Support for a safe and inclusive Peterborough community is being crafted one stitch at a time with the first-ever Community Knots Stitch-A-Thon in support of the United Way of Peterborough and District and the the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre (KSAC).

Happening at Bennett’s Home Furnishings from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 1st, members of the crafting community — knitters, chrocheters, rug hookers, felters, embroiders — are invited to fill 100 chairs in the Lazy Boy showroom while creating support for survivors of sexual violence and trauma.

Organized by KSAC with support from Peterborough’s own Needles in the Hay boutique, the event is set to raise awareness, much-needed funds, and a collection of hand-crafted hats, scarves, and mittens for those being supported by local shelters — while bringing together a supportive community of crafters and artisans.

Needles in the Hay owner Deanna Guttman knows just how meditative, therapeutic, and healing it can be to stitch.

Her shop supports a community of enthusiasts and artists who knit, crochet, weave, and felt and she is thrilled to partner with Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre on the event.

“Needlecraft is primarily a female endeavour and it’s great to be involved, as a feminist, in such a women-led industry,” Guttman says. “I know the centre uses this as a tool for mindfulness and so when (KSAC interim executive director) Lisa Clarke popped-in to the store and pitched me, it was a great opportunity.”

Guttman says knitters tend to work in groups so whole clubs are welcome at the December 1st event, but she stresses that individuals and solo makers are also welcome to fill one of the chairs at Bennett’s Home Furnishings.

“I’ve always got a number of projects on the go, so I’ll be working on those at the event,” Guttman says, stressing that there is no pressure to complete a certain item or project during the day of the event.

She explains the stitch-a-thon is about bringing people together, allowing for interaction, and sharing a love of arts and crafts.

“This is going to be about gathering more than it is about getting something done,” Gutmann says.

“Some people knit constantly, and they might be able to finish a hat at the event. I knit less now, after buying the store — go figure — but I’ve got a number of projects on the go, so that’s what I’ll be working on.”

Participants are asked to pay a $25 fee or, in lieu of the fee, to collect sponsorships for three hand-crafted projects that will be donated to local shelters. Hats, mittens, and scarves are all welcome.

Guttman hopes that the event will be well attended and that it will be one more opportunity for people to understand the healing nature of needlecraft.

Already offered as a free weekly workshop by the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre, “Purls of Wisdom” is a multi-generational knitting circle that involves older women who have been trained by the centre to provide mentorship, leadership, and wisdom to young people who have experienced trauma.

The intergenerational knitting circle offers valuable skills and strategies that assist young people with managing stress and anxiety, and Guttman says she’s really happy that the healing power of knitting is being shared in the community.

KSAC interim executive director Lisa Clarke agrees.

“Often, with the survivors of sexual violence we work with, we explore grounding and mindfulness techniques,” Clarke says. “One of the most creative of those is stitching — whether its knitting, crocheting, quilting or even needle felting.”

Clarke says the centre is grateful for the ongoing support of the United Way of Peterborough and District and everyone is looking forward to raising funds and awareness in this unique way.

“We thought, let’s all gather together, in those amazing Lazy Boy Chairs at Bennett’s Home Furnishings, and stitch, share, and celebrate together with the master knitters from Needles in the Hay,” she says.

The Community Knots Stitch-A-Thon is open to everyone and, besides offering a chance to connect with other caring crafters while enjoying the beautiful decor at Bennett’s Home Furnishings, participants will be able to enjoy food supplied by Sunset Gourmet.

Tickets to participate in the event are $25, available in advance online at eventbrite.ca or at the door on the day of the event.

To waive the fee, get sponsored to make three projects for local shelters and bring your projects with your completed sponsorship forms to the event (forms can be downloaded at www.kawarthasexualassaultcentre.com).

At the event, there will be prizes for the top sponsor, most projects made for donation, and door prizes.

Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre (150 King St., 3rd Floor, Peterborough) is a not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to supporting those affected by sexual violence. In Peterborough, the centre offers individual counselling, group counselling and workshops, peer supports, public education, and professional training. For more information, visit www.kawarthasexualassaultcentre.com. If you are experiencing a crisis, call the 24-hour toll-free support line at 1-866-298-7778.

As a Chartered Professional Accountant, Peterborough’s Michael Konopaski knows full well that dollars wisely invested now have a much better chance of producing a terrific return later.

So it is that Konopaski, with a $10,000 cheque in hand, will drop by the Balsillie Family Branch of the YMCA of Central Eastern Ontario (123 Aylmer St, S., Peterborough) on Friday afternoon (November 23) — resulting in the huge smiles all round that typically accompany such generous philanthropy.

The $10,000 donation, which will go directly to the YMCA’s annual Strong Kids Campaign, comes from Burlington-based Aligned Capital Partners Inc. In the 1990s, Konopaski and his father co-founded the original firm in Peterborough that eventually evolved into Aligned Capital Partners Inc., with Konopaski remaining the company’s Chief Financial Officer.

Funds raised through the Strong Kids Campaign help children, teens, and young adults participate in local YMCA programs they typically wouldn’t have access to due to limited financial resources. Last year’s campaign raised more that $13 million nationwide and helped 125,000 people.

Back in April, the 2018 local campaign — chaired by longtime Peterborough grocer Dave Morello and benefitting those served by YMCA of Central East Ontario branches in Peterborough, Trenton and Belleville — kicked off with a goal of $267,000.

Knowing that Aligned Capital Partners Inc. “had money to donate, like most great organizations”, Konopaski did his homework, settling on the Strong Kids Campaign as a most worthy recipient.

“I did a ton of research and, to me, (the Strong Kids Campaign) is all about local impact,” says Konopaski, who is also Managing Director of Inclusive Advisory, a multi-disciplinary partnership of accountants, financial advisors, and lawyers based at 521 George Street North in downtown Peterborough.

“It provides opportunities to families that might not normally have those opportunities. As a result, kids have been introduced to the bigger picture. That can be anything from leadership to just becoming more civic-minded down the line. For some kids, that comes to them naturally. They don’t need a lot of guidance when it comes to learning how to become a good team member or learning how to work with others but others need more formal structure. This is the type of program that allows for that.”

Besides the immediate benefit that the donation will provide, Konopaski is intrigued by the long-term effect.

“One of the challenges that Peterborough has had is younger people think there’s nothing to do here or there is no opportunity,” he says.

“Kids that are recipients of this funding might be put in a situation where they could meet somebody who will help or mentor them to learn about the opportunities that are in the area. I would hope that the kids that are beneficiaries of this program have the same kinds of opportunity that my kids had.

“Peterborough is just one of many communities that’s competing for top talent. We have to invest in our youth. There are lots of different ways to do that but educational aspects, training, and learning are key, introducing them to that bigger picture.”

VIDEO: YMCA Strong Kids Campaign

A longtime YMCA member, Konopaski didn’t have to be sold on the benefits of the organization or its declared mission of strengthening the foundations of community.

“The YMCA is an organization that you can be involved with your entire life,” he says. “Kids learn how to swim there. There are people that have been members for more than 50 or 60 years. I see a lot of fellowship there: people seeing their friends and family members. It’s a great cornerstone of the community.”

He adds “the quality of the people” at the helm of the local Strong Kids Campaign was also a major factor in the decision to give.

Konopaski strongly encourages others who are in a position to give, either privately or corporately, to learn more about the Strong Kids Campaign and its benefits.

That said, he notes Peterborough “has literally hundred of charities … there’s a need in so many different areas.”

For more information about the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign, visit ymcastrongkids.ca. for more information about Aligned Capital Partners Inc., visit www.alignedcapitalpartners.com.

There’s been a rash of recent sightings in the Peterborough area of what people are calling coyotes. In fact, Peterborough resident Rob Wilkes posted some photos earlier this month of an animal roaming his neighbourhood near downtown Peterborough.

What many people may not realize is that the animal is actually a coywolf — a made-in-Ontario hybrid species of coyote and wolf (and more recently dog) that originated a hundred years ago in Algonquin Park just north of the Kawarthas, and has now spread throughout northeastern North America, from Toronto to Montreal to Boston to New York to Washington D.C.

Zoologist Dr. Roland Kays of North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences estimates the coywolf population is now in the millions.

Peterborough field naturalist Dylan Radcliffe has created a Google Map consolidating anecdotal reports of recent sightings in the Peterborough area:

“The coyotes seem to be using the parkway corridor to travel around the city,” Radcliffe writes on his website. “Sightings from the north end all the way to medical drive indicate active populations roaming the area. Neighborhoods in Monaghan Ward seem to have active populations surrounding the golf course. I can also personally corroborate an active population within and around Harper Park.

“It is equally interesting where there are an absence of coyote sightings. Almost no sightings have taken place in the areas on the East Bank sandwiched between the Canal and the Otonabee River. My guess is that it is a relatively highly populated area that lacks easy escape routes, so coyotes avoid the east bank.”

While coywolf is a more descriptive term, you can still call them coyotes if you want — the coywolf is also known as the eastern coyote (scientific name Canis latrans x Canis lupus lycao). However, there’s still some debate among scientists as to whether the hybrid animal should be considered a distinct species.

In the 2014 CBC documentary Meet the Coywolf, biologist Dr. Bradley White, Canada Research Chair in Conservation Genetics and Biodiversity at Trent University, explains the origin of the coywolf.

VIDEO: “Meet the Coywolf”

“To understand the history of the coywolf, you’ve really got to go back to before Columbus set foot onto the continent,” White says. “From the Mississippi (river), this whole eastern part of North America would have been deciduous forest. The eastern wolf would have occupied all of this (area).”

When large numbers of European settlers arrived in North America and deforested the land, White explains, they not only reduced the habitat of the eastern wolf but began killing the wolves en masse to protect their livestock.

Over the next 300 years, coyotes from the southwest of the continent migrated to the north to the territory previously occupied by the wolves, eventually moving into the area now occupied by Algonquin Park. There, the depleted population of eastern wolves began to see the coyote, normally an enemy, as a potential mate. This led to the birth of the coywolf in the early 20th century.

As the coywolf population increased and moved into areas populated by humans, they also interbred with large domesticated dogs. Javier Monzón of Pepperdine University in California studied the genetic make-up of 437 coywolves in Ontario and in 10 states in the northeastern U.S. and determined that an average coywolf’s DNA, while predominately coyote, is also one quarter wolf and one tenth dog. So perhaps “coywolfdog” is a better name for it (or not … Dr. Kays prefers the term “eastern coyote” over “coywolf”).

Weighing 25 kilograms (55 pounds) or more, the coywolf is twice the size of the western coyote, with smaller ears but a bushier tail, larger jaws, and more muscle. Unlike western coyotes that feed on small mammals only, an individual coywolf can take down a small deer, and a pack of them can kill a moose.

While wolves prefer to hunt in forests, coyotes prefer hunting on open plains; the hybrid coywolf can catch prey both in densely wooded areas and open terrain — which make edge habitats in agricultural, suburban, and urban areas ideal hunting grounds. These areas both supply cover and provide easy access to food sources.

A coywolf’s territory can range from as large as 20 to 40 square kilometres in rural areas to as small as five to eight square kilometres in urban areas. Radcliffe’s map of coyote sightings in Peterborough (above) demonstrates how local coywolves are potentially moving through the city.

And because coywolves have interbred with domesticated dogs, they have become more tolerant of people and noise. Usually nocturnal animals that like to keep a low profile, they are now venturing out more and more during daylight hours.

Coywolves are opportunistic predators, and will hunt everything from small mammals (mice, voles, squirrels, and rabbits) to larger mammals like deer and moose. They are omnivorous, and will feed on berries, seeds, garbage, compost, and fruit and vegetable gardens — making urban areas an ideal feeding ground.

While coywolves are known to attack livestock such as sheep and scavenge on “deadstock” (dead farm animals), the real danger in urban areas is to family pets.

This past June, a golden retriever in Port Hope had to be euthanized after it escaped its owner’s backyard and entered a ravine area where it was injured by coywolves. In early September, a coywolf took a Yorkie from a backyard along the Niagara escarpment area. In October, a pack of coywolves fatally injured a goldendoodle by the Bruce Trail in the Ancaster area. In November, a coywolf reportedly snatched a chihuahua near Van Wagner’s Beach in Hamilton.

There have also been coywolf attacks reported on children, including a coywolf that jumped on a 10-year-old boy in Hamilton in October (the boy, who scared off the animal by punching it, wasn’t injured). However, coywolf attacks on people are rare, with no recent confirmed fatalities (in comparison, dogs kill 15 to 20 people each year in the U.S.).

So, while there’s no need to panic about coywolves, they do provide us with a reminder that we share our environment with wild animals and should take steps to reduce the possibility of an unwanted interaction:

• Avoid attracting coywolves. Don’t leave kitchen waste, especially meat, outside for any length of time. Don’t let your bird feeders overflow; not only will coywolves eat seed, but you may attract prey for coywolves. If you compost, use an enclosed bin.
• Protect family pets from coywolves. Keep your cats inside and supervise your dogs when they are outside (and always keep your dog on a leash). Clean up after your dog; coywolves are attracted to dog feces. Spay and neuter your dogs (coywolves are attracted to domestic dogs that have not been spayed or neutered, and can mate with them).
• Protect young children from coywolves. If there are coywolf sightings where you live, don’t leave small children unattended outside, and teach them what to do if they see a coywolf.

If you encounter a coywolf, keep your distance; do not approach it or allow your dog to approach it. Do not turn your back on the coywolf or run from it. Instead, stand tall and back away from the animal slowly while waving your hands and making lots of noise.

If you are out at night, keep a flashlight with you and use it to deter a coywolf should you encounter one.

Coywolves are here to stay, so you should start taking sensible precautions against this modern urban predator.

Prepare yourself for another dose of early weather winter in Peterborough and the Kawarthas over the next few days.

This time it’s not a winter storm, but gusty winds and frigid temperatures — possibly record-breaking — beginning later today (November 21) and continuing overnight until Saturday.

Bundle up if you’re heading out today and tonight: the temperature will be dropping precipitously this afternoon to minus 8°C, feeling like minus 18 with the wind chill.

Overnight, the temperature will drop to minus 16, feeling like minus 24 with the wind chill.

On Thursday, daytime temperatures will reach a high of minus 7, but with a wind chill of minus 22 in the morning and minus 10 in the afternoon.

Overnight on Thursday, the temperature will drop to minus 22.

Temperatures will improve somewhat on Friday, with a high of minus 1 during the day and a low of minus 10 overnight.

The good news is that temperatures will turn seasonal for the weekend, with highs above freezing forecast until at least Tuesday.