With the aging workforce, identifying and retaining existing employees who can succeed those who are leaving or retiring is an important challenge for businesses and organizations, including those in the Kawarthas. The Workforce Development Board - Local Employment Planning Council (WDB/LEPC) is hosting a series of employer workshops and focus groups on succession planning in Peterborough, Haliburton, Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland in October and November and is also running an online survey where employers can learn about succession planning and help guide WDB/LEPC in developing succession planning support.
If you run a business or organization in the Kawarthas, think about your employees as if they are a pro hockey team.
Hockey careers are short, competition for players is intense, and turnover is constant. The key to a pro hockey team’s success is its bench strength, achieved by recruiting young players combined with an excellent training, mentoring. and development program.
WDB/LEPC presents Succession Planning Workshop/Focus Group
When: October 15, October 24, November 21, November 28, 2019 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. & 7-10 p.m. Where: Peterborough, Haliburton, Lindsay, Cobourg Cost: Free
For owners, managers or directors of any type of business or organization with an interest in learning about succession planning. Led by project manager Carrie Wakeford and business coach Colleen Carruthers. Register at wdbsuccessionplanning.eventbrite.ca. For those unable to attend, an online survey is available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/WDB_Succession. This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.
When it comes to businesses and organizations, succession planning is just as important to ensuring long-term success.
Employers need to find and hire the right people, develop and retain key employees, and identify existing employees with the potential to take over leadership roles when existing managers leave or retire.
Succession planning has become even more critical with the aging of the labour force in Canada, which is on track to having one of the fastest-aging rates recorded among economically developed countries. According to Planning for an Aging Labour Force, a March 2019 report released by the Workforce Development Board – Local Employment Planning Council (WDB/LEPC), four in 10 working-age Canadians could be aged 55 or over by 2026.
Combined with other factors including robust economic growth and lower unemployment rates, this presents a significant challenge for organizations in the future.
Through succession planning, employers can develop existing employees with leadership potential, so they are ready to be promoted to critical roles when needed so there isn’t a gap in service and organizations can save money on recruitment.
In his 2016 book Succession Planning That Works, management consultant Michael Timms writes, “Succession planning answers arguably the greatest talent management question of the 21st century: how will organizations fill the void left by the baby boomers?”
Research conducted by Deloitte in 2014 finds that, while most employers recognize this emerging issue and consider succession planning an urgent or important priority, only 14 per cent believe they are doing it well.
That’s why WDB/LEPC is offering two options for succession planning support for owners, managers, and directors of any type and size of business or organization in Peterborough, the City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, or Northumberland, including a series of free succession planning workshops and focus groups.
Canada is on track to having one of the fastest-aging rates recorded among economically developed countries, with four in 10 working-age Canadians estimated to be aged 55 or over by 2026. Through succession planning, employers can develop existing employees with leadership potential, so they are ready to be promoted to critical roles when needed so there isn’t a gap in service and organizations can save money on recruitment.
The workshops/focus groups take place at the following locations and dates:
Peterborough – Tuesday, October 15th in the board room at the Peterborough Public Library (345 Aylmer St. N., Peterborough)
Haliburton – Thursday, October 24th at SIRCH Community Services (49 Maple Ave., Unit 4 Haliburton)
City of Kawartha Lakes – Thursday, November 21st at VCCS (370 Kent St. W. Unit 5, Lindsay)
Northumberland – Thursday, November 28th at the Business & Entrepreneurship Centre Northumberland (600 William St. Suite 700, Cobourg).
Two sessions are available on each date: one from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and another from 7 to 9 p.m. To register for your preferred date and session, visit wdbsuccessionplanning.eventbrite.ca. There is no cost to attend.
Project manager Carrie Wakeford will begin the session with a focus group, where employers can share their opinions about succession planning needs and learn more about succession planning in the process.
This will be followed by a practical succession planning workshop led by business coach Colleen Carruthers, who has extensive experience training business leaders. In the workshop, employers will have the opportunity to work on their business’s or organization’s own succession plan.
For more information, contact Carrie Wakeford at carrie@wakeford.ca or 705-745-1607.
Planning for an Aging Labour Force
In March 2019, WDB/LEPC released a report entitled Planning for an Aging Labour Force, designed to help employers navigate the realities of an aging workforce in Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton. The document highlights various challenges, opportunities, and best practices for organizations to consider as they move forward with a succession plan that suits their business’s needs. A copy of the report is available for download in English or French. This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.
If you are unable to attend a workshop/focus group, you can also complete a voluntary online survey on succession planning available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/WDB_Succession.
By completing the survey, you will learn about succession planning and help guide WDB/LEPC in developing succession planning support. The survey will take under eight minutes to complete, and all responses are confidential.
As a bonus, all participants in the workshops/focus groups and the survey will receive a tip sheet, templates, links to online training, as well as a list of local succession planning services.
New Italian eatery and wine bar Bar Vita opened in downtown Peterborough on September 21st. They offer a variety of pastas and an appetizer selection including charcuterie platters. (Photo courtesy of Bar Vita)
This month, food writer Eva Fisher celebrates the taste and tradition of manoomin at the Alderville Black Oak Savannah Wild Rice Celebration, toasts to new Italian eatery and wine bar Bar Vita, finds the perfect Thanksgiving shortcut with Sper Food & Farm, and presses fresh apples from an unexpected source at The Seasoned Spoon Cafe Cider Making Drop-in.
Wild Rice Celebration returns to Alderville First Nation
The Alderville Black Oak Savanna is hosting a Wild Rice Celebration On October 19, 2019. (Graphic courtesy of Alderville Black Oak Savannah)
The Alderville Black Oak Savanna (8467 County Road 18, Alderville, 905-352-1008) is hosting a Wild Rice Celebration on Saturday, October 19th, from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Guests of the festival can learn about wild rice processing with Jeff Beaver, make milkweed cord with Colton Graham, cook bannock at the fire in the teepee, and more.
Cheyenne Blaker, ecological stewardship technologist with the Black Oak Savanna, says that this festival marks the return of a tradition.
“As far as I’m aware, this is the first Alderville First Nations wild rice festival in many years.”
The event was conceived with help from Jeff Beaver, who has been working to restore wild rice to the Kawartha Lakes since 1989.
“Jeff once told me that a similar festival would be held yearly at different communities within the area but have since stopped,” Cheyenne explains. “I wanted to team up with Jeff to bring back the festival to celebrate traditional and modern culture of the indigenous peoples of this region.”
The traditional stages of harvesting and processing manoomin (wild rice), an important staple of Indigenous peoples. The Alderville Black Oak Savanna’s wild rice celebration on October 19, 2019 was conceived with help from Jeff Beaver, who has been working to restore wild rice to the Kawartha Lakes since 1989. (Photo courtesy of Alderville Black Oak Savannah)
Cheyenne says that it is important to celebrate wild rice and its vital role in the history of the people of this region.
“Historically, without staple food sources such as wild rice (manoomin) and other gathered and hunted foods people would not have been able to survive.”
The festival is a chance to celebrate wild rice and the strong traditions and culture of Indigenous people.
“It honours a way of living that has built strong people and strong communities throughout history. It also brings awareness that Indigenous peoples and traditions are still thriving in a modern day setting.”
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Cheyenne curated the event to reflect the diversity within Alderville First Nation.
“I tried to include many different people, knowledge, and practices both traditional and modern. Represented will be indigenous-inspired food and flavors, wild rice harvesting and processing, arts, storytelling, singing and drumming, ecology, and much more.”
Admission to the Wild Rice Celebration is by voluntary donation. The event is receiving no funding by any sources outside of Alderville First Nations.
The Alderville Black Oak Savanna is a non-profit organization dedicated to the restoration and management of a globally rare tall grass ecosystem located on Alderville First Nation. There will also be two guided hikes at the Wild Rice Celebration where you can learn more about the Alderville Black Oak Savanna ecosystem.
Bar Vita serves from-scratch Italian fare on George Street
Bar Vita is located in the old Lech Furrier space at 413 George Street North in downtown Peterborough. (Photo courtesy of Bar Vita)
There’s a new Italian eatery and wine bar in downtown Peterborough, but you may find it pleasantly familiar. Bar Vita (413 George Street North, Peterborough, 705-743-3339) opened on September 21st.
Owner Martin Lewis is new to the restaurant business, but when he saw that previous occupant Johnny Vino’s was closing he knew he had to step in.
“I knew the type of food it was and I just didn’t want to lose it. It’s something greatly required in the City of Peterborough.”
He reinvented the restaurant as Bar Vita, keeping on Steve Nichols as executive chef.
“The food is just exceptional.” Martin enthuses. “Everything is made in house — and I mean everything.”
The Bar Vita menu features caprese salad and a variety of fine wines. (Photo courtesy of Bar Vita)
Specialties include the seafood gorgonzola penne, made with black tiger shrimp, jumbo sea scallops, and a creamy gorgonzola sauce. The linguine and meatballs are made with a special blend of veal, pork, and beef. Vegetarians can opt for the vegetarian cornuta, made with fresh seasonal vegetables, olive oil, crushed garlic, and chilies. Dinner rolls are baked fresh for each table.
The dessert menu is also entirely made from scratch. It includes cheesecake, crème brulee, and raspberry torte.
To accompany your meal, you can choose from a large selection of wine, which Martin describes as “the finest wine bar and wine list available.”
Sper Food & Farm makes Thanksgiving Dinner delicious and easy
Douglas Hope of Sper Food & Farm is offering a takeout Thanksgiving dinner. In addition to a la carte, set menu and themed dinners, Sper Food & Farm offers workshops ranging from pasta making to fermentation. (Photo courtesy of The Humble Herb)
Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, Sper Food & Farm (20 Main Street, Warkworth, 705-559-0038) is offering a takeout dinner that may even beat your traditional family Thanksgiving feast.
Sper Food & Farm owner and chef Douglas Hope has become known for his restaurant, which offers regular set-menu dinners, producers’ dinners, and even food workshops. This Thanksgiving, Sper Food & Farm is offering a takeout Thanksgiving dinner that customers can pick up and bring home with them.
The menu starts with assorted bread and a sweet corn and bourbon chowder, after which you can enjoy a kale salad with heirloom tomatoes, pickled red onions, and dried cranberries.
The main course features a roasted and lightly smoked turkey, baked marinated cauliflower, roasted heirloom carrots, creamy mashed Irish Cobb potatoes, bacon creamed brussels sprouts, and a walnut, giblet and wild mushroom stuffing. The stuffing contains Ontario grown walnuts and foraged morel and pheasant back mushrooms.
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“I try to keep it as local as I can,” Douglas notes. His partner Tina Bastas grows many of the vegetables and herbs used by Sper Food & Farm through her business, the Humble Herb.
“It’s her magic that grows the vegetables and herbs,” Douglas explains. “I do the grunt work for the gardens and she makes things grow.”
For dessert, Douglas offers a spiced pumpkin, maple, and local Centre & Main chocolate cheesecake.
The dinner is offered hot or cold for pickup on Sunday, October 13th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you’re serving it on Sunday you should opt for the hot dinner, but if your dinner will be on Monday go for the cold option (there are easy reheating instructions).
How do you like them apples? The Seasoned Spoon Cafe offers cider from Trent University’s own apple trees
Press your own cider at the Seasoned Spoon Cafe Cider Making Drop-in. (Photo courtesy of Seasoned Spoon Cafe)
There may be nothing more autumnal than drinking fresh-pressed cider outside, straight from the cider press.
The Seasoned Spoon Cafe (1Z7, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough Ontario, 705-748-1011 ext. 6086) is offering a Cider Making Drop-in on Wednesday, October 9th from 12 to 3 p.m. where you can do just that.
“We encourage people to come at any point during that three hours to take part in the process” says the cafe’s outreach and education coordinator Caitlin Bragg. Attendees will meet on the lawn outside the Seasoned Spoon, where they will be taught to use a hand-cranked wooden cider press to make cider from apples harvested from the Trent University campus.
“The Trent campus is actually filled with apple trees,” Caitlin notes. “It tends to be one year on and one year off that there are a lot of apples, and this year there are just apples everywhere.”
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The Seasoned Spoon has partnered with the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Society, a club where students connect with each other to learn about food issues and gain practical hands on agricultural skills. The society keeps a map of all of the apple trees on campus, and they run an event where they harvest apples from those trees to bring them to the Seasoned Spoon’s cider-pressing event.
Guests at the event will of course be welcome to drink cider, but if there is any left over it will be saved for the Seasoned Spoon’s community meal, which is happening on Wednesday, October 16th from 5 to 8 p.m..
Community meals happen at the Seasoned Spoon twice per semester, and they cook a feast featuring foods grown on campus.
“It’s an inclusive space for people to gather, share food together, and make connections on campus,” Caitlin explains.
The dinner is by donation (pay what you can).
Drop in any time during the Cider Making Drop-in on Wednesday, October 9th from 12 to 3 p.m. (Graphic courtesy of Seasoned Spoon Cafe)
Peterborough-based company Chimp Treats has rebranded its flagship Nicecream frozen dessert line, which is sold across Canada with plans to expand to Europe retailers in 2019. The new look is designed to appeal to the product's largest demographic and to focus on "Nicecream" as a unique category of frozen dessert made of 100 per cent fruit. (Photo courtesy of Chimp Treats)
businessNOW™ is the most comprehensive weekly round-up of business and organizational news and events from Peterborough and across the Kawarthas.
Every week, our managing editor collects news and events related to businesses and organizations from across the Kawarthas. If you’d like us to promote your news or event in businessNOW, please email business@kawarthanow.com.
This week’s business and organizational news features Peterborough-based Chimp Treats unveiling the new branding for its Nicecream frozen dessert line as it prepares to expand to retailers in Europe, Andy Cragg being announced as the new executive director of New Canadians Centre Peterborough, and a new home lighting and decor store called de.Kor coming to East City plaza in Peterborough this fall.
New regional business events added this week include the Northumberland Manufacturers’ Association presenting a business process efficiency workshop in Cobourg on October 9th, a free succession planning focus group and workshop for employers in Peterborough on October 15th, the Peterborough DBIA breakfast network with Sacha Lai-Svirk and Michael Gallant in Peterborough on October 16th, the Kawartha Lakes Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre hosting a marketing and social media workshop in Lindsay on October 21st, and FastStart Peterborough’s 2019 Pitch It! competition in Peterborough on October 22nd.
Peterborough-based Chimp Treats unveils new branding for its Nicecream frozen dessert line
The new look of Chimp Treats’ Nicecream frozen dessert line, designed to appeal to the product’s largest demographic: women aged 20 to 40. (Photo courtesy of Chimp Treats)
Peterborough-based Chimp Treats has unveiled new branding for its popular Nicecream frozen dessert line, the world’s first and only frozen dessert made entirely from fruit and sold all across Canada.
The original packaging for Nicecream, with its bright colours, was designed to appeal to children and to stand out from the typical packaging of other natural food products at the time. After discovering the largest demographic for Nicecream was women aged 20 to 40 and to avoid confusion about the difference between the company name and the product name, Chimp Treats decided to redesign the packaging.
Six months in the making, the graphic design for the new branding was created in-house by Chimp Treats founder and CEO Brooke Hammer.
“Over the years, we’ve learned so much about our customers and we’ve honed in our mission and values, making us realize that we can do better,” says Hammer of the decision to go from bright and loud colours to a clean and more grownup design.”
VIDEO: Chimp Treats 2019 Rebrand
“The front of the packaging didn’t drive home that Nicecream was 100 per cent fruit, so we wanted to incorporate fruit in a big way,” Hammer adds. “We are the healthiest option in the ice cream aisle, and we wanted our packaging to reflect that.”
The new packaging leaves behind the previous bright colours in favour of a more balanced palette. Chimp Treats also worked with a Canadian watercolour artist to paint the fruits featured on the packaging, and transformed the original “Nicecream” logo into a product name to distinguish it from other categories of frozen dessert such as ice cream, gelato, or sorbet, and to focus on the healthy nature of the product.
Since Hammer launched Chimp Treats in June 2017, the company has grown nationally with distribution all across Canada, including Loblaws, Sobeys, and Whole Foods Market. Chimp Treats will begin shipping to its first retailers in Europe this year.
“Now is the perfect time to implement these changes, so new countries launch with the same branding we have in Canada,” Hammer says.
Andy Cragg is the new executive director of New Canadians Centre Peterborough
Andy Cragg will begin his role as executive director of New Canadians Centre Peterborough at the end of October 2019. (Supplied photo)
The board of directors of the New Canadians Centre Peterborough (NCC) has announced the appointment of Andy Cragg as the organization’s new executive director.
Cragg, who has been very involved with the NCC for several years, served from 2014 to 2017 as chair of the Peterborough Immigration Partnership, which was formed in 2009 to advance a targeted community strategy for immigrant integration with the NCC as the lead agency.
A passionate advocate for immigration and settlement, Cragg was also the chair of the Resettlement Task Force, a working group of community agencies and stakeholders that met weekly to coordinate service delivery when Peterborough first started welcoming government-assisted refugees from Syria. He also has served on NCC’s finance committee for the past three years and is also a volunteer support group member.
Cragg holds a Master of Arts degree in Canadian studies and indigenous studies from Trent University, where he focused on Canadian immigration policy, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and political science from Dalhousie University. He is a certified project manager, a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors, and serves on the board of Alterna Savings Credit Union.
“This year the NCC is celebrating 40 years of inspiring and encouraging newcomers and this would not be possible without the dedication of staff, volunteers, community members, and partners,” Cragg says. “I am looking forward to being part of the team that builds on this impressive legacy to further the goal of a welcoming community.”
Cragg’s previous position was as director of knowledge exchange at the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health, a national network of organizations working together to achieve greater impact in improving women and children’s health around the world.
He begins his new role at NCC at the end of October 2019.
New home lighting and decor store coming to East City plaza in Peterborough
de.Kor is a new home lighting and decor store opening this fall at 97 Hunter Street East in Peterborough. It joins Black’s Distillery, Sweet Beast Butcher Shop, and Murrdog’s Craft Barbery in the East City plaza. (Photo: Bruce Head / kawarthaNOW)
A new home lighting and decor store is coming to the plaza located at the corner of Hunter Street East and Mark Street in Peterborough’s East City.
Called de.Kor, the new store is owned and operated by Karen LaRiviere, who previously worked at Bennett’s Home Furnishings. Located at 97 Hunter Street East, it is expected to open this fall.
The plaza also includes Black’s Distillery, which opened in 2018, and Sweet Beast Butcher Shop and Murrdog’s Craft Barbery, both of which opened this year.
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Northumberland Manufacturers’ Association presents business process efficiency workshop in Cobourg on October 9
The Northumberland Manufacturers’ Association and KLAR Solutions presents “Custom & Cost Effective App Solutions To Create Efficiencies” from 8 to 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 9th at Venture13 (739 D’Arcy St., Cobourg)
This free session will provide you with a glimpse at what technology can do to improve your work processes using no-code or low-code platforms. Chris Andersson from KLAR Solutions of Warkworth will provide a live demonstration of transferring data from multiple spreadsheets into relational database, improve the user interface, publish it to the web, and make the data available as a mobile app.
Business & Entrepreneurship Conference Northumberland in Cobourg on October 10
The second annual Business & Entrepreneurship Conference Northumberland takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 10th at the Best Western Plus Cobourg Inn & Convention Centre (930 Burnham St., Cobourg).
Presented by Northumberland County, Business & Entrepreneurship Centre Northumberland, Destination Ontario, and Kawarthas Northumberland, the one-day high-level business growth conference is designed to educate, motivate, and promote collaboration.
Keynote speakers include Ron Tsang on the topic “Influential Communication for Entrepreneurs” and Andrew Patrico on the topic “How to Cost and Price Your Products and Services Profitably”.
The cost is $45+HST, which includes breakfast and lunch.
Kawartha Chamber hosts Awards of Excellence and Social Gala in Lakefield on October 10
The Kawartha Chamber of Commerce & Tourism is hosting its 20th Annual Awards of Excellence and Social Gala from 6:30 to 10 p.m. on Thursday, October 10th at Lakefield College School (4391 County Rd. 29, Lakefield).
There will be a silent and live auction, light hor d’oeuvres, a cash bar, and a social hour for networking in Upper Hadden Hall before the presentation of the awards in the Bryan Jones Theatre.
IBM Lunch and Learn seminar in Cobourg on October 15
Venture13 is presenting Lunch and Learn session with Sarmad Ibrahim, Tech Evangelist at IBB, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 15th at Venture13 (739 D’Arcy St., Cobourg).
Find out about the IBM I3 program, discover IBM’s artificial intelligence, internet of things, and blockchain opportunities, network with entrepreneurs and innovators, and more.
Free succession planning focus group and workshop for employers in Peterborough on October 15
The Workforce Development Board – Local Employment Planning Council (WDB/LEPC) is presenting a free succession planning workshop and focus group for owners, managers, and directors of any type and size of business or organization in Peterborough on Tuesday, October 15th in the board room at the Peterborough Public Library (345 Aylmer St. N., Peterborough).
Through succession planning, employers can develop existing employees with leadership potential, so they are ready to be promoted to critical roles when needed so there isn’t a gap in service and organizations can save money on recruitment
Project manager Carrie Wakeford will begin the session with a focus group, where employers can share their opinions about succession planning needs and learn more about succession planning in the process. This will be followed by a practical succession planning workshop led by business coach Colleen Carruthers, who has extensive experience training business leaders. In the workshop, employers will have the opportunity to work on their business’s or organization’s own succession plan.
Two sessions are available: one from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and another from 7 to 9 p.m. To register, visit visit successionplanningptbo.eventbrite.ca.
Additional workshops/focus groups take place at the following locations and dates:
Haliburton – Thursday, October 24th at SIRCH Community Services (49 Maple Ave., Unit 4 Haliburton)
City of Kawartha Lakes – Thursday, November 21st at VCCS (370 Kent St. W. Unit 5, Lindsay)
Northumberland – Thursday, November 28th at the Business & Entrepreneurship Centre Northumberland (600 William St. Suite 700, Cobourg).
Peterborough DBIA breakfast network with Sacha Lai-Svirk and Michael Gallant in Peterborough on October 16
The Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) is hosting its next breakfast network meeting from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 16th at Empress Gardens (131 Charlotte St., Peterborough).
DBIA board members Sacha Lai-Svirk, director of digital health at Outpost379, and Michael Gallant, architect and design principal at Lett Architects, will speak aout the Smart City Challenge.
Breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m. with the guest speakers at 8 a.m.
The event is open to everyone. Tickets are $5 at the door.
Peterborough Chamber hosts 2019 Business Excellence Awards in Peterborough on October 16
Awards in 20 categories will be presented at the 2019 Business Excellence Awards at Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough. (Photo: Peterborough Chamber of Commerce)
The Peterborough Chamber of Commerce is hosting the 2019 Business Excellence Awards at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 16th at Showplace Performance Centre (290 George St. N., Peterborough).
Awards will be presented in 20 categories, including Business Citizen of the Year.
The event begins with a reception at 6:30 p.m. on the Nexicom Studio followed by the awards ceremony at 7:30 p.m. in the Erica Cherney Theatre.
Tickets are $50+HST, available at excellencepeterborough.ca/tickets. Your tickets includes one complimentary beverage and light hors d’oeuvres catered by The Imperial Tandoor.
Kawartha Lakes Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre hosts a marketing and social media workshop in Lindsay on October 21
The Kawartha Lakes Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre’s next “Business Fundamentals” workshop is on marketing and social media and takes place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, October 21st in the downstairs meeting room at the Lindsay branch of Kawartha Lakes Public Library (190 Kent St., Lindsay).
Sandy Greenberg (serial entrepreneur, established business coach, and former business advisor at Centennial College Centre of Entrepreneurship) will facilitate the workshop, which will cover topics including target marketing, how to create a brand for your business, choosing effective marketing channels, and online and offline marketing strategies.
Bring your own laptop (wi-fi access will be available) and refreshments.
Small Business Week events in Kawartha Lakes from October 21 to 25
Kawartha Lakes Small Business Week takes place the week of Monday, October 21st, culminating with the presentation of the 21st annual Kawartha Lakes Small Business Innovation Awards beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, October 25th at the Lindsay Golf & Country Club (292 Lindsay st. S. Lindsay).
Nominations are now open for the awards, which feature a first prize of $750, a second prize of $500, and a third prize of $250.
For a list of all the events during Kawartha Lakes Small Business Week and to submit a nomination for the Kawartha Lakes Small Business Innovation Awards, visit www.smallbizweek.net.
To register for Innovation Day, visit sbw_innovationday2019.eventbrite.ca. Tickets are $35 and include lunch, with the awards ceremony beginning at 1 p.m.
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Small Business Week event in Port Hope from October 21 to 25
On Tuesday, October 22nd from 9 to 10:30 a.m., the Port Hope Chamber and the Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) are offering a bus tour for local businesses and contractors. (Graphic: Port Hope Chamber)
The Port Hope & District Chamber of Commerce is presenting a series of events during Small Business Week in Port Hope the week of Monday, October 21st.
On Monday from 12 to 2 p.m., the Port Hope Chamber is hosting “Ask a Professional” at the Port Hope Town Hall Council Chambers (56 Queen St., Port Hope). At this free event, local professionals in the fields of accounting, finance, and law will be on hand to answer questions you may have about business. Professionals include John O’Keefe of O’Keefe Accounting Group, Scott McCracken of Schmidt Law Legal Services, and Adrian Pepper of the Bank of Montreal.
On Tuesday from 9 to 10:30 a.m., the Port Hope Chamber and the Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) are offering a bus tour for local businesses and contractors from a perspective of the PHAI project and cleanup. Space is limited to 18 registrants.
On Wednesday from 7:30 to 9 a.m., the Port Hope Chamber and the Business Development Bank of Canada are hosting “Women in Business” at Jack Burger Sports Complex (60 Highland Dr., Port Hope). The workshop features a presentation for local women in business from the Business Development Bank of Canada on the topic “Supporting your growing business with flexible financing and practical advice”. Light refreshments will be provided.
On Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m., the Port Hope Young Professionals group is hosting a trivia night at The Thirsty Goose (63 Walton St., Port Hope). There will be a cash prize for the winning team.
On Friday at 11 a.m., the Port Hope Chamber is hosting “Coffee Break with David Piccini” at the Port Hope Town Hall Council Chambers (56 Queen St., Port Hope). This event, open only to Chamber members, offers an opportunity to talk business with Northumberland-Peterborough MPP South David Piccini.
FastStart Peterborough hosts 2019 Pitch It! competition in Peterborough on October 22
FastStart Peterborough is hosting its fifth annual Pitch It! Competition from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 22nd in the large ground floor boardroom at VentureNorth (270 George St. N., Peterborough).
Modelled after the CBC television series Dragons’ Den, the competition will feature students from Trent University and Fleming College pitching their business ideas to a panel of judges in hopes of winning up to $350.
Disability and accessibility in the workplace information session in Lindsay on October 29
In collaboration with the Lindsay & District Chamber of Commerce and My Lindsay Downtown, the Workforce Development Board/Local Employment Planning Council is hosting “Employer Education Series – Disability & Accessibility Information Session” from 8 to 10 a.m. on Tuesday, October 29 at Days Inn & Suites by Wyndham Lindsay (134 Angeline St. S., Lindsay).
Guest speaker Barbara Condie, accessibility coordinator with the City of Kawartha Lakes, will be sharing best practices for employers to navigate the issue of disability and accessibility in the workplace. Condie has extensive experience with research and resource information, development of policies, corporate procedures, and communications pertaining to disability and accessibility.
Some of the Peterborough Regional Health Centre Foundation (PRHC) Mombassadors with a cheque for $115,504 for the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Foundation. The funds will be used to fund a new ventilator and a radiant heater/warmer for the hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. (Photo courtesy of PRHC Foundation)
In only their second year of fundraising, a group of local mothers known as the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Foundation Mombassadors have raised $115,504 to purchase lifesaving equipment for PRHC’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
The group’s original goal was to raise $70,000 in 2019, but after receiving a matching donation of $32,000 from the Liftlock Atom Hockey Tournament in the spring, the group adjusted their original target.
“The PRHC Foundation Mombassadors took on a huge goal in only our second year of $102,000,” says Mombassadors chair Marcy D’Alessandro.
“We were motivated by the continuous stories that parents would tell us of their babies using the very equipment we were trying to replace. We constantly heard about the wonderful staff of the NICU. We know without their unwavering drive for excellence in care, the community would not be so receptive in helping us achieve our ambitious goal.”
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In addition to the donation from the Liftlock Atom Hockey Tournament, support for the Mombassadors’ 2019 campaign came from a large number of local businesses, families and individuals. Several events were held throughout the year, including the group’s annual Girls Night Out event before Mother’s Day.
This year the addition of title sponsor Marketing Ink helped the Mombassadors take this year’s event to the next level through their support.
“The support of these incredible community partners allowed us to dream bigger, to surpass $100,000 this year and together make a greater impact,” says Sarah McDougall Perrin, who founded the Mombassadors group along with her sister Erin Marshall.
The Peterborough Regional Health Centre Foundation (PRHC) Mombassadors, a group of local mothers, with PRHC Foundation president and CEO Lesley Heighway (fifth from left) and representatives from the Liftlock Atom Hockey Tournament, which provided a matching donation of $32,000, allowing the Mombassadors to exceed their original fundraising goal. (Photo courtesy of PRHC Foundation)
Over 1,600 babies are born at PRHC each year. The Mombassadors’ 2019 fundraising target was designed to fund a new ventilator and a radiant heater/warmer for those babies who need extra support after birth. Through the group’s successful fundraising efforts, they will be able to fund both pieces of equipment for the hospital.
“About 23 per cent, or an average of 368 newborns a year, will need critical care in the NICU in their first moments of life,” says PRHC Foundation president and CEO Lesley Heighway, thanking the Mombassdaors group for their passion and dedication.
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“The PRHC Foundation is committed to funding the lifesaving equipment and technology that keeps both mother and baby safe and healthy,” Heighway adds. “This includes investments in heater/warmers that mimic the conditions of the womb, as well as a dedicated ventilator to help babies breathe until they can do it on their own.”
In 2018, the Mombassadors reached their first fundraising target of $35,000 in five short weeks and, as a result, funded a new electronic fetal heart monitor for PRHC.
Leather artist Jesse Bateson, owner of Solid Leather, working on one of his custom-made belts in his downtown Peterborough workshop. Unlike most off-the-shelf belts, Bateson's are 100 per cent solid leather and he also guarantees them for life. Solid Leather offers both a casual and formal line of belts in rich and classic colours, with the holes in Bateson's belts spaced closer together than other belts to provide the best possible fit. (Photo: Max Power Photography)
Leather artist Jesse Bateson has made an art form out of keeping people’s trousers up.
For over a decade, the owner of Solid Leather — which specializes in high-end leather belts — has been turning sheets of cowhide into statement pieces that exist directly at the intersection of function and style.
Sure, they hold your pants up, Bateson points out, but the right belt can be the literal centrepiece of your look and bring a dose of personality to simpler items like a pair of jeans or a plain t-shirt.
“A belt is the most practical and essential piece of fashion in a wardrobe,” Bateson says. “It’s the last thing you put on when you’re getting dressed.”
Bateson is committed to his brand promise: his belts perform far better than most you’ll find on the market — with their quality, durability, and style guaranteed.
“Most belts these days have a lot of glue, cardboard, and what-not in them,” Bateson points out. “All of my belts are 100 per cent solid leather, and I back each one up with what I call my lifetime guarantee.”
VIDEO: The Solid Leather Guarantee
(Video: Jeremy Blair Kelly / FILMkelly)This means that if your Solid Leather belt ever quits functioning, Bateson will repair or replace it for free. No strings attached, no fine print — just a quality product backed by an honest guarantee.
“I want it to be a piece that you can pass on to your grandkids,” he adds.
Bateson designs and fabricates his creations in a spacious studio in downtown Peterborough. Because no single belt will suit every occasion, Solid Leather offers a men’s casual and formal line.
Solid Leather’s casual collection offers belts that are an inch and a half wide, available in black, chocolate brown, natural tan, and burgundy. This style is best dressed down for everyday wear, but ready to punch up your look when life invites you for a well-groomed occasion.
Solid Leather’s casual collection offers belts for everyday wear that are an inch and a half wide and available in black, chocolate brown, natural tan, and burgundy. (Photo: Bryan Reid Photography)
If you’re looking for something a little more proper, Solid Leather’s formal collection offers belts that are an inch and a quarter wide and can be paired with suits or any other formal wear. This waist cincher is slim with a sleek minimalist buckle, coupled with a contemporary and elegant look. It’s available in rich, classic colours like black, chocolate brown, medium brown, tan, and burgundy.
Each belt is hand cut from a supple, vegetable-tanned, premium steer cowhide. A special blend of eco-sensible oils and dyes are applied to create a uniform colour and rich patina. The edges are then burnished for a clean, lasting finish. The hand stitching coupled with a smooth, lead-and nickel-free buckle adds a perfectly understated accent.
If you’re one of those people who poke unsightly holes in between the existing holes of your belt, which are typically an inch apart, you can set your hammer and heated nails aside. Bateson’s bespoke designs provides the convenience of precise adjustments, without sacrificing functionality or style, by providing three-quarters of an inch between each hole to offer a better fit.
For a more contemporary formal look, Solid Leather offers inch-and-a-quarter wide belts with a sleek minimalist buckle in multiple colours, ideal for pairing with a jacket, suit, or other formal wear. (Photo: Bryan Reid Photography)
Although his focus is on men’s belts, Bateson says he’s currently working on two new lines. One is a belt collection that appeals to women who like to wear belts in a variety of ways, whether it’s low on the hips with pants or high above the waist over a dress or blazer. Ladies belts are currently only offered in-person, so you’ll have to reach out directly to Bateson to buy one.
The other line is exclusive, one-of-a-kind leather satchels. Once a month, Bateson will document the satchel being created, announce the sale live on his social media feed, and sell it to the first buyer (follow his satchel designs on Instagram @solidsatchel).
“This way, I can keep the cost lower and create something on my own that’s unique,” he says.
Although Solid Leather’s current focus is on men’s belts, like this casual belt in natural tan, owner Jesse Bateson is working on two new lines: a belt collection that appeals to women and exclusive one-of-a-kind leather satchels. (Photo: Max Power Photography)
Bateson is completely self-trained in leather craft — learning the tradition, the techniques and the tools, and later using those to create his signature look, he notes.
He credits his passion for leather-making to his time travelling across the U.S. in his 20s, nearly 15 years ago, embracing the freedom of his youth and new experiences. During his time in California, he recalls meeting a man who made belts and bracelets from old jackets.
“We sat down one day talking about craft and design and that was it. I was hooked.”
He moved to Peterborough in 2005 and fondly remembers sitting on the corner of Hunter Street and George Street every Friday to sell leather bracelets he had created.
“While I was there, people got to know me and one day somebody asked me if I could make a belt,” he recalls. “I said, well that’s just a bracelet for your hips, so okay!”
The rest, as they say, is history.
Leather, he says, is a very practical, long-lasting material that’s been in demand for ages.
“If you take care of it, it will last a very long time,” he says. “The amount of creativity and the things you can do with it are kind of endless. The versatility of it, the way it ages, and the nostalgic feeling you get when you pick up something leather and know that it’s going to get broken in over time.”
Stepping into Bateson’s studio is a bit like taking a step back in time. Exposed brick lines the walls, and metal tools, work benches, and the rich scent of leather fill the space. Using a variety of tools, he sets to work, with a discerning eye trained on a strip of leather.
VIDEO: The Solid Leather Casual Collection
(Video: Jeremy Blair Kelly / FILMkelly)Much of the leather-carving process requires intense attention to detail, from start to finish: cutting the hide, tracing over it with the design, carving out the designs, shading, hammering, smoothing, dying, oiling and sewing.
But like any art, leathercraft requires an intuition too, Bateson says.
“My brand is a lot about who I am, my values, and being a solid human being.”
You can find Bateson showcasing his talent at Peterborough’s First Friday Art Crawl and the indoor farmers’ market at Peterborough Square in November and December.
Solid Leather’s belts, such as this formal black leather belt with a chrome buckle, can be purchased online or by appointment. (Supplied photo)
Solid Leather is located at 2 Bankers Common in downtown Peterborough. Purchases can be made online or by appointment only. For more information, call 705-931-2242 or email jesse@solidleather.com. To browse and shop online, visit solidleather.com (Solid Leather offers free shipping within North America).
Canadian-born folk-rock singer and songwriter Steve Poltz brings his quirky personality and large catalog of original songs to Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough on October 19, 2019. (Photo: Laura Partain)
Upon answering his phone in Nashville, Steve Poltz is immediately suspicious.
“I want people to feel on guard when they call me, like they could be bugging me,” he explains, the seriousness of his tone masking the fun he’s clearly having with his caller. “And I have a lot of bill collectors and various police organizations after me. I’ve also done a lot of bad things in Canada, so I just always act at first like I’m not me.”
Market Hall presents Steve Poltz
When: Saturday, October 19, 2019 at 8 p.m. Where: Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte St. E, Peterborough) How much: $35 including fees
Cabaret table seats are assigned, with the remainder of the seats general admission. Tickets are available at the Market Hall box office, by phone at 705-749-1146, or online at markethall.org.
The Halifax-born and now Nashville-based folk-rock singer-songwriter clearly dances to the beat of a different drummer — his satirical take on the world, and where we all fit in it, anchoring a huge part of his persona.
But there’s talent too: a lot of talent rooted in a musical gift that has seen him record 12 solo albums and perform for audiences around the globe.
On Saturday, October 19th, Poltz will headline at the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte St. Peterborough). Tickets are $35 including fees, available at the Market Hall box office, by phone at 705-749-1146, or online at markethall.org.
“Hopefully people will just show up and take a chance because if they see me, good things will happen to them,” says Poltz.
“People who see me usually win the lottery or fall in love or lose whatever disease they have. Plus they’ll hear some cool music as an aside. There have been a lot of songs over the years, so it’s fun to just kind of come up with some sort of semblance of order.”
VIDEO: “Shine On” – Steve Poltz
“But I can be really horrible one night and the next night really good,” he deadpans. “Maybe when I’m in Peterborough I’ll be horrible, but the night before in Meaford I’ll be good. Buy tickets to both. One of them will suck, so you’ve got a 50-50 chance.”
Having moved to California from Halifax with his family (he’s a dual Canadian-American citizen), Poltz has no doubt how things would have turned out differently for him if he stayed on this side of the border.
“I’d probably be a nicer person if I had stayed in Canada,” assesses Poltz. “When I go to Canada, and especially to the Maritimes, people will stop if you’re five feet from the intersection. They see you’re going to be crossing the street and they’ll stop. If you’re behind that car, you’re like ‘Are you kidding me?'”
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“People are much more genteel and more patient in Canada. I think that might have to do with it being more of a socialist country … we all deserve to have health care and we’re going to take care of each other.”
“Here (in the U.S.) it’s more like ‘I got mine. Good luck with yours.’ It’s more dog eat dog. But there’s something good about that too. The government isn’t going to give you any money to make your art, so you’ve got to get by on your own two feet.”
It was at the University of San Diego in the early 1980s that Poltz, a political science major, befriended Robert Driscoll. Performing as a duo, they played coffeehouses before forming the nucleus of The Rugburns.
VIDEO: “Ballin’ On A Wednesday” – Steve Poltz
The band stayed together long enough to record two studio albums and an EP — their witty, funny, and outright bizarre lyrics and stage personas earning them a solid local and national cult following.
“I liked the idea if you’re playing on stage you can do anything, so we’d bring in an eight-track player and play eight-tracks during our break,” recalls Poltz.
“At midnight we’d make everyone cinnamon toast. We bought a bunch of toasters at thrift stores. Rob would say ‘Why?’ and I’d say ‘Why not?'”
“We’d buy coats and hats and make everybody wear something weird. It was creating a tribe, a sense of community, with the main goal being to have fun. It really affected my outlook because it was a do-it-yourself ethos. That kept me really creative.”
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It was at one of those coffeehouses that Poltz befriended Jewel Kilcher. A barista at Java Joe’s in the San Diego suburb of Poway at the time, she would go on to become a four-time Grammy Award-nominated singer with, as of 2015, album sales in excess of 30 million. In 1996, she recorded the single “You Were Meant For Me”, co-written with Poltz. The song was a major chart hit both in Canada and the United States.
“That was crazy,” says Poltz of the good fortune their collaboration brought. “You just never know when that’s going to happen.”
With 12 solo albums to his credit — bookended by One Left Shoe in 1998 and Shine On released just this year — Poltz is a prolific songwriter. Still, he admits to a preference for live performance because “it’s so current”, and he’s thrilled to now be rooted in Nashville where Shine On was recorded.
VIDEO: “You Were Meant For Me” – Jewel with Steve Poltz
“I’m still trying to make a really great record. Living in Nashville, there are so many opportunities to do that. Shine On was a great first record to make in Nashville. It gets me excited for the future.”
That future includes a four-week tour of Australia starting in November and dates booked well into 2020, as well as a new record project. But for now, all roads lead to Market Hall and Peterborough — a place Poltz is familiar with thanks in no small way to a Lakefield resident who regularly hosts by-invitation-only music concerts at his home and in his neighbouring barn.
“I met a crazy dude named Roger Glover on a cruise ship and that’s what brought me to Peterborough,” says Poltz.
“I played a cruise called Cayamo. I did it with John Prine, Patti Griffin … it’s always a different group of people. Roger had a suite on the boat and I ended up in his suite playing guitar with other musicians. He said ‘I do shows in my house and also in my barn. Would you want to come up and do a show?’ So I came up. He must have had two hundred some people in his barn. He said ‘Let’s do the next one at Market Hall’.”
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An unabashed fan, Glover notes Poltz has performed at his home five times, including at a 50th birthday gig for his wife.
“His imagination is unbelievable,” raves Glover. “He’s a total character with a magnetic personality. And he’s hugely talented, one of the best guitar players I’ve ever seen, picking his acoustic guitar like lightning. Sort of like John Prine, he can write very serious and he can write very funny.”
As if that endorsement isn’t over-the-top enough, Glover promises “You will never miss another Steve Poltz show if you go to this one.”
VIDEO: “Hey God I’ll Trade You Donald Trump For Leonard Cohen” – Steve Poltz
For his part, Poltz assures his Peterborough audience that they are “going to smile and have fun”, if for no other reason than that is exactly what he’ll be doing from the stage.
His bio, as bios do, describes him in glowing terms but one word — twisted — jumps off the page.
“I think people like using that word to describe me, whatever twisted means,” Poltz says. “My girlfriend just said she’d add ridiculous.”
Recalling his abrupt departure from a well-paying corporate job in 1988 and a subsequent trek to Europe where he busked on city streets, Poltz is a big believer in the creation of new opportunities and the ability of everyone to do that.
Steve Poltz has released 12 studio albums, from “One Left Shoe” in 1998 to “Shine On” in 2019. In 1994, he co-wrote the hit song “You Were Meant for Me” with Jewel for her debut album “Pieces of You”. (Photo: Laura Partain)
“Anybody reading this article can make a change tomorrow, like ‘I’m just going to move. I don’t like what’s happening in my life right now,'” he affirms.
“There’s a like a sliding glass door in your mind. If you open that and step through into a different reality, you can make and manifest a new destiny. We get weighed down by the character we have created.”
Reflecting on his own path — a paying-his-dues journey highlighted by more twists and turns than he can count — Poltz is grateful that, as he nears age 60, he is still doing what he clearly loves to do.
“It’s been a great ride,” he assesses. “I can’t believe I still get to do this, and this is how I get to make a living. It’s crazy.”
For more information on Steve Poltz, visit poltz.com.
Kevin Lemieux as Melchior and Alessandra Ferreri as Wendla in a promotional photo for Cordwainer Productions' "Spring Awakening", a Broadway rock musical that tells the story of a group of teenagers dealing with the turbulent emotions of their burgeoning sexuality in late 19th-century Germany. The production debuts at the Courthouse Theatre in Whitby on October 18 and 19 before running at the Market Hall in Peterborough from October 24 to 26, 2019. (Photo: Samantha Moss / MossWorks Photography)
This October, Cordwainer Productions brings back one of the most provocative musicals produced in Peterborough with their revival of Spring Awakening.
Cordwainer Productions presents Spring Awakening
When: Thursday, October 24 to Saturday, October 26, 2019 at 8 p.m. Where: Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte St. E., Peterborough) How much: $28 ($23 students) or $20 group rate for 10 or more (all prices include fees)
Based a play by Frank Wedekind with music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Directed by Dane Shumak with musical direction by Justin Hiscox and choreography by Elizabeth Moody. Starring Kevin Lemieux as Melchior, Ryan Hancock as Moritz, Carl Christensen as Hanschen, Drew Mills as Ernst, Rowan Lamoureux as Georg, Joseph Roper as Otto, Alessandra Ferreri as Wendla, Kalene Lupton as Ilse, Caitlin Currie as Martha, Sarah Hancock as Anna, and Aimee Gordon as Thea, with Keith Goranson and Meg O’Sullivan performing multiple adult roles. Tickets are available at the Market Hall box office, by phone at 705-749-1146, or online at markethall.org. Note: not recommended for audiences under 14 years of age.
Directed by Dane Shumak with musical direction by Justin Hiscox, the rock musical features an incredible cast of performers — fronted by Kevin Lemieux, Alessandra Ferreri, and Ryan Hancock — in a show that challenges audiences and has the potential to start potent conversations about difficult subjects such as sex, consent, abuse, and mental health.
Spring Awakening is a show with a long history filled with controversy, but has become one of the biggest cult hits in modern Broadway history.
The musical is based on the 1891 play by German playwright Frank Wedekind, a cutting criticism of sexual repression told from the perspective of a group of young teenagers discovering their budding sexuality and exploring a plethora of taboo subjects including sex, revolution, abuse, masturbation, atheism, homosexuality, rape, S&M, abortion, and death.
Incredibly advanced for its time, the original production opened in 1906 but, needless to say, society wasn’t yet ready for the show’s message — it was immediately shut down after a single performance.
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An English translation was brought to New York City in 1917, where it was deemed by officials to be pornographic and also only saw a single performance before having its run prematurely ended.
A failed heavily-censored revival of the show was attempted in London in 1963 and again in New York in 1978, but it wasn’t until 2006 — when it was turned into a rock musical with music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater — that the show finally found its audience. An immediate hit with New York teenagers who flooded the Eugene O’Neill Theatre to see it, Spring Awakening was the surprise hit of the year and won eight Tony awards, including for best musical, and the original cast album won a Grammy award.
It was difficult not to feel a bit nostalgic when I sat with Dane Shumak at a Sunday afternoon rehearsal at Trail College. I first met Dane when he directed Spring Awakening for the Anne Shirley Theatre Company — the student-run theatre group at Trent University — in 2014. At the time, he was a 20-year-old first-time director filled with passion and big ideas, and I was in my first year of writing for kawarthaNOW.
In Cordwainer Productions’ “Spring Awakening”, Drew Mills plays Ernst and Carl Christensen plays Hanschen, two characters who are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to being comfortable with their sexuality. (Photo: Samantha Moss / MossWorks Photography)
Now, in 2019, we were back together — older and wiser and talking about Spring Awakening all over again, but having a very different type of conversation about it.
“Spring Awakening is a timely show,” Dane sayss. “The play was originally written and set in 1891. It was so ahead of its time that it was banned until 1970 because it dealt with homosexuality, abortion, mental health issues, oppression and sex education. In 1890, (playwright) Frank Wedekind realized they were not doing a good enough job with all of these things.”
“But here we sit in 2019, having protests in the streets of Toronto about sex and sexuality, an Ontario provincial government that is rolling back our sex education curriculum, and all across the world there is a lack of resources for reproduction and abortion care.”
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“Lack of sexual education and care costs people their lives in the show,” Dane says. “There is a character who kills himself because people don’t know how to talk to him. We are sitting here, 130 years after this show was written, and we still haven’t figured it out. As far as we think we’ve come, we haven’t. So we are using this show to continue the conversation in our own way.”
“When we did Spring Awakening in 2014, some of these conversations had stalled, or were in the background of people’s minds, and now their back at the forefront. The more we can do to talk about these issues in an assessable way I think is important.”
Wendla, played by Alessandra Ferreri, is a sweet and naive girl with limited knowledge of adult issues. She has a sexual relationship with the knowledgeable and rebellious Melchior, played by Kevin Lemieux. (Photo: Samantha Moss / MossWorks Photography)
Reprising their roles from the 2014 production are Kevin Lemieux as the show’s central character Melchior, and Ryan Hancock as his neurotic friend Moritz. The pair is joined by Alessandra Ferreri as the curious and naïve ingénue Wendla. With all three actors located in the GTA and Durham region, they have been carpooling to Peterborough on weekends to bring this potent drama to life.
“We have a lot of drives to and from rehearsal, but we use that time to really dive into this play because there is so much to talk about,” Alessandra says.
“For instance, if you change the inflection of your voice in one line, it changes the approach to the scene and these characters. And because none of them are heroes or villains, there is so much gray area with this show, and trying to figure out all the sides is part of the fun. My dream scenario is that people will leave and have conversations in the car with their family.”
“There is so much going on in this play that so many people can pull so much from it,” Kevin adds.
“There are so many things that people have dealt with during their life, especially when they were teenagers,” Alessandra continues. “It’s nice to do the show as adults, so we can reflect back to being teenagers and not actually be in the mix of those feelings while you are trying to figure them out.”
“But so many themes don’t just apply to teenagers,” Ryan points out. “Have you ever lost someone, or been sad or depressed, or been in sexual situations that made you uncomfortable? All of these are universal themes that are relevant to not just teenagers. I think anyone who sees it will connect with it in some way.”
“The subject matter might be traumatic for some people. So that means, for all of us, that we need to take so much care with so much character because we don’t know how much someone can be impacted by seeing this show. You have to respect that. There is so much responsibility.”
“The rehearsal space is a safe space, because there is so much sensitivity that we are trying to bring to these characters,” says Alessandra. “They’re not one note, ever. They are very layered and they have a lot of wants and needs and desires that are convoluted even for them. So layering those performances is a very complicated and challenging thing to do.”
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What the cast says is true. Invited to sit in on a rehearsal of the first act of the show, I was in awe of an amazing cast of familiar favourites and new faces in a provocative and high-energy performance filled with spirited musical numbers and raw emotions. In six years the meaning of the show has changed, and the maturity of the direction and the performers have made this show even stronger.
Although the show doesn’t hit the stage until October 18th, the Spring Awakening cast is already tight, and the musical numbers are flawless under the direction of Justin Hiscox.
“Wait till you hear the music,” Dane exclaims. “I alternate from having goosebumps, to screaming ‘Yeah!’, to crying. When a harmony is right, there is something in the room that rings. They get it right every single time, and you just hear it ring.”
The cast of “Spring Awakening” (from left to right, top to bottom): Kevin Lemieux as Melchior, Alessandra Ferreri as Wendla, Ryan Hancock as Moritz, Caitlin Currie as Martha, Drew Mills as Ernst, Sarah Hancock as Anna, Rowan Lamoureux as Georg, Carl Christensen as Hanschen, Joseph Roper as Otto, and Aimee Gordon as Thea. Not pictured: Kalene Lupton as Ilse, and Keith Goranson and Meg O’Sullivan who play multiple adult roles. (Photos: Samantha Moss / MossWorks Photography)
Spring Awakening is a bold show that deals with difficult and potentially triggering subject matter. It is powerful but beautiful, and most of all very honest and real. In 2014, I wrote that Spring Awakening is not for everyone, but Dane has different feelings on that statement.
“I think that the first instinct is to say that Spring Awakening is not a show for everybody, but that’s not right,” he explains. “I think this is not just a show for everybody, but it’s a show everybody should see. It’s time that we stop being afraid to acknowledge that teenagers have sex, because we know they do. The sooner, as a society, that we wake up to that and talk to them about it in an honest way, the sooner we can help them make healthier choices. It’s time.”
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Spring Awakening will be performed in Peterborough at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte St. E., Peterborough) from Thursday, October 24th to Saturday, October 26th. Tickets are $28 ($23 for students). There is also a group rate of $20 per person for groups of 10 or more. Tickets are available at the Market Hall box office, by phone at 705-749-1146, or online at markethall.org. Performances starts at 8 p.m.
Additionally, the company will be performing Spring Awakening in Whitby on Friday, October 18th and Saturday, October 19th at the Whitby Centennial Building (416 Centre St. S., Whitby). Tickets are $25 plus fees (with the $20 group rate also available). Advance tickets are available via Eventbrite.
Note: Spring Awakening deals with mature themes and is not recommended for audiences under 14 years of age.
Land conservation organization Kawartha Land Trust, which is already protecting two properties in the Fleetwood Creek watershed including the Ballyduff Trails (McKim-Garsonnin property) pictured above, wants to partner with private landowners to further protect the area's biodiversity and water quality. (Photo courtesy of Kawartha Land Trust)
Kawartha Land Trust — the only charity and non-government land conservation organization working to protect land in the Kawarthas — is looking to partner with more private landowners in the Fleetwood Creek watershed to conserve the area’s biodiversity and water quality.
The expanse of the Fleetwood Creek watershed. (Map courtesy of Kawartha Land Trust)
The Fleetwood Creek watershed is located in the southeastern portion of the Kawartha watershed. The creek begins just north of Pontypool Road southeast of Manvers, with about half of it falling within the Oak Ridges Moraine.
It then extends north, combining with the Pigeon River, and finally flows into the Trent-Severn Waterway near Omemee.
This connected landscape, featuring lowland forests, hardwood bush, wetlands, meadows, and steep valleys, is on a mix of privately and publicly protected lands along with private land stewardship.
The watershed encompasses the Fleetwood Creek Natural Area as well as two properties protected by Kawartha Land Trust: Sheidow Farm – Awde-Ertel and Ballyduff Trails – McKim-Garsonnin.
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The Fleetwood Creek watershed is significant because it has an outstanding amount of connected natural land, making for an intact wildlife corridor and contributing to climate change resilience, as well as excellent water quality — making it one of the best opportunities in the Kawarthas to improve habitat quality of cold water streams for species like Brook trout.
The Fleetwood Creek watershed has an outstanding amount of connected natural land, making for an intact wildlife corridor and contributing to climate change resilience. (Photo courtesy of Kawartha Land Trust)
While many private landowners in the area have already been caring for and enhancing their land on their own for decades, over the past year Kawartha Land Trust has been working with landowners through its Fleetwood Creek Watershed Initiative.
For landowners whose properties have been identified as having significant conservation value, Kawartha Land Trust has been conducting landscape analysis to deepen landowners’ understanding of the natural features on their property, assisting with land stewardship planning, advancing enhancement, and connecting landowners with other available resources.
Since Kawartha Land Trust launched the initiative in 2018, 10 landowners have already participated — allowing the organization to protect an additional 1,000 acres of ecologically significant land, improving aquatic connectivity and habitat diversity.
The streams and creeks in Fleetwood Creek watershed are one of the best opportunities in the Kawarthas to improve habitat quality of cold water streams for species like Brook trout. (Photo courtesy of Kawartha Land Trust)
Some of the projects underway or completed include managing invasive plants to protect forest biodiversity and planting native tall grass prairies and wildflower meadows to enhance pollinator habitat.
Kawartha Land Trust is inviting landowners in the Fleetwood Creek watershed to attend an event about the Fleetwood Creek Watershed Initiative at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 24th at the Bethany Community Hub (3 George St., Bethany).
The event includes presentations from 7 to 8 p.m. — including on the significance of the Fleetwood Creek watershed, how some area landowners are caring for and restoring their land, and Kawartha Land Trust’s Stewardship on Private Lands program — followed by a “map your property” and question-and-answer session until 8:30 p.m.
Wetlands in the Fleetwood Creek watershed. (Photo courtesy of Kawartha Land Trust)
While the event is intended for landowners in the Fleetwood Creek watershed, anyone who wants to learn more about the Fleetwood Creek watershed is welcome to attend.
Winnipeg-based country-roots singer-songwriter Sean Burns performs with Ryan 'Skinny' Dyck at The Garnet on Saturday, October 5th, with special guests Diamond Dave & The Smoke Eaters. (Photo: Gabriel Thaine)
Every Thursday, we publish live music and performance events at pubs and clubs in Peterborough and The Kawarthas based on information that venues provide to us directly or post on their website or social media channels. Here are the listings for the week of Thursday, October 3 to Wednesday, October 9.
If you’re a pub or club owner and want to be included in our weekly listings, please email our Nightlife Editor at nightlife@kawarthanow.com.
Saturday, October 19 12:30-4pm - PMBA Deluxe Blues Jam hosted by Water St Slim & the Unlikely Heroes (donations welcome, all proceeds to musicians in need)
Fiddler's Green Pub & Grub
34 Lindsay St. St., Lindsay
(705) 878-8440
Saturday, October 5
8pm - Hitcher
Sunday, October 6
1-5pm - Bill Dickinson
Coming Soon
Friday, October 11 9pm - Karaoke
Saturday, October 19 1-4pm - Celtic Jam; 9pm - Tungsten
Saturday, October 26 9pm - Halloween Party ft Identity Crysis
Ganarascals Restaurant
53 Walton St., Port Hope
905-885-1888
Coming Soon
Friday, October 11 7:30pm - Steve Marriner ($20, call 905-885-1888 or email to reserve)
Ganaraska Hotel
30 Ontario St., Port Hope
(905) 885-9254
Friday, October 4
8pm - Oktoberfest Party ft Washboard Hank and the Gesundheits ($20 at door)
Saturday, October 5
2pm & 10pm - Blueprint
Coming Soon
Friday, October 11 8pm - Good Enough Live Karaoke ($20)
Saturday, October 12 2pm & 10pm - Straight Shooter
The Garnet
231 Hunter St. W., Peterborough
(705) 874-0107
Thursday, October 3
9pm - I, the Mountain w/ RedFox (PWYC)
Friday, October 4
9pm - Little Fire, The Watched Pots
Saturday, October 5
9pm - Sean Burns and Skinny Dyck w/ Diamond Dave & The Smoke Eaters ($10 at the door)
VIDEO: "Lonesome Again" - Sean Burns with Skinny Dyck
Sunday, October 6
8pm - On The Cinder, Mad Murdocks, Avem
Monday, October 7
8pm - St. Arnaud, Posy Jay
Coming Soon
Thursday, October 10 7-9pm - Klarka Weinwurm and Lester Slade; 10pm - Wrecker, Cold Tea, Housepanther ($10)
Friday, October 11 8pm - This is a Crisis, Puttin' on the Foil, The Bayside Dropouts ($10 or PWYC)
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Golden Wheel Restaurant
6725 Highway 7, Peterborough
(705) 749-6838
Coming Soon
Saturday, October 19 9pm - Them Crooked Craigs
Friday, October 25 7pm - Rye Street ($25 dinner and music)
All three school boards serving the Kawarthas have now announced that schools will be closed on Monday (October 7) if the strike announced for that day by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) goes ahead, with the third school board still evaluating the need for closures.
The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington (PVNC) Catholic District School Board, the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, and the Trillium Lakelands District School Board made separate announcements on Thursday (October 3) about the potential closures.
On Thursday, Trillium Lakelands had not yet made a decision to close schools, but subsequently announced on Friday (October 4) that all of its schools would also be closed if the strike goes ahead.
The three school boards, which collectively serve about 63,000 students in the Kawarthas and surrounding area, are encouraging parents to begin making alternate childcare arrangements in case the strike goes ahead on Monday.
The school boards state the primary reason for closing schools is for student safety, citing factors such as supervision of students, arrival processes, special education programming, medical supports and care of all students, safe operation of water and sanitation systems, conditions of school buildings and classrooms, and overall safety and security.
Should a new provincial agreement be reached over the weekend, schools will open as usual.
PVNC is posting labour relations updates on its website at www.pvnccdsb.on.ca and on Twitter @PVNCCDSB. KPR is posting updates on its website at www.kprschools.ca and on Twitter @kprschools. Trillium Lakelands is posting updates on its website at tldsb.ca and on Twitter @tldsb. The school boards will also be communicating updates directly to families through their school messenger systems.
PVNC oversees 30 Catholic elementary schools and six Catholic secondary schools with more than 15,000 students, KPR oversees 73 elementary public schools and 13 secondary schools with around 32,000 students, and Trillium Lakelands has 41 elementary schools and seven secondary schools with around 16,000 students. Adult and alternate education centres operated by the school boards will also be closed if the strike goes ahead.
The school boards employ CUPE members representing support staff such as custodians, maintenance staff, secretaries, educational assistants, early childhood educators, learning commons specialists, paraprofessionals, central IT employees, and more.
kawarthaNOW.com offers two enews options to help readers stay in the know. Our VIP enews is delivered weekly every Wednesday morning and includes exclusive giveaways, and our news digest is delivered daily every morning. You can subscribe to one or both.
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