Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for the most southern areas of Ontario, including Northumberland County in the Kawarthas, for possible significant rainfall on Monday (September 10) and Monday night.

As the remnants of tropical depression Gordon move into southern Ontario, total rainfall amounts in the range of 20 to 30 mm are possible by the time the rain tapers to scattered showers or drizzle later on Monday.

The heavy rain will ease on Monday morning for Toronto and areas to the west, and on Monday afternoon or early evening for areas east of Toronto.

If visibility is reduced while driving, turn on your lights and maintain a safe following distance.

Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to ONstorm@canada.ca or tweet reports using #ONStorm.

The Art School of Peterborough is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a special exhibit during September.

The Founders Art Show runs from Friday, September 7th to Friday, September 28th in the LAUNCH gallery at the school (178A Charlotte Street, Peterborough), with an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. during the First Friday Art Crawl (September 7).

Twenty-five years ago, the Art School of Peterborough was founded as the Lakefield School of Fine Arts by a group of like-minded people headed by the late artist and teacher Richard Hayman.

In the spring of 1993, Chris and Kit Ridpath opened an art supply store in Julian Plaza in Lakefield, the same year Richard Hayman stopped teaching at the Lakefield College School. Hayman had been the director of the art program at Lakefield College School for 25 years (the school’s art gallery is named in his honour).

After Hayman left Lakefield College School, he rented a studio behind Verne Hamilton’s Real Estate office on Queen Street, a building that now houses Celtic Connections (the studio could be reached through the alley where you can still see the large mural of a Tom Thompson painting done by Hayman).

In the summer of 1993, he walked into the Ridpaths’ art store and discussed the idea of a local art school.

With the help of the Ridpaths, a group of creative people — Drew and Marge Ridpath, Anne Crowley, Marni Moldaver, and Doug and Helen Batten — came together to hammer out the details and, in the fall of 1993, the incorporated not-for-profit Lakefield School of Fine Arts was established, with a board of directors comprising the founders along with Di Collins, with Hayman in the role of the school’s director.

The initial location for the school was the Old Ray’s School on the corner of Buckhorn Road and County Road 8. The school offered adult courses, with Hayman teaching beginner watercolours and pottery, Chris Ridpath teaching oil painting, and Marni Moldaver teaching design. Although the school had 75 students during its first year of operation, it struggled to stay afloat.

In the fall of 1994, Hayman moved the school to its current location at the Charlotte Mews in Peterborough. Now called The Art School of Peterborough, the new location had one large studio on the ground floor and three studios in the basement, of which the largest became the pottery studio. Chris and Kit Ridpath soon followed Hayman into Peterborough, where they opened Ridpath Art Supplies next door the following year.

The school expanded its curriculum, including youth classes taught by Susan Murphy, wildlife painting taught by Terence Andrews, watercolour taught by Emil Varga and Sharon Taylor, and more.

However, despite the relocation to Peterborough increasing the number of students, the school was still struggling financially. As a result, the school launched its annual Art Auction fundraiser, which remains the school’s largest fundraiser to this day.

In 2004, the school suffered a blow when Peterborough was hit by a major storm-related flood. Board members, instructors, and students pitched in to help clean up the school and get it back to working order, and the school purchased new equipment for the basement pottery studio.

The school continued to raise funds to support its operation through the annual art auction as well as garage sales and other fundraisers, and then received an estate donation, which gave it some financial security. A portion of the money was used for improvements at the school.

In 2007, Hayman passed away at the age of 65 after suffering a heart attack, and Anne Marie Kornachuck soon took over the reins as director of the school.

Over the next few years, the school obtained grants and was able to purchase new equipment and hire new instructors, increasing the number of students. In 2013, Kornachuck left her position as director, and long-time instructor Jenni Johnston became the school’s new executive director.

Today, the Art School of Peterborough has three studios on its main floor as well as three studios in the basement, with more than 1,000 students every year. The school offers a variety of classes for people of all ages and — in keeping with Hayman’s goal for an art school where anyone could do art no matter what skill level or their financial background — offers bursaries for people who may not have the financial means to pay for classes.

The Art School of Peterborough remains a place where people come and share their creative journey with each other. The Founders Art Show will celebrate and honour those who made the school what it is today: the founders, board members, instructors, members, students, and volunteers.

For more information about the Art School of Peterborough, visit artschoolptbo.org.

This story is based on information supplied by Jenni Johnson, Executive Director of the Art School of Peterborough.

Paddlers with the recently formed Peterborough Canoe & Kayak Club brought home two medals from the 2018 Canadian Masters Sprint Canoe-Kayak Championships, held last Sunday (September 2) at Lac Des Nations in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

More than 2,000 athletes from 40 clubs from across the country — including former Olympians and members of the Canadian National Team — battled for National titles in singles, doubles, and fours.

Sherra Fam raced to a bronze medal finish in the Novice Women’s K1 (Singles) and Tonya Cunningham claimed bronze in Women’s K1 D.

Fam and Cunningham were part of a team of 10 first-time competitors from Peterborough Canoe & Kayak Club, which first opened in the spring of this year.

The club has 14 Masters (adult) athletes in total, ranging in age from the late 20s through to the 70s, most of whom are new to the sport this year. Members trained on Little Lake in Peterborough.

In addition to the two bronze medals, the club had several top-ten finishes.

Here are the complete results for the Peterborough Canoe & Kayak Club:

• Sherra Fam – 3rd in Novice Women’s K1
• Tonya Cunningham – 3rd in Women’s K1 D
• Darren Mossman – 4th in Men’s K1 A
• Stephanie Hughes – 4th in Novice Women’s K1 CD
• Annie Scherz & Tonya Cunningham – 5th in Women’s K2 D
• Bill Thornton, Jim Stewart, Leif Einarson, & Rodney Fuentes – 5th in Men’s K4 CD
• Tonya Cunningham – 5th in Women’s K4 EF
• Darren Mossman & Stephanie Hughes – 5th in Mixed K2 AB
• Bill Thornton & Leif Einarson – 6th in Men’s K2 C
• Tonya Cunningham – 7th in Women’s K1 C
• Samantha Cameron & Sherra Fam – 7th in Women’s K2 E
• Annie Scherz, Leif Einarson, Rodney Fuentes, & Tonya Cunningham – 8th in Mixed K4 CD
• Annie Scherz, Samantha Cameron, Sherra Fam, & Stephanie Hughes – 9th in Women’s K4 EF
• Leif Einarson – 9th in Men’s K1 C

Next spring, the Peterborough Canoe & Kayak Club will again be offering its Masters training program on Little Lake. Many of the current members intend to do cross-training through the winter, motviated by the club’s strong performance at the 2018 championships.

The club will also offer summer programs for youth in 2019.

As a not-for-profit organization, the club is seeking sponsorship and donations to help grow its facilities and support its coaching needs.

For more information about the Peterborough Canoe & Kayak Club, visit www.pckc.ca.

The mayors of four municipalities involved in the Ontario Basic Income Pilot Program issued a joint letter today (September 5) asking the federal government to assume responsibility for the cancelled provincial project.

The letter was sent to the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, by Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger, Brantford Mayor Chris Friel, City of Kawartha Lakes Mayor Andy Letham, and Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs.

“We’ve come together to share with Minister Duclos that there is broad-based support for the continuation of this important evidence-based program,” Hamilton Mayor Eisenberger says.

“We are appealing to the federal government to assume oversight of the Ontario Basic Income Pilot project in our communities for years two and three of the planned project. The Basic Income Pilot we believe will provide valuable data with the potential to inform future public policy and poverty reduction strategies nationally.”

“There is much to be gained by continuing to run the pilot over the remaining term and gathering the data that the province has already invested in,” adds Kawartha Lakes Mayor Letham. “Aside from making good on the promises made to pilot participants, it offers an opportunity to improve the system. We need to find a better way to assist those who are living on low income and struggling to make ends meet.”

Launched under the previous Liberal provincial government, Ontario’s $150-million basic income pilot is the first and largest basic income trial in North America.

Almost 4,000 people were enrolled in the pilot program in five regions: Lindsay, Thunder Bay, Hamilton, Brantford, and Brant County. During the pilot program, single participants receive up to $16,989 per year while couples receive up to $24,027 per year, less 50 per cent of any earned income.

The pilot project gained global attention for its potential to provide the evidence to eliminate income assistance systems that are often inefficient and stigmatizing.

Despite promising to continue the program during the spring election campaign, on July 31, 2018, Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s Children, Community and Social Services Minister, announced the three-year project would be cancelled after only one year.

The announcement was made as part of the Ford government’s plan to “reform social assistance to help more people get back on track.” In response to criticism of the decision, the Province then claimed the program is not cost effective but has provided no evidence to support the claim.

Since then, the Ontario government has advised that participants in the program will receive their final payment on March 31, 2019.

On August 27th, four Lindsay residents represented by Lindsay lawyer and social advocate Mike Perry filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the Government of Ontario for cancelling the Ontario Basic Income Pilot, alleging breach of contract and negligence.

Hamilton photographer Jessie Golem has launched a photographic series called “Humans of Basic Income”, showing the human side of the decision to cancel the basic income pilot project. Herself a participant in the program, Golem’s portraits of participants in the program — who are holding signs sharing their stories of how project has benefitted them — has received attention from national media.

Golem is seeking pilot project participants in Lindsay who would like to be photographed as part of her series. She is hosting an event in Victoria Park and downtown Lindsay all day on Sunday, September 9th and Monday, September 10th. For more information about Humans of Basic Income, visit bringbackbasicincome.ca.