As Canada Day is a federal statutory holiday, all government office and services and liquor stores are closed, with a few beer stores open in selected locations. Most drug stores are open, as are many grocery stores and big box stores, except in Peterborough where all are closed. Recreational services, museums, art galleries, and tourist attractions remain closed because of the pandemic.

For your convenience, we provide this list of holiday hours for 266 selected businesses and services across the Kawarthas. This information comes from their websites and social media accounts, which may or may not be up to date, so please always call them first to confirm their hours (we’ve included phone numbers), especially when you are travelling any distance.

Where you see “call to confirm hours”, that means we don’t have a lot of confidence the hours listed on a business’s website are up to date. If your business or organization is listed and the hours are incorrect, please let us know by using our content feedback form. We do not list restaurants as there are too many to linclude.

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Some members of the community want the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board to know, “in God’s eyes, we’re all gay”.

That’s one of a series of messages painted on rocks and signs which, along with Pride flags, adorn the sidewalks at the entrance to the Catholic school board’s headquarters, located at Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School and the Catholic Education Centre at 1355 Lansdowne Street West in Peterborough.

Last Tuesday (June 22), members of the school board voted 4-3 against a proposal to install secondary flagpoles at Catholic schools for the purpose of displaying ‘special purpose’ flags — most notably the Pride flag representing the LGBTQ2S+ community.

That decision prompted Jewel McDonald, whose children are in the Catholic school system, to launch an online petition at change.org/p/pvnccdsb-we-want-the-pride-flag-at-our-pvnccdsb-schools demanding the board reconsider the “infuriating” decision.

McDonald originally set a goal of obtaining 1,200 signatures. As of the date of this story, the petition now has more than 12,200 signatures and is likely to hit 15,000, making it one of the most-signed petitions at change.org.

As for the painted rocks, signs, and flags installed at the board’s headquarters, the theme is one of love and inclusion, with messages including “Love is love”, “Be kind”, “Queer is beautiful”, “God loves everyone”, and “God loves all the children”.

In addition, a Pride flag hung on the Holy Cross and Catholic Education Centre sign reads “God loves gay!”, with another Pride Flag on a bench reading “Happy Pride Month!”.

kawarthaNOW was unable to find out who organized the display.

Kawartha Land Trust, the only non-government charitable organization committed to protecting land in the Kawarthas, recently announced its newest protected property: the Jones Wetland, donated by Ross Jones.

Located southwest of Fenelon Falls in the municipality of Kawartha Lakes, the 50-acre property is located directly adjacent to the Fell Wetland — a 50-acre property donated to Kawartha Land Trust by Allan Fell and his family in 2019 and protected by the organization in 2020.

Now that both properties are protected, this doubles the amount of conserved land in a provincially significant wetland that provides critical habitat for numerous species. Kawartha Land Trust will protect and care for the land in perpetuity, ensuring no future government can change the zoning on the land for another purpose.

The Jones Wetland has been in the Jones family for three generations. John Jones, Ross’s grandfather, originally bought the land in 1946. Called the ‘Woodlot’ by the Jones family, the property has since been passed down to Ross Jones from his parents.

In recent years, both Ross Jones and his sister Marilyn Falls wanted to pass the property on but did not want someone to purchase it and destroy the natural elements of the land. They chose to donate the property to Kawartha Land Trust to protect it from loss or development.

While the Jones family did some cutting on the property in 1950, the property has remained untouched since. Left it to grow freely over the years, the property has significant natural features and habitats including mixed swamp, cattail and willow marsh, and an upland forest dominated by white ash, sugar maple, and basswood trees.

“It’s amazing how the trees have been able to take over the land and have been free to grow,” Ross Jones says, who recalls that, after some of the initial cutting by his grandfather, raspberries grew on the property every summer and their family “lived off of the raspberries.”

With the property now protected by Kawartha Land Trust, nature and wildlife — including many species at risk — will be free to thrive.

Recent research has found that just under three per cent of the world’s land remains ecologically intact, with undisturbed habitat and minimal loss of its original animal species.

Previous research had estimated 20 to 40 per cent of the world’s land had been unaffected by human activity, but the new research finds only boreal and tundra biomes in east Siberia and northern Canada, parts of the Amazon and Congo basin tropical forests, and the Sahara Desert are intact.

Kawartha Land Trust protects 22 properties in the Kawarthas comprising more than 4,500 acres of important and diverse types of land, and assists in the management of one additional property.

One of Kawartha Land Trust’s goals when protecting a property is to ensure public access, but only when it is compatible with the long-term protection goals of the property and its features and when it corresponds with the wishes of the land donor. Due to its environmentally sensitive nature, the Jones Wetland property is not open for public access.

The property was secured with the additional support of the Government of Ontario and the Ontario Land Trust Alliance, through the Greenlands Conservation Partnership, which helps conserve ecologically important natural areas and protect wetlands, grasslands, and forests that help mitigate the effects of climate change.

For more information about Kawartha Land Trust and to make a donation, visit kawarthalandtrust.org.

For Canadian newcomer Gayathri Rajan, sharing her recipes with the public is not likely something she would do if she still lived in India.

But, after seven years of living in Canada, she now runs her own YouTube channel where she shares her recipes, and is excited to give kawarthaNOW readers the chance to make authentic biryani.

Biryani is a dish originating from India that features rice, Indian spices, and meat (it can also be made with vegetables). According to Gayathri, it is one of the most popular dishes in India, and there are countless different versions of it.

The dish is so popular in India that different locations in the country have their version. For example, Ambur biryani — a spicy biryani with chicken or mutton — comes from the town of Ambur. The specialty of the city Hyderabad, Hyderabad biryani is a version that typically uses goat meat.

“Biryani is our favourite recipe in India,” Gayathri says. “We make it for any big occasion such as weddings, birthdays, or any other happy moments.”

Gayathri’s recipe, which uses goat meat, is her mother-in-law’s own special biryani. The recipe has an emotional and nostalgic meaning for Gayathri, as it is tied to memories of learning to cook from her mother-in-law, who just recently passed away.

“I learned most of my cooking from my mother-in-law,” Gayathri explains. “She was a very good cook. I got married in 2007 right after I graduated from university and I didn’t have a chance to make food at my mother’s place, so I learned from my mother-in-law.”

“I have a passion and love for cooking, so I learned very quickly,” she adds.

This is not the first time Gayathri has shared her and her mother-in-law’s recipes with the public. She runs a YouTube channel called Santri’s Kitchen, dedicated to cooking videos.

Gayathri is proud to share her Indian food recipes with Canadians, including her authentic goat biriyani recipe.

Gayathri Rajan’s Goat Biriyani Recipe (with Egg Fry)

“Since coming here, I’ve wanted to share with everyone so people who like Indian food can know about this recipe and enjoy it,” Gayathri says.

Gayathri has expanded her recipes to include other types of food, some of which she also features on her YouTube channel. Soups, Chinese fried rice, and pan-fried vegetables are a few of the foods she has learned to make since being exposed to the food of different cultures foods while living in Canada.

“In India, I wouldn’t make this kind of stuff,” Gayathri explains. “My mother is always surprised, saying ‘Wow, you’re making a ton of recipes!'”

Since they can watch and comment on her videos, Gayathri’s YouTube channel is another way to connect her with her family living in India. Gayathri says missing her family has been the most challenging part of moving to Canada, especially since her family has recently experienced a double loss: both Gayathri’s brother and mother-in-law, who lived in India, recently passed away.

Gayathri and her husband Prabhakar (‘Raj’) moved to Canada in 2014 with their first son, Sandeep, who was five years old at the time.

They initially settled in Mississauga before moving to Peterborough a few years ago. Sandeep is now 12 years old, and the couple has a second four-year-old son named Vetri, who was born in Canada.

Gayathri recalls feeling at home quite quickly in Canada after her move.

“Before we came to Canada, we were fixed in our minds that India was our home,” Gayathri says. “Initially, I got homesick for the first two weeks, but then I got used to it. I felt at home in about a month after getting a job, which was a very happy moment.”

Although Gayathri, who has her bachelor’s degree in computer science, was a bit dismayed about not finding work in her field, she says she enjoyed her first job in Canada working as a machine assembly operator in a factory. Gayathri explains it was the friendly people who helped her to feel at home in Canada so quickly.

“Canadians are very friendly,” Gayathri says. “We miss our family, and that’s the hardest part, but otherwise, we are very happy here. Our kids are happy here. Their teachers are so friendly here.”

“My oldest son is not interested in going back to India,” Gayathri adds. “Even before we left India, he would always say ‘I love Toronto. I want to go to Toronto.'”

Gayathri’s husband Prabhakar, a practicing physiotherapist in India, also did not initially find work in his field upon arriving in Canada.

“After we moved to Peterborough, he got a medical transcription job in Peterborough, and then I got pregnant and we had a second baby,” Gayathri recalls. “After that, my husband studied clinical research and now has a job in technical research in Peterborough.”

Busy at home with her two children and working on her YouTube channel, Gayathri plans to start a daycare once her youngest starts school while also continuing to share her recipes online.

Gayathri and Prabhakar feel settled and at home in Peterborough. They joined the New Canadians Centre Peterborough last year and became involved in their social groups, with Gayathri participating in the women’s group (which moved online during the pandemic). Gayathri’s son Vetri also attends the New Canadian Centre’s online pre-school program, and attended daycare when programs like the women’s group were in-person.

According to Gayathri, the not-for-profit organization has been an incredible asset in helping newcomers like the Rajan family settle in their new lives in Canada.

Embroidery, Zumba, and crafts are some of the activities Gayathri enjoys in the women’s group she attends once a week.

“It’s so nice because I spend the whole of my days taking care of kids and my family,” Gayathri notes. “And we enjoy foods from all countries in the women’s group, so every week we eat a different country’s food.”

Gayathri says she often prepares Indian recipes for the group and everyone loves them, and is also pleased to be able to share her biryani recipe.

“I am so happy to share my recipe with Canadians,” Gayathri says.

The #CookWithNCC series was created in partnership with the New Canadians Centre (NCC) in Peterborough to share stories of immigration and integration. Other stories in the series include: Jessie Iriwanto and her beef rendang recipe, Tuncay Alkan and his hummus recipe, and Imad Mahfouz and his yalanji recipe.

Aromas, flavours, ingredients, who we cook for and how we share our recipes — they all tell stories that shape us as a community. On this journey through pantries and kitchens, we hope that you will fill both your plate and your heart.

Share your experience trying out these recipes, or your own story and recipe, on social media using the hashtag #CookWithNCC.

To join the New Canadians Centre on their 40-year journey of welcoming immigrants and refugees, visit nccpeterborough.ca.