Carlotta James, co-founder and project director of the Monarch Ultra Relay Run, running across the Doube's Trestle Bridge on the Trans Canada Trail east of Omemee, part of the 1,800-kilometre route of the Monarch Ultra Relay Run taking place in September 2021 to raise awareness of plight of monarch butterfly and funds for Camp Kawartha's environmental programs for youth. (Photo: Rodney Fuentes)
The Monarch Ultra Relay Run will return in September with a 21-day run across southern Ontario to raise awareness about the plight and flight of monarch butterflies, and ultra runners are invited to take part.
The inaugural run took place in fall 2019, when 46 ultra runners ran the monarch butterfly’s migratory route from Peterborough, Canada to Macheros, Mexico — an epic distance of more than 4,000 kilometres — in seven weeks. Along the way, they raised international awareness of the need to protect monarchs whose populations are in steep decline due to climate change, habitat loss, and pesticide use.
Due to the pandemic, this year’s run will take place only in southern Ontario but, at 1,800 kilometres, will be Canada’s longest relay run. The route will takes runners through cities and towns, greenways, and lakeshores along the Trans Canada Trail and the Waterfront Trail.
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“This multi-day running adventure invites participants to traverse rural and urban landscapes, while it’s the journey and not the destination that matters most for this year’s relay run,” says Carlotta James, Monarch Ultra’s co-founder and project director.
Ultra runners will depart Peterborough on Sunday, September 19th and head southwest to Toronto, Burlington, Hamilton, St. Catharines, and Niagara Falls, before looping back around towards London, Cambridge and Kitchener, and ending in Barrie on Saturday, October 9th.
Each day, the Monarch Ultra team will cover 80 kilometres, with four running segments available per day (two segments of 30 kilometres and two segments of 50 kilometres).
The route for the 1,800-kilometre 2021 Monarch Ultra Relay Run begins in Peterborough on September 19 and ends in Barrie on October 9. (Map: Monarch Ultra)
All donations raised through the relay run will go directly to Camp Kawartha, a non-profit organization that offers nature education and environmental stewardship for youth.
“Camp Kawartha is just delighted to partner with the Monarch Ultra,” says Jacob Rodenburg, executive director of Camp Kawartha.
“Teaching children about the remarkable journey these beautiful winged beings take helps us to understand how interconnected the natural world really is. Protecting monarchs means protecting monarch habitat and habitat for other pollinators. And that in turn means healthier ecosystems for all living things.”
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The Monarch Ultra team, comprised entirely of volunteers, is building partnerships with conservation organizations, schools, and municipalities to host community events and cheer the runners as they pass through dozens of cities. In addition to raising awareness about the monarch’s plight, the team is on a mission to inspire communities to create native gardens for pollinators.
“In our pursuit to raise awareness about the ecological challenges taking place in Canada and around the world, we have a responsibility to show that we care about nature and will protect it,” James says. “Through the Monarch Ultra, we have an opportunity to amplify our message for conservation action and to restore pollinator habitat across southern Ontario before it’s too late.”
The Monarch Ultra team will adhere to all COVID-19 health and safety protocols during the 21-day running event. Each segment will have a maximum of two physically distanced runners, and the support crew will be following all safety guidelines.
Runners in Guanajuato, Mexico during the Monarch Ultra Relay Run in fall of 2019. Due to the pandemic, the 2021 Monarch Ultra Relay Run will adhere to all COVID-19 health and safety protocols during the 21-day running event. Each segment will have a maximum of two physically distanced runners, and the support crew will be following all safety guidelines. (Photo: Rodney Fuentes)
Depending on the status of the pandemic in the fall, the team also hopes to meet with students and teachers to encourage them to run for monarch butterflies and to plant pollinator gardens through the Mini-Monarch Ultra program. The team also plans to meet with mayors and politicians along the route to share the message of conservation and climate action.
Canadian country music duo The Reklaws, who have performed at Peterborough Musifest three times, are returning to Peterborough to perform a virtual concert live from Showplace Performance Centre on March 27, 2021. The free 'PMF Live At Home' event will also feature special guest James Barker live from Nashville. (Photo courtesy Universal Music Canada)
While no definitive record exists, it’s a pretty safe bet that the words “See you next summer” were spoken from Del Crary Park’s Fred Anderson Stage on Saturday, August 17, 2019 after the final concert of Peterborough Musicfest’s 33rd season.
After all, there was absolutely no reason to believe that Peterborough Musicfest wouldn’t return for its 34th season in the summer of 2020. Since 1987, the free admission concert series had been right as rain — a welcome given on the summer things-to-do list of thousands of live music fans, both local and from out of town.
But in March 2019, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdown restrictions put the brakes on all events to come, Musicfest included. For the first time since festival founder Fred Anderson brought free music concerts to the masses, Del Crary Park would be eerily quiet each Wednesday and Saturday night in July and August.
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“I was very sad for a couple of months,” recalls Musicfest general manager Tracey Randall of what followed when she realized the 2020 season would be a no-go. “Music brings soul to Peterborough. The city has so many arts venues and spaces and places to go to see theatre and hear music … people jamming on the streets and in the bars. To not have that anywhere hurt Peterborough.”
With the prospect of Musicfest returning to Del Crary Park this coming summer still very much uncertain, Randall and her team have embraced what has become the buzzword of the pandemic: pivot.
So it is that, on Saturday, March 27th at 8 p.m., Peterborough Musicfest will present “Live At Home” via Zoom, headlined by The Reklaws — siblings Stuart and Jenna Walker — performing on stage at Showplace Performance Centre, joined from Nashville by special guest James Barker.
VIDEO: Peterborough Musicfest Live At Home announcement
New batch of tickets added!
PMF Live at Home with The Reklaws and Special Guest James Barker (solo) “sold out” within 36 hours. A new batch of tickets has been added but, unlike the original Zoom tickets, they do not include the interactive Zoom functions or the 30-minute conversation with The Reklaws at the end of the concert.
Packaged and produced by local filmmaker and music photographer Michael Hurcomb, and emceed by the always-entertaining Megan Murphy, access to the event, in keeping with Musicfest’s mandate, will be free — but is limited to 999 people as Zoom can only accommodate a maximum of 1,000 people.
The final half hour of the event will be dedicated to “An Intimate Conversation With Jen and Stu of The Reklaws”, during which the duo will interact with, and answer questions from, those logged on for the event.
Event tickets are available at www.sidedooraccess.com, an online service started by British Columbia-based singer/songwriter Dan Mangan as a way to help some of his musical friends connect more broadly with audiences.
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That platform is also being used to facilitate the Zoom broadcast that, according to Musicfest marketing and communications specialist Justin Sutton, will offer a unique capability.
“The Reklaws will see their fans on screen from the stage and be able to communicate with them,” Sutton explains. “They’ll be able to see their happy faces and can talk to them when they want to. So they’ll actually be performing to human beings, which is kind of neat because a regular live stream broadcast through YouTube or whatever is one way. There’s not the same energy.”
Saying “We need a real pro at the helm”, because of the technical challenges the event poses, Sutton adds having Hurcomb involved is key.
“We don’t want to present a sort of no-frills performance from somebody’s bedroom. We want a real show — a high-quality nice-looking show. We think we’ve hired one of the best there is.”
James Barker, frontman of the Juno-winning namesake band, is a native of Woodville, northwest of Lindsay. He will join the Peterborough Musifest ‘PMF Live At Home’ virtual concert on March 27, 2021 from his home studio in Nashville. (Photo courtesy Universal Music Canada)
In The Reklaws and James Barker, country music fans will receive a double dose of two of the hottest and most successful Canadian acts in recent years.
After scoring their first hit in 2017 with Hometown Kids, the Reklaws’ 2018 debut EP Feels Like That — powered by the chart-topping title single — brought the duo a Juno Award nomination for Country Album of the Year and the Rising Star Award from the Canadian Country Music Association.
Since then, The Reklaws have released two full-length albums, the latest being 2020’s Sophomore Slump, which has spawned the Top 10 singles “Where I’m From” and “Not Gonna Not”.
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As for James Barker, who hails from Woodville northwest of Lindsay and fronts the band that bears his name, he too has been multi-awarded, including two 2018 Juno Award nominations for Breakthrough Group of the Year and Country Album of the Year for the band’s debut EP Game On, taking home the statue for the second. The chart-topping single “Chills” from the same EP got the Single of The Year nod from the Canadian Country Music Awards.
The band’s second EP Singles Only brought forth the monster hits “Good Together”, “There’s a Drink For That””, and “Keep It Simple”. Last year, the band released its third EP JBB-Sides with the singles “Slow Down Town” and “Summer Time”.
In The Reklaws, Musicfest is welcoming back an act Randall terms “a part of our family.” This will mark the siblings’ fourth Musicfest appearance in five years. As for Barker, his appearance marks a coup of sorts. Randall has tried for several years to bring him to the Fred Anderson Stage but various factors have impeded that effort.
VIDEO: “Where I’m From” – The Reklaws
PMF Live At Home, stresses Randall, wouldn’t be remotely possible without the continued support of Musicfest sponsors combined with funding from all three levels of government.
“We’re very thankful for sponsors who stuck it out and gave us money in 2020 and have said they don’t want it back,” she says. “They (the sponsors) are wanting us back. They are there to support our community and bring free music. We will continue to do that because that’s our mandate and that’s what our sponsors expect of us.”
While PMF Live At Home will satisfy the live music experience hunger of many, the event will serve another important purpose, notes Sutton.
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“We’re in this for the long haul,” he says. “We intend to survive this (the pandemic) and come back and be bigger and better and stronger. We’re doing everything we can to keep Fred’s vision alive until we’re back live in the park. In the meantime, we’re embracing the digital world and trying to find new and interesting ways to bring people music in other forms.”
Randall fully concurs, saying “This keeps keep our brand alive and lets people know that we’re still here.”
That said, she adds there’s also the benefit of involving her team in something tangible again.
VIDEO: “Keep It Simple” – James Barker Band
“We live for the live experience,” says Sutton, who will mark two years with Musicfest this April, working side-by-side with events coordinator Emily St. Pierre and administrative assistant Amanda Meekin.
“Not being able to bring that to people has been very hard on us. Doing a livestream event isn’t what we’re known for, but we think we have something unique to offer.”
As for Musicfest presenting a summer concert series in 2021, be it a full season or an abbreviated one, that’s at the mercy of the pandemic and related restrictions on public gatherings.
Randall, meanwhile, isn’t ruling out the possibility of a shorter fall season “as long as people are okay with wearing a jacket.”
“We will survive. We have a lot of people behind us and we have an amazing team. We know that our audience believes in us. In the meantime, we’re excited to bring music into people’s homes.”
Local entrepreneur Tracey Ormond (left) has purchased The Edison Espresso and Pastry Bar in downtown Peterborough from Lindsay Brock, who founded the popular coffee shop in 2018. Ormond will reopen The Edison with a new menu on March 8, 2021, while Brock will continue to supply The Edison with coffee bean blends through her new business Covet Coffee & Tea. (Photo courtesy of Lindsay Brock and Tracey Ormond)
Coffee connoisseur Lindsay Brock has sold The Edison Espresso and Pastry Bar in downtown Peterborough to local entrepreneur Tracey Ormond.
The two women announced the deal on Tuesday (March 2).
Brock has successfully operated the popular coffee shop, located in the lobby of the VentureNorth building at 270 George Street North, since she founded it in 2018.
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She says the decision to sell her business is related to her “compromised health, compounded by the pandemic.”
“Continuing operations wasn’t realistic for me,” Brock explains. “Tracey is the perfect fit, as she is well respected in the community and has the right mix of genuine warmth, personality, and passion to carry on the vision.”
Ormond is also the owner and operator of That’s A Wrap Catering and is known for her fresh, ready-to-eat meals. She is a past president of the Women’s Business Network of Peterborough.
“I look forward to starting this new venture and to continue the legacy of Lindsay’s vision,” Ormond says. “Even though I’m adding my own flavour, the great service, products, and friendly, inviting environment will remain the same.”
Ormond plans to reopen The Edison at 9 a.m. on Monday, March 8th with a new menu that will include fresh lunch and snacks, featuring a soup of the day, wraps, sandwiches, breakfast cookies, and scones, as well as a few other customer favourites.
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Brock, who sells coffee beans through her new business Covet Coffee & Tea, will continue to supply The Edison with its popular bean blends.
“I want to thank all of my patrons who have supported me and The Edison since day one,” Brock says.
For more information about The Edison Espresso and Pastry Bar, contact Tracey Ormond at tracey@thatsawrapcatering.ca or 705-768-7168.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 1,023 new cases, with the seven-day average of daily cases decreasing by 5 to 1,099. There are 7 new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, for a total of 535, and no new cases of other variants of concern.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 17 new cases to report and an additional 9 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 6 to 102.
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Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (280) and Peel (182).
There are double-digit increases in Ottawa (72), Thunder Bay (55), Hamilton (53), York (47), Simcoe Muskoka (39), Halton (39), Waterloo (39), Durham (34), Niagara (30), Windsor-Essex (22), Middlesex-London (18), Brant (16), Lambton (14), Northwestern (12), Peterborough (12), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (12), and Sudbury (11), with smaller increases in Eastern Ontario (9) and Renfrew (7).
The remaining 13 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 3 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 61% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (396) among people ages 20-39, followed by 268 cases among people ages 40-59 and 225 cases among people 19 and younger.
With 939 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases remains unchanged at 94.2%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.7% from yesterday to 3.1%, meaning that 31 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on February 28.
Ontario is reporting 6 new COVID-19 deaths today — the lowest number of deaths reported since October 25 — with 1 new death in a long-term care home. The province has averaged 16 new daily deaths over the past week, a decrease of 1 from yesterday.
Hospitalizations have increased by 32 from yesterday to 659, but more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has decreased by 9 from yesterday to 280, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has decreased by 10 to 175.
A total of 35,015 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 4,902 to 13,416.
A total of 704,695 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 17,424 from yesterday, with 263,214 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,111 from yesterday, representing 1.79% of Ontario’s population. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
There are 116 new cases in Ontario schools, an increase of 15 from February 26, including 99 student cases, 15 staff cases and 2 cases among unidentified people. There are 13 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, a decrease of 16 from February 26, with 7 cases among children and 6 cases among staff.
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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 17 new cases to report, including 9 in Peterborough, 4 in Northumberland, and 4 in Hastings Prince Edward.
An additional 9 cases have been resolved, including 4 in Northumberland, 3 in Peterborough, and 2 in Kawartha Lakes. Outbreaks at Caressant Care McLaughlin Road in Lindsay,d Warkworth Place in Warkworth, and Buckhorn Day Care and Nursery School have been declared resolved.
There are currently 102 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 6 from yesterday, including 50 in Peterborough, 21 in Northumberland, 20 in Hastings Prince Edward (2 in Quinte West, 12 in Belleville, 4 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 2 in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory), and 11 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 654 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (595 resolved with 9 deaths), 536 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (484 resolved with 55 deaths), 444 in Northumberland County (412 resolved with 11 deaths), 51 in Haliburton County (51 resolved with no deaths), and 418 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (392 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent 2 deaths were reported in Kawartha Lakes on February 23.
The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).
Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 654 (increase of 9) Variants of concern cases: 1 (no change) Active cases: 50 (increase of 6) Close contacts: 214 (increase of 42) Deaths: 9 (no change) Resolved: 595 (increase of 3) Hospitalizations (total to date): 24 (no change)* Total tests completed: Over 43,650 (increase of 200) Outbreaks: Empress Gardens retirement home, Severn Court Student Residence (decrease of 1)** Vaccine doses administered: 1,136 (no change)
*As of March 1, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and 17 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).
**The outbreak at Buckhorn Day Care and Nursery School was declared resolved on February 27.
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.
The health unit provides reports from Monday to Saturday, excluding Sundays and statutory holidays. These numbers include February 28 and March 1.
Confirmed positive: 1,031, including 536 in Kawartha Lakes, 444 in Northumberland, and 51 in Haliburton (increase of 4 in Northumberland)* Cases with N501Y mutation: 12, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 10 in Northumberland (no change)** Active cases: 32, including 11 in Kawartha Lakes and 21 in Northumberland (decrease of 4, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland) Probable cases: 1 in Northumberland (no change) High-risk contacts: 103, including 40 in Kawartha Lakes and 58 in Northumberland (increase of 16)*** Hospitalizations (total to date): 44, including 27 in Kawartha Lakes, 15 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (no change)**** Deaths (including among probable cases): 66, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes and 11 in Northumberland (no change) Resolved: 946, including 483 in Kawartha Lakes, 412 in Northumberland, 51 in Haliburton (increase of 6, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 4 in Northumberland) Tests completed: 143,068 (increase of 213) Outbreaks: Regency long-term care home in Port Hope (decrease of 2)*****
*The health unit states that total counts and counts for individual counties may fluctuate from previously reported counts as cases are transferred to or from the health unit based on case investigation details and routine data cleaning.
**The N501Y mutation has been identified in variants of concern including the B.1.1.7 UK variant, the B.1.351 South Africa variant, and the P.1 Brazilian variant.
***This total includes an additional 3 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
****As of March 1, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1).
*****Outbreaks at Caressant Care McLaughlin Road in Lindsay and Warkworth Place in Warkworth have been declared resolved.
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 418 (increase of 4) Active cases: 20 (increase of 4) Deaths: 6 (no change) Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change) Resolved: 392 (no change) Tests completed: 66,240 (increase of 308) Vaccines administered: 2,186 (no change) Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Central Hastings, unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 301,839 (increase of 1,023) Total COVID-19 variant cases: 535 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 7); 27 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (no change); 3 of P.1 Brazilian variant (no change) 7-day average of daily new cases: 1,099 (decrease of 5) Resolved: 284,283 (increase of 939, 94.2% of all cases) Positivity rate: 3.1% (increase of 0.7%) Hospitalizations: 659 (increase of 32)* Hospitalizations in ICU: 280 (decrease of 9) Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 175 (decrease of 10) Deaths: 6,986 (increase of 6) 7-day average of daily new deaths: 16 (increase of 1) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,865 (increase of 1) Total tests completed: 11,045,153 (increase of 35,015) Tests under investigation: 13,416 (decrease of 4,902) Vaccination doses administered: 704,695 (increase of 17,424) People fully vaccinated (two doses): 263,214 (increase of 1,111), 1.79% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)
*More than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher.
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from January 29 – February 28, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from January 29 – February 28, 2021. The red line is the number of tests completed daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from January 29 – February 28, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from January 29 – February 28, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from January 29 – February 28, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
Caressant Care McLaughlin Road is a 96-bed long-term care home in Lindsay. (Photo: Google Maps)
After almost two months, the COVID-19 outbreak at Caressant Care McLaughlin Road in Lindsay has been declared over.
The long-term care home and Ross Memorial Hospital made the announcement on Monday (March 1), in consultation with Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Public Health Unit, now that 14 days have passed with no new infections.
The outbreak was first declared on January 9th, with a total of 62 residents and 49 staff testing positive for COVID-19 during the outbreak. Of the residents who were infected, 18 lost their lives as a result of the disease.
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“I want to express my deepest sympathies to the families, and to the staff, who consider our residents part of their extended family, on the passing of their loved ones,” said Jim Lavelle, president of Caressant Care Nursing and Retirement Homes LTD. “Now is the time to begin the healing process as we continue to care for our residents.”
The voluntary management contract between Caressant Care and Ross Memorial Hospital, which was approved by the Ministry of Health on February 22nd, will remain in place until May 21st. The contract allowed the hospital to act quickly and support the home’s staff to manage the outbreak.
The hospital and various agencies have been providing more than 25 staff to support the home. These efforts paid off and infections slowed in early February, according to the hospital.
“I am so grateful to our staff, Ross Memorial Hospital, our families, and other care partners for coming together to help Caressant Care McLaughlin and our residents in this time of need,” Lavelle said.
“We are relieved this day has come,” added Veronica Nelson, executive lead at Ross Memorial Hospital. “Everyone worked as a team to get this outbreak under control. This was truly a collaborative effort amongst Caressant Care staff, hospital staff, agency staff, and our essential caregivers.”
“We can now focus on the important work of prevention, and bringing back activities and services our residents enjoy. We can also begin to welcome back our essential caregivers.”
You can win a $50 gift certificate for a modern Italian dinner at Pane Vino in Lindsay, one of 20 local restaurants participating in Kawarthas Northumberland's KN Eats Giveaway contest running March 1 to 26, 2021. (Photo courtesy of Pane Vino)
Kawarthas Northumberland is making it easy for you to show local restaurants some love with its new KN Eats Giveaway Contest at kawarthasnorthumberland.ca/kneats.
Between March 1st and March 26th, Kawarthas Northumberland (Regional Tourism Organization 8) is giving away a total of 200 gift certificates, each a value of $50, for 20 participating restaurants in the City and County of Peterborough and the City of Kawartha Lakes.
Whether you choose to order delivery, curb-side pickup, or in-person dining (where and when it’s safe to do so), you can use the gift certificate to enjoy all the flavours of the region while also supporting local independent restaurants.
Experience the flavours of Kawarthas Northumberland in the KN Eats Giveaway contest, where you can win one of 200 $50 gift certificates for dinner at a local independent restaurant in the City of Peterborough, Peterborough County, or the City of Kawartha Lakes. Enter the contest at kawarthasnorthumberland.ca/kneats. (Graphic courtesy of Kawarthas Northumberland)
Every Friday until March 26th, Kawarthas Northumberland will draw 50 winners at random from the entries received at kawarthasnorthumberland.ca/kneats. Each winner will receive a $50 gift certificate for one of the 20 participating restaurants located in Peterborough, Young’s Point, Ennismore, Lakefield, Havelock, Lindsay, Fenelon Falls, Bobcaygeon, Norland, and Coboconk.
There will be 10 gift certificates available for each of the 20 participating restaurants listed below. On each Friday, 50 winners will be randomly selected to receive a gift certificate for one of the participating restaurants. The draws will take place on March 5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th.
If you win, you’ll be notified by email and have 48 hours to confirm, after which the gift certificate will be mailed to the address you supplied on the entry form. Only one entry will be allowed per person, and each household or address can only win once.
You can win a $50 gift certificate for an authentic Mexican dinner at La Hacienda in Peterborough, one of 20 local restaurants participating in Kawarthas Northumberland’s KN Eats Giveaway contest running March 1 to 26, 2021. (Photo courtesy of La Hacienda)
When assigning gift certificates to winners, Kawarthas Northumberland will consider the winner’s location. All winners are reminded to abide by provincial health regulations when using the gift certificates, including refraining from travel outside of their region.
The KN Eats Giveaway Contest is only open to residents of the City of Kawartha Lakes, the City of Peterborough, and Peterborough County. However, if you live in Northumberland County, you can enter Northumberland Tourism’s Good To Go Giveaway on Instagram, where you’ll have a chance to win one of nine $100 gift cards for nine participating restaurants in Northumberland County (that contest is open until midnight on Wednesday, March 10).
You can win a $50 gift certificate for southern-style comfort food at The Pattie House in Coboconk, one of 20 local restaurants participating in Kawarthas Northumberland’s KN Eats Giveaway contest running March 1 to 26, 2021. (Photo courtesy of The Pattie House)
Participating restaurants
Peterborough & the Kawarthas
La Hacienda (Peterborough)
The Food Forest (Peterborough)
Berc’s Steakhouse (Peterborough)
Shafiq’s Taste of India (Peterborough)
Fresh Dreams (Peterborough)
The Old Bridge Inn (Young’s Point)
Jesse’s Tap & Grill (Ennismore)
Cassis Bistro (Lakefield)
Woody Burger (Havelock)
The Ranch Restaurant (Havelock)
You can win a $50 gift certificate for an authentic Thai dinner at Orchid Thai Bistro in Fenelon Falls, one of 20 local restaurants participating in Kawarthas Northumberland’s KN Eats Giveaway contest running March 1 to 26, 2021. (Photo courtesy of Orchid Thai Bistro)
Kawartha Lakes
Pane Vino (Lindsay)
Hobart’s Restaurant (Lindsay)
The Locker at the Falls (Fenelon Falls)
That Place on Cameron (Fenelon Falls)
Orchid Thai Bistro (Fenelon Falls)
Just for the Halibut Tap House & Grill (Bobcaygeon)
Che Figata (Bobcaygeon)
Riverside Inn (Norland)
Rosie’s Dockside Bar & Grill (Coboconk)
The Pattie House (Coboconk)
For more information about each participating restaurant, visit the KN Eats Giveaway Contest page at kawarthasnorthumberland.ca/kneats.
The story was created in partnership with Regional Tourism Organization 8.
After issuing a snow squall watch for the northern Kawarthas region on Monday morning (March 1), Environment Canada has expanded the watch to include the rest of the Kawarthas and has issued a special weather statement for strong winds as well.
The snow squall watch and special weather statement is in effect for the city and county of Peterborough, the City of Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland County.
Snow squalls are expected later on Monday afternoon and into the evening until about 9 p.m.. Brief periods of heavy snow and blowing snow will accompany the squalls and the afternoon commute could be affected.
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In addition, strong west to northwesterly winds gusting up to 80 km/h will develop on Monday afternoon and continue into the early evening.
The strong winds, which will diminish later on Monday evening, may throw loose objects, cause tree branches to break and damage property.
Power outages are also possible.
This story has been updated to include the snow squall watch issued by Environment Canada.
Peterborough artists Brian Nichols and John Marris have been facilitating community art making during the pandemic, including for people facing marginalization and alienation. Pictured is artwork at One City Peterborough's open studio, located at 541 Water Street in Peterborough, which is open on a drop-in basis to community members between 2:30 and 4 p.m. every Monday afternoon. (Photo: Sarah McNeilly / kawarthaNOW.com)
“I am here as an artist,” Brian Nichols emphatically states through his mask, while stopping mid-pace, on both feet, as if to punctuate his statement. “I’m here as a volunteer.”
With a nod, the artist, volunteer, and psychotherapist springs back into action, energetically fluttering about the studio once more.
It’s the first day the drop-in open studio at One City Peterborough has reopened since the most recent provincial-wide lockdown, and the energy in the room is palpable.
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The new studio space at One City Peterborough, which first opened in October 2020, is buzzing with excited artistic experimentation. Located at 541 Water Street in Peterborough, the studio is open on a drop-in basis to community members between 2:30 and 4 p.m. every Monday afternoon.
Light pours through the large windows onto colourful works of art displayed on the mantle, tables, and walls. That foreboding sense of dread we’ve all grown so accustomed to can’t help but give way to pure joy inside the small studio.
Were it not for the masked participants partaking in the occasional six-foot-shuffle — that awkward physical-distance dance we’ve all shared with unwitting partners over the past year — one could almost forget, if only for a fleeting moment, that we are living in times of crisis.
A freshly made piece of art at One City Peterborough’s open studio. (Photo: Sarah McNeilly / kawarthaNOW.com)
This is not a typical art class. There is no teacher standing at the front of the room imparting their knowledge onto passive recipients. Rather, it’s a non-hierarchical environment where the small group can safely gather to actively make art together, and learn about themselves in the process.
“It feels even more important during COVID,” says Tammy Kuehne, warming room coordinator for One City Peterborough, which is focused on housing, food security, community safety, and inclusion. The organization is an amalgamation of Warming Room Community Ministries and Peterborough Reintegration Services.
“The need for spaces where people can connect with each other in person, still being safe, is crucial,” Kuehne adds. “We’ve had a lot of people really excited to learn that we’re opening back up.”
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Now more than ever we all need community self-expression and creativity, but for those who have faced marginalization and alienation — mental health challenges, homelessness, illness, disability, and poverty — community art making represents a vital lifeline during the isolating conditions of the pandemic.
Throughout the pandemic, both Nichols and fellow local artist John Marris have been hard at work finding ways to deliver the community arts programming they facilitate, respectively, with various not-for-profits.
Prior to the most recent lockdown, Nichols had been facilitating the open studio at One City Peterborough for Circles of Support & Accountability (CoSA) — a restorative justice program — since October.
Prior to the most recent lockdown, Peterborough artist Brian Nichols had been facilitating the open studio at One City Peterborough for Circles of Support & Accountability (CoSA), a restorative justice program. Pictured is some of the CoSA artwork at the One City Peterborough open studio. (Photo: Sarah McNeilly / kawarthaNOW.com)
Throughout most of the winter lockdown, Marris has been offering art-making sessions for young residents in a bubbled household at YES Shelter for Youth and Families. He also managed to offer outdoor art-making sessions with YES in the summertime.
Peterborough artist John Marris has been offering art-making sessions for young residents at YES Shelter for Youth and Families.(Photo: John Marris / Facebook)
In January, Marris and local artist Wendy Trusler moved online the community art making workshops they had been running with mental health patients at Peterborugh Regional Health Centre so they could safely continue their important work.
This past fall, Marris and Nichols were also able to continue the ‘You Can Make It Art’ workshops at The Mount Community Centre, though only for residents of the centre. Previously, the workshops had been available on a drop-in basis to the broader Peterborough community, after Nichols launched the program in 2018.
Marris and Nichols have made it their mission to provide those facing marginalization with something the artists believe to be as vital as food, shelter, water, and air.
Art is neither a luxury nor a pursuit reserved only for the cult of the expert. Self-expression is an integral part of being human.
“These community art projects take us back to the fundamental need to express ourselves and explore ourselves in healthy and productive ways,” Marris writes for a presentation he recently delivered before the Arts, Culture Heritage Advisory Committee for The City of Peterborough.
“They help us develop skills and confidence and self-belief. They teach us how to be present, to find focus, and to know we have the right to express ourselves — to be the authors of our world.”
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For both Nichols and Marris the impetus to create, and to encourage others to do so, is anchored in the two artists’ introspective and philosophical investigations of presence, respectively.
“I need to find things that take me into that moment of presence,” explains Marris during a telephone interview. “What I’ve discovered is that making art, working with play, and making art with other people has become this way to be absolutely present in the moment.”
As for Nichols, his background in psychotherapy certainly contributes to his approach to community art-making. Most participants with whom he works have experienced grief or trauma in some form. However, his process is also born from a place of vulnerability and empathy from his own experiences.
In 2018, The Mount Community Centre hosted ‘You Can Make It Art’ drop-in art making workshops for the general community. The workshops resumed this past fall, but only for residents of the centre. (Photo: John Marris)
In 2018, after a diagnosis of giant cell arteritis (a rare autoimmune disease) forced Nichols to leave his psychotherapy practice, he felt a sense of urgency to make art and to encourage community art-making. Since then, his artistic output has been as prolific as his community art-making initiatives.
“It’s been an incredible journey to figure out how to do the work,” Nicols says. “And it’s really subtle and easy, but difficult to grasp, how it’s not teaching, how it’s not simply making art — it’s about connection.”
“What is present is a new pain and the absence, for me, is often hope and a sense of future,” he replies when asked how presence and absence figure into his process. “To help others embrace the new pain, without trying to minimize it — we’re not just the pain but that’s hugely a part of our existence — without moving to hope and without any sense of future. What we have is now — being in the now — which is that sense of presence.”
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Art making is, in many ways, world making. There exists an essential connection between the real and the imagined. An artist’s created world is necessarily separate from, yet connected to, the world in which we live.
“I think living is that whole process of world making,” Nichols acknowledges. “To live authentically is to create both your own interior and exterior world.”
Through art, Marris and Nichols offer people not only the opportunity to be the creators of their own worlds, but also to create an inclusive and even emancipatory community of art makers, connected by their shared presence in the present.
Community art making at The Mount Community Centre. (Photo: John Marris)
As such, their practices — art making, world making, and the gift of presence — transform the One City Peterborough studio into a sanctuary for all.
To support the important work Nichols and Marris are doing in the Peterborough community, you can make a donation to One City Peterborough at www.onecityptbo.ca/donate or to YES Shelter for Youth and Families at yesshelter.ca/help/help-yes/donate.
Atelier Ludmila Gallery, in the Commerce Building at 129-1/2 Hunter Street West in downtown Peterborough, will be exhibiting Marris’ most recent body of work, Material Dialogue. The show opens on the First Friday Art Crawl on March 5th from 6 to 10 p.m. It will be exhibited until Sunday, March 28th. Fifty per cent of all sales from the show will be donated to YES Shelter for Youth and Families.
March is coming in like a lion, at least for the northern greater Kawarthas region.
Environment Canada has issued a snow squall watch for Haliburton County and North Hastings for Monday morning and afternoon (March 1).
A relatively narrow but intense snow squall is forecast to develop on Monday morning, moving across the area later in the morning and through the afternoon. Locally heavy snowfall will occur with this snow squall, resulting in a quick 5 to 10 cm of new accumulation.
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Strong northwesterly winds gusting up to 60 km/h will also occur Monday afternoon. These strong winds will combine with the heavy snow to result in reduced visibility in blowing snow and difficult travel conditions over portions of the area.
The snow squall is expected to move south of the region by Monday evening.
Motorists are advised to exercise caution. Snow squalls cause weather conditions to vary considerably; changes from clear skies to heavy snow within just a few kilometres are common. Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 1,062 new cases, with the seven-day average of daily cases decreasing by 4 to 1,104.
Ontario is reporting 20 new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, for a total of 528, as well as 2 new cases of the B.1.351 South Africa variant, for a total of 27, and 1 new case of the P.1 Brazilian variant, for a total of 3.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 12 new cases to report and an additional 10 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 3 to 96. However, these numbers do not include cases in Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton as updates are not available on Sundays.
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Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (259) and Peel (201).
There are double-digit increases in York (86), Waterloo (60), Halton (47), Hamilton (45), Southwestern (43), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (42), Ottawa (31), Brant (31), Lambton (26), Windsor-Essex (25), Durham (23), Thunder Bay (22), Simcoe Muskoka (20), Niagara (18), Sudbury (16), Northwestern (14), and Middlesex-London (13), with smaller increases in Peterborough (7) and Haldimand-Norfolk (6).
The remaining 13 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 3 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 60% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (395) among people ages 20-39, followed by 275 cases among people ages 40-59 and 242 cases among people 19 and younger.
With 1,029 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases remains unchanged at 94.2%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.3% from yesterday to 2.4%, meaning that 24 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on February 27.
Ontario is reporting 20 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 17 new daily deaths over the past week, an increase of 1 from yesterday.
Hospitalizations have decreased by 53 from yesterday to 627, but more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has increased by 13 from yesterday to 289, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has increased by 3 to 185.
A total of 49,185 tests were completed yesterday, pushing the number of tests completed since the pandemic began to over 11 million, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 9,671 to 18,318.
A total of 687,271 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 19,167 from yesterday, with 262,103 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,131 from yesterday, representing 1.78% of Ontario’s population. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 12 new cases to report, including 10 in Peterborough and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward.
An additional 10 cases have been resolved, including 9 in Peterborough and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward.
Current numbers for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton are unavailable as the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit does not issue an update on Sundays.
There are currently 96 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 3 from yesterday, including 44 in Peterborough, 22 in Northumberland, 16 in Hastings Prince Edward (2 in Quinte West, 9 in Belleville, 3 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 2 in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory), and 14 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 645 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (592 resolved with 9 deaths), 537 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (481 resolved with 55 deaths), 441 in Northumberland County (408 resolved with 11 deaths), 51 in Haliburton County (51 resolved with no deaths), and 414 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (392 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent 2 deaths were reported in Kawartha Lakes on February 23.
The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).
Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 645 (increase of 10)* Variants of concern cases: 1 (no change) Active cases: 44 (increase of 3) Close contacts: 172 (increase of 26) Deaths: 9 (no change) Resolved: 592 (increase of 9) Hospitalizations (total to date): 24 (no change)** Total tests completed: Over 43,450 (increase of 50) Outbreaks: Buckhorn Day Care and Nursery School, Empress Gardens retirement home, Severn Court Student Residence (no change) Vaccine doses administered: 1,136 (no change)
*As of February 28, the health unit is reporting 23 positive cases related to an outbreak at Severn Court Student Residence, some of which are not reflected in today’s total case count.
**As of February 26, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and 17 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.
The health unit provides reports from Monday to Saturday, excluding Sundays and statutory holidays. These numbers are from February 27.
Confirmed positive: 1,029, including 537 in Kawartha Lakes, 441 in Northumberland, and 51 in Haliburton (increase of 3 in Northumberland)* Cases with N501Y mutation: 12, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 10 in Northumberland (no change)** Active cases: 36, including 14 in Kawartha Lakes and 22 in Northumberland (decrease of 2, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland) Probable cases: 1 in Northumberland (no change) High-risk contacts: 87, including 52 in Kawartha Lakes and 32 in Northumberland (decrease of 11, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 10 in Northumberland)*** Hospitalizations (total to date): 44, including 27 in Kawartha Lakes, 15 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (no change)**** Deaths (including among probable cases): 66, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes and 11 in Northumberland (no change) Resolved: 940, including 481 in Kawartha Lakes, 408 in Northumberland, 51 in Haliburton (increase of 2, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland) Tests completed: 142,855 (increase of 517) Outbreaks: Caressant Care McLaughlin Road long-term care home in Lindsay, Regency long-term care home in Port Hope, Warkworth Place in Warkworth (no change)
*The health unit states that total counts and counts for individual counties may fluctuate from previously reported counts as cases are transferred to or from the health unit based on case investigation details and routine data cleaning.
**The N501Y mutation has been identified in variants of concern including the B.1.1.7 UK variant, the B.1.351 South Africa variant, and the P.1 Brazilian variant.
***This total includes an additional 3 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
****As of February 26, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 1 patient hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change).
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 414 (increase of 2) Active cases: 16 (no net change) Deaths: 6 (no change) Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change) Resolved: 392 (increase of 1) Tests completed: 65,932 (increase of 5,065) Vaccines administered: 2,186 (no change) Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Central Hastings, unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 300,816 (increase of 1,062) Total COVID-19 variant cases: 528 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 20); 27 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 2); 3 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 1) 7-day average of daily new cases: 1,104 (decrease of 4) Resolved: 283,344 (increase of 1,029, 94.2% of all cases) Positivity rate: 2.4% (increase of 0.3%) Hospitalizations: 627 (decrease of 53)* Hospitalizations in ICU: 289 (increase of 13) Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 185 (increase of 3) Deaths: 6,980 (increase of 20) 7-day average of daily new deaths: 17 (increase of 1) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,864 (decrease of 1) Total tests completed: 11,045,153 (increase of 49,185) Tests under investigation: 18,318 (decrease of 9,671) Vaccination doses administered: 687,271 (increase of 19,167) People fully vaccinated (two doses): 262,103 (increase of 1,131), 1.78% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)
*More than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher.
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from January 28 – February 27, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from January 28 – February 27, 2021. The red line is the number of tests completed daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from January 28 – February 27, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from January 28 – February 27, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from January 28 – February 27, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
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