Eight-year-old Ryerson Beardmore not only has an inspiring story to share — he’s “super excited” to tell it, again and again, at the 47th annual Easter Seals Telethon in his role as the 2019 Ambassador.

On Thursday (March 7th) at Lansdowne Place Mall, the Grade 3 James Strath Public School student, joined by his mom Erin, was officially introduced as details of the seven-hour fundraising telethon were revealed, including this year’s goal of $80,000.

With March declared Easter Seals Month by the City of Peterborough (Deputy Mayor Kemi Akapo read the proclamation), excitement for the big event on Sunday, April 7th will build over next month.

At the heart of the annual event is the celebration of success stories and, with that well in mind, Ryerson is perfect for the role.

“He started his life early and has been a fighter since,” says his mom Erin, noting her son was born with cerebral palsy.

“He makes everything look easy. He does horseback riding, swimming lessons; he’s gone to camp (Camp Merrywood near Perth, Ontario) for a couple of years on his own and he’s going again this year. It allows him to go and have fun and be a kid. He loves life.

“He definitely has his challenges. He gets botox injections, which is not his favourite thing. That helps loosen up his muscles and be able to walk and get out of his wheelchair and walker. That happened a couple of years ago now.”

But miracles don’t come without a cost.

For children with a physical disability, a power wheelchair costs anywhere from $10,000 to $32,000 depending on the need. Even something as simple as a specialized car seat can cost up to $2,200. And 10 days at an Easter Seals summer camp, like Camp Merrywood, comes with a bill of $2,500.

The telethon, explains Easter Seals senior development officer Coralie Jacobs, pays all or a portion of those costs for families throughout Peterborough, the City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, Northumberland, and Durham Region.

“Kids like Ryerson are the reason I stay focused throughout the year,” says Jacobs.

“This week energized me just getting to spend some time with Easter Seals families and attending other Easter Seals events. I can feel a little by myself out here but it reminds me I’m a part of something really big and that we’re a strong team and that we do some pretty fantastic things. I work for Easter Seals Ontario but, seriously, I work for the families and that’s what motivates me. And we’re having fun.”

Broadcast live on YourTV and Global Peterborough from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the telethon will feature a number of celebrity hosts such as Graham Hart and Mike Melnik doing interviews of guests and asking for donations. Also in the hosting mix for the 36th year is Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Stuart Harrison.

“For someone to stand up and say ‘I need a little bit of help’ is not easy,” says Harrison, expressing his admiration for those who do, year after year.

“We try to make that as easy as possible and create a situation where they actually don’t have to ask. We do the asking for them.”

As for his telethon partner Ryerson, Harrison says he has come a long way, which is inspiring in itself.

“I remember Ryerson from his first time on the telethon. He was so shy that he couldn’t say anything. I talked to his mom and we started to get a sense of who he is. Now he’s the Ambassador and he’s kickboxing me in the chest.

“He’s a confident young guy and that’s just going to continue. I can’t wait to see him out and about in the community and raising a family and being a part of who we are. I’ve seen that time and time and time again with different kids, and those are just the ones that we see.”

Also joining Harrison at the telethon will be outgoing Ambassador Kaydance Lane.

While the telethon is the flagship event of Easter Seals Month, the organization will have a presence in other ways. A direct mail campaign will reach out to households across Ontario while, from March 29th to April 21st, the Easter Seals Paper Egg Campaign will see shoppers at select grocers and retailers invited to purchase a $2 egg.

And, of course, on telethon day itself, callers can phone in and make a contribution, or you do so ahead of time by visiting www.eastersealstelethon.org/peterborough

The telethon goal of $80,000 remains unchanged from last year, but it has typically been surpassed. In 2017, $113,000 was brought in.

According to Beardmore, her son will be one busy little boy over the next year, making appearances at golf and hockey tournaments and the annual Volleyball Smash Tournament hosted by Boston Pizza.

“It’s very special for him to be able to tell his story,” she says.

“He brings me so much joy every day. It’s amazing to be able to just see him play with others.”

Jacobs says the Beardmore family’s “willingness to come forward and share their story” is key to any success the telethon will meet.

“Not everybody is comfortable expressing that they require help,” she says.

“One of the unique things is the families believe in the value of expressing the importance of the ongoing need they have financially. Once people understand what we’re doing it for, it’s easy peasy.”

Easter Seals Ontario has served children and youth with physical disabilities since 1922. Last year, the organization fulfilled 786 approved requests for funding for equipment totaling $1.35 million. In addition, 763 campers, like Ryerson, participated in camping and recreation programs at Camp Merrywood and Camp Woodeben near London.

For more information on Easter Seals, visit www.easterseals.org.

Back in the 1960s and early 1970s, communal living espoused and practised by the members of the hippie subculture was as criticized as it was misunderstood.

Still, one basic tenet of communal living — the sharing of property, possessions, and resources to the benefit of all — was tough to argue with.

Now, decades later, a growing worldwide interest in the benefits of cohousing, and the resulting establishment of a number of cohousing communities, has at its centre (you guessed it) the sharing of property, possessions, and resources to the benefit of all.

On Wednesday night (March 6), members of Peterborough-based cohousing group Kawartha Commons came together at the Lions Community Centre to provide an update on its efforts to develop a 10 to 30 unit cohousing community in or near the city by 2023.

According to the group’s website, cohousing is a mutually supportive but independent living-based custom-built neighbourhood that sees people design, build, and manage housing for themselves in a village-like setting.

Similar to condominium living in that it features small living units — in the form of detached homes or apartments — cohousing is based on the concept of an “intentional community” that has at its centre shared resources, including a common house with a kitchen and dining room for regular shared meals that residents participate in as desired.

While co-housing residents typically own their living spaces, each is involved in the planning, design, management and ongoing maintenance of the community.

“Cohousing appeals to people willing to give up a little bit of the things they claim ownership to in order to share with others,” says Kawartha Commons member Scott Donovan, an architect who served a work term in 2013 with a Massachusetts firm with a specialty in cohousing development.

“You have to also be willing to participate in community; to give of yourself in volunteer time, in organizational time. We know the rewards are great. There’s social support, there’s the development of friendships, and there’s the sharing of challenges that come up.

“We live in a society that’s based on the expression “Every man is an island.’ Cohousing is radical. It cuts across that and illuminates the good that we can do together as a group. I think there’s something really primal about that … the tribe mentality, people sticking together. It’s powerful.”

Upon his return to Peterborough from Massachusetts, Donovan was approached by Al and Linda Slavin who had done their own research on cohousing. That led to a late December 2017 get-together at their home that attracted close to 30 people and led to the formal establishment of Kawartha Commons. Many of those same people — who Donovan credits with “moving the needle forward” — were at Wednesday’s gathering.

“It takes meetings, meetings, and meetings,” laughs Donovan, when asked what needs to happen to make Peterborough’s first planned cohousing community a reality.

“And it takes education and awareness … illuminating the public to the possibilities of cohousing. It takes building relationships. The premise of cohousing is it’s a social movement involving a group of people who want to build housing in a social atmosphere.

“But it’s important we get to know one another first. It’s about finding your tribe. It’s about connecting with a small group of people and feeling ‘I can do this with you.’ We’re going to be sharing a community so it’s important we’re on a similar level. It’s about trust.”

The cohousing concept came to North America in 1988 from Denmark where, in 1967, a newspaper article headlined ‘Children Should Have 100 Parents’ spurred a group of 50 parents to organize a community project from which the first known modern cohousing development sprang.

Since then, some 160 cohousing communities have been developed and inhabited across North America, including two in Ontario (Terra Firma in central Ottawa which was begun in 1997 and Whole Village developed near Caledon in 2006).

More than 100 cohousing projects are also in various stages of development, including six in Ontario: Canopy in Toronto, Concorde Cohousing and Convivium Cohousing for Seniors in Ottawa, Sweetfurn Cohousing in Sudbury, Tay Commons Cohousing in Perth, and Waterloo Region Cohousing Project in Kitchener.

The Canadian Cohousing Network, formed in 1992 in British Columbia, is a registered non-for-profit organization that promotes the creation of cohousing communities as a model for sustainable development by raising public awareness about cohousing and by bringing people together to form communities.

During Wednesday’s meeting, the term ‘sociocracy’ — a system of governance that seeks to achieve solutions that create harmonious social environments — came up more than once. Applied to the cohousing model, that sees decisions affecting the community determined by group consensus. However, in her comments, Kawartha Commons member Jill Jones summed up what’s really at the heart of cohousing success: “People know and care about each other.”

Jones added the cohousing model has several proven benefits, including the saving of land as a result of clustered housing, less consumption of renewable resources as a result of sharing, and living spaces that face common areas, promoting interaction as a result. Also, because parking is located at the periphery of a cohousing development, that encourages interaction with others as residents walk to and from their vehicles.

Several Kawartha Commons members have visited cohousing communities across North America to learn more, including a trek last spring to Whole Village. Just this past January, a dozen members attended Getting It Built, a cohousing information session held in Toronto.

The Kawartha Commons group now has 33 full and associate members, each of whom pay a membership and have committed fully to the process moving forward.

According to Bill Slavin, the group is now actively looking at potential sites, including a 3.2 acre property off Romaine Street just west of Park Street.

The cost of a home or apartment unit, added Slavin, is about the same as that for a detached townhouse, in the $350,000 to $400,000 range. That said, he notes there are significant “trade-offs” such as fewer monthly operating expenses and, for those who share vehicles or car pool, fewer vehicle-related costs.

“It’s realistic for cohousing communities to be successful in five years,” note Donovan, in reference to the group’s ambitious goal of developing a Peterborough cohousing community by 2023.

“It isn’t easy, but it’s realistic. It can take a year and a half to have a set of building plans. There’s an enormous amount of work in developing the group and make it work. We’re about to hire a consultant, the expert on cohousing in North America. That is significant. We need to incorporate so we’re shareholders in the corporation.”

For more information about Kawartha Commons, visit the group’s website at www.kawarthacommons.ca or Facebook page.

For more information about the Canadian Cohousing Network, visit cohousing.ca.

Who had sunshine on a cloudy day in 1965?

Where did Levon spend his days counting?

And just what was Jenny’s phone number again?

If you answered David Ruffin, in a garage by the motorway, and 867-5309, you have an impressive handle on your music-related trivia. Now it’s again time to put that knowledge to the ultimate test while benefitting the vital work of Peterborough’s Community Counselling and Resource Centre (CCRC).

On Friday, April 26th at the Peterborough Memorial Centre, the agency will host its 14th annual Juke Box Mania event that will see teams of eight people participate in a “Name That Tune” style competition.

All money raised will support the organization’s core services, which include providing counselling, support and resources to assist clients with personal well-being, credit and financial management, access to housing, and connection to the community at large.

On Tuesday (March 5) at Kenner Collegiate, Juke Box Mania honourary co-chairs Brad and Katie Watt announced that registration for teams of eight and individuals is officially open at www.ccrc-ptbo.com/juke-box-mania-2019/.

The entry cost is $1,000 for a corporate sponsorship or $560 for a community table. For $70, individuals who want to join in on the fun will be added to a team.

“There are fundraisers around town that are elegant, there are those that are sporty … this one is just plain fun,” enthused Brad, whose business Rare Grill House will be of one of several city restaurants and caterers serving appetizers at the event.

“There’s a lots of stories and talk out there about there being a lot of mental health issues within the restaurant industry,” added Katie. “We just felt this is a way to step up and support something that’s directly affecting the business we’re in.”

To that end, the Watts have purchased a corporate sponsorship and have entered a team, named In Rare Company.

Other ‘Juke Box Hero’ teams to date include: ED Squared, led by outgoing CCRC executive director Casey Ready and incoming executive director Kirsten Armbrust; Board Stiffs overseen by CCRC board members Tanys Howell and Patricia Donnelly; and Fresh Air featuring Fresh Radio morning show co-hosts Pete Dalliday and Dani Guppy.

Having raised more than $110,000 since 2015, Juke Box Mania’s goal this year is a very ambitious $40,000. Traditionally sold out with some 450 people in attendance, corporate teams receive VIP status at the event.

“We’re cherry picking a pretty good team,” warns Brad, with Katie adding “Usually we’re on the sidelines doing the food saying ‘I know that song, I know that song.’ Now we’re in.”

CCRC executive director Casey Ready, who will retire from her position on April 1st, notes CCRC serves more 6,500 clients annually. Juke Box Mania, she says, is a way for people to get involved – “I think a lot of people come because they really do want to see CCRC do well and do better.”

Both Ready and incoming CCRC executive director Kirsten Armbrust have helped organize and have attended every Juke Box Mania fundraiser since the inaugural event was held in 2006 at the Rock Haven.

“It’s something everyone really looks forward to,” says Armbrust.

“Even before registration opens, people start to ask ‘Are you doing Jukebox? When can we register our table?’ There’s a nice buzz before we officially launch. It’s something people go to because it’s fun. There’s a real mix of people. People that support CCRC and have some connection to us, either formally or informally, and people who are like ‘Hey, I’m really good at music trivia.'”

Funded by all levels of government, CCRC relies on Juke Box Mania proceeds to help fill any shortfalls that arise each year.

While music and trivia are the event’s major menu items, also prominent is the involvement of a number of local restaurants and caterers. Along with Rare Grill House, Amusé Coffee Co., Black Honey, Chasing The Cheese, EC Catering, La Hacienda, NaKeD Chocolate, Primal Cuts, Shafiq’s Taste of India, Silk Roots Fusion Cuisine, and Kenner Collegiate’s Culinary Program will prepare and serve appetizers.

Black Honey owner Lisa Dixon, a Kenner culinary arts instructor, says that while the event offers a unique food preparation event for her students, it also introduces them to the giving spirit of the community at large.

“A lot of them are marginalized or feel they are,” says Dixon, who is also a CCRC board member.

“It’s good to find a source where they can create empathy. A lot of young people live in a bubble; not all, but a lot. As a culinary arts teacher and as someone who is a philanthropist, to bring that awareness to young people is important.”

A silent auction will also be held at Juke Box Mania. To donate an item, or to inquire about booking a team table, email Jason Stabler at jstabler@ccrc-ptbo.com or phone him at 705-743-2272, ext. 300.

For more information about Community Counselling and Resource Centre, visit www.ccrc-ptbo.com.