Few people can use their own tough times to comedic effect as well as Deborah Kimmett.

During some turbulent times in her life, notably giving birth to a premature baby and witnessing her brother battle cancer, the Toronto-based comedian turned to playwriting and humour as emotional medicine.

Dealing with those moments through a comedic lens was a necessary prescription to stay resilient in the face of life’s challenges, Kimmett says.

“My daughter was born prematurely. The medicine that was available then wasn’t the same [as it is today], so I turned to writing and wrote a play out of my own heartbreak of having to be a mom of a premature baby — but it ended up being really funny as well.”

That play, Miracle Mother, was written in 1984 and earned her national recognition and a nomination for the Governor General’s Award in 1995.

More recently, Kimmett wrote her acclaimed monologue The Year of the Suddenly, based on her relationship with her younger brother, who she only got to know after he was diagnosed with cancer. She has toured the show throughout Ontario since its debut at Toronto’s Second City in June 2017.

She has been able to turn her stories into something she can share and, as it turns out, something that can help others heal. It’s her ability to use humour as a valuable tool in the best and worst of times that has allowed Kimmett to make others laugh on the national circuit for four decades.

Having spent most of her young life being told that she was funny, the Napanee native moved to Toronto in her early twenties to enrol in a Second City improv class, which eventually turned into a new career path for the comedian.

“After I took the [improv] class, I got hired very quickly to work at Second City. I was there for a few years performing onstage. I started writing and creating my own material and doing stand-up using my own stories throughout the years.”

VIDEO: “That Which Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Funnier” – Deborah Kimmett

Kimmett then begun teaching at the mecca of improv and helped co-develop a corporate training program to take the basic idea of improv out into the business world, teaching corporations how to deal with change. During that time, she also performed her one-woman comedy shows.

“Somewhere about 20 years ago, it all came together. Now I speak at companies and events blending humour and inspiration. I’m not doing stand-up; I’m telling stories about the life lessons I’ve learned over the years,” Kimmett says.

She’s made memorable appearances at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival and has appeared regularly on CBC Radio’s The Debaters. She’s written two books of comedic essays (Reality is Over-Rated and That Which Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Funnier) and one novel (Outrunning Crazy).

For two decades, she’s racked up a sizable list of acting and directing credits and has taught writing workshops for creative writers and aspiring comedians looking to find their funny. Kimmett is also a motivational speaker for women’s organizations, businesses, associations, and foundations.

Using laughter to deal with the challenges of work-life balance is one of the goals of Kimmett’s hilarious keynote based on her book of the same name, That Which Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Funnier, to be delivered at the third annual Peterborough International Women’s Day Conference, hosted by Thirteen Moons Wellness, on Friday, March 8th.

The flavour of her topic will be “humour and inspiration,” she says. Her material will be intergenerational, so the entire audience can relate. Expect a ton of laughs from her blend of trademark stand-up comedy with poignant moments from her own life sprinkled into the performance.

Bring the waterproof mascara. Side effects include group hugs.

Having a genuine laugh together, Kimmett notes, is a way to make a quick connection. A good chuckle can make people healthier and better able to cope with trials and tribulations of the world.

“Humour can help dial down your stress and laughing together can have this connectivity that often we forget about. At times, you might feel isolated by the work you’re doing, the family you’re raising, or a sick family member — or maybe you have all three going on. Sometimes, we go through really dark times and need other people to give us a different perspective. There’s seven billion people in the world, so let’s connect to a couple that can support us.

“I think when you lose your sense of humour, you know that is the first sign of stress,” she says. “By laughing, you open yourself up to interrupting your thoughts.”

There are few tickets left for the International Women’s Day Conference in Peterborough. For more information about the conference and to register, visit www.iwdptbo.ca.

Environment Canada has already issued a wind warning for all of southern Ontario for Sunday and — depending on where you live in the Kawarthas — a freezing rain warning (Haliburton and Hastings), a snow squall watch (Kawartha Lakes), and a special weather statement for heavy flurries (Peterborough, Northumberland).

Now Hydro One also issued a media release today (February 23) stating they are getting ready for Sunday’s wind storm that could cause hundreds of outages across southern, central, and eastern Ontario.

Environment Canada is forecasting very strong wind gusts near 100 kilometres per hour beginning late Sunday morning into continuing Sunday night. A few locations along the shorelines of Lake Ontario may gust to 110 kilometres per hour at times late in the morning or in the afternoon.

The strong winds will continue through Sunday evening and become westerly with the onset of flurries and reduced visibility in blowing snow. Damage to buildings, such as to roof shingles and windows, may occur. Loose objects may be tossed by the wind and cause injury or damage. Be prepared to adjust your driving with changing road conditions due to high winds. The threat of damaging winds continue until Monday morning.

Hydro One says it is preparing its “damage assessors” along with lines and forestry crews to respond to any outages and emergencies that may occur from the damage that may be caused due to sustained high winds. Crews are being moved into position to assess damage and quickly and safely restore power to affected customers.

The provincial utility will determine an estimated time of restoration for each outage once damage has been assessed. Hydro One’s outage tools — including its storm centre website at stormcentre.hydroone.com and its free mobile app — will be updated every 10 minutes as information comes in from the crews on-site.

Customers can also sign up in advance for text or email notifications at www.hydroone.com/outages.

Hydro One is reminding everyone to stay clear of any fallen power lines. If you spot a fallen line, keep at least 10 metres back, even if it does not appear to be live. Report it to the police and call Hydro One at 1-800-434-1235.

The utility is also encouraging people to always be prepared in case of an extended power outage caused by severe weather by assembling an emergency preparedness kit including lots of water, canned or dried food, a flashlight and radio, blankets, candles and matches, a first aid kit, and a fully charged cellphone and portable power bank chargers.

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for all of the Kawarthas, forecasting a major late winter storm with freezing rain on Saturday night (February 23) and damaging winds and blowing snow on Sunday night.

Precipitation associated with a winter storm may begin as patchy freezing rain Saturday evening before becoming rain overnight or early Sunday morning.

Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become icy and slippery.

Damaging westerly winds with gusts of 90 to 110 km/h are expected to develop Sunday. Areas near the Great Lakes are more likely to experience winds at the higher end of this range. The strong winds will persist through Sunday night and gradually diminish Monday.

Damage to buildings, such as to roof shingles and windows, may occur. Power outages are also possible.

In addition, flurries and blowing snow will develop Sunday afternoon. Local snowfall amounts in the 5 to 10 cm range are possible by Monday morning. Any fresh snow that falls will be whipped up by the very strong winds creating whiteout conditions at times.

Travel will become hazardous due to significant and sudden reduction to visibility.

Freezing rain warnings may be required. Wind warnings will likely be required for some areas.

Parks Canada is about to have five longstanding trees cut down alongside the Trent Canal at Lock 20 Ashburnham, beside Rogers Cove in Peterborough’s East City.

The five large Carolina Poplar trees are located along the 180-metre access road that runs from just west of the Maria Street swing bridge south to the pedestrian walkway at Rogers Cove.

The access road is located completely on Parks Canada property, but is often used by vehicles and pedestrians to access the park at Rogers Cove.

A media release from Parks Canada issued on Friday (February 22) states “The removal of a cluster of dead and unsafe Carolina Poplar trees is required to ensure the safety of those that utilize this area.”

Five trees been marked with red spray paint for removal. Two of the trees in located across from each other on the access road, and the remaining three are spread along the entire length of the access road.

kawarthaNOW.com contacted Parks Canada for clarification on whether bore testing was completed to evaluate the health of the five trees.

Aarin Crawford, a public relations and communications officer with the Ontario Waterways Unit of Parks Canada, provided a response from Treescape Canada, the Peterborough arborist that Parks Canada has contracted to complete the tree removal work.

“Bore testing on Carolina Poplars is not an effective method to evaluate stability, as they are usually solid at the base of the tree and the cavities tend to be higher up into the crown where it is difficult to test,” reads the Treescape response.

“From a visual inspection, it was easy to establish that the trees pose a danger to the public both for pedestrians and vehicles, public safety being our number one priority. There was significant evidence of dead wood within the crown that indicates the trees are at the end of their life span.”

Parks Canada says the tree removal will begin on Monday, February 25th with completion by Friday, March 1st.

During this time, the access road will be closed and there will be limited access to the walking path that runs from Rogers Cove in the west, across the bridge at Lock 20, and continues east to the Trent-Severn Waterway headquarters.

Parks Canada says the site will be well marked with warning signs, and flagging people will be in place to help direct the flow of traffic.

From incubating a new food business run by Syrian refugees to making products and produce more accessible through a special currency that can be exchanged for food, the team at the Peterborough Regional Farmers’ Market (PRFM) has been busy building new partnerships through the long winter months at their indoor location at Peterborough Square.

With free space donated by the PRFM to help incubate their new business, a group of Syrian refugees — who have formed the Newcomer Kitchen to sell spinach pies, smoky baba ghanoush, and their very popular zaatar bread — say joining the market has been life-changing.

Reem Ali, a community development worker with the New Canadians Centre, has provided support to the Newcomer Kitchen group since they started skills training with the Nourish Project in November 2017. The project is a collaboration between many partners, including the New Canadians Centre, YWCA Peterborough Haliburton, and, Peterborough Public Health.

Last fall, four women in the program decided to work together on the market project, quickly recognizing the benefits provided by the PRFM environment. A few short months after joining the market in December, the women are thriving.

“It has been an enriching experience for these women,” Ali explains. “They have had a chance to put all of their new learning into practice in a supportive, welcoming, low-pressure environment with a steady flow of customers.”

Ali says the women have developed a great rapport with clients and they are already able to anticipate how much food needs to be prepared each week when they meet at a kitchen provided, for free, at the Jewish Community Centre. The regular schedule of the PRFM also lets the women manage their busy lives, including raising their families and keeping up to date with their English language classes.

VIDEO: The Peterborough Regional Farmers’ Market

“Community support is key and the market is their community,” Ali says. “Relationships are being developed with other vendors and, like a true incubator experience, support and encouragement is always available.”

Ali says the women have new skills and new confidence, and now they have enough experience to make decisions on the spot about their business. They’re even learning from observing other vendors when it comes to marketing.

“The women say they are no longer the same people — in a good way,” Ali notes.

Neil Hannam, chair of the Peterborough Regional Farmers’ Network, says he is proud of how this partnership has blossomed.

“We wanted to help newcomers incubate a business model and develop skills for success in their new home as another way to build our community,” he explains. “Now these women are gaining confidence every week while also strengthening our family of vendors.”

While PRFM is supporting the Newcomer Kitchen project through a donation of space and lots of encouragement, all PRFM vendors are also benefitting from another partnership: the Nourish Market Dollars project.

Now run as a year-round initiative, the Nourish Market Dollars program provides special currency that can be exchanged for produce at the market — making healthy, organic, local produce and products more accessible.

Joëlle Favreau works with the Nourish Project and she notes that, while addressing food inequities is at the heart of all their work, their programming is grounded in the premise that dignity of access is key.

So, when participants complete workshops or come to events, they are gifted Nourish Market Dollars.

The Nourish Market Dollars can be spent at different locations, including at the Peterborough Regional Farmers’ Market, providing a dignified way for local people to access healthy food.

“Our workshops and activities are open to all,” Favreau says. “Our market dollars are derived from this approach and they help us support people of all income brackets with greater connections to good local food and amazing local producers.”

Favreau notes that, in addition to receiving Nourish Market Dollars at workshops, people can also buy the special currency. It’s also becoming popular with people who purchase the currency to give as gifts.

The Nourish Project also offers cooking classes, canning workshops and they offer a Market Meal program where a facilitator helps to shop, prepare, and eat a meal prepared with items found at the market.

“We’re growing access to local healthy food and local food is at the centre of this focus,” Favreau says. “We’re using food as an avenue to bring people together.”

With such a focus on building these community partnerships, the PRFM is continuing to build on its mission to build relationships with the city, rural counties, and the community, and to promote the economic, social and cultural value of agriculture within the region — all while increasing access to local food that all members of the community can trust.

“Our goal is to build community around food, and Nourish Dollars open doors for more people in the community to access food that they know is grown by local farmers,” Hannam says. “This program also puts money back into local farms and adds value to the successes of our vendors. We are excited to join the Peterborough Wednesday Farmers’ Market and the Lakefield Farmers’ Market in supporting Nourish Dollars.”

Sixty per cent of PRFM vendors are primary producers who have gone through a third-party inspection process to verify they grow 100 per cent of what they sell, with the remaining 40 per cent including bakers, artists, community groups, and food vendors like the Newcomer Kitchen.

The Peterborough Regional Farmers’ Market runs at its winter location in Peterborough Square at 340 George Street North in downtown Peterborough from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday until April. The market is located in the lower south level by Princess Gardens.

You can easily access the market from the mall’s underground parking; simply take the Galaxy Cinema elevator or stairs and exit at the first level into the mall. You can also enter from lower Charlotte Street by Princess Gardens, or at the food court; take the escalator downstairs and head to the south end of the lower mall. The farmers’ market is well marked from all of the mall entrances.

For more information, visit www.ptboregionalfarmersmarket.org.