. Remove yourself from the location and contact your local police service.
Police and the Canadian Armed Forces have trained experts who will come to the location and determine the safest method for its removal and disposal.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 1,076 new cases. However, this total includes only 361 new cases for Toronto, due to a data error from Toronto Public Health’s migration to Ontario’s Contact and Case Management system. Toronto Public Health’s actual case count for February 11 as reported on its website is 546, meaning the actual provincial case count today would be 1,261.
Today’s new cases include 39 more cases of the more contagious B.1.1.7 UK variant. The seven-day average of new cases has decreased by 84 to 1,189, although this average is based on the under-reported case count in Toronto.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 6 new cases to report and 13 additional cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 9 to 98. There has been 1 new COVID-related death in Kawartha Lakes.
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Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (361), Peel (210), and York (122) — although the actual case count reported by Toronto Public Health today is 546.
There are double-digit increases in Waterloo (59), Ottawa (52), Durham (31), Halton (31), Hamilton (30), Simcoe Muskoka (24), Thunder Bay (22), Windsor-Essex (18), Niagara (17), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (17), Brant (13), Lambton (11), and Southwestern (11), with smaller increases in Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (9), Middlesex-London (7), Sudbury (6), and Eastern Ontario (6).
The remaining 14 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 6 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 52% are among people 40 and older, with the highest number of cases (369) among people ages 40-59, followed by 346 cases among people ages 20-39. This is the first day during the second wave that cases in the 40-59 age group have exceeded those in the 20-39 age group.
With 1,415 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.2% to 93.3%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 0.1% to 2.2%, meaning that 22 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on February 11.
Ontario is reporting 18 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 8 in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 28 new daily deaths over the past week.
Hospitalizations have decreased by 120 from yesterday to 763, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 4 to 295 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators decreasing by 7 to 204.
A total of 62,012 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 5,038 to 38,345.
A total of 442,441 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 15,605 from yesterday, with 151,282 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 14,294 from yesterday.
There are 31 new cases in Ontario schools, an increase of 2 from yesterday, including 24 student cases and 7 staff cases. There are 16 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, no change from yesterday, with 12 cases among children and 4 cases among staff.
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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 6 new cases to report, including 3 in Hastings Prince Edward, 2 in Northumberland, and 1 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no new cases in Peterborough or Haliburton.
There has been 1 new COVID-related death in Kawartha Lakes.
An additional 13 cases have been resolved, including 7 in Kawartha Lakes, 3 in Northumberland, 2 in Peterborough, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward.
There are currently 98 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 9 from yesterday, including 43 in Kawartha Lakes, 24 in Northumberland, 15 in Hastings Prince Edward (3 in Quinte West, 8 in Belleville, 1 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, and 3 in Tyendinga Mohawk Territory), 14 in Peterborough, and 2 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 565 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (542 resolved with 9 deaths), 503 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (422 resolved with 51 deaths), 402 in Northumberland County (369 resolved with 9 deaths), 52 in Haliburton County (50 resolved with no deaths), and 384 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (364 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Kawartha Lakes on February 12.
The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).
Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 565 (no change) Active cases: 14 (decrease of 2) Close contacts: 54 (decrease of 10) Deaths: 9 (no change) Resolved: 542 (increase of 2) Hospitalizations (total to date): 24 (no change)* Total tests completed: Over 42,300 (increase of 100) Outbreaks: Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Peterborough Retirement Residence (no change) Vaccine doses administered: 976 (as of February 12)
*As of February 12, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 3 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change from yesterday) and 17 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change from yesterday).
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.
The health unit provides reports from Monday to Saturday, excluding Sundays and statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 957, including 503 in Kawartha Lakes, 402 in Northumberland, and 52 in Haliburton (increase of 3, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)* Active cases: 69, including 43 in Kawartha Lakes, 24 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (decrease of 9, including 7 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland) Probable cases: 3, including 2 in Northumberland and 1 in Kawartha Lakes (no change) High-risk contacts: 236, including 119 in Kawartha Lakes, 86 in Northumberland, and 4 in Haliburton (net increase of 23)** Hospitalizations (total to date): 38, including 26 in Kawartha Lakes, 10 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (no change)*** Deaths (including among probable cases): 60, including 51 in Kawartha Lakes and 9 in Northumberland (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes) Resolved: 841, including 422 in Kawartha Lakes, 369 in Northumberland, 50 in Haliburton (increase of 10, including 7 in Kawartha Lakes and 3 in Northumberland) Tests completed: 132,895 (increase of 726) Institutional outbreaks: Caressant Care McLaughlin Road long-term care home in Lindsay, Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay (two outbreaks), Regency long-term care home in Port Hope, Hyland Crest long-term care home in Minden, Extendicare Cobourg long-term care home, Extendicare Cobourg Landmark retirement home, Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, Cobourg Police (no change)
*The health unit states that total counts and counts for individual counties may fluctuate from previously reported counts as cases are transferred to or from the health unit based on case investigation details and routine data cleaning.
**This total includes an additional 27 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
***As of February 12, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 1 patient is hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change since yesterday).
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 384 (increase of 3) Active cases: 15 (increase of 2) Deaths: 5 (no change) Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change) Resolved: 364 (increase of 1) Tests completed: 50,958 (increase of 19) Vaccines administered: 1,301 (increase of 205) Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 283,587 (increase of 1,076)* 7-day average of new cases: 1,180 (decrease of 84)* Resolved: 264,459 (increase of 1,415, 93.3% of all cases) Positivity rate: 2.2% (decrease of 0.1%) Hospitalizations: 763 (decrease of 120) Hospitalizations in ICU: 295 (decrease of 4) Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 204 (decrease of 7) Deaths: 6,632 (increase of 18) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,777 (increase of 8) Total tests completed: 10,268,451 (increase of 62,012) Tests under investigation: 38,345 (decrease of 5,038) Vaccination doses administered: 442,441 (increase of 15,605) People fully vaccinated (two doses): 151,282 (increase of 14,294) Total COVID-19 variant cases: 275 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 39); 3 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (no change); 1 of P.1 Brazilian variant (no change)**
*Due to Toronto Public Health’s migration to Ontario’s Contact and Case Management system, 361 new cases for Toronto are included in this report. Toronto Public Health’s actual case count for February 11 as reported on its website is 546, meaning the actual provincial case count today would be 1,261.
**Toronto Public Health reported a confirmed case of the P.1 Brazilian variant on February 8. This case is not yet included in the provincial data.
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from January 12 – February 11, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from January 12 – February 11, 2021. The red line is the number of tests completed daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from January 12 – February 11, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from January 12 – February 11, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from January 12 – February 11, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
As well as in-person shopping and personal care services, in-person dining will once again be allowed in Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton as of February 16, 2021. Restrictions will be tighter in Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton than in Peterborough as Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit will be in the more restrictive "Orange-Restrict" level, while Peterborough Public Health moves into "Yellow-Protect". (Stock photo)
The Ontario government has announced the 27 public health unit regions that are returning to the colour-coded COVID-19 response framework effective at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday (February 16).
In the greater Kawarthas region, Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit will move into the “Orange-Restrict” level and Peterborough Public Health will move into the “Yellow-Protect”.
The Hastings Prince Edward Health Unit was one of three health units — along with Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health, and Renfrew County and District Health Unit — already moved into the least-restrictive “Green-Prevent” level effective on Wednesday (February 10), following an announcement at the beginning of the week.
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Only one of the 27 health unit regions, Niagara, is moving into the most restrictive “Grey-Lockdown” level.
Four health unit regions — Toronto Public Health, Peel Public Health, York Region Public Health, and North Bay Parry Sound District — will remain in the provincial shutdown announced on Boxing Day, with the stay-at-home order still in effect, until at least Monday, February 22nd.
“While we are cautiously and gradually transitioning some regions out of shutdown, with the risk of new variants this is not a reopening or a return to normal,” said health minister Christine Elliott. “Until vaccines are widely available, it remains critical that all individuals and families continue to adhere to public health measures and stay home as much as possible to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their communities.”
After returning to the COVID-19 response framework, each public health unit region will stay in its colour-coded level for at least two weeks, at which time the government will assess the impact of public health and workplace safety measures to determine if the region should stay where it is or be moved to a less restrictive or more restrictive level.
Here’s the full list of the 27 public health regions and their colour-coded level effective February 16:
Grey-Lockdown:
Niagara Region Public Health
Red-Control:
Chatham-Kent Public Health
City of Hamilton Public Health Services
Durham Region Health Department
Halton Region Public Health
Middlesex-London Health Unit
Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services
Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit
Southwestern Public Health
Thunder Bay District Health Unit
Wellington-Dufferin Guelph Public Health
Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
Orange-Restrict:
Brant County Health Unit
Eastern Ontario Health Unit
Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
Huron Perth Public Health
Lambton Public Health
Ottawa Public Health
Porcupine Health Unit
Public Health Sudbury and Districts
Yellow-Protect:
Algoma Public Health
Grey Bruce Health Unit
Northwestern Health Unit
Peterborough Public Health
Green-Prevent:
Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit
Timiskaming Health Unit
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As noted, Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit will move into the “Orange-Restrict” level and Peterborough Public Health will move into the “Yellow-Protect”.
In both these levels, in-person shopping at retail stores and malls and in-person dining at restaurants is once again allowed, with public health restrictions in place including capacity limits. Personal care services, cinemas, performing arts facilities, and sports and recreational facilities can also reopen, also with public health restrictions in place.
There are some differences between the two levels. For example, six people can be seated together in restaurants in “Yellow-Protect” but only four people can be seated together in “Orange-Restrict”, and bars and restaurants are not allowed to stay open as long in “Orange-Restrict”. In “Orange-Restrict”, personal care services that require the removal of face coverings are prohibited.
Black Lives Matter Nogojiwanong is seeking works from local Black and Indigenous artists to be showcased at the virtual Black History Blowout event on February 27, 2021, at which the recipient of the annual Charlie Earle Micro Grant will also be announced. The grant is named in honour of the late Charlene "Charlie" Earle (pictured in April 2014), a local Black musician and artist who passed away suddenly in July 2019. (Photo: Esther Vincent / evmustang.ca)
Even during a global pandemic when gathering and organizing has been next to impossible, the Peterborough chapter of the Black Lives Matter organization — Black Lives Matter Nogojiwanong (BLM Nogo) — has been busy organizing, community building and, most recently, providing opportunities for both Black and Indigenous artists.
BLM Nogo has launched an open call for proposals, seeking both visual and performance submissions from Black and Indigenous artists in celebration of Black History Month. Proposals will be accepted until Monday, February 15th.
The organization will award honorariums for accepted proposals to compensate participating artists for their time. The total amount awarded to each artist will be determined based on the number of applications the organization receives.
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While the artistic submissions will be showcased as a part of Black History Blowout, an online celebration of Black History Month taking place at the end of February, the board of directors of BLM Nogo made the decision to open the call for proposals to Indigenous artists as well as Black artists.
“There’s a longstanding history of Black and Indigenous folk being mistreated in very similar ways,” explains Said Jiddawy, local artist, activist, and BLM Nogo board member.
“Even though our struggles aren’t exactly the same, they’re very similar. We know that we live in the same world of oppression. That’s why we wanted to include both minority groups.”
In recognition of the oppression experience by Indigenous people, Black Lives Matter Nogojiwanong is accepting submissions from both Black and Indigenous artists and performers for the virtual Black History Blowout event. The deadline for submissions is February 15, 2021. (Graphic: Black Lives Matter Nogojiwanong)
Prerecorded performance submissions — ranging from 30 seconds to 10 minutes — by Black and Indigenous singers, dancers, musicians, performers of any discipline (theatre, drag, circus, and more), poets, storytellers, and filmmakers will be accepted.
The submissions will be featured on Saturday, February 27th at the live online event Black History Blowout, presented by BLM Nogo with funding from the Trent Centre for Women and Trans People.
Visual submissions of multi-disciplinary works from artisans, painters, photographers, sculptures, writers. and more will be included in “BHM ArtZine 2021”, a digital magazine that will be available for purchase by donation, with printed versions gifted to each contributing artist.
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“I wanted to put together a little magazine to showcase Black artists,” Jiddawy says. “To have something to say ‘Hey, we’re here. We exist. This is the kind of art that we do.’ It’s so exciting.”
The open call for proposals provides a wonderful opportunity for Black and Indigenous artists to connect with their audiences and to have their work showcased. This opportunity is particularly valuable for emerging artists looking to build their CVs (an abbreviation for Curriculum Vitae, an artist’s resume).
The open call and the digital event also provide a safe, online opportunity for gathering and community building to occur, which BLM Nogo’s board has been working hard to facilitate since the immensely successful, COVID-safe march in June 2020 the organization led in Peterborough/Nogojiwanong in response to the police brutality that led to the deaths of George Floyd and Regis Korchinski-Paquet last year.
Said Jiddawy, pictured at the Black Lives Matter march in Peterborough in June 2020, is a local artist, activist, and member of the Black Lives Matter Nogojiwanong board. (Photo courtesy of Black Lives Matter Nogojiwanong)
“It’s hard because there’s so many things that we wanted to do and it makes it more difficult as we can’t meet in person,” says Shaela Abbott-McLeod, activist, Trent Arthur journalist, podcaster, and BLM Nogo board member.
“It’s really difficult to do things with COVID, but we’re doing the best that we can,” she adds. “We’ve hosted direct digital action events, where we educated the community on important topics and helped them to email and call their elected officials. We’ve hosted movie screenings with Q&As with the directors afterwards. We’ve also hosted talks and interviews with prominent black figures.”
“The pandemic is really limiting what we can do, but it also works well because we are able to do a bunch of these online events and reach people who are farther away and wouldn’t otherwise be able to join. We’re also just trying to find these fun ways we can get people engaged and involved.”
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“Black voices and black people have typically been understood through their suffering,” says Shaela’s sister Alicia Abbott-McLeod, also an activist, podcaster, and BLM Nogo board member. “It is so essential for us to also be uplifting Black voices without the suffering. The fact that this event is happening without the tragedy is, I think, something really important to touch on.”
In addition to their activism with BLM Nogojiwanong and full-time studies at Trent and York Universities, respectively, Shaela and Alicia Abbott-McLeod host a podcast in collaboration with BLM Nogo and Arthur, Trent University’s student-run newspaper.
The podcast, “Black Girls Chatter”, discusses topics ranging from personal stories to Black history and education. It’s available most major podcast platforms and can be streamed online at anchor.fm/black-girls-chatter.
Shaela Abbott-McLeod (front left) and Alicia Abbott-McLeod (front right) pictured at the Black Lives Matter march in Peterborough in June 2020. The sisters are both activists, members of the Black Lives Matter Nogojiwanong board, and hosts of the “Black Girls Chatter” podcast produced in collaboration with Black Lives Matter Nogojiwanong and Arthur, Trent University’s student-run newspaper. (Photo courtesy of Black Lives Matter Nogojiwanong)
“We approach our conversations it in a way that’s more informal so it’s easier for everybody to grasp,” Alicia says. “We take what we’re learning in school or what we’re teaching ourselves and, using our own personal experiences, bring that forward to our listeners to help better educate the community.”
If you are or know of a Black or Indigenous artist whose artistic work would be perfect for Black Lives Matter Nogojiwanong’s open call for proposals, visit blmnogo.com/post/bhm-artist-callout to learn more about how to submit.
The virtual Black History Blowout event takes place on Zoom from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 27th. Tickets are $10 for allies and a discounted $5 for the guests of honour and Black and Indigenous folks, but no one will be turned away due to lack of funds.
During the event, BLM Nogo will also be announcing the recipient of the second annual Charlie Earle Micro Grant, awarded to a Black woman or Non-Binary artist. The grant is named in honour of Charlene “Charlie” Earle, a local Black musician and artist who passed away suddenly in July 2019 when she was only 33 years old.
To support the important work BLM Nogo does for our community, you can send a donation via e-transfer to blmnogojiwanong@gmail.com.
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