For the past five years, Peterborough photographer Andy Carroll has become a beloved — albeit quiet and unassuming — figure on the local cultural scene.

From behind his camera lens, Andy has created what is becoming an important body of visual work capturing downtown Peterborough’s people, landscapes, and events, with a focus on the theatre and music community.

A personal and friendly man, Andy doesn’t have the flashiest presence. Instead, he has the type of photographic stealth that allows him to get close to the action and capture it for eternity. In the era of social media, Andy’s photos have become a community staple, and could be the most important chronicle of Peterborough’s cultural landscape in decades.

When I approached Andy about doing an interview, he was reluctant at first. If Andy has any ego, he hides it very well, but perhaps he’s more used to being behind the camera instead of in the spotlight.

“I listen to a fair number of podcasts with artists and photographers and a lot of them put a fair amount of thought into what they are doing,” Andy says. “They’ve got projects and plans and concepts but, honestly, I’ve never had a concept for what I’m photographing.

“I take a lot of my photos usually when I’m on my way somewhere. For instance, the photos I take on the London Street Bridge: usually I’m there because I’m going to my mom’s place.”

Perhaps that makes Andy an accidental artist, but there’s no denying that his incredible photographs of downtown Peterborough are striking and have hit an emotional chord with Peterborough residents.

His moody nighttime photos of George and Hunter Street give the historical buildings an old-time gothic feel. From streetlights reflecting in the rain, to fog covering Victoria Park, to the city buried in snow, Andy’s mix of the elements and Peterborough’s architecture reflects the vision of an artist.

Through Andy’s camera, Peterborough is transformed into a mysterious and mythical urban landscape that people have truly connected with.

“I think people connect to these photos because they are going to those places too,” Andy says.

Andy, who is self-employed as a non-fiction book editor, began his relationship with photography more than three decades ago when he was living in Toronto.

“I got my first camera in 1985 when I was in university,” Andy recalls. “A friend of mine was getting one and he researched it, which meant back in that time reading through Consumer Reports. So I got the same one. It was an SLR with exchangeable lenses, and that’s what I used until I got a digital in 2006.

“I did a fair bit of landscape photos and some people pictures, but I didn’t take a lot of photos because it was expensive. Every time you took a photo, you’d have to pay for printing.”

Of course, it’s no secret the advent of digital cameras has been a game changer in the world of photography.

“In the old days, ten to twenty rolls (of film) was a lot of pictures,” he says. “Now I take more pictures than that every night I go to The Theatre on King.”

Back in the days of film, photographers used to talk about their “hit rate”.

“That meant how many photos were actually good,” Andy explains. “That’d vary in what your standards are, and your standards when you are beginning would be lower than if you were a famous artist. Most of us are in the middle.

“But certainly the fact that you can take more photos digitally makes for a higher hit rate. If you take more pictures, you have a better chance of getting a good photo.”

Although Andy’s work has become an important part of the local artistic community, he is still relatively new to Peterborough having only relocated from Toronto in 2012.

“I didn’t know I’d like Peterborough as much as I do,” Andy says. “I moved to Peterborough because my parents were here, and I was getting kicked out of my GTA apartment, so it seemed like the right thing to do.”

Soon after his arrival, it was a chance meeting with one of Peterborough’s favourite actresses that led Andy to become the arts community’s premier photographer.

“When I moved to Peterborough, The Black Horse was the closest pub to my apartment,” Andy recalls. “I met Sarah McNeilly who was working there at the time. She introduced me to The Theatre on King because she was in Pennies From Heaven, which was their first show.

“So I went, but I wasn’t taking pictures. I started taking pictures when they did Kate Story’s Romeo and Juliet: Superstar ice Miners of Europa.”

Staged in November 2014, Romeo and Juliet: Superstar Ice Miners of Europa was the second show that I covered at The Theatre on King (TTOK) for kawarthaNOW. In the years that followed, Andy and I have become sort of a duo at TTOK — although never planned nor discussed — with both of us showing up like clockwork to nearly every preview show.

Other than TTOK’s Ryan Kerr, Andy is probably the only one who has been to more events than I have, capturing the mirth and magic of everything from theatrical productions, to book launches, to film screenings and private celebrations.

“TTOK is a community,” Andy says of the theatre. “That’s the main community I’m involved in. From those people I know other people, but it all centres around the theatre.”

From his phone, Andy shows me a list of shows and events he has photographed at TTOK and I compare to see how many of them I covered. Reflecting on some of the best shows I’ve seee, and a couple of the not-so-good ones, I ask Andy what his favourites are.

I get a very different response than I’m expecting.

“I’m looking at the shows very differently than others,” he says. “I’m looking at the shows visually, so instead of favourite shows I could talk about favourite photos.”

While Andy has become known for his TTOK photos, he has also captured the nightlife at downtown bars like The Black Horse and The Garnet, creating equally engaging and dynamic visuals of the performers who make music on their stages. I ask Andy what his relation with those spots in particular are, but I get a similar answer to my question about his landscape photos.

“That’s just where I hang out,” he says. “Besides TTOK, I don’t go out to take pictures somewhere. I just take pictures at places where I’m going. Mostly it’s just a photo diary more than anything.”

But just like his landscape photos, Andy’s photos of performers are dynamic. He manages to capture a variety of emotions and expressions from Peterborough’s actors and musicians, creating a visual that is always in motion and completely alive. In Andy’s photos, everyone is beautiful and larger than life. But, once again, a part of the process of getting the perfect photo is the sheer volume of what digital allows Andy to do.

“I’d like to say that everyone is equally photogenic, but it’s not true — some people are just really good at posing,” Andy says. “A lot of people take one photo with their phones and they’re done. When I shoot someone performing, I take a thousand photos you never see. It’s like the theatre: I take a thousand photos, but you only see five or ten.”

Over the past few years, Andy’s photos have accompanied many of my articles (he doesn’t ask for anything in return other than a credit), and his images are among the most dynamic theatrical photos being taken.

Many of Andy’s photos have become iconic, and are crucial in the promotion and support of the local arts community.

“Ultimately photography is a form of advertising,” Andy observes. “If the audience see a good picture, they’ll click on an article.”

In 2018, Andy released his first collection of his favourite TTOK photographs as a calendar, which is still available for sale at the theatre (171 King St., Peterborough). With his work becoming increasingly popular, I ask Andy if an art exhibit could be in order.

“I haven’t seriously thought about doing an exhibit,” Andy admits. “But I have recently thought about what to do with the photos. Putting together the TTOK calendar was one project, and I’ve thought that I might put together a book of photos from the original TTOK.” (The theatre moved from its original 159 King Street location in 2018).

Andy’s body of photographic work is a gift to the Peterborough community. He has documented the downtown arts experience in a way no local photographer has managed to do before, beautifully capturing faces, events, and landscapes with a vibrant eccentricity that is pure Peterborough.

Andy may just be photographing the world as he walks through it, but the end result is a continuous living visual picture of Peterborough’s culture.

To see more of Andy’s work, visit his Flickr account at flickr.com/photos/andys_camera/ and follow him on Instagram @andy.carroll.photos and Twitter @andyscamera.

A new live music venue is now open in downtown Peterborough.

A joint venture of Retro’s eSports Bar owner Andrew Warman, musician Chase Wilson, and Kristen Kerr, Simcoe Ptbo held its soft opening last Saturday (March 2).

Located at 172 Simcoe Street in downtown Peterborough, just beside the Peterborough Transit Terminal and across the street from Home Hardware, Simcoe Ptbo is heralded as “Peterborough’s live spot for punk, metal, hard-core rock, and everything in between”.

Wilson is the bassist for the Peterborough skate/punk band Bonnavilles.

VIDEO: Soft opening of Simcoe Ptbo featuring Bonnavilles

In an interview with Lyss England for her Nothing Exists Radio Hour (broadcast on community radio Northumberland 89.7 FM and available as a podcast), Wilson says the motivation for opening a live music venue in Peterborough is to support alternative music, especially following the closure of The Spill.

“The Spill was an iconic bar in town,” Wilson says in the interview. “Everybody knew it. Any up-and-coming band from this area played there, started there. When we lost that, the music scene died a little bit.”

In addition to The Spill, several other live music venues have closed recently in downtown Peterborough, including The Pig’s Ear Tavern, Catalina’s, and The Dobro.

While the owners of Simcoe Ptbo don’t expect to replace The Spill, they want to fill the gap that currently exists in the local music community, particularly for bands that can’t get gigs at other local venues. They say they want to create a steampunk and speakeasy “back alley bar” vibe, and eventually rent rehearsal space during the week.

For their March 2nd soft opening, Wilson’s band Bonnavilles performed to celebrate the release of their debut EP Back alleys & Bar stools, along with bands The Corporate Life, The Mad Murdocks, Nothing Serious, The Filthy Radicals, and more.

There are already additional live music events booked for Simcoe Ptbo, including The Anti-Queens (with The World Famous Tallboys, Fallen Legion, and Antixx) on March 16th, Jesse Stewart (with Johnny Nocash & the Celtic Outlaws) on March 27th, and Heart Attack Kids (with No Big Deal) on April 5th.

Andrew Warman and his wife Michelle opened Retro’s eSports Bar as a space for gamers in 2017, after renovating the second-floor space. Wilson and Kerr came up with the idea of a live music venue and Warman approached them about using the space at 172 Simcoe Street.

Wilson tells kawarthaNOW that Simcoe Ptbo, as a division of Retro’s eSports, will still host select nights for E-sports. He says that, to start, Simcoe Ptbo will be open on weekends (Fridays and Saturdays) and on select weekdays.

They will also be offering open mic nights every other Tuesday.

The history of 172 Simcoe Street

Prior to becoming Retro’s eSports Bar, the building was occupied by The Oxford Parlour & Patio (2016), The Whiskey Club (2013), and Club one7two (2010). Previously, it was occupied by The Purple Rooster and Second Floor Lounge for almost 20 years.

Before becoming a live music venue, 172 Simcoe Street was a popular hotel. In 1885, it was known as the Canadian Pacific Railway Hotel, then the Oxford Hotel in the early 1900s, and then the King George Hotel.

By 1967 it was known as the King George Tavern, and it’s where Canadian country-folk icon Stompin’ Tom Connors, who had a habit of stomping the heel of his left boot to keep rhythm, picked up his nickname.

On July 1, 1967 (Canada’s 100th birthday), Connors was going on stage at King George Tavern when waiter Boyd MacDonald introduced him as “Stompin’ Tom”, a name that Connors enthusiastically adopted.

This story has been updated with additional information to clarify the ownership and background of Simcoe Ptbo (thanks to Sky Madison Lisette).

To celebrate International Women’s Day on Friday, March 8th, kawarthaNOW.com is featuring a video interview with Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien. Watch the video at the bottom of this story.

Produced for kawarthaNOW.com by Peterborough video production and content marketing company NV Media Productions, the nine-minute video includes a candid chat between NV Media’s Mercedez Nucaro and Mayor Therrien.

In the October 2018 municipal election, Therrien defeated two-term incumbent Daryl Bennett in a landslide victory, capturing nearly 70 per cent of the vote. Therrien ran on a change campaign, proposing more collaborative and forward-thinking leadership and focusing on jobs and the economy, taxes and affordability, and infrastructure and roads.

At 32 years of age, Therrien is the youngest mayor in Peterborough’s history, and only the second woman to be elected to the office. Sylvia Sutherland was the first woman elected as Peterborough mayor in 1986. While Aileen Holt was the first female mayor of Peterborough in 1962, she was not elected; she was appointed to the position after Stan Mcbride resigned as mayor to become sheriff.

VIDEO: An interview with Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien

NV Media Productions is owned and operated by Bianca and Mercedez Nucaro, two Trent University graduates who founded the company in 2016. NV Media Productions is located at VentureNorth (270 George St. N., Peterborough) in The Cube, the business incubator of the Innovation Cluster Peterborough & The Kawarthas. For more information, visit www.nvmediaproductions.ca.

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.