As New Year’s Day is a statutory holiday in Ontario, all government-operated offices and services are closed or unavailable on these days. All liquor and beer stores are closted. Most businesses — including malls, box stores, and grocery stores — are also closed on New Year’s Day. Many businesses also close early on New Year’s Eve.

For your convenience, we provide this list of holiday hours for 260 selected businesses, services, and organizations across the Kawarthas. This information comes from their websites and social media accounts, which may or may not be up to date, so please always call them first to confirm their hours, especially where indicated and if you are travelling any distance (we’ve included phone numbers).

If your business or organization is listed and the hours are incorrect, please let us know by using our content feedback form. Note: We do not include hours for restaurants, as there are far too many to list!

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Beer & Liquor Stores

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Veterinary Clinics

Fenelon Falls resident Renate Hauswirth is going to have a very, very Merry Christmas and a very, very Happy New Year.

She won the the guaranteed $1 million prize in the December 14th Lotto 6/49 draw.

“I’ve been playing for over 30 years,” Hauswirth said while at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto to pick up her cheque.

The 76-year-old retiree, a mother of one, was shocked when she discovered her big win.

“I had to check my ticket a couple of times to believe it!”

She plans to use her winnings to travel across Canada and to go to Portugal.

Hauswirth purchased her winning ticket at Fenelon Discount on Colborne Street in Fenelon Falls.

Kim Dolan is the new executive director of YWCA Peterborough Haliburton, effective February 3rd.

She replaces Lynn Zimmer, who retired from the organization on November 30th after 35 years.

Dolan has been executive director of PARN – Your Community AIDS Resource Network for the past 13 years, where she helped build a framework for strengthening the local response to HIV and Hepatitis C.

Prior to joining PARN, Dolan worked at YWCA Crossroads Shelter and other YWCA programs. She has also been involved with the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH) and Women’s Resources Kawartha Lake.

“When I joined the YWCA in 1989 as a Crossroads shelter counsellor, I had no idea how transformational the journey of working with, for and on behalf of women would be,” Dolan says. “The foundations of my feminist, trauma-informed approach to addressing inequities are built on those experiences of working with women at YWCA, my continued involvement with OAITH and throughout my time as shelter and outreach coordinator at Women’s Resources Kawartha Lakes.

A media release from YWCA Peterborough Haliburton announcing the appointment states that Dolan is a thoughtful and visionary leader with deep connections to the community and the feminist movement, is passionate about social justice, and knows what it means to help empower the disenfranchised to find their voice.

“Kim truly embodies the values of the YWCA and will most certainly carry on our mission to achieve gender equality,” says YWCA board president Neera Jeyabalan. “We are very pleased to be welcoming her back to the YWCA.”

YWCA Peterborough Haliburton is part of YWCA Canada, the country’s oldest and largest women’s multi-service organization that strives to strengthen women and girls’ equality, allowing them to see themselves as empowered and engaged.

YWCA Peterborough Haliburton’s programs include the Crossroads Shelter for women and children fleeing abuse, a 24-hour support and crisis line, outreach support services, family court support, START (Support Team for Abuse Response Today), Nourish, Homeward Bound Peterborough, youth engagement, education awards for abuse survivors, Centennial Crescent second stage housing community, Women’s Centre of Haliburton County, and the Haliburton Emergency Rural SafeSpace.

“I am excited to be returning to YWCA Peterborough Haliburton and imagine that I will be as excited and nervous to walk through the doors of 216 Simcoe Street as I was at the beginning of this full circle journey,” Dolan says.

“I look forward to working alongside the women who respond to the needs of women in our community and lead change by inviting difficult conversations that illuminate barriers and result in solutions.”

The emergency department at Ross Memorial Hospital has re-opened as of Thursday morning (December 19) following a flooding incident on Wednesday night due to burst heating coils.

According to the hospital, at 6:20 p.m. on Wednesday evening, there were 37 patients in the emergency department when water began spraying down from the ceiling. Hospital staff immediately evacuated patients to the main lobby and to other care areas in the hospital.

Members of the local fire department, who were already on site helping with another issue, assisted hospital staff in containing the flooding and minimizing damage.

The emergency department was closed during the incident, with members of the public with non-threatening health issues being advised to go to their nearest alternate hospital.

Paramedics were also on site and notified local long-term care homes and other community partners of the incident. Two ambulances were on standby at the hospital to support patients who required urgent transport.

Throughout the evening, as many as four patients were diverted to Peterborough Regional Health Centre, one pediatric patient was transferred, and 21 ambulatory patients walked in and were treated.

Initial investigation into the cause of the flooding points to a fault in the heating system that shut off the pre-heat controls within the air handling units, causing extremely cold air to circulate and freeze the heating coils. This ultimately caused them to burst, flooding the majority of the emergency department.

Engineers were at the hospital on Thursday morning to assess the heating system.

“Many of our team members came onsite, and those who were at the hospital stayed to assist, and together we worked to reopen our emergency department this morning,” the hospital states in a media release.

“It is comforting to know we have incredible first responders available within our community, and the Hospital team sincerely thanks them, our community and neighbouring hospitals for their support.”

Environment Canada has issued an extreme cold warning for Peterborough and Kawarthas Lakes for Wednesday (December 18) into Thursday morning.

On Wednesday afternoon and evening, there will be a wind chill of -23°C, dropping to -30°C overnight.

On Thursday, there will be a wind chill of -30°C in the morning and -17°C in the afternoon.

Drop-in hours for the One Roof Community Centre (99 Brock St. Peterborough) will be extended on Wednesday and Thursday to provide daytime shelter from the cold. Instead of normal operating hours of 12 to 7 p.m., hours will be extended to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Frostbite can develop within minutes on exposed skin, especially with wind chill. When heading outside, cover up.

Extreme cold puts everyone at risk. Watch for cold-related symptoms including shortness of breath, chest pain, muscle pain and weakness, and numbness and colour change in fingers and toes.

Temperatures will warm up on Friday with a high of -5°C, and will head above freezing by Sunday and into next week.

On Tuesday night (December 17), the 100 Women Peterborough group capped off a year of collective philanthropy by raising more than $10,000 in under one hour for the Lakefield Animal Welfare Society.

At the group’s fourth and final fundraising event of 2019, held in the lobby of the VentureNorth building in downtown Peterborough, three organizations — Lakefield Animal Welfare Society (LAWS), Greater Peterborough Health Services Foundation, and Peterborough Children’s Chorus — made their cases to the group on why they should receive a donation.

Well before the meeting, the three organizations were randomly drawn from a larger list of organizations nominated by members of 100 Women Peterborough, who commit to donate $100 dollars at each of the four events hosted throughout the year. All of the funds raised by the membership are donated to four non-profit organizations determined by the membership throughout the year.

At Tuesday night’s meeting, LAWS manager Janet Evans and past chair Mary Power presented on behalf of the organization, a non-profit charity established in 1992 by a group of women with a goal of rescuing stray, injured, and abused animals in the Lakefield area. The shelter, which maintains a “no-kill” policy, works very hard to find homes for even the most difficult-to-place animals.

After hearing the presentation, as well as those from the other two organizations, 100 Women Peterborough members held a majority vote and selected LAWS to receive the donation.

“I am speechless, overwhelmed, humbled, and thankful to be recognized by 100 Women Peterborough,” Evans said after LAWS was chosen.

LAWS, which runs on donations, memberships, and adoption fees, does not receive government or private sector funding. The organization is able to help hundreds of animals a year through their programs.

“We get a number of animals that come in requiring more intensive treatment,” Power explained. “For example, an animal who needs an emergency leg amputation or a kitten who needs an eye removed. We have decided to create a special fund called the Second Chance Fund which will allow us to ask veterinarians to do emergency surgery. If we didn’t have this funding, a dog could potentially be euthanized.”

To date, 100 Women Peterborough has collectively donated around $100,000 to eight local organizations: Hospice Peterborough, Peterborough Youth Unlimited, One Roof Warming Room, New Canadians Centre, Cameron House, Five Counties Children’s Centre, Casa De Angelae, and Lakefield Animal Welfare Society.

100 Women Peterborough was founded in February 2018 by Terry, Catia Skinner, Wendy Hill, and Alyssa Stewart, who were inspired by similar groups in other communities.

“The organizers are so excited to wrap up another incredible year,” Hill says. “We are very lucky to have an incredible community of women come together to support organizations such as the Lakefield Animal Welfare Society — we are making a difference.”

The concept of collective philanthropy began in the United States in November 2006, when Karen Dunigan of Michigan formed the “100 Women Who Care” group. After their first meeting, the women raised over $10,000 for the purchase of 300 new baby cribs for a local organization.

The movement has grown over the past 13 years to include almost 100 chapters in North America, including at least 15 in Canada.

Women who interested in joining 100 Women Peterborough should visit www.100womenptbo.ca for more information.

Environment Canada has issued a winter weather travel advisory for Lindsay and southern Kawartha Lakes for overnight on Tuesday (December 17).

Snow squalls are possible overnight into Wednesday morning as strong winds help snow bands penetrate far inland from Georgian Bay.

Travel may be hazardous at times due to heavy and blowing snow reducing visibility and rapidly changing conditions. Local snowfall amounts of near 10 cm will be possible by late Wednesday morning when the squalls move out of the region.

Although the travel advisory has only been issued for Kawartha Lakes, there is also a risk of snow squalls in Peterborough, Haliburton, and Hastings counties, with snowfall amounts of 2 cm.

After the snow squalls move of the region, the temperature will fall to -13°C on Wednesday afternoon, with gusty winds resulting in a wind chill of -24°C. On Wednesday night, the temperature will fall to -21°C, with a wind chill of -28°C and a risk of frostbite.

With extreme cold in the forecast, drop-in hours for the One Roof Community Centre (99 Brock St. Peterborough) will be extended on Wednesday and Thursday to provide daytime shelter from the cold. Instead of normal operating hours of 12 to 7 p.m., hours will be extended to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.