The senior leadership team of Peterborough Public Health and the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit, including medical officers of health Dr. Thomas Piggot (front row, right) and Dr. Natalie Bocking (back row, left). The two health units have merged under the legal name Haliburton Kawartha Northumberland Peterborough Health Unit, bringing together over 300 public health professionals under a single entity. The first meeting of the new board of health for the merged health unit will be held virtually on January 2, 2025. (Photo: Haliburton Kawartha Northumberland Peterborough Health Unit)
The two recently merged health units in the Kawarthas region have a new legal name: the Haliburton Kawartha Northumberland Peterborough Health Unit (HKNP).
The boards of health for the former Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPRDHU) and Peterborough Public Health (PPH) will come together as one for a special virtual board of health meeting on Thursday (January 2), where a chair and vice chair will be elected.
The new board of health will have nine municipal representatives (including two from Northumberland County, two from the City of Kawartha Lakes, one from Haliburton County, two from Peterborough County, and two from the City of Peterborough), as well as one member each from Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation and provincial appointees,
The new legal name of the merged health unit was confirmed in a letter from Ontario’s chief medical officer Dr. Kieran Moore dated December 11, a week after the boards of health for PPH and HKPRDHU each held separate virtual meetings and each voted in support of a voluntary merger, which will come with $10.1 million in new provincial funding.
According to a statement on both of the existing health unit websites, HKNP is only the legal name of the merged health unit.
“We are currently undergoing a process to develop a new brand identity that will also include a new name,” the statement reads. “This will take us several months to finalize. During this time, you will continue to see logos and other marketing material with the (Peterborough Public Health or HKPR District Health Unit) branding. You may also see some documents using our legal name Haliburton Kawartha Northumberland Peterborough Health Unit.”
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The statement indicates partners and members of the public should continue to engage with their local public health offices as they have in the past, until otherwise directed. All communication channels including emails, faxes, and office locations will remain the same until further notice.
As for the January 2 special board of health meeting, it will include various by-laws for approval that are related to the merger.
Another item on the agenda is terms of reference for the Indigenous Health Advisory Circle (IHAC). The committee’s purpose is to deepen awareness, sensitivity, and meaningful actions on issues that are of relevance and public health importance to Indigenous people living within the Haliburton Kawartha Northumberland Peterborough (HKNP) catchment area.
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According to the agenda, the IHAC will provide a forum for circle members to brainstorm, explore and propose public health-related agenda items for the board of health to consider that are of importance to Indigenous people living within the HKNP catchment area.
“In particular, this includes a review of the Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of reconciliation, as well as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”
The IHAC is also intended to advise and support the board of health “to become a stronger and more effective ally” and advocate for local members of First Nation communities. It will also advise and provide support on matters that have an impact on the health and well-being of their residents and the environment.
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The circle will be comprised of a minimum of three board members in addition to the chair (ex-officio member). In addition, the board will seek community members representing the broader Indigenous stakeholder community as it pertains issues of Indigenous health.
IHAC met on December 13 and requested that the following community members be appointed to the group: Ashley Safar, executive director of the Peterborough Community Health Centre; David Newhouse of Trent University; the executive director or delegate of the Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag Services Circle; the executive director or delegate of Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre; Elizabeth Stone of Fleming College; a representative of Alderville First Nation; Kristy Kennedy of the Métis Nation of Ontario and Peterborough & District Wapiti Métis Council; and Rebecca Watts of Lovesick Lake Native Women’s Association.
The Town of Cobourg is postponing its family-oriented "First Night" celebration on December 31, 2024 to a later date in January due as warm temperatures and rain have resulted in the closure of the outdoor skating rink at the Rotary Harbourfront Park. (Photo: Experience Cobourg / Facebook)
The Town of Cobourg is postponing its planned New Year’s Eve family celebration due to the unseasonably warm weather and rainy conditions.
The town announced on Monday (December 30) that it is “regretfully” moving the First Night in Cobourg event on December 31 to a future date in January that will be determined soon.
First Night in Cobourg typically involves an evening at the Rotary Harbourfront Park that is filled with music, ice skating, “seasonal magic,” and community spirit.
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As a result of the warmer weather and rain, the outdoor skating rink at the Rotary Harbourfront Park is currently closed.
“The Town of Cobourg will update the community on a new event date as soon as temperatures stabilize, and staff are able to get the rink operational,” noted a media release.
In addition to skating to the music provided by a live DJ, First Night in Cobourg usually includes horse and wagon rides under the stars through Cobourg’s scenic streets, and a 9 p.m. fireworks display over the harbour to celebrate the new year.
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While the December 31 event is postponed, the town invites community members to join Town of Cobourg Mayor Lucas Cleveland and Cobourg council at the traditional New Year’s Levee.
The levee is on Saturday (January 4) from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Concert Hall of Victoria Hall, which is located at 55 King St. W. in Cobourg.
“New to the schedule this year are activities to be enjoyed by community members of all ages,” the town noted in a media release.
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The evening features live music by the concert band of Cobourg’s jazz group, The Bootnecks, along with a special performance by Sounds of the Next Generation (SONG).
The evening also includes family-friendly activities, festive refreshments, cotton candy, and popcorn.
There will be a proclamation by Cobourg Town Crier, Mandy Robinson, to welcome the new year.
Pre-pandemic crowds at the annual Kawartha Rotary Ribfest in Millennium Park in downtown Peterborough. The Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha has announced it is pulling out of the fundraising event as of 2025, citing increased costs of hosting the event and diminishing returns due to reduced attendance. (Photo courtesy of Peterborough DBIA)
A longtime Peterborough summer staple is no longer — at least from the perspective of the Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha.
As posted on Facebook this past weekend, the organization has announced it is “reluctantly” ending its involvement with Ribfest.
While the post states that Ribfest “has severely outgrown” its home at Millennium Park in downtown Peterborough, Rotarian and Ribfest committee chair Susan Zambonin tells kawarthaNOW the main reason for Rotary pulling out of the fundraising event is rooted in it being labour-intensive and increasingly expensive to organize but with a diminished return.
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“Before the pandemic, we were making money doing Ribfest,” says Zambonin, noting all proceeds from the event went to local and international humanitarian projects supported by Rotary.
“Our first year back after the pandemic, we didn’t expect to make much money and we didn’t. We made money every year since, though we thought it would it would make more. It hasn’t. It actually went down this year (to under $10,000). We were lucky to come away having made a little bit of a profit and so, as a club, we decided that the amount of effort wasn’t worth doing it again.”
While Rotary considered moving the event to another location, it determined changing locations wouldn’t make a substantial difference.
“The idea of having to change weekends if we wanted to do it at Del Crary Park or somewhere else, we analyzed that along with the amount of work it takes throughout the year, not just on the weekend (of the event), and the return on investment,” Zambonin says.
While the cost of required insurance is substantial, it wasn’t a factor in the decision, according to Zambonin, as that cost is borne by Rotary at the district level. However, the other costs related to hosting the event are another thing entirely.
“You have to rent the stage, you have to rent the fencing, you need police and security throughout the weekend, and there’s the cost of renting the park and closing the street to rent the parking lot. That all adds up and, combined with less attendance, lessens the return.”
In a Facebook post announcing the end of the Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha’s involvement in Ribfest, the organization said the event has “has severely outgrown” its home at Millennium Park in downtown Peterborough. However, Rotarian and Ribfest committee chair Susan Zambonin told kawarthaNOW the main reason for Rotary pulling out of the fundraising event is rooted in it being labour-intensive and increasinly expensive to organize but with a diminished return. (Photo courtesy of Peterborough DBIA)
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The Facebook announcement has drawn many comments, with a number making reference to the downtown core’s homeless population and a few writing they don’t feel safe attending the event. Zambonin doesn’t dismiss such concerns, but says perception is reality for many.
“Some people just don’t want to come downtown,” she says. “I think it’s easy to say that it’s the downtown environment that’s a part of it (Rotary’s decision), but I don’t see that as being the biggest stumbling block.”
Instead, Zambonin says, the increased cost of living is a bigger factor affecting attendance.
“This year was a tough year for the economy. Yes, admission was free and the music was free, but you had to pay for alcohol or non-alcoholic beverages. Then you also had to pay for your meal. It’s not a cheap endeavour, especially for families. I think that played a bigger part. In the end, the return just isn’t there, unfortunately.”
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But Nour Mazloum, executive director of the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) executive director, says she’s aware of another group that has expressed some interest in possibly presenting Ribfest this summer.
While she’s not at liberty to identify the group, Mazloum says it is local. Zambonin is also aware of that interest.
“I’ve talked to a business — a company that does rib festivals around the area,” she says.
In the meantime, while lamenting the loss of Ribfest and its drawing of people to the downtown core, Mazloum says she and her team are planning other events for 2025, including a food-related event.
While she agrees the rising costs associated with hosting events is a major obstacle, Mazloum is hopeful that more partnerships with the city on events will be beneficial in terms of an easing of those costs to some degree.
“We’re aware of the perception by some that downtown isn’t safe, but we can change that by hosting events that are family-friendly and safe, and that’s what we’re working to do,” she says. “We’re always interested in anything that will bring more people downtown to experience all it has to offer in terms of shops, restaurants. and atmosphere.”
Terry Guiel, former executive director of the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) who was was a key player in Ribfest when it was organized and staffed by the DBIA before the Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha took over the event exclusively, laments the loss of Ribfest as a fundraiser for Rotary and as an opportunity for local musicians to perform, but feels the event is not unique to Peterborough and is not 100 per cent supportive of local businesses. (Photo courtesy of Peterborough DBIA)
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Watching all this from afar is Lindsay and District Chamber of Commerce executive director Terry Guiel who, for 10 years, guided the DBIA before leaving that role in October 2023. He was a key player in Ribfest when it was organized and staffed by the DBIA before the Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha took over the event exclusively.
“We (the DBIA) were doing Peterborough Pulse, Taste of Downtown, Hootenanny on Hunter, Live and Local Lunches — we were punching way above our weight on events,” he recalls of the pre-pandemic years.
“The events started getting harder and harder, costing more and more, especially because of insurance and policing, and an enormous amount of red tape from the city that made it not enjoyable to run an event. Many of us who organized events coined the insurance person at city hall ‘the fun killer’. Everything was a battle and it was no different for Ribfest, even after Rotary took it over.”
“Costs have devastated events across the province but I think Peterborough took it to a whole new level of not making things easy.”
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With many previous downtown Peterborough events having fallen by the wayside since the pandemic, Guiel admits feeling “sad” for both downtown businesses who benefit and the public who enjoy them, but adds that feeling doesn’t extend to Ribfest’s loss. He says Ribfest isn’t unique to Peterborough and doesn’t focus on local businesses.
“I’ve never been a fan of doing something that every other community does,” he says, adding “You can do something that’s 100 per cent local, like a chicken wing festival, as opposed to bringing in these out-of-town ribbers. I think we can come up with something new and more conducive to our changing demographics.”
That said, as a longtime musician, Guiel laments the loss of Ribfest in terms of it providing a stage for local musicians.
“For a young musician, other than the Del Crary Park Musicfest stage and the Peterborough Folk Festival, the Ribfest stage was the premier stage to get the call for,” he notes. “It was a chance to touch a whole new audience, a bigger audience, and play through an incredible sound system. You felt special. It was like our local ‘You made the big time.’
“But the biggest loss is the money that Rotary raised for the community and its projects,” he says.
Guiel remains well aware of the challenge of drawing people downtown in the face of perceived issues over safety, but says it’s “disingenuous” to link that with not coming to events in the core.
“It is just a chance for some to vent about how unsafe they feel in downtowns, not just here but across the province,” he says of the online reaction to the announcement of Ribfest’s cancellation.
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Moving forward, for downtown events to be revived, Guiel says “the ball is in the city’s court … and not a pickleball court.”
“The city needs to provide an easier supportive path for event organizers. They need to create somebody at city hall whose job is to expedite and support event organizers, and cut the red tape and costs. I’ve seen event organizers in tears. They’re trying to do something good. I do hope Rotary bounces back with a new idea.”
Zambonin says that may very well happen.
“A couple of years ago, we put together a committee to look at various fundraising events,” she says.
“We do have some ideas. We just have not, as a club, made a decision on what those will be. We’ve got a little bit of time. The money we raised in 2024 won’t get spent until the Rotary year of July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. We have a little cushion in our account for a rainy day if we need it.”
The Government of Canada is recognizing the negative impact of the four-week postal strike on holiday giving to charities by extending the deadline for claiming 2024 charitable donations until the end of February.
Normally, December 31 would be the last day people could donate to a registered charity this year and claim the donation on their 2024 tax return. That deadline has now been extended to February 28, allowing people to make donations in the first two months of 2025 and still claim the donations for their 2024 taxes.
The federal government will introduce legislation to amend the Income Tax Act to allow for the extension once Parliament returns in the new year.
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There are around 86,000 registered charities in Canada, many of which depend on mail-in donations during the holiday season. Many donors to charitable organizations are older Canadians who are more likely to rely on postal mail to make their donations.
When Canada Post workers went on strike from November 15 until after the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered postal workers back to work on December 17, donation appeal letters either went undelivered or people who had received them were unable to mail donation cheques.
As well as allowing additional time for people to make their donations, the extension will give charities additional time to process donations and issue tax receipts.
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The federal government decision comes less than a week after Ontario Premier Doug Ford made an extension request in a letter sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Christmas Eve. Ford sent the letter as chair of the Council of the Federation, which represents all of Canada’s premiers.
“Charitable organizations across Canada depend on year-end fundraising to support their operations throughout the year,” Ford wrote in the letter. “However, this year’s efforts have been severely impacted by the Canada Post strike, which has prevented donors from making their usual holiday donations.”
“For this reason, we are joining charitable organizations from across the country in urging the federal government to extend the deadline for claiming 2024 charitable donations until the end of February 2025,” he added. “This extension would provide much needed support to both charities and the Canadians who rely on their services.”
The request from the premiers followed similar requests from groups representing Canadian charities that the period for 2024 donation receipts be extended into 2025 so that charities could recoup some of the revenues lost due to the postal strike.
Community Care Peterborough staff members helping with the charitable organization's Meals to Go fundraiser on December 3, 2024. A total of 634 meals were donated for seniors and adults living with physical challenges throughout Peterborough and surrounding areas in December. (Photo courtesy of Community Care Peterborough)
As part of its 60th anniversary celebrations of the Meals on Wheels program in Peterborough, Community Care Peterborough has announced it exceeded the goal of its campaign to raise enough donations for 600 meals in December.
Thanks to community support and additional contributions to the charitable organization, a total of 634 meals were donated for seniors and adults living with physical challenges throughout Peterborough and surrounding areas.
“Our community’s generosity never ceases to amaze us,” says Chris LeBlanc, Community Care Peterborough’s director of donors and public relations, in a media release. “These meals ensure that our clients feel cared for and supported during the holiday season, a time that can be challenging for so many.”
Meals on Wheels originated in the United Kingdom during the German bombing campaign in the Second World War known as the Blitz, when many people lost their homes and the ability to cook their own food. A group of volunteer women prepared and delivered food for these people using prams, carts, bikes with baskets, cars, and other wheeled vehicles.
The concept, which evolved into the modern-day program of delivering prepared meals to seniors, spread to other countries including Canada when the first Meals on Wheels program was created in Brampton in 1963.
In Peterborough, the first Meals on Wheels program began on October 22, 1964 when the former Civic Hospital (now Peterborough Regional Health Centre) prepared seven meals a day that were delivered by volunteers from the Rotary Club of Peterborough.
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Today, Meals on Wheels provides more than 50,000 meals annually to seniors and adults with physical challenges across the city and county of Peterborough.
“Community Care Peterborough extends heartfelt gratitude to everyone who participated, donated, or spread the word about the campaign,” reads the release. Together, we’ve made a meaningful difference in the lives of our clients.”
For more information on Meals on Wheels or Community Care Peterborough’s other programs, visit www.commcareptbo.org.
Supporters of local arts and social services organizations gathered outside Peterborough City Hall on November 12, 2024 to protest a proposed 25 per cent across-the-board cut in the City of Peterborough's 2025 draft budget to grants to community organizations. (Photo: Paul Rellinger / kawarthaNOW)
As kawarthaNOW published over 1,300 stories in 2024, choosing the top 24 stories has been a challenge to say the least.
Perennial topics such as the economy, housing, and healthcare continued to dominate local headlines, with education and crime adding to the mix this year, although there were fewer local stories this year related to extreme weather and climate change, unlike the previous two years.
A highlight of 2024 included some controversial issues that came out of Peterborough city council, including a decision to redevelop an urban greenspace to include multiple pickleball courts and a proposal to cut city funding to arts and community organizations, both of which galvanized significant responses from the community.
The past year also had the usual mix of tragic stories, light-hearted stories, and good news stories — so many of the latter, in fact, that we simply can’t include them all.
We’ve chosen a selection of our 24 most-read, most-shared, and most interesting stories from the past 12 months, presented below in chronological order.
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1. Peterborough Community Health Centre receives provincial funding
Peterborough Family Health Team CEO Duff Sprague, Ontario Minister of Health Sylvia Jones, Alliance for Healthier Communities CEO Sarah Hobbs, and Peterborough Community Health Centre board chair Jonathan Bennett at the announcement of $110 million in funding for primary health care teams on February 1, 2024 at the Peterborough Family Health Team offices in Peterborough. (Photo: Peterborough Community Health Centre)
In February, the Ontario government announced it was investing $3 million in the newly established Peterborough Community Health Centre, which is expected to connect up to 11,375 people to primary care and will also serve as a hub for coordinating social services, home care, and working with health care and Indigenous partners in the community.
From its temporary location in Peterborough Square, the centre was aiming to begin seeing patients by the fall once a dedicated team of health care professionals, including physicians, nurse practitioners, traditional healers, and allied health professionals, had been hired.
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2. Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Foundation launches largest-ever fundraising campaign
On June 25, 2024, the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Foundation launched the public phase of a $60-million fundraising campaign to position the hospital to meet the challenges of a changing health care system. Pictured from left to right are PRHC vascular surgeon and PRHC Foundation board member Dr. Heather Cox, PRHC Foundation board chair Dan Moloney, patient and campaign ambassador Jennie Ireland, PRHC Foundation president and CEO Lesley Heighway, PRHC president and CEO Dr. Lynn Mikula, and donor and campaign ambassador David Morton. (Photo courtesy of PRHC Foundation)
The $60-million Campaign for PRHC, which aims to address systemic challenges by reimagining healthcare at PRHC, had already raised $45.5 million thanks to previous donations. The focus of the public portion of the campaign is to raise funds for substantial investments at the hospital in the areas of cardiac care, cancer care, minimally invasive surgeries, interventional radiology, and mental health and addictions services, as well as a physician-driven “innovation accelerator.”
3. Lakefield couple wins $70 million lottery jackpot
Doug and Enid Hannon of Lakefield celebrate their $70-million windfall at a special OLG winner celebration in Lakefield on April 22, 2024. (Photo courtesy of OLG)
In February, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) announced that the winning ticket for a $70 million Lotto Max jackpot had been sold in Kawartha Lakes.
Two months later, OLG revealed that a Lakefield couple — Doug and Enid Hannon — were the lucky winners. Enid had purchased the ticket at Kinmount Independent Grocer and Doug discovered it was a winning ticket. The couple, who have been married for 51 years, kept the win secret from their children and grandchildren for weeks until they could get legal advice.
While it was nowhere near the Hannon’s win, Peterborough artist Lisa Martini-Dunk also got lucky with Lotto Max later in the year, winning $500,000.
4. Peterborough city council approves changes to citizen advisory committees
Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal chairing a city council meeting in 2023. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of City of Peterborough video)
In February, Peterborough mayor Jeff Leal brought forward a proposed by-law for a new portfolio chair system for city councillors, which included giving councillors the power to dissolve citizen advisory committees. Although some members of council and the community raised concerns about the new power, Mayor Leal called the concerns “malarkey” and council passed the by-law.
Eight months later, Mayor Leal brought forward a report that included a recommendation that city councillors no longer sit on citizen advisory committees and boards. Although the recommendation resulted in more concerns from the community and from members of the committees themselves, council approved the recommendation.
5. Two regional health units are merging into one
In February, the boards of health for Peterborough Public Health and Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit voted to merge the two health units to take advantage of promised provincial funding for public health agencies that decide to voluntarily merge by January 1, 2025.
The boards of health submitted a joint voluntary merger application to the Ontario government in the spring, which was subsequently approved and, in December, the boards voted to proceed with the voluntary merger, which takes effect on January 1, 2025. As part of the agreement to merge, the new health unit will receive over $10 million in provincial funding.
6. Visitors flock to Northumberland County to view total solar eclipse
A view of the August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse from Madras, Oregon. (Photo: NASA / Gopalswamy)
For the first time since 1979, Ontario was in the path of a total solar eclipse on April 8 and southern Northumberland County was a prime viewing area, with Brighton, Colborne, Grafton, Cobourg, and Port Hope along the path of totality.
In anticipation of an influx of thousands of people to the area to view the eclipse, officials from Northumberland County and partners held a media briefing in March to prepare local residents and to share information on how to safely view the eclipse and later, a few days before the event, asked residents to make safety and emergency preparedness a priority.
On April 1, kawarthaNOW shared a story about how a Peterborough native was going to pilot a commercial jet with a bubble canopy to chase the moon’s shadow and give passengers an unobstructed view of the eclipse.
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7. Food Not Bombs takes on Peterborough city hall
One of two security guards hired by the City of Peterborough who served a trespass notice to Foods Not Bombs volunteer Myles Conner on March 25, 2024, during the group’s serving of free prepared meals to people in need, something it has done every week for almost 19 years. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of Esther Vincent video)
In March, after almost 19 years of serving free community meals in Confederation Square across from Peterborough City Hall, the grass-roots volunteer organization Food Not Bombs was suddenly told by the City of Peterborough that it now needed a permit to serve meals in the public park, because of a parks and facilities by-law passed in August 2019 to help prevent homeless tent encampments in city parks.
Despite being served with a formal trespass notice, Food Not Bombs continued to serve meals in the park and, after intense community opposition, Peterborough city council approved a by-law amendment in April that allowed Food Not Bombs to operate without a permit.
8. North Kawartha’s only grocery store reopens
On March 25, 2024, Sayers Foods in Apsley will open for business for the first time in almost 40 months since a fire destroyed the original building and the only grocery store in North Kawartha Township. As well as being a food and social destination for the township’s 2,300 year-round residents and 12,000 seasonal residents, the store was a driver of the local economy. (Photos: Sayers Foods / Facebook)
The family-owned independent grocery store had been operating for more than 45 years when an electrical issue at the back of the store resulted in a fire on December 5, 2020, leaving up to 2,300 year-round residents and 12,000 seasonal residents in North Kawartha Township without a grocery store. Rebuilt from the ground up in the same location as the original building, the new Sayers Foods has increased square footage and an expansive deli.
However, some other communities in the Kawarthas were not so lucky in 2024 when it came to having their own grocery stores. The Foodland store in Little Britain in Kawartha Lakes closed permanently in March, and parent company Sobeys also announced it would not be reopening a Foodland in Colborne after that Northumberland County town lost its grocery store to fire in May 2023.
9. Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development dissolves after 25 years
Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development, a not-for-profit corporation that delivers regional economic development, small business support, and tourism services, has announced it will be ceasing operations by the end of the year after an earlier decision by the city and county of Peterborough not to renew a funding agreement that expires on December 31, 2024. Both the city and county have been working on plans to deliver economic development and tourism services themselves. (Photo: Venture North)
In March, it became publicly known that the City of Peterborough would not be renewing its agreement with Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED), which had been providing economic development and tourism services for both the city and county of Peterborough over the past 25 years, and would instead be delivering the services in-house.
Since the city supplied the not-for-profit corporation with the majority of its core funding, Peterborough County also decided to withdraw from the tri-party agreement and, in June, PKED announced it would be dissolving at the end of 2024 to a lack of funding. A week later, Peterborough city council was presented with a proposal for a new economic development division within the city, which they unanimously approved, despite later second thoughts by some councillors.
That was the same month that it was revealed that the City of Peterborough had hired only one of the 16 PKED employees who will lose their jobs in the new year, and that PKED was still “waiting” for city to initiate knowledge transfer from PKED with only three months left to go before the organization was set to dissolve.
Meanwhile, Peterborough County announced that the former post office in download Lakefield, which had reopened after a $1.6-million retrofit, would become the home of Peterborough County’s new economic development and tourism office in Lakefield, and would be shared with representatives from Peterborough and Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce and Community Futures Peterborough.
10. City of Peterborough’s Bonnerworth Park redevelopment creates pickleball controversy
Upset residents confronted workers at Bonnerworth Park in Peterborough on November 6, 2024 as heavy machinery began preparatory work for the city’s $4.4 million redevelopment of the greenspace, which would see the installation of an expanded skateboard park, a new bike pump track, and 14 pickleball courts. A legal firm representing the ‘Friends of Bonnerworth Park’ citizen group has served the City of Peterborough with notice of an application for an injunction to stop work in the park, with a court hearing date set for November 25. (Photo: Taras Pater)
While the City of Peterborough’s proposal to locate 16 pickleball courts in Bonnerworth Park arose from a consultant’s report in 2023, it was only in March 2024 when neighbourhood residents saw the city’s proposed design for the $4.4 million redevelopment project for the urban park off Monaghan Road south of Parkhill Road.
In April, that proposal was approved by Peterborough City Council despite efforts led by councillor Joy Lachica for further discussion and growing community opposition to the potential traffic and noise that would result from 16 pickleball courts in the park as well as the loss of greenspace. That opposition led to the creation of the Save Bonnerworth Park citizens’ group (later Friends of Bonnerworth Park) that, later in the year, was unsuccessful in its attempt to stop the city’s redevelopment of the park.
In recognition of the ongoing Bonnerworth Park redevelopment and pickleball controversy throughout 2024, kawarthaNOW selected Friends of Bonnerworth Park as its Peterborough newsmaker of 2024. For more details, including links to kawarthaNOW’s coverage throughout the year, read Paul Rellinger’s story.
11. Fleming College announces elimination of 29 programs
In April, kawarthaNOW broke the news that Fleming College had suspended 29 programs effective for the fall, with most located at the college’s Frost campus in Lindsay. The announcement came less than a year after the college had suspended another 13 programs, including most of its culinary programs, due to declining enrolment and other factors.
According to Fleming College president Maureen Adamson, the college’s board of governors made the decision to cut the 29 programs — which included Conservation and Environmental Law Enforcement, Fish & Wildlife Technology, GIS Applications, and Heavy Equipment Techniques — largely due to revenue reductions due to the federal government’s cap on international students coming to Ontario and the elimination of educational private partnerships.
The college’s decision to cut the programs resulted in a backlash from union locals, local employers, students, and trade associations, with Kawartha Lakes city council passing a resolution encouraging the provincial and federal governments to support academic programming at the Frost campus.
12. Peterborough police link shooting incidents to illicit drug trade
Detective sergeant Josh McGrath and deputy police chief Jamie Hartnett speak to the media on November 13, 2024 at the site of a shooting at 850 Fairbairn Street in Peterborough, where three male suspects fired multiple shots into the townhomes and into the air the previous night. No one was injured in the incident, which police believe is connected to the illicit drug trade. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of police video)
Although police report that violent crime has decreased in the City of Peterborough since 2022, there were seven shooting incidents in 2024, many of which police say were linked to the illicit drug trade.
In May, a 24-year-old Oshawa man suffered a gunshot wound after a housing unit takeover at 850 Fairbairn Street, a 36-unit townhouse operated by the Peterborough Housing Corporation. Police arrested a 22-year-old Niagara region man and two male teenagers from the GTA.
In November, police responded to a report of shots being fired at 850 Fairbairn Street, where multiple units of the townhomes were struck with bullets. Although no one was injured, police called the incident “disturbing” and related to “the drug sub-culture in the community.”
Throughout the fall, Peterborough police held a series of public meetings across the city, including in East City, to share crime statistics and to provide an update on enforcement initiatives. To the surprise of many people, police revealed that occurrences of violent crime in the city have dropped by one per cent since 2022, and that non-violent crime had dropped by more than seven per cent.
Despite those decreases, police responded to 10 per cent more calls in the first eight months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, although only 16.5 per cent of those calls were criminal in nature. However, police laid 33 per cent more criminal charges compared to the same period in 2023.
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13. The new Canadian Canoe Museum opens
Attendees give a standing ovation for executive director Carolyn Hyslop during the grand opening celebration of the new Canadian Canoe Museum on May 11, 2024. (Photo: Bruce Head / kawarthaNOW)
After two-and-a-half years of construction following a decade of planning challenges, the new Canadian Canoe Museum officially opened its doors in May with a celebration that featured dignitaries from all levels of government, including Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor Edith Dumont.
The 65,000-square-foot two-storey building is located on a five-acre property on the shores of Little Lake and was purpose-built to house the world’s largest collection of canoes, kayaks, and paddled watercraft, with exhibitions telling the story of the canoe and a lakefront campus offering on-water and outdoor education programming. The museum also features a second year-round location of the popular Silver Bean Cafe.
The opening of the world-class museum attracted national and international media attention, with National Geographic naming the Canadian Canoe Museum as one of the 20 best new cultural hot spots in the world for 2024 and hit boating lifestyle TV show Water Ways TV naming Peterborough and the Kawarthas as “destination of the year”, in part because of the new museum.
The late Professor Kirk Wipper, who donated his immense watercraft collection in 1994 to the organization that would become The Canadian Canoe Museum and open its original facility on Monaghan Road in 1997, was inducted into Peterborough’s 2024 Pathway of Fame.
14. Moose on the loose in Peterborough
On June 19, 2024, conservation officers with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry tranquilized and tagged a moose that had been wandering around the west end of Peterborough. (Photo: Tung Nguyen)
In June, Peterborough residents were transfixed when a moose was spotted wandering around the west end of the city. The moose was eventually safely captured when conservation officers with the Ministry of Natural Resources tranquilized the animal, tagged it, and relocated it.
While it is rare for a moose to be seen as far south as Peterborough, early summer is when yearlings are rejected by their mothers and begin foraging on their own, which can lead them to unusual places.
kawarthaNOW publisher Jeannine Taylor had her own close encounter in June, when a young female moose wandered onto her family cottage property and stayed for four days, munching on leaves, lounging, and sleeping before eventually leaving of its own accord.
15. Lakefield’s Hamilton Bus Lines loses contract with Student Transportation Services
Lakefield’s family-owned Hamilton Bus Lines was founded in 1969 by Ellwood Hamilton and acquired in 2020 by Burlington’s family-owned Attridge Transportation Inc., which continued to use the Hamilton name on local buses and retained all the company’s bus drivers and staff at the Lakefield location. On June 27, 2024, Student Transportation Services of Central Ontario (STSCO) announced that Hamilton Bus Lines was not a successful bidder during a procurement and bidding process for existing bus routes. (Photo: Hamilton Bus Lines / Facebook)
Under the new contract, W.A.T. acquired 30 routes from Hamilton Bus Lines, 55 from Student Transportation Services, 15 from Century Transportation, and one from First Student.
An online petition in support of around 100 affected Hamilton Bus Lines bus drivers drew a huge response, with upset drivers and their supporters criticizing STSCO’s bidding process as well as lamenting the awarding of a portion of its bus route contract to a company that is headquartered outside of the region.
16. Peterborough city council approves extended timeline for modular bridge housing community project
The modular bridge housing community program at Wolfe Street in Peterborough opened in November 2023 with 50 modular homes, shared washroom facilities, and a central service hub operated by the Elizabeth Fry Society with 24/7 services and staff support on site. On September 16, 2024, city council endorsed staff recommendations to keep the site operational at Wolfe Street beyond November 2024 and to spend $75,000 to improve security at the site. (Photo: City of Peterborough)
The city had constructed 50 modular homes at Wolfe Street, along with shared washroom facilities and a central service hub, using funding through the Ontario government’s homelessness prevention program.
In September, Peterborough city council considered a staff report that recommended keeping the modular housing community at its existing location, extending it beyond its original end date of November 30, 2025, installing up to 16 additional modular homes at a cost of up to $1.12 million, and investing an additional $75,000 to enhance security at the site.
17. Peterborough city council rejects temporary use zoning by-law amendment for PATH sleeping cabin community
In 2023, Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes (PATH) leased the former location of the Peterborough Humane Society at 385 Lansdowne Street from new owners Habitat for Humanity Peterborough and Kawartha Region, with the intention of building 24 sleeping cabins on the property and providing support services for people experiencing homelessness. On August 26, 2024, Peterborough city council voted to deny an application for a temporary use by-law that would have allowed PATH to build the cabins. (Photo: Margaret Slavin / PATH)
In August, Peterborough city council considered an application for a temporary use zoning by-law amendment that would allow Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes (PATH) to build 24 one-room sleeping cabins at the former location of the Peterborough Humane Society on Lansdowne Street in the east end of the city.
The decision was reminiscent of an earlier council decision in December 2022 to reject a temporary use by-law amendment for PATH for a different location. At that time, city council had advised PATH to work with city staff to find another location.
In March 2023, PATH entered into a three-year lease agreement with Habitat for Humanity Peterborough and Kawartha Region for the purpose of providing transitional shelter support at the Lansdowne Street site, which Habitat had purchased with the intention of later developing multi-unit affordable residential housing. PATH then began the land use planning process that would eventually result in an application for a temporary use by-law for the site, which is currently zoned as commercial.
Following city council’s second rejection of its application for a temporary use zoning by-law amendment, PATH announced in October that it was fighting back against the decision and had filed an appeal with the Ontario Land Tribunal.
18. New fishing rules protect salmon on the Ganaraska River in Port Hope
People flock to the Ganaraska River in Port Hope every fall to watch and take photos of salmon swimming upstream to spawn or to fish for the salmon. An increasing number of anglers using unethical and disrespectful fishing practices during the annual salmon run prompted Port Hope resident Sean Carthew to create an online petition in fall 2023 calling for the municipality to take action. For fall 2024, the Ontario government has announced changes to protect the salmon during their peak migration period. (Photo: Lee Higginson)
Every fall, Port Hope sees an influx of both anglers and spectators during the annual salmon run, when tens of thousands of migrating Chinook salmon return to the Ganaraska River on their way to upstream spawning habitat — making it one of the largest salmon runs in Ontario.
Over the past couple of years, a group of Port Hope residents led by Sean Carthew had become increasingly concerned about the lack of regulations around fishing in the Ganaraska River in Port Hope that results in regular issues in the fall during the annual salmon run. Not only do some anglers catch and slaughter the breeding salmon for their eggs, discarding the rest of the fish, but they leave trash and fishing hooks behind, prompting Port Hope residents to organize a clean-up every fall.
In the fall of 2023, Carthew — who organizes the annual “Run Salmon Run” event for non-anglers who wish to celebrate the annual salmon migration — launched an online petition to urge changes to protect the salmon. About a month after he launched his petition, there was some response, with Carthew meeting with local politicians who formed a group to look at the issue, and with the Ministry of Natural Resources reaching out to the Port Hope mayor.
19. Fire closes historic Doube’s Trestle Bridge between Peterborough and Omemee
A fire on the decking of Doube’s Trestle Bridge along the Kawartha Trans Canada Trail between Peterborough and Omemee on September 4, 2024. (Photo: WS via Facebook)
In early September, a fire closed the historic Doube’s Trestle Bridge, a popular spot along the Kawartha Trans Canada Trail between Peterborough and Omemee. About 15 metres of the bridge’s decking were destroyed, and underlying structural beams were also damaged.
The fire came five years after the original wooden decking of the bridge, which was rotting, was replaced with composite lumber at a cost of $140,000. The project was funded by the National Trans Canada Trail office, private donations, Kawartha Trans Canada Trail Association supporters, and federal grants.
The Kawartha Trans Canada Trail Association secured an engineering firm to assess the fire damage to the bridge and determine the extent of the structural damage and repair requirements. The engineering assessment report has been sent to Infrastructure Ontario, the Crown agency responsible for public infrastructure and real estate for the Ontario government. While a contractor has estimated the repair costs at between $50,000 and $100,000, there has been no word yet on when repairs will be completed.
20. Peterborough city council designates The Martin House as a heritage property and then changes its mind
Located at 1400 Monaghan Road at Homewood Avenue, the Martin House was built between 1930 and 1931 for local corrugated container businessman Herbert Samuel Martin by prolific contractor Henry Thomas Hickey. (Photo: City of Peterborough)
The heritage designation prevented the current owner of the property, GTA-based J & J Developments, from tearing down the building or making modifications that would destroy heritage features of the building. The company had purchased the property in late 2023 with the intention of demolishing the building and redeveloping the property’s large lot for a six-storey residential housing complex.
The city’s Peterborough Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (PACAC) had recommended the building be designated under the Ontario Heritage Act as being a property of cultural heritage value or interest to the City of Peterborough.
However, following council’s decision, J & J Developments hired Toronto-based law firm Overland LLP to file a notice of objection to council’s decision, as permitted under the Ontario Heritage Act. The objection included a report from Toronto-based ERA Architects Inc. that disagreed with the report from PACAC, stating that the building had no heritage value.
In light of the notice of objection, in late November council reconsidered its decision to provide The Martin House with a heritage designation, with much of the discussion focused on the state of the building and the developer’s plans to build needed housing. In the end, council voted 6-5 to withdraw the heritage designation, which means the developer can proceed with its plans to demolish The Martin House and build a six-storey residential housing complex on the property.
21. Peterborough Humane Society video win secures $20,000 for animals in need
An elderly gentleman bears a gift for someone named Lucy in a touching and heartfelt ad campaign for the Peterborough Humane Society created and donated by Peterborough-based creative agency Unmanned. The ad encourages community members to support the Peterborough Humane Society through adoption, donation, or volunteering, at a time when it is needed the most. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of Unmanned ad)
In September, a fundraising video for the Peterborough Humane Society created and donated by Peterborough-based creative agency Unmanned was entered into the 2024 People’s Choice Wagsies Awards, presented by the Association for Animal Welfare Advancement and the Hill’s Food, Shelter & Love program.
The video, entitled “Never Too Late”, was one of five finalists for the awards and the only Canadian entry. Released for a holiday campaign in December 2023, the heartwarming video tells the story of an elderly gentleman crafting a gift for someone named Lucy, who turns out to be a dog he is adopting from the Peterborough Humane Society.
In November, the Peterborough Humane Society announced on social media that it had won both the “Best Public Service Announcement Award” and the “People’s Choice Award”, with the latter award including $20,000 for animals in need. The awards were presented at the Association for Animal Welfare Advancement’s annual conference in New Orleans.
22. Peterborough filmmaker’s documentary on The Monarch Ultra premieres
Rodney Fuentes (right) filming Clay Williams and Carlotta James near Tucumseh, Michigan on the seventh day of the 47-day inaugural Monarch Ultra relay run in fall 2019 that followed the 4,300-kilometre migratory path of the monarch butterfly from Peterborough to Mexico. With no budget and no crew, Fuentes relied on his creative and improvisational skills to capture footage during the run for his documentary, which also includes later interviews with pollinator advocates and experts. (Photo: Monarch Ultra / Facebook)
Weaving in the story of the monarch butterfly and interviews with pollinator advocates across North America, the documentary takes a behind-the-scenes look as a group of long-distance runners followed the 4,300-kilometre migratory path of the monarch butterfly from Peterborough to Mexico during the inaugural Monarch Ultra relay run in fall 2019.
Along with Fuentes, the other members of The Monarch Ultra team — Carlotta James, Clay Williams, and Guenther Schubert — were present at the screening to answer questions from the audience about the film, the relay run, and the monarch butterfly.
23. Autistic Havelock teen found safe after going missing for 17 days
18-year-old Logan was last seen in Havelock on October 13, 2024. Police found the autistic teen 17 days later hiding in an abandoned building in Havelock. (Family photo)
On October 13, 18-year-old Logan went missing from his Havelock home. Although Logan, who has high-functioning autism and some other mental health issues, had gone missing before, it was only for a day or two and he was found close by.
His family grew increasingly concerned after two weeks went by and he had still not been found. His mother set up a Facebook group, which grew to over 11,000 members, where people posted possible sightings, organized searches, and more.
24. Peterborough city council considers 25% funding cut to community organizations
Around 400 people gathered outside Peterborough City Hall on November 12, 2024 to protest a proposed 25 per cent across-the-board cut in the City of Peterborough’s 2025 draft budget to grants to community organizations. (Photo: Paul Rellinger / kawarthaNOW)
A week later, council decided against proceeding with the funding cuts but then, hours later in the same meeting, they voted to defund the Electric City Culture Council (EC3) in 2025, affecting programs and activities including the Bierk Art Bursary Program for graduating high school students, the Peterborough Arts Awards and Mayor’s Luncheon for the Arts, Artsweek, the Poet Laureate program, the Grants for Individual Artists program, and professional development workshops.
On the other side of the ledger, councillors decided against reneging on a $150,000 per year settlement agreement with the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) and voted to increase funding for homelessness programs and to provide Showplace Performance Centre with a $500,000 interest-free loan, among other things.
Although the City of Peterborough is not maintaining the ice of the Trent Canal below the Peterborough Lift Lock this winter due to proposed budget cuts, that's not stopping Trevor Hesselink from skating on the canal. Since the canal froze over, he and his wife Victoria Yeh have spent hours using an electric snow blower to clear a rink for public skating just north of Maria Street. (Photo: Victoria Yeh)
Municipal budget cuts aren’t stopping some Peterborough residents from skating on the Trent Canal.
Community members are taking it upon themselves to clear the ice of snow so they can ensure the beloved activity remains an option for skaters and families of the region.
“It’s something that we can share with our neighbours,” says Trevor Hesselink, a Peterborough resident who, alongside his wife and local musician Victoria Yeh, has been clearing the frozen canal near their home just north of Maria Street. “We’re just getting out there so we can skate.”
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Though he lived away for two decades before moving back to Peterborough with Yeh three winters ago, skating on the canal is a special activity that connects Hesselink to his hometown.
“As a kid, I learned to skate just under the lift locks by clearing a rink on the canal, so this is coming home,” he says, noting Yeh also learned to skate on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa. “Canal skating is very important to our family.”
Peterborough city council has approved a staff recommendation in the city’s draft 2025 budget to save $100,000 by no longer monitoring ice conditions or maintaining an ice rink on the Trent Canal below the Peterborough Lift Lock.
City staff have noted that skating on the canal has been limited for the past few years due to warmer weather, with the canal not open at all for skating last winter due to poor ice conditions.
Trevor Hesselink and wife Victoria Yeh both grew up learning to ice skate on canals, making the activity important to their family. With their home backing onto the Trent Canal, they can often be found clearing the snow for themselves and others to have an outdoor skating rink. (Photo: Victoria Yeh)
Hesselink, however, says their decision to create a rink themselves was not influenced by the budget cuts. In fact, they’ve done it for the past couple years whenever the weather has not allowed the city to maintain operations. Given their home backs onto the canal, Hesselink says they feel a sense of “custodianship.”
“Because we both grew up skating on a canal, it’s special for us both historically and nostalgically,” he says. “But also, being outdoors has such a unique appeal and doesn’t smell like hockey gear, unlike an indoor arena.”
He says he and Yeh spend a total of about six hours clearing a few hundred metres located south of the lift lock and north of the first rail bridge, about halfway to Maria Street.
“We have this gem and it’s so picturesque with the locks and the trees and the rail bridges,” Hesselink says. “It just has a great aesthetic, and we can see people enjoying it right from our window.”
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Since the duo began clearing the ice when the weather allowed, they have seen many community members making use of the ice and some have even expressed their gratitude in having the snow already cleared away.
Among the many groups they’ve seen using the rink were young kids playing hockey at night and young adults travelling all the way from Markham to enjoy the canal.
“They came down in the early evening from work because they’ve been looking for a nice place to skate,” he says. “We just met them quickly before they got to skating, but they came all this way for it.”
Since beginning to clear off a section of the Trent Canal, Trevor Hesselink and his wife Victoria Yeh have seen a domino effect in other community members doing the same to allow more skaters to enjoy the ice, with some travelling as far as Markham. (Photo: Victoria Yeh)
For Hesselink, these connections that are formed are a part of the reason he values outdoor rinks.
“It’s a great way to get people outdoors in the community, and people talk a lot more when they’re outside and around each other,” he says. “It’s just another cool community thing to do.”
Since they began clearing off the snow, Hesselink has noticed other neighbours and residents supporting their efforts. Beside the rink, a neighbour has added a loop for skaters to use.
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“At one point, someone else came down with a blower too, so it’s this domino effect which is great to see,” Hesselink says. “It’s coming together and maybe more people with jump in next year.”
While recent warmer temperatures and rain mean the canal may not be suitable for skating until colder weather returns in the new year, Hesselink remains hopeful the rink will stay intact for the winter.
“If the weather cooperates and the conditions are good, we’ll keep doing it,” he says. “And in the meantime, we’ll be out and using it while we can.”
Editor’s note: When the City of Peterborough was monitoring ice conditions on the Trent Canal, a green flag was raised if the ice was safe for skating and a red flag was raised if the ice was unsafe for skating. As the city is no longer monitoring ice conditions until a final decision is made on the city’s draft 2025 budget, the flags will no longer be flying. People skating on the canal do so at their own risk.
Environment Canada has issued rainfall warnings and special weather statements for the Kawarthas region on Sunday (December 29).
A rainfall warning is in effect for Peterborough County and Northumberland County, with a special weather statement in effect for Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County.
Rain will begin Sunday morning and continue throughout the day. Rain may be heavy at times.
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Rainfall amounts of 20 to 40 mm are expected in Peterborough County and Northumberland County, with 15 to 25 mm expected in Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County, before the rain tapers to isolated showers on Sunday night.
As the frozen ground has a reduced ability to absorb the rainfall, there could be localized flooding in low-lying areas and ponding of water on roads.
Environment Canada cautions against approaching washouts near rivers, creeks, and culverts, and advises keeping children and pets away from creeks and river banks.
Comedians Karen Parker, Jennine Profeta, Elvira Kurt, and Diana Frances will be joined by special guest Linda Kash (not pictured) for Girls Nite Out at the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough on January 16, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Girls Nite Out)
From The Second City to Comedy Central acclaim, Jennine Profeta, Elvira Kurt, Diana Frances, and Karen Parker are all comedic powerhouses in their own right.
But something special happens when they take the stage together in Girls Nite Out which, after 17 years, still gets audiences laughing out loud at every show.
The all-female comedy ensemble is kicking off the new year by bringing their popular comedy show to Peterborough’s Market Hall Performing Arts Centre on Thursday, January 16, when they will be joined by special guest performer Linda Kash.
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“It’s so much fun to be part of, and it’s not just engaging, it’s infectious,” says Kurt, a Toronto-based stand-up comedian, actor, host, and TV writer. “We are stronger as a whole and there are some really dark times in life, so the more laughter we can create, the better.”
Though it has such a long history, Kurt assures you’ll never see the same Girls Nite Out show twice.
“It’s always fresh,” she says. “It doesn’t matter if you saw it 17 years ago or you’ve seen every single one. It’s not the same show. It’s changing, and changes with every audience.”
Comedians Elvira Kurt and Jennine Profeta will be joined by Karen Parker and and Diana Frances with special guest Linda Kash for Girls Nite Out at the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough on January 16, 2025. A Bobcaygeon resident, Profeta created the show 17 years ago with Sarah Quick of Globus Theatre. (Photo: Julie Card / mycollingwood.ca)
Conceived by Globus Theatre’s artistic director Sarah Quick along with Profeta, a Second City alumna and fellow Bobcaygeon resident, the show was first performed as part of Globus Theatre’s second season.
Since then, Girls Nite Out has toured across Canada — including regular annual performances at the Lakeview Arts Barn in Bobcaygeon — with a revolving cast of Canadian Comedy Award Winners and CBC comedy regulars, including Profeta and most recently Kurt, Frances, and Parker,
When Kurt was first pitched the idea of using Girls Nite Out to “give audiences a little bit of everything,” she was immediately drawn in.
“I’ve always worked by myself or I’m the only woman on the line-up, so it was just such a treat to do something in collaboration with my sisters — my comedy sisters — and to not just be on my own all the time,” she says.
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While getting to be part of an all-female line-up inspired her in the first place, the uniqueness of Girls Nite Out has motivated Kurt to stick around and be involved in the collective as much as she can.
“This show is not just us doing something for an audience who’s receiving it, but we are making a connection,” she says. “The improvisation relies on audience participation, but not in a way that has historically been true of comedians and audiences where the audience may feel on the defensive. In this case, it’s in celebration that we need you to help us make a stronger connection.”
While it has evolved over nearly two decades, Girls Nite Out shows today begin with Kurt warming up the crowd with stand-up before Profeta, Frances, and Parker join her on stage for various improv games.
Linda Kash (top right) will join Girls Nite Out comedians Karen Parker (top left), Elvira Kurt (bottom left), Jennine Profeta (bottom right), and Diana Frances (not pictured) at the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough on January 16, 2025. Kash performed with Parker, Kurt, and Profeta for Globus Theatre’s annual presentation of Girls Nite Out in Bobcaygeon in August 2024. (Photo: Elivra Kurt)
“Elvira’s been an icon for so many people,” says Bobcaygeon-based comedian Profeta, noting how eager audiences always are to connect with Kurt after the show. “She’s really touched people in a very personal way, and they always want that opportunity to thank her.”
During the show’s intermission, audience members will have the option to fill out questionnaires to be read by the comedians. Selected and willing participants will be pulled on stage to engage in a “talk show” with Kurt. Based on the talk and stories told, the comedians will perform inspired improv sketches and games.
“We’re going to bring a couple of you up on stage,” Profeta explains. “You’re going to be nervous and unsure and wishing you had another glass of wine, but we’re going to create a safe space to give you a chance and show you how awesome and embarrassing it is, and make you a star. The most inspiring thing for us is seeing what the audience members do when they get up on stage.”
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Profeta shares that, during this portion of the show, the group has seen audience members come up and share very “personal” stories and experiences of trauma and overcoming grief.
“It’s just such an honour that this is how they want to step out into this new journey of their life, and to come to this place to laugh with us,” she says. “Just walking through the doors is brave, but the fact they put their name forward to be on stage with us is an honour because they obviously trust us enough to come up and tell their story.”
“It just proves you can be incredibly funny and sharp and provocative — all of which I love about stand-up comedy — while also being incredibly mindful and considerate of people,” adds Kurt. “It’s really the best of comedy.”
VIDEO: “Girls Nite Out” 2023
The other magic, Profeta says, is seeing women using Girls Nite Out as an excuse to get together with their female friends and family members for a light-hearted evening.
“People treat it as an event to get the girls together,” she says. “I think more women need to have an excuse to get together with each other and just laugh.”
While the four comedians have found a comfort and special camaraderie with one another on stage, they are always eager to invite others to join in on the fun. For the January 16th show, that includes Kash, who stepped in for Frances during this past summer’s two Girls Nite Out shows at Globus Theatre.
“I would watch her, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do right there,” Kurt says of seeing Kash perform at The Second City when she was just beginning her career. “That level of funny and that level of natural talent and skill and dedication is what I wanted, and how lucky that we get to share the stage with her now. She’s just a genius.”
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After 17 years of taking Girls Nite Out to stages across Ontario, Profeta shares how wonderful it is when they get to bring Girls Nite Out home to the Kawarthas .
“It’s where it all began, and we didn’t know what it was about to become,” she says. “We treat it like a celebration. It’s like coming home for Christmas.”
Girls Nite Out will be performed for one night only at 8 p.m. on Thursday, January 16th at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough. Tickets, which are $39 for assigned cabaret table seating or general admission floor seating, can be purchased online at markethall.org, by calling 705-749-1146, or by visiting the box office at 140 Charlotte Street.
More than 250 people attended a "Save Bonnerworth Park" rally on May 18, 2024 at the park at McDonnel Street and Monaghan Road where the City of Peterborough approved a $4.1-million redevelopment project that includes 14 pickleball courts, an expanded skate park, a bike pump track, and a parking lot. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of Mark Wollard video)
Armed with Churchillian determination and unwavering despite a number of setbacks, a citizens’ group fighting to maintain Peterborough’s Bonnerworth Park as a cherished urban greenspace captured countless headlines throughout 2024.
As the year draws to a close, Friends of Bonnerworth Park remains active, its members determined to have some influence on what the park’s redevelopment as a $4.1-million 14-court pickleball complex, a new bike pump track, and an associated parking lot will ultimately look, feel, and sound like.
From the outside looking in, with the park off Monaghan Road south of Parkhill Road currently resembling a moonscape, it would appear there’s not much left to fight. Work on the park’s redevelopment, which began in early November with the removal of two ball diamonds along with trees and grass, will recommence in the spring — a certainty resulting from Friends of Bonnerworth Park’s decision to withdraw its notice of an application for a stop-work injunction when its scheduled November hearing was bumped to spring 2025.
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Still, Friends of Bonnerworth Park isn’t going away, its legal expense chest brimming with $43,486 in GoFundMe-solicited funds, and its plan to have influence in terms of what the redeveloped park’s impact on the neighbourhood it resides in being formulated as the calendar flips to a new year.
There are two stories here: one being the litany of 2024 twists and turns related to the park’s redevelopment plan and Save Bonnerworth Park’s efforts to have the project paused or stopped altogether (see the timeline below), and the other being the power of citizenry when, en masse, it determines a wrong has been committed and seeks to have it corrected.
Speaking to the latter, the message is you can fight city hall. You might not win that battle but you can fight, and should do so, when a perceived misstep is committed by those elected to serve the best interests of those they represent.
During his delegation to Peterborough city council on April 8, 2024, Middleton Drive resident John Gerelus displayed a postcard from the City of Peterborough advertising a community drop-in session on March 21, which he says was the only notice nearby residents received about the Bonnerworth Park redevelopment since its initial approval by city council in October 2023. (kawarthaNOW screenshot of City of Peterborough video)
According to Friends of Bonnerworth Park co-director John Gerelus — he shares that role with Richard Scott, Jen Burnard, and Scott’s sister Deb — there were indeed times when it proved difficult for the group to stay on course.
One disheartening setback in particular came in November when the group learned its notice of an application for a stop-work injunction wouldn’t be heard in court November 25 as scheduled but rather the following spring, well after the city will have resumed redevelopment work on the park, leading the group to question whether it should continue its fight against city hall.
“It’s not up to me or the directors to say ‘Yeah, we’re done’,” says Gerelus, referring to the public meeting the group held on December 4. “We needed to have that meeting and present the options and the chance of success for each one. The cost of each one and the time required, and resources need, so everybody can contribute on the decision to continue or not. For us to say ‘Yeah, it’s over’ and walk away isn’t fair to anybody. I don’t want say we’re too far in, but we’re in deep.”
“We’ve impacted the project. It was due to be started in September. We delayed it as much as we could, so that was a win. But, yeah, when the shovels went in the ground and we had to withdraw our (court) application, that was a tough couple of weeks. We made the decision to take a break over Christmas and come back in the new year and just see where we are.”
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That decision was shared with the group on December 4 when some 60 of its number showed up for a meeting at St. Peter Catholic Secondary School on a snowy and driving-hazardous night. Among those present was city councillor Joy Lachica, a staunch ally of the group’s efforts since day one. Also on hand was her council colleague Keith Riel who, along with councillor Alex Bierk, has also been consistently supportive of the group’s fight.
“Regardless of bulldozers and upturned greenery, we can’t be daunted by the things that are in front us,” Lachica says. “We live with belief that’s driven by our values and we continue to fight for what’s best, to fight for what’s right, regardless of what we may see in front of us that doesn’t align with that belief.”
A strength of Friends of Bonnerworth Park, according to Lachica, can be found in the fact that “members of the group are so diverse and multi-talented. They have expertise in areas related to that space. That’s really made a difference in the work it has done to build community and to build strength around what its members believe in for that urban community park.”
The redevelopment plan for Bonnerworth Park in Peterborough approved by city council on April 8, 2024 will see much of the park’s double baseball diamonds removed to accommodate pickleball courts, an expanded skate park, a bike pump track, and a parking lot. According to the Friends of Bonnerworth Park, the baseball diamonds were being used regularly by Peterborough Baseball Association, St. Peter’s Secondary School, and pick-up groups. (Photo: Save Bonnerworth Park website)
“People with parks backgrounds, planning backgrounds, engineering backgrounds — it’s a fusing of many skills and abilities,” Lachica says. “And not only that, there are relationships that have been built over time. They’re the ones that have been users of that wonderful open greenspace.”
“One can look at a journey like this as a community growing in terms of the power needed to build the things that are foundational — climate action, sustainability, the roots of what makes communities hum and thrive and grow. Parks are a vital component of making our spirits thrive and be alive. This group has achieved that in a huge way and continues to.”
In a statement shared with kawarthaNOW, Lachica expressed that her “heart” this holiday season remains with Bonnerworth Park area residents, sympathizing with children “who are abruptly without the winter playground they’ve known and treasured.”
“When cities choose to appropriate legacy community spaces like an urban community park, access to an irreplaceable ‘plein air’ connection to one another is also sacrificed. The immediacy, the proximity to peace, to space, to open equitable use, is lost. This is the very purpose and function of urban community parks and greenspace according to our own City of Peterborough Parks Development Standards 2019, which informs our current Official Plan.”
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While Friends of Bonnerworth Park organized in earnest back in early April, when city council first publicly debated the redevelopment project, the roots of the group’s formation can be traced back to October 2023 when the plan was first floated at city hall.
“The rumour mill was swirling because it wasn’t clear what was happening, so we thought we should alert the community,” recalls the group’s co-director Richard Scott.
“We started delivering flyers in the neighbourhood. That got the ball rolling. Then, when we received notice of the upcoming consultation and open house, we moved into gear. The people we spoke with didn’t have any clue about what was going on. We were very much in the dark. We knew something was happening. We didn’t know how it happened, what the city had approved, if the city had approved it — which we found out it had. It was obvious the city hadn’t consulted anybody in the community.”
The March 21 open house, maintains Gerelus, presented a plan for the park that was “a done deal.”
“One of our neighbours stood up on a chair and said ‘If anybody wants to get involved, let’s get an email thread going and start figuring out what’s going on’.”
Gerelus adds that was the beginning of the Save Bonnerworth Park group, which later in the year morphed into Friends of Bonnerworth Park.
A view of Bonnerworth Park in Peterborough on November 25, 2024 following a month of initial construction work to prepare the now-closed park for the City of Peterborough’s $4.1-million redevelopment project. (Photo: Jeannine Taylor / kawarthaNOW)
Over the course of the year, Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal — a consistent supporter of the redevelopment project — drew the brunt of the group’s ire.
While he restricted most of his comments on the issue to council discussions, Mayor Leal shared with kawarthaNOW what he perceives as the need for a pickleball complex and his desire to see it developed at Bonnerworth Park. History, he says, has shown Peterborough has responded to recreational needs as identified and this is no different.
“If you go back to 2018, the city recreation division did a thorough analysis of needed recreation infrastructure,” he says. “Pickleball was coming on the scene and they determined there was going to be a need for pickleball courts. They hadn’t identified a site, but they identified the growing participation in the sport.”
The mayor provided several other past examples of development projects to build city recreational facilities to meet the demand for growing sports.
“In the 1990s, when the level of participation in slo-pitch was increasing dramatically, the recreation division identified the need to provide infrastructure for slo-pitch. We did (provide the infrastructure). We partnered with Fleming College and built Bowers Park.”
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“At the same time, it emerged that new ice surfaces were needed to accommodate the growth of women’s hockey. We built the Evinrude Centre (now the Healthy Planet Arena). We needed to add capacity and we did. Fast forward and my predecessor, Mayor (Diane) Therrien, and her council looked at what infrastructure was needed and approved the Miskin Law Community (Complex). There’s a long pattern of the city identifying recreational needs and constructing the infrastructure that’s needed.”
“What has been missing through all this discussion is the companion project at Knights of Columbus Park (off Park Street), which will see the building of new tennis courts, an enhancement of the bowl for pickup lacrosse and ball hockey, and a new splash pad to replace the antiquated wading pool that’s there now. There will be a second regional park to meet the needs of the community.”
As for the determination that Bonnerworth Park is the best site for pickleball courts, the mayor says that, while two ball diamonds are being lost, “they were inadequate for adult play” due to their close proximity to neighbouring streets.
He adds the ball diamond at Morrow Park’s east end will be playable again when the work is completed at the Miskin Law Community Complex, adding the city is also “looking at opportunities with both our school boards” to repurpose existing ball diamonds on school properties.
A detail from the revised plan for Peterborough’s Bonnerworth Park redevelopment, which was be presented to the city’s arenas, parks and recreation advisory committee and the accessibility advisory committee on August 13, 2024. (Graphic: City of Peterborough / Landscape Planning Landscape Architects)
Meanwhile, Mayor Leal says the argument that limited city dollars should be spent on more pressing issues, such as homelessness and infrastructure in need of repair, is the “same argument” that preceded the development of other recreational amenities.
“There’s always competing priorities for every budget dollar,” he says. “We can spend every budget dollar we have funding homelessness but, if you do that, you do it to the detriment of all other community needs and interests.”
Speaking to Friends of Bonnerworth Park’s principal concern over the loss of urban greenspace, Mayor Leal says that, once the park’s redevelopment is done, “There will still be 63 percent (of the park) that is greenspace.”
On November 7, 2024, the City of Peterborough closed Bonnerworth Park to the public as work begins to redevelop the park against the opposition of many neighbouring residents and others. The closure notice came the day after the city was served with notice of an application for an injunction to stop work in the park, which Friends of Bonnerworth Park has since withdrawn. (Photo: George Brown / Save Bonnerworth Park Facebook Group)
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Mayor Leal claims some of those who are against the Bonnerworth Park redevelopment supported a proposed and highly controversial highway extension through Jackson Park.
“I find it somewhat ironic that the same people that are talking about preserving greenspace at Bonnerworth Park, and I respect that, are the same people in the late 1980s and 1990s (who) were prepared to bulldoze a vast swath of Jackson Park to accommodate a four-lane arterial road and bridge for The Parkway.”
Still, despite the consternation that has evolved between himself and those opposed to the Bonnerworth Park redevelopment, the mayor says he respects the group’s right and willingness to call the city and council to task.
“It’s a very important part of democracy. When there’s great discussion about public policy, that’s part of the democratic process. At the end of the day, as my late father used to say, you agree to disagree. I think that’s the case here.”
A sign placed on a fence surrounding Bonnerworth Park in Peterborough in December 2024. (Photo: John Gerelus)
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That does little assuage either Gerelus or Scott.
“If this whole debacle has taught us anything, the city needs to sit down with individual communities where they’re proposing facilities (be built) before any decisions are made,” says Scott.
“I haven’t heard any admission by the city that they will do things differently in the future. The city, in no way, can be proud of this process and its outcome. This should end up in a planning textbook of how not to do things. To says they have a successful process and outcome is a disservice to every resident of this city.”
Police officers were on hand after upset residents confronted workers at Bonnerworth Park in Peterborough on November 6, 2024 as heavy machinery began preparatory work for the city’s $4.1 million redevelopment of the greenspace, which would see the installation of an expanded skateboard park, a new bike pump track, and 14 pickleball courts. (Photo: Taras Pater)
Now, as Friends of Bonnerworth Park considers next steps — a list ranging from considering a possible lawsuit to seeking active input in the park’s design — its directors are hopeful other communities that are fighting municipal decisions will learn and benefit from their organized efforts and advocacy.
“There are Facebook groups and other groups across Ontario, Canada, and the U.S. that are watching us,” says Gerelus. “We will proudly wear the moniker ‘Let’s not have another Bonnerworth,’ bringing attention to guidelines and rules around where you can put pickleball courts. They’re non-existent now.”
“People are telling their stories about living next door or close to pickleball courts and the effect on their quality of life, their everyday use of their home, and their mental health. They’re winning lawsuits and they’re getting courts closed, but there’s no legislation that guides municipalities.”
“If our actions help create guidelines, that’s great. We’ll take that.”
A visual representation of what 16 pickleball courts could look like from a “preliminary facility fit” document for the Bonnerworth Park redevelopment that City of Peterborough staff presented during a community meeting on March 21, 2024. One reason some residents in the Bonnerworth Park neighbourhood object to the proposal to have that many pickleball courts at the park is because of the amount of additional noise and traffic that will result. A revised redevelopment plan reduced the number of courts from 16 to 14. (Image: City of Peterborough)
Key moments in 2024 in the Bonnerworth Park redevelopment saga
April 2: Meeting as general committee, city council votes to proceed with a planned $4.4-million redevelopment of Bonnerworth Park that will see 16 pickleball courts, a bike ‘pump’ track and a parking lot developed, replacing two ball diamonds and much of the park’s greenspace. As a crowded gallery of park-neighbouring residents watch on, councillor Joy Lachica’s motion to pause the project to allow for consultation with park users is defeated by a vote of 8 to 3, with councillors Alex Bierk and Keith Riel supporting her motion. The heated discussion included Mayor Jeff Leal telling councillor Alex Bierk he “would carve him like a Thanksgiving turkey” after Bierk had referred to borrowing a pickleball racquet from the mayor’s wife, who he mentioned by name, contrary to council protocols.
April 8: After a marathon five-hour meeting that included several delegations speaking for and against Bonnerworth Park’s redevelopment, city council reaffirms its decision to move ahead on the project, with councillor Lachica’s motion of the week prior losing again by an 8-3 vote, again her only support coming from councillors Bierk and Riel. Mayor Leal apologized to councillor Alex Bierk for the “intemperate language” he directed at Bierk at the previous week’s meeting.
April 25: Park-neighbouring residents and supporters organize as Save Bonnerworth Park, launching a website and related online petition that urges ‘city council to consider the impact on our community before proceeding’ with the park’s redevelopment. Within five days, close to 1,300 signatures are garnered — a number that would eventually balloon to more than 8,000. Meanwhile, Save Bonnerworth Park lawn signs, made available by the group, start appearing in neighbourhoods across the city and even in the county.
May 13: Councillor Joy Lachica, frustrated by what she sees as a lack of council oversight on the park’s redevelopment, puts forth a motion that council be granted final plan approval authority, and calls for the provision of a staff report detailing the recommended site plan, final technical studies related to parking, traffic, noise, stormwater management and geotechnical considerations, a record of stakeholder and community consultation related to studies and the site plan, and the budget apportioned for each aspect of the contracted construction work. After the general committee chair councillor Andrew Beamer rules her motion out of order and six of 11 councillors back that ruling, the opportunity for any council discussion around her motion is lost.
May 18: A rally, organized by retired priest Father Leo Coughlin who lives at park-neighbouring Marycrest at Inglewood seniors’ complex, is held at Bonnerworth Park. Saying “The common good is not being served,” Father Coughlin says those living at the Monaghan Road complex have “fear and anxiety over the noise (generated by pickleball play) that will disturb their final years … the level of disrespect is tremendous,” adding “The park has moved from inclusion to exclusion. Anybody should be able to see that’s wrong.”
June 10: Save Bonnerworth Park holds a rally outside Peterborough City Hall just prior to a city council meeting inside. Billed as a “Rally For Answers”, the group puts forth 16 questions it says city council needs to answer, including “Why has the city not considered sites other than Bonnerworth Park?” and “Why the urgency to build this development?” The rally follows a posted city statement that maintains studies, including those examining noise and traffic, will inform the final design, and notes the city doesn’t have enough facilities to accommodate the growing sport of pickleball.
June 27: City council receives a proposal from then Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce CEO and president Sarah Budd that reveals that Don MacPherson, the owner of the long-vacant former Baskin-Robbins property, is “very interested” in pursuing talks with the city that would see the pickleball complex located there. The city, however, dismisses that option outright. In a statement, it says purchasing the property, which the city has identified as a prime location for residential or a mixed commercial-residential development, “would potentially add millions of dollars to the project cost.”
August 13: A new draft plan for Bonnerworth Park’s redevelopment, prepared by Landscape Planning Landscape Architects, is presented to the city’s Arenas, Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee and the Accessibility Advisory Committee. The new plan proposes a reduction in the number of pickleball courts, from 16 to 14, fewer parking spots and noise mitigation measures. In addition, some 275 new trees would be planted, with 63 per cent of the park reserved for grass and landscaped areas. As city council had already approved the park’s redevelopment, no vote was sought from, or required of, either committee.
November 6: Now known as Friends of Bonnerworth Park and having hired legal representation, the citizens’ group fighting the park’s redevelopment serves the city with a notice of an application for a stop-work injunction. The injunction, scheduled to be heard November 25, calls for the by-law governing the park’s redevelopment to be squashed and that the development be stayed until the case is heard. Of note, the injunction is served on the same morning that heavy machinery continued removing clay from one of the park’s two ball diamonds — a move which drew a number of residents to the site and led to words between them and workers as city police and private security guards kept the peace.
November 11: Friends of Bonnerworth Park suffers two setbacks in its fight, learning that its notice of an application for a stop-work injunction won’t be heard by the Superior Court of Justice until spring 2025 at the earliest, and then learning that the legal firm it hired, Kitchener-based Kramer LLP, is closing due to the ill health of the firm’s lead lawyer. As the city pledges to fight any injunction filed, work continues at the park as it is fenced off and completely closed to the public.
November 22: Friends of Bonnerworth Park withdraws its application for a stop-work injunction and suspends its GoFundMe campaign that has raised just over $43,000 to cover legal costs. In making that decision, the group cites “the potential for the city to throw all sorts of legal roadblocks in our way to further slow down the legal process and force the community to spend tens of thousands of dollars on additional legal costs.” Despite that decision, the group pledges to continue its efforts to “hold the city accountable for any noise, traffic, lighting and public safety impacts” resulting from the park’s redevelopment.
December 4: Friends of Bonnerworth Park holds a meeting at St. Peter Catholic Secondary School, drawing some 60 supporters despite terrible winter driving conditions. The meeting came two days after an exchange at city council between Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal and city solicitor David Potts where Potts alleged the group had no engagement with the Superior Court office to secure a hearing date, claiming the original November 25 hearing date “was made up.” At the meeting, Friends of Bonnerworth Park vehemently denied that accusation, terming the exchange “clearly prearranged … scripted bravado” and “a sickening manipulation of truth.” Meanwhile, the group reiterated its determination to continue its fight, having directed its new lawyer to investigate and advise on what, if any options, are available. Not ruled out was the possibility of a lawsuit citing loss of quality of life being brought against the city — something that couldn’t be pursued until after the park’s redevelopment is done. More likely, however, is the group’s pursuit of becoming “an official stakeholder so we can have input on what goes into the park.”
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