A 50-year-old woman is dead following a head-on collision on Tuesday afternoon (August 4) near Cameron Road in Norland in the City of Kawartha Lakes.
At around 3:40 p.m. on Tuesday, the City of Kawartha Lakes OPP responded to a report of a two-vehicle collision.
The police’s initial investigation indicates that a vehicle travelling southbound on Highway 35 collided with a vehicle travelling northbound on Highway 35.
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The driver of the northbound vehicle, 50-year-old Samantha Lindquist, died as a result of the collision. A passenger in the vehicle she was driving was transported via Air Ornge ambulance to a Toronto-area hospital with serious injuries.
Highway 35 was closed between Cameron Road and Monck Road for several hours on Tuesday afternoon while police investigated and documented the scene.
The cause of the collision remains under investigation.
This story has been updated with information about the fatality and injuries as a result of the collision.
Michelle Gay is the owner of Garden Style Bridgenorth, a home and garden shop located in Sewlyn Township. Following her dream to own her own small business, she purchased the 20-year-old family-owned shop in 2018. Michelle has now reopened her doors and is welcoming her customers back into the store for a COVID-safe shopping experience. (Photo courtesy of Garden Style Bridgenorth)
For more than 20 years, Garden Style Bridgenorth has been a gathering place for people looking for items that create interest, warmth, and welcome in their homes and gardens.
This story is one of a five-part series sponsored by Selwyn Township, as part of the Township’s campaign to promote local businesses and community organizations as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
When Michelle Gay followed her dream and purchased the local family-owned business two years ago, she was committed to keeping the tradition of supplying unique accents, gifts and, above all else, some good old-fashioned retail therapy for everyone who visited the shop.
While this summer is nothing like her previous two as the new owner of Garden Style Bridgenorth, Michelle is thrilled to have her doors open to welcome back customers once again — especially the ones who made every effort to keep her going during a rough two months of retail lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At Garden Style Bridgenorth, owner Michelle Gay offers an wide range of unique items for her customers, who include tourists, visitors, cottagers, and locals. (Photo courtesy of Garden Style Bridgenorth)
Garden Style Bridgenorth is a cozy treasure-filled space where customers of all ages find delight in whimsical pieces for home and garden. Michelle says it’s a destination for girlfriend gatherings and, of course, visitors to the area. In fact, tourist season from April through October has been what keeps the store afloat during the quieter winter months.
Delightful product offerings aside, Michelle is all about customer service and she thrives on the one-on-one connections she makes with shoppers who come back on a regular basis, or with those who have happened across the boutique by chance.
Although she’s a hugger by nature and someone who is happy to place a hand on an arm in a moment of shared enthusiasm, Michelle is doing everything she can to adapt to the new way of doing business during the COVID-19 crisis, helping her community stay safe so they can continue to support independent locally owned businesses like hers.
“We were pretty new to this business and still trying to build that rapport with all of our customers,” Michelle says during an early morning interview. She chose the early morning time because, once she’s in her shop, her customers need her undivided attention — especially now.
“Retail was a huge learning curve for me,” Michelle admits. “I have the spirit though, thanks to my family, who all ran their own businesses. I’m used to welcoming everyone and, when you come from the environment that I come from, you always put on a smile and you get on with it — no matter what.”
Michelle’s no-matter-what attitude was seriously put to the test in early March when she started catching wind of the crisis that was building globally.
Garden Style Bridgenorth is a locally owned independent home and garden shop offering garden-related items, rustic and vintage items, iron work and metal wall art, wooden items, bee houses, soy candles, pin cushions, tea towels, coasters and fridge magnets, ornaments, greeting cards, and much more. (Photo courtesy of Garden Style Bridgenorth)
“I’m not a regular news watcher, because it’s so negative,” she explains. “So I missed what was happening early on. Then stores started closing when we were already coming off our slowest months. The government made all their announcements and then I was left with a feeling of complete terror.”
That feeling of terror came not only because of the unknown illness that was claiming lives, but because Michelle’s dream of owning her own small business was suddenly under threat. She had expected the first few years to be challenging, but dealing with a global pandemic was not part of the plan.
After closing her store to the public, she then discovered her business didn’t qualify for any of the initial government financial relief programs. But she didn’t let that that stop her dream.
Garden Style Bridgenorth owner Michelle Gay is ensuring her customers have a COVID-safe shopping experience by limiting the number of shoppers allowed in the store at one time, providing hand sanitizer, regularly disinfecting surfaces, and wearing a face mask. She is also continuing to offer porch drops for those who are not yet comfortable going into stores. (Photo courtesy of Garden Style Bridgenorth)
“We started peddling our wares on Instagram, offering free delivery, porch drops, and people just responded,” Michelle recalls. “I have the best customers and this community is amazing.”
She says the shopping that people did through the past few months was a lifeline for her business.
“I can’t thank the community enough,” she says. “They helped me get through.”
And now it’s Michelle’s pleasure to return the favour by offering customers a safe shopping experience. There is the standard hand sanitizer and constant wiping of surfaces, but Michelle also wears a mask and has continued to offer porch drops for those who are not yet comfortable coming into stores.
Michelle has also had to adapt to a new style of customer service, because the leisurely pace of customers browsing the store that she previously loved has now been replaced with a more direct, intentional style of shopping.
“People know what they are looking for,” Michelle explains.
Garden Style Bridgenorth is located at 822-6 Ward Street in Bridgenorth. The store is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Owner Michelle Gay will soon be launching online shopping as another way of helping customers to stay safe and support local. (Photo courtesy of Garden Style Bridgenorth)
There’s also way more focus on social media, and Michelle will soon be launching online shopping as another way of helping customers to stay safe and support local.
“I want everyone to feel comfortable, and I want to know how they are managing,” Michelle says. “I really love people and I want them to feel like they are coming through the front door of my home. I want people to know that I am here to care for you. That’s just how everyone needs to feel.”
That sense of caring is a big part of what Michelle loves about her shop and what she hopes will return in the months ahead, as more and more of the community get used to this new way of living.
“A lot of people used to come into the store not just to buy something, but for a visit to chat and to make a social connection,” Michelle recalls. “Behaviour is changed now, but I hope that comes back. That’s retail therapy and I can’t wait until all this is done.”
But until the all-clear is called on the pandemic, Michelle is committed to welcoming back everyone, including the tourists who are starting to return to the region. She’s also focused on returning the love, support, and caring that saw her through an unimaginable business challenge.
“I just want to hug people again,” she laughs. “I look so forward to that, to be close to the people I care about in the store and in the community. But right now, until things change, I am going to do everything I can to make it feel like there is not a plexiglass wall between us. I’m going to keep making connections.”
Garden Style Bridgenorth is located at 822-6 Ward Street in Bridgenorth. The store is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday (closed Monday). For more information, call 705-292-5304, email gardenstylebridgenorth@gmail.com or visit gardenstyle.ca. You can also follow Garden Style Bridgenorth on Facebook and Instagram.
The Township of Selwyn has created a comprehensive strategy to help assist local businesses and community organizations recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Selwyn COVID-19 Economic Recovery Strategy includes a five-month multimedia marketing campaign to promote Selwyn’s businesses and community organizations, municipal grants for not-for-profit organizations, the Selwyn Business Re-Opening Program in partnership with Community Futures Peterborough that provides $250,000 to help Selwyn businesses with COVID-19 related adaptation expenses, and much more.
For more COVID-19 resources for Selwyn businesses, visit selwyntownship.ca.
In a sign that things are returning to some semblance of normality, transit fares and parking fees will resume in the City of Peterborough on Monday, August 10th.
Back in March, Peterborough Transit paused the collection of fares to protect the safety of customers and employees during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peterborough.
Now, protective measures like driver barriers and mandatory face coverings have been put in place so that customers can safely board at the front doors and pay fares.
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Starting on Tuesday (August 4), the sales location at the Peterborough Transit Terminal on Simcoe Street is available for cash, debit, and credit purchases. The customer counter from is open from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Starting on August 10th, the sales location at Lansdowne Place mall will be available for debit-only purchases of transit passes.
While cash fare will be accepted on the bus, Peterborough Transit is also introducing a new touchless fare payment for customers with smartphones. Customers can load payments before they go with the HotSpot App available through Apple App Store and Google Play. For the first four months, Hotspot is waving its membership fee for its app for this service.
Wearing face masks is mandatory on public transit by directive of Peterborough Public Health. However, the city asks transit riders to understand that not everyone is able to wear a face covering and that there are exemptions under the public health directive.
Customers entering the Peterborough Transit Terminal customer service area are also required to wear face coverings. The number of customers inside the customer service area will be limited to support physical distancing. Seating and washrooms in the customer service area at the terminal remain closed.
Transit drivers will not need to wear a face covering when they are behind the protective barrier around the driver’s seat on a bus.
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As for parking, paid parking for municipal on-street and surface lot parking in the central area will also resume on Monday, August 10th.
The city temporarily paused paid parking for municipal on-street and surface lot parking in March as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As normal activities resume in Peterborough, the demand for parking is increasing as is the need for turnover in parking spaces. Parking fees help pay for the monitoring and regulation of parking services to keep that healthy turnover in parking spaces.
There are about 385 on-street parking spaces, 400 spaces in municipal lots, and almost 1,200 spaces in parking garages in the central area.
There is one-hour free parking in municipal parking garages as well as free parking after 6 p.m. and all day on weekends and holidays at municipal on-street parking, surface lots, and parking garages.
Residents and visitors are reminded to use hand sanitizer or wash their hands before and after using the pay-and-display machines and parking metres.
The city also offers a parking app service through HotSpot Parking for paying for parking at all its surface lots, parking garages, and on-street parking. The app can be downloaded to smartphones from the Apple App Store and Google Play. HotSpot Parking has a monthly membership fee of $2 or users can sign up for $20 for a year for use of the app.
For more information on municipal parking services, including a map with the locations of the parking lots and parking garages, visit peterborough.ca/parking.
A suspect is in custody and facing attempted murder charges after a Peterborough police officer was stabbed while on duty late Sunday afternoon (August 2).
The incident occurred while the officer was investigating a theft at George (Red) Sullivan East City Bowl, at the corner of Burnham and Hunter Street East in East City.
According to police, when the officer confronted the suspect, the suspect became violent and a physical altercation between the officer and the suspect followed.
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Police say the suspect stabbed the officer during the altercation.
The officer was taken to Peterborough Regional Health Centre for treatment and is in stable condition as of Monday (August 3).
Cody Patterson has been arrested and is in custody. He is facing charges of attempted murder, assault with a weapon, theft Under $5,000, and breaching a weapon prohibition.
Police have not provided the identity of the officer who was stabbed.
Public health nurse Simone Jackson wearing personal protective equipment as she prepares to open a swab to test a patient for COVID-19 in Peterborough Public Health's clinic. (Photo courtesy of Peterborough Public Health)
Here is an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting 116 new cases, with Peterborough Public Health reporting its fourth new case since July 30. There are now four active cases in the Peterborough area.
Reports for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, Haliburton, and Hastings and Prince Edward counties are not issued on weekends.
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Since the pandemic began, there have been 99 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (95 resolved with 2 deaths), 176 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (156 resolved with 32 deaths), 25 in Northumberland County (25 resolved with no deaths), 13 in Haliburton County (12 resolved with no deaths), and 44 in Hastings County and Prince Edward County (38 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported on May 7 by Hastings Prince Edward Public Health.
Province-wide, there have been 39,449 confirmed cases, an increase of 116 from yesterday’s report, with 35,359 cases (89.6% of all cases) resolved, an increase of 122. There have been 2,778 deaths, an increase of 1, with 1,797 deaths reported in long-term care homes (no change from yesterday). A total of 2,235,697 tests have been completed, an increase of 30,443 from yesterday, with 17,839 tests under investigation, a decrease of 9,145.
This report is based on data supplied by the province’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS), as well as any additional information supplied by health units. This information is at least 24 hours old, so it is not real-time data. Note that each health unit reports the information in a different way.
Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.
Confirmed positive: 99 (increase of 1) Active cases: 4 (increase of 1) Deaths: 2 (no change) Resolved: 93 (no change) Total tests completed: Over 21,600 (increase of 350) Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)
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 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, excluding statutory holidays. These numbers are from July 31.
Confirmed positive: 214, including 176 in Kawartha Lakes, 25 in Northumberland, 13 in Haliburton (increase of 1, in Kawartha Lakes) Probable cases: 0 (decrease of 1) Hospitalizations: 14 (no change) Deaths: 32 (no change) Resolved: 193, including 156 in Kawartha Lakes, 25 in Northumberland, 12 in Haliburton (increase of 3, 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland) Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)
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 reports on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, excluding statutory holidays. These numbers are from July 31.
Confirmed positive: 44 (increase of 1) Deaths: 5 (no change) Hospitalized: 0 (no change) Hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change) Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 0 (no change) Recovered: 38 (no change) Total tests completed: 17,575 (increase of 122) Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 39,449 (increase of 116) Resolved: 35,359 (increase of 122, 89.6% of all cases are resolved) Hospitalized: 72 (decrease of 1) Hospitalized and in ICU: 26 (decrease of 1) Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 14 (increase of 2) Deaths: 2,778 (increase of 1) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 1,797 (no change, 64.7% of all deaths) Total tests completed 2,235,697 (increase of 30,443) Tests under investigation: 17,839 (decrease of 9,145)
New COVID-19 cases in Ontario from July 2 – August 1, 2020. 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 July 2 – August 10, 2020. 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)
A tornado at Sturgeon Lake in Kawartha Lakes on June 23, 2020. (Photo: Amy Reeds @amy_reeds / Twitter)
UPDATE – Sun Aug 2 6:35 p.m.
The tornado watch has ended.
Environment Canada has issued a tornado watch on Sunday (August 2) for portions of central and eastern Ontario, including Haliburton County, Hastings Highlands including Bancroft, northern Kawartha Lakes including Fenelon Falls and Balsam Lake Park, and northern Peterborough County including Apsley and Woodview.
Conditions are favourable for the development of severe thunderstorms that may produce tornadoes and scattered damaging wind gusts up to 100 km/h into Sunday evening.
A tornado watch means conditions are favourable for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening weather conditions and listen for possible warnings.
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In the event of a tornado, or if a tornado warning is issued for your area, it is recommended you take the following actions.
Go indoors to a room on the lowest floor, away from outside walls and windows, such as a basement, bathroom, stairwell or interior closet. Leave mobile homes, vehicles, tents, trailers and other temporary or free-standing shelter, and move to a strong building if you can. As a last resort, lie in a low spot and protect your head from flying debris.
For the southern Kawarthas — southern Peterborough County including Peterborough and Lakefield, southern Kawartha Lakes including Lindsay, and Northumberland County including Port Hope and Cobourg — a severe thunderstorm watch is in effect.
Conditions are favourable for the development of severe thunderstorms that may be capable of producing strong wind gusts. Scattered wind gusts up to to 100 km/h are possible into Sunday evening, and a tornado is also possible.
Strong wind gusts can toss loose objects, damage weak buildings, break branches off trees and overturn large vehicles. Lightning kills and injures Canadians every year. Remember, when thunder roars, go indoors!
Local band Out On Bail (from left: Richard Simpkins, John Climenhage, Wylie Harold, and Wayne O'Connor) performs one of several numbers at Andy and Linda Tough's barn north of Norwood. The band is one of a number being featured as part of the "Live! At The Barn" series of shows recorded and presented by RMS Events and sponsored by Team vanRahan Century 21. Vidoes of the performances, along with inteviews with the musicians, will coming to YouTube starting August 21, 2020. (Photo: Paul Rellinger / kawarthaNOW.com)
What has happened in the barn has typically stayed in the barn, but then 2020 has proven to be anything but typical for all of us — including musicians who continue to find the doors to almost all live music venues closed to their talents.
Enter Andy and Linda Tough of RMS Events, a multimedia enterprise specializing in audio/video production and presentation for a range of clients. On their scenic rural property north of Norwood, a huge nondescript barn is anything but inside, with advanced recording equipment fronting a stage, large by pub standards, with table seating.
The pandemic has prevented the Toughs from inviting guests to live performances in the barn, as in past summers, but music is still very much in the fresh country air. This is much to the benefit to not only participating performers but, as it will soon turn out, to those craving their fix of local live music.
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The Toughs have recently launched “Live! At The Barn”, a series of live-off-the-floor recording sessions featuring area musicians, with the goal of presenting each session on YouTube starting August 21st.
On Thursday night (July 30), Wylie Harold and Out On Bail — Richard Simpkins, John Climenhage and Wayne O’Connor — performed their blues repertoire as the cameras rolled and the sound recording console lit up. Prior sessions have seen The Gunslingers, Pat Temple, and The Fabulous Tonemasters take a turn, while future recording dates are scheduled for House Brand and The Weber Brothers.
“Once COVID hit, all live music events were cancelled, and all our jams here at the barn were cancelled,” Andy says, explaining the motivation behind the Live! At The Barn series. “Not only can’t musicians play in a club, they can’t play with each other.”
The large barn that dominates Andy and Linda Tough’s property north of Norwood is not unlike any one of the many that dot the rural Ontario landscape. but it’s a different story inside where audio and video recording equipment is being put to full use to the benefit of local music bands starving to get together to do what they do during the pandemic. “The Live! At The Barn” series, presented under the RMS Events banner and sponsored by Team vanRahan Century 21, will see a number of recorded performances posted to YouTube starting August 21st. (Photo courtesy of RMS Events)
“We’ve got a big enough facility here. We can physically space people. It’s easy to clean because Mother Nature is our air exchange system. I had already planned to record our jams, so the system was already half set up.”
“It was like ‘Why don’t we see if musicians would like to come and play and record it?’ They get a video that I’ll give them for their own promotion purposes, and we can sell some sort of sponsorship to cover our costs so there’s no cost to the musicians whatsoever. That was key … obviously they’re not working.”
First to step up as sponsors of Live! At The Barn are Century 21 United Realty real estate agents Ben vanVeen and Catherine Hanrahan — Team vanRahan as they’re known collectively — who have worked with RMS Events on past events, including the Team vanRahan Summer Family Film Series.
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According to Catherine, not only is their sponsorship “a good fit” with their business’ focus on rural properties but, as vanVeen notes, both he and his partner are ardent local music supporters.
“It (COVID-19) has been a drag, not just for musicians but for guys like Andy, the A-V people and everyone working in the live performance industry,” she says, adding, “It’s nice to see something different and interesting that’s still really safe.”
While Catherine and Ben have been invited to barn jams before, this was the first time they were able to make the trek.
Andy Tough of RMS Events works the sound board during the live-off-the-floor recording of Wylie Harold and Out On Bail on Thursday night (July 30) for the “The Live! At The Barn” series. Andy is putting his audio and video recording skills to very good use during the pandemic, welcoming local music bands to his barn north of Norwood to record. The end result will be a series of shows posted to YouTube starting August 21, 2020. (Photo: Paul Rellinger / kawarthaNOW.com)
“It’s very cool,” Ben says. “It’s unique, The overall aesthetic is comforting. There’s all these different pieces that make up that aesthetic.”
“We have a barn (too)”, he adds, referring to his and Hanrahan’s farm near Havelock. “I love the old fixtures and what they’re collected here. He almost needs a little plaque beside each one reading ‘Found at …’. There’s a lot of history there.”
Musician Wylie Harold echoes that sentiment, describing the barn atmosphere as “warm … it’s in the room at all times”
Singer and guitarist Wylie Harold performs with his blues band Out On Bail Thursday night (July 30) as part of the “Live! At The Barn” series of recorded performances. Recorded and presented by RMS Events and sponsored by Team vanRahan Century 21, the series of shows will be available on YouTube starting August 21, 2020. (Photo: Paul Rellinger / kawarthaNOW.com)
Onstage and off, there was no wiping the huge smile off Wylie’s face — a grin anchored in the chance to be back on stage with his bandmates after months of not being able to do so.
“We miss the money obviously, but we miss playing music (together) … three or four guys locking into that magic pocket. We haven’t played together in the longest time. The last real gig I did was in December. I’ve done a couple of private functions. I did the chip truck (The Cabin at Trent) a few times. That was kind of cool. They sent me home with a bag of burgers. It was a nice little gig, but my calendar is empty like everyone else’s.”
Wylie doesn’t see live music returning to bars in any meaningful way soon.
“Alcohol makes you want to chat. It’s very social. I’m not sure what the future holds for live music. It’s not going to be walking into a bar, letting your hair down and letting it rip. I don’t know if there are better days ahead. I miss them all (his live music friends).”
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Beside the opportunity to get back together with Out On Bail, Wylie used the recording session to fine-tune songs that will be featured on his upcoming new CD. Not included on the track list is “Live Music Strong”, a song he wrote in homage of the power of live music performance.
“There’s nothing like live music. Good, bad or indifferent, wherever you are, live music just adds a little shine to anything.”
According to Andy, accompanying each concert session posted to YouTube will be an invite to donate to the featured act. Email addresses will be listed for e-transfers. A donation is not required to view the performance but, as Andy notes, it’s a chance to help out-of-work musicians.
Andy notes the each session’s video doesn’t just include the musical performance.
“We’re also interviewing each band to give people a profile of the people in the band as opposed to the musicians who are on the stage — where they came from, their influences, and that sort of stuff.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to limit the opportunities for musicians to perform together live, the door to Andy and Linda Tough’s barn north of Norwood is wide open, welcoming local bands to record concert videos for presentation on YouTube starting August 21, 2020 under the title “Live! At The Barn”. (Photo: Paul Rellinger / kawarthaNOW.com)
As for his RMS Events business, Andy notes the impact of the pandemic has been severe but his work on Live! At The Barn is keeping him happily busy.
“I’m in the worst business that I can be, because I do events with more than 50 people,” he says. “Everything just grounded to a halt, postponed, or cancelled outright. But, as Linda says, I can (now) walk to work and not have to load the car.”
Like Wylie, Andy is also concerned about the long-term impacts of the pandemic on the livelihood of local musicians.
“They don’t know where things are going. No singing and no dancing in clubs negates all the things they live for. How do bars depopulate for physical distancing and (still) make ends meet? They can’t make enough money to pay the musicians.”
Like everyone else, the Toughs are looking forward to life post-COVID, especially as that relates to live events they have planned for their barn space — events that were set to be organized and held this summer.
In the meantime, their focus is on Live! At The Barn.
Sponsor Team vanRahan urges people to check out each YouTube episode and do what they can to help out the featured performers.
“There are so many asks of people these days, but if you’re in a position to help and you enjoy the music, do what you can,” Catherine says.
“Local musicians tell local stories and we need those,” Ben adds. “They’re giving a lot to us, so if you can, give something back to them.”
Environment Canada has issued a rainfall warning for Sunday (August 2) for northern areas of the Kawarthas region, including northern Peterborough County including Apsley, northern Kawartha Lakes including Fenelon Falls, Hastings Highlands including Bancroft, and all of Haliburton County.
Heavy rainfall is expected on Sunday as an area of low pressure intensifies and tracks northeastward across southern and central Ontario.
Rain, at times heavy, is expected to begin early on Sunday morning and continue through to Sunday evening.
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General rainfall amounts of 40 to 60 mm are expected, with up to 75 mm possible in some areas.
Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads. If visibility is reduced while driving, slow down, watch for tail lights ahead and be prepared to stop.
The Black Horse Pub and Restaurant is located at at 452 George Street North in downtown Peterborough. (Photo: National Trust for Canada)
Update – Friday, August 7
Thanks to media coverage of his plight, Desmond Vandenberg has been able to secure insurance company and reopen his pub and restaurant.
The Black Horse Pub and Restaurant in downtown Peterborough is closing its doors, but it’s not related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Owner and operator Desmond Vandenberg has been unable to obtain insurance coverage for the restaurant, leaving him with no decision but to close the doors on Saturday (August 1).
“Our insurance came up for renewal for August 1st,” he tells kawarthaNOW’s Paul Rellinger. “On June 24th, the insurance company said they would not be renewing our insurance. So we then started seeking insurance and reached out to multiple brokers, in town and out of town, and none of them were able to secure insurance for us.”
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“We were unable to secure insurance at any cost,” Vandenberg explains. “At one point, it was suggested that we could get insurance at a rate of two and a half times times what we were paying, and we said okay. But then the insurer came back and said no. We made it clear to all the brokers that we were prepared to insure at any cost, but yet nobody was able to get us a quote.”
Vandenberg is quick to point out that the issue he’s having getting insurance has nothing to do with the age or condition of the building or the viability of the business. It’s based on an unrelated matter, the details of which he is not willing to provide.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think I can share that information,” he says. “I can say that there’s no issue with the building that makes it uninsurable. It’s nothing like that at all. The business is in good standing, and it’s I think in better shape than many restaurants.”
The unrelated matter also has nothing to do with the pandemic, but Vandenberg believes his issue getting insurance might have something to do with COVID-19.
“The environment right now for insurance companies is not great,” he notes. “They’re kind of staying away from restaurants as they try to figure out where the dust is going to settle on that, on what possible claims they might be looking at because of it.”
The insurance issue comes at at a time when the Black Horse is just starting to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.
“COVID did put a burden on us, but we were prepared to weather it,” Vandenberg says. “We were still looking long term, trying to plan for when COVID was going to end, following whatever rules (Peterborough Public Health) had in effect.”
The restaurant recently re-opened its patio and has been hosting live instrumental music there for the first time since closing, with local fiddler Irish Millie making several appearances. Just this week, the Black Horse brought back vocal music featuring regulars the Rob Phillips Trio with Marsala Lukianchuk on Thursday night and musical duo Rick and Gailie on Friday night.
“We purchased a plexiglass barrier so that we could allow singing,” Vandenberg points out — one of the requirements of Ontario government legislation. All the entertainment has been taking place on the patio rather than inside.
Vandenberg, a graduate of Trent University, purchased the property at 452 George Street North from former owner Ray Kapoor in April 2018. Kapoor had been looking to sell for some time, and a deal with Parkview Homes to purchase the property for redevelopment in 2017 fell through. After Vandenberg purchased the Black Horse, he continued Kapoor’s tradition of hosting regular live music at the pub.
“In some ways it hasn’t hit me yet,” Vandenberg says of the decision to close. “For the last month, we’ve really been trying desperately to keep going, so that’s been our focus. When it came down to yesterday, I talked to my wife and at the beginning of the day I said ‘All we’re doing today is try to get through the day and hold it together’. Now and in the next week or two, we’re going to try to regroup — what are our options, what can we do and what can’t we do, and move forward from there.”
Opening up a new pub and restaurant somewhere else isn’t in the cards. Vandenberg owns the Black Horse building and has invested significantly in it. He rents the apartments on the upper floor, so there is limited income from that.
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As for selling the building, Vandenberg says he isn’t exploring that option yet, but nothing’s off the table.
“We certainly don’t want to do that. We’re hoping that we can figure out some way we can continue do do what we have been doing. Beyond financial reasons, it’s what we wanted to do, something that we’ve enjoyed doing.”
While Vandenberg remains optimistic that something may change, so far he’s been unsuccessful in his efforts at securing insurance.
“There is still some chance somebody may come through at the last minute, but certainly all the traditional markets that you go to to get insurance are not interested in touching us.”
Downtown Peterborough has already lost many of its small live music venues, including The Spill and The Dobro. And, while the Black Horse’s closure is not related to COVID-19, Vandenberg believes the pandemic is going to change what’s possible in the future when it comes to live music.
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That said, Vandenberg says he has been committed to doing whatever it takes to keep live music a part of the Black Horse experience — but he has no control over securing insurance.
“This decision was out of our hands. We explored ever option to keep it open, prepared to pay any cost to keep it open, and there was nothing offered to us.”
This story has been updated based on an interview with Vandenberg by kawarthaNOW writer Paul Rellinger.
You can kick back and relax on the Civic Holiday long weekend, as almost all stores are open on Monday. You might want to stock up on beverages though, as all liquor stores are closed on Monday as well as most beer stores.
The Civic Holiday is called Peter Robinson Day in Peterborough, James Cockburn Day in Cobourg, Simcoe Day in Toronto, Colonel By Day in Ottawa, George Hamilton Day in Hamilton, Joseph Brant Day in Burlington, Founders’ Day in Brantford, McLaughlin Day in Oshawa, Alexander Mackenzie Day in Sarnia, John Galt Day in Guelph, and numerous other names in smaller municipalities. Whatever you call it, the holiday is always celebrated on the first Monday in August.
Since the Civic Holiday is not a statutory holiday in Ontario and is not listed in Ontario’s Employment Standards Act or Retail Business Holidays Act, most businesses are open on Monday, although some have reduced hours. Almost all grocery stores, malls, and big box stores are open on Monday, although all liquor stores and most beer stores are closed. Government offices are closed and many government-operated services are unavailable.
For your convenience, we provide this list of holiday hours for 261 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, especially where indicated and if you are travelling any distance (we’ve included phone numbers). If your business or organization is listed and the hours are incorrect, please let us know by using our content feedback form.
Bewdley Community Recycling Centre 7650 County Rd. 9, Hamilton 905-342-2514
CLOSED
Brighton Community Recycling Centre 1112 County Rd. 26, Brighton 613-475-1946
CLOSED
Canada Post Mail Delivery / Offices (Note: post offices operated by the private sector will be open according to the hours of service of the host business
No collection or delivery
City of Kawartha Lakes City Hall, Municipal Service Centres, and Administration Offices 26 Francis St., Lindsay 705-324-9411
CLOSED
City of Kawartha Lakes Parks, Recreation and Culture facilities, arenas, and pools Various locations, City of Kawartha Lakes 705-324-9411
CLOSED
City of Kawartha Lakes Public Libraries Various locations, City of Kawartha Lakes 705-324-9411 x1291
CLOSED
City of Kawartha Lakes Waste and Recycling Collection 26 Francis St., Lindsay 1-888-822-2225
Mon Aug 3 collection moves to Tue Aug 4, Aug 4 to 5, Aug 5 to 6, Aug 6 to 7
City of Peterborough Day Cares Peterborough 705-748-8830
CLOSED
City of Peterborough Garbage Pickup Peterborough 705-745-1386
No change
City of Peterborough Green Waste Pickup Peterborough 705-876-1600
No change
City of Peterborough Recycling Pickup Peterborough 705-876-1600
No change
City of Peterborough Social Services Peterborough 705-748-8830
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