Peterborough-Kawartha MP and Minister of Status of Women Maryam Monsef speaking at the second annual International Women's Day Peterborough conference on March 8, 2018. The previous week, Monsef announced the creation of the Women of Peterborough–Kawartha Community Award during the inaugural Rural Women's Summit in Buckhorn. (Photo: Jeannine Taylor / kawarthaNOW.com)
Nominations are now open for the Women of Peterborough–Kawartha Community Award to recognize outstanding service to the community.
Maryam Monsef, Peterborough-Kawartha MP and Minister of Status of Women, announced the creation of the new award at the inaugural Rural Women’s Summit, an event she organized at the Buckhorn Community Centre on March 2, 2018.
Nominees for the award may demonstrate leadership in any one or more of the following categories:
Entrepreneurialism
Environmental Stewardship
Community leadership
Community Service
Work toward combatting poverty
Work toward ending discrimination
Work toward gender equality
Work toward Indigenous Reconciliation
Work toward rural community sustainability.
In order to be eligible for the award, nominees must reside, work, or study within the boundaries of the electoral district of Peterborough–Kawartha. There are no age restrictions on nominees, but there will only be individual awards (no group or paired awards).
Monsef will select the award recipients from the submitted nominations. Recipients will be notified in September, with an award ceremony to be held in October 2018 as part of National Women’s History Month.
Nomination submissions should be no more than 300 words, should describe why the individual is being nominated for the award, and should include both the nominator’s and the nominee’s full name and contact information.
The nomination deadline is Mother’s Day — Sunday, May 13, 2018.
Submit completed nominations directly to the Constituency Office of MP Maryam Monsef, either by email to Maryam.Monsef@parl.gc.ca or by postal mail to “Office of MP Maryam Monsef, 417 Bethune Street, Suite 4, Peterborough ON, K9H 3Z1” (no postage is required).
The Trees for Rural Roads program offers trees, free of charge to Clarington and Port Hope residents, to be planted on private land along municipal roads.
The municipalities of Clarington and Port Hope, with the assistance of the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority, are running the “Trees for Rural Roads” program again this year.
The program offers trees, free of charge to Clarington and Port Hope residents, to be planted on private land along municipal roads. Native sugar and red maples will be available, along with white pine, white spruce, white birch, and red and white oak.
In 1871, the Ontario Government passed legislation encouraging the planting of trees along highways. Municipalities paid landowners up to 25 cents per tree for trees planted along the roads.
The majority of the trees planted during this time were native maples, resulting in a common sight on the rural landscape: lines of stately maples alongside roads and separating farmers’ fields.
These trees, now over a century old, are succumbing to old age, exposure to wind, insects, and disease.
Tree species available from the Trees for Rural Roads program include sugar and red maples, white pine, white spruce, white birch, and red and white oaks. (Photo courtesy of Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority)
First developed in 2012, the “Trees for Rural Roads” program aims to restore trees along roadsides, thereby maintaining this important part of the rural landscape.
In 2017, 688 trees were distributed and planted along municipal roads on private land in Clarington. The deadline to apply for this year’s program is March 31, 2018.
If you are a resident of Port Hope or Clarington and are interested in participating in the roadside tree planting program, contact Kelly Gibson, Interim Stewardship Technician at the the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority, at kgibson@grca.on.ca or at 905-885-8173.
The City of Peterborough's Public Art Program is seeking Indigenous artists to create a new public artwork for Millennium Park to acknowledge Nogojiwanong on the traditional territory of the Michi Saagiig people. Pictured is a mural under the Hunter Street bridge in Peterborough by Toronto artist Kirsten McCrea that includes 'Nogojiwanong', the Anishinaabe name for what is now called Peterborough. (Photo: Kirsten McCrea)
The City of Peterborough’s Public Art Program has issued a call to Indigenous artists who are interested in creating artwork to acknowledge Nogojiwanong on the ancestral territory of the Michi Saagiig people.
Known as the Nogojiwanong Project, this major capital collaboration, with a budget of $45,000, has been undertaken in the spirit of kinship with local First Nations Indigenous peoples in recognition of the 200th anniversary of Treaty No. 20. — the agreement between the Michi Saagiig people and the British Crown that made it possible for Europeans to settle in this region.
In precolonial times, the Peterborough area was a gathering place for the Michi Saagiig of the Anishinaabeg. The territory of the Michi Saagiig, who were known as “the people of the big river mouths” and “the salmon people”, spanned from Gananoque in the east, along the north shore of Lake Ontario, and west to the north shore of Lake Erie at Long Point. It spread as far north as the tributaries that flow into these lakes, from Bancroft and north of the Haliburton Highlands.
As they travelled between their winter camps and their traditional fishing grounds at the mouth of the Ganaraska River on Lake Ontario, the Michi Saagiig would gather at the bottom of a turbulent stretch of the Otonabee River — the Anishinaabe name of the river is Odenabe, meaning “river that beats like a heart” — which they named Nogojiwanong, meaning “place at the foot of the rapids”.
When Peter Robinson and 2,000 Irish immigrants began a colony in the area in 1825, they named the location “Peterborough”.
Nogojiwanong was renamed “Peterborough” by colonial settlers after Peter Robinson and 2,000 Irish immigrants began a colony in the area in 1825. Pictured is a rendering of the settlement on the shoreline of the Otonabee River circa 1875. (Image: The Nogojiwanong Project)
Over the past few decades, efforts have been made to publicly recognize the traditional name of Nogojiwanong, including a sign (now in a state of disrepair) in Millennium Park erected in the 1990s by the now-defunct Peterborough Arts Umbrella and, more recently, a mural under the Hunter Street Bridge.
The Nogojiwanong Project will support innovative proposals from both emerging and established artists working in a range of contemporary and traditional disciplines and media. Artworks should consider the setting and stories from this land, and bring attention to the evolution of local treaties and inherent treaty rights, in particular Treaty No. 20.
The artwork will be installed at a site (to be determined) within Millennium Park overlooking the Otonabee River.
The deadline for the call for expression of interest is midnight on Monday, April 23, 2018. A short list of artists will be announced in early May, with the selected artist to be announced in early July. The expected completion of the project is November 2018.
In the 1990s, the now-defunct Peterborough Arts Umbrella erected a wooden sign in Millennium Park that read Nogojiwanong – ‘Place at the End of the Rapids’. The sign has not been maintained and has gradually fallen apart. (Photo: Kemi Akapo / Twitter)
The Nogojiwanong Project committee comprises representatives from Alderville First Nation, Curve Lake First Nation, Hiawatha First Nation, the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, the Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre, the Niijkiwendidaa Anishnabekwag Services Circle, and staff from the City of Peterborough.
Applicants are encouraged to attend an information session at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 4th. at The Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre (580 Cameron St., Peterborough), where City of Peterborough staff will outline the specifics of the project and requirements.
Applicants planning to attend the session are asked to RSVP to the Nogojiwanong Project Co-ordinator Wendy Trusler at wtrusler@peterborough.ca.
Over the past few decades, efforts have been made to publicly recognize the traditional name of Nogojiwanong, including this mural by Toronto artist Kirsten McCrea under the Hunter Street Bridge. The Nogojiwanong Project is the first project under the City of Peterborough’s Public Art Program to engage Indigenous artists. (Photo: Kirsten McCrea)
The Seasoned Spoon has been serving healthy and delicious meals from their Champlain College at Trent University in Peterborough location for 15 years. (Photo: The Seasoned Spoon)
This month, Eva Fisher celebrates 15 years with the Seasoned Spoon, explores a community cookbook project that you can be a part of, finds a local lunch delivered to your door in Campbellford, and catches up with a new group of women exploring the craft beer scene in Peterborough.
The Seasoned Spoon celebrates 15 years of feasts, food workshops, and so many bowls of soup
The Seasoned Spoon (1600 West Bank Drive Champlain College, Trent University, Peterborough, 705-748-1011 ext 6086) celebrated its 15th anniversary this March.
I spoke with The Seasoned Spoon’s Education and Outreach coordinator Caitlin Bragg about the Spoon’s evolution, from a group of committed volunteers serving soup every other week to a dynamic cooperative café and not-for-profit community organization — providing hundreds of people with access to affordable local foods and opportunities to learn about growing, cooking, preserving and advocating for sustainable, just. and inclusive food.
Before it had its current name, The Seasoned Spoon was a humble, politically motivated soup stand run by OPIRG Peterborough’s Food Issues Group (FIG).
This photo shows the old location, before The Seasoned Spoon moved to Champlain and took on its new name. (Photo: The Seasoned Spoon)
“The FIG started serving local, organic soup by donation in 2002 as a challenge the food service monopoly that Aramark had at Trent University at the time,” Caitlin says.
“The idea was to offer staff and students more diverse choices, as well as food for thought about prevailing institutional food policies.”
The stand became a popular place to get a delicious and healthy meal on campus. It was clear that this project had potential to change Trent University’s culinary landscape permanently.
“As the initiative grew, the project eventually elected a board of directors to better represent them and the seeds of Spoon cooperative were planted. With their new business model, the now named Seasoned Spoon Café began working towards a more permanent place.”
That place came with a new location at Champlain College, opened 15 years ago in February 2003, but the Seasoned Spoon still had room for growth, including, quite literally, room for growth through their partnership with the Trent Vegetable Gardens in 2006.
The 2017 Seasoned Spoon Staff. The Spoon currently has 22 staff members, with 17 staff, dozens of volunteers each semester and over 500 cooperative members. (Photo: The Seasoned Spoon)
They completed a root cellar in 2012, allowing them to serve their own vegetables year round. In 2016 they officially joined Trent’s residential meal plan. The Spoon currently has 22 staff members, with 17 staff, dozens of volunteers each semester, and over 500 cooperative members. The soup stand has become an institution.
In addition to healthy and delicious meals, The Seasoned Spoon now offers weekly workshops including Canning 101, Cheese Making, Apple Cider, sauerkraut and fermentation, bagel making, vegetarian cooking 101 and honey harvesting.
They also offer community meals twice a semester, where the community is invited to enjoy a feast featuring campus grown foods. These are offered on a by-donation basis, and often feature a guest speaker, film screening, or workshop.
To learn more about the Seasoned Spoon, visit them online at www.seasonedspoon.ca. They are open on Monday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and from Tuesday to Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., while classes are in session.
Nourish cookbook creates community in the kitchen
Nourish’s programming focuses on community. This photo was taken at their 2017 Harvest Dinner. (Photo: Elisha Rubacha)
Almost everyone has that recipe: one they have enjoyed with family and friends, one linked to a special memory, one that always brings people together. Nourish is collecting those recipes together in a new project, a cookbook entitled The Belonging Cookbook.
Nourish Project seeks to create belonging through food. They work predominately with people living on low incomes to build community locally. They take a respectful and forward-thinking approach to food programming.
Community Development Coordinator Joëlle Favreau explains:
“We work predominantly with people living on low incomes and we know that they are very skilled at maximizing their budget in the kitchen. What we hear, however, is that often they are missing real connections with others. The UK has just created a Ministry of Loneliness. I would have called it the Ministry of Belonging, but that’s beside the fact. Collectively, it is estimated that we have never been as lonely as we are now.
“Through our work, we are trying to grow connections and build community. Dietitians point out that when we eat with others, regardless of what we eat, we eat better.”
The aim of the cookbook is to get people thinking about how food builds connection in their own lives.
“We thought that recipes would be the entry point and the stories would help us all think more deeply about belonging, when we feel we belong most, where, why, and hopefully we can learn from those stories how to better grow belonging in our close circles and in our communities.”
The cookbook furthers Nourish’s aim to bring people of all backgrounds together through food.
“This past year, thanks to support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, we were able been able to host workshops, dinners, and harvest trips seeking to bring people together who may not, otherwise, easily connect with one another, the cookbook is an extension of this project.”
To express interest in submitting a recipe, email info@nourishproject.ca. You will be contacted by a volunteer who can take your recipe over the phone. You can find out more at nourishproject.ca.
Benji’s Buns serves soup and sandwiches to your door with a focus on local
Chef Ben Lehman serves local lunches at new Campbellford takeout Benji’s Buns. (Photo: Benji’s Buns)
What do Dooher’s Bakery, Empire Cheese, Churchkey Brewery, Brown’s Farms, and Russett Farms all have in common? They’re great places to get delicious food, all local to the Campbellford area, and as of this past January they’ve all come together in one bun.
Lunch takeout Benji’s Buns (26 Bridge St West, Campbellford, 705-768-4567) opened on January 22nd, 2018. Owner Ben Lehman keeps the menu simple: soups and sandwiches for a daytime crowd, but with a honed focus on independent and local producers.
An ELT: Eggplant, lettuce and tomato made with smokey maple eggplant and served with a baked potato soup. Benji’s Buns uses products from independent producers whenever possible. (Photo: Benji’s Buns)
Take their beef brisket sandwich. Beef from Russett farms is simmered overnight in a reduction of Churchkey’s Holy Smoke with barbecue sauce and onions. The beef is topped with red cabbage coleslaw, grainy dijon mustard, horseradish and a vinegar dressing on a Dooher’s Bakery Poppyseed Egg Bun.
Have it with Churchkey’s Garlic Cheddar Ale soup, or French Onion soup with Empire Cheddar. The menu is a constant rotation of soups and sandwiches inspired by local producers.
To Ben, supporting local producers just makes sense.
“I believe it’s the right thing to do: buying local, supporting local. In return, they support me. Using local, you get better quality and you build a better relationship with the community.”
Teriyaki pork and grilled pineapple on an onion slider bun served with potato, beef, and vegetable soup. (Photo: Benji’s Buns)
Food from Benji’s Buns is available from their downtown pickup window or can be delivered to your home or office within Campbellford.
Watch out Peterborough, the Electric City Brigade of Beer Betches is in town!
The January meeting of the Electric City Brigade of Beer Betches, held at the Olde Stone Brewing Company. (Photo: Travis Smith)
Are you a woman who loves beer? If the answer is yes, you’ve just qualified to join the Electric City Brigade of Beer Betches, a new of women that meets monthly to drink and learn about beer.
The February meeting of the Electric City Brigade of Beer Betches featured beer from Cameron’s Brewing Company. (Photo: The Electric City Brigade of Beer Betches)
Sara George started the group this January after taking part in a monthly women’s beer drinking group out of Toronto years ago.
“We were in the middle of a brewery, and everyone was having a great time and drinking different beers. There was merchandise and really great food and my first thought was ‘Why doesn’t this exist in Peterborough? This needs to happen in Peterborough.'”
Five years later in 2017, Sara began her current position of Assistant Brewer at the Olde Stone Brewing Company (380 George St N, Peterborough, 705-745-0495) and it suddenly clicked. Sara credits Olde Stone owner Travis Smith with encouraging the idea and offering the brewery as the official headquarters of the group.
Once the group is more established, Sara will consider taking the Betches to other Peterborough breweries.
“I would love to be able to see partnerships happen. I would love to reach out and work with others in the community. We live in a really great area for craft beer.”
To join the Beer Betches, follow them on Facebook. They meet up on the last Monday of every month at 7 p.m.
Owners Robert Black and Barb Matchett expect to open Black's Distillery in Peterborough's East City this week. The distillery produces gin, vodka, rye whiskey, and barley whiskey from local grains, including heritage grain. (Photo: Robert A. Metcalfe)
This week, we feature the imminent opening of Black’s Distillery in Peterborough’s East City, Lock Stop Cafe in Buckhorn opening this spring, a new general manager for Kawartha Golf and Country Club, a trade show for tradespeople and contractors with experience working with heritage buildings, and upcoming regional business events including a Bill 148 information session with the Ministry of Labour, the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce’s Annual General Meeting, and a Kawarthas Northumberland Regional Ambassador information session.
We publish businessNOW every Monday. If you have business news or events you want to share with our readers, please email business@kawarthanow.com.
Black’s Distillery in Peterborough opens on March 14
Peterborough’s newest distillery will be open for business on Wednesday, March 14th.
Some of the equipment at Black’s Distillery in Peterborough. (Photo: Robert A. Metcalfe)
Owners Robert Black and Barb Matchett are putting the final touches on Black’s Distillery, located at 99 Hunter St. E. at the corner of Hunter and Mark Streets in East City, in the space previously occupied by Video 99.
Black tells kawarthaNOW.com that, having received final approval from the City of Peterborough this week, the distillery (and tasting room) will open for the first time on March 14th from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Black’s Heritage Vodka will be available for purchase.
Black’s Distillery produces gin, vodka, rye whiskey, and barley whiskey from local grains, including heritage grain.
The distillery will be selling its products from its storefront and has also applied to the LCBO for distribution in liquor stores.
In addition to selling spirits distilled on site from local grains, Black’s Distillery will also offer gift ideas. (Photo: Robert A. Metcalfe)
New Lock Stop Cafe in Buckhorn opening this spring
Kelli Coon is opening a new speciality coffee house and cafe in Buckhorn this spring.
Lock Stop Cafe (1919 Lakehurst Rd., Buckhorn) will have its grand opening at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 21st.
Coon, a runner up in the 2017 Bears’ Lair entrepreneurial contest, also operates Ship Shape Service, a dockside interior boat cleaning service and a division of Coon’s Cottage Care in Buckhorn.
Kawartha Golf and Country Club hires new general manager
Kawartha Golf and Country Club has hired Jamie Carter as its new general manager, effective April 1st.
Carter, a career golf professional and club manager who has worked at golf clubs in Ontario for the past 28 years, was most recently general manager at the Dalewood Golf Club near Cobourg.
Carter will be leading Kawartha Golf and Country Club through its multi-million-dollar redevelopment, made possible by the sale of a 23-acre parcel of land along Clonsilla Avenue to AON Inc. AON plans to build a seniors-oriented housing development including apartments, condominiums and a full-service retirement residence.
Following completion of the sale, expected in late 2018, Kawartha Golf and Country Club will build a new clubhouse, construct two new holes to replace those on the parcel to be sold to AON, and expand its driving range and practice area.
Carter is a former president of the Ontario Professional Golfers Association who has represented Ontario on the PGA of Canada board of directors and served as governance chair.
He says that all functions of the golf course and clubhouse will continue without interruption this season.
Deadline extended for vendors for heritage trade show in Peterborough
Hutchison House is one of the oldest limestone houses in Peterborough. It was built by volunteers in 1837 for Dr. John Hutchison, the city’s first resident physician. (Photo: Hutchison House Museum)
The Peterborough Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee is looking for local tradespeople and contractors to participate in a heritage trade show on Saturday, April 7th.
The original March 9th deadline to apply has been extended to Friday, March 23rd. Application forms are available from the City of Peterborough website at peterborough.ca or at the nd at the Heritage Preservation Office (210 Wolfe St., Peterborough).
The goal of the heritage trade show is to connect contractors and tradespeople who specialize in heritage buildings with owners of heritage properties throughout the city. To participate, vendors must be able to demonstrate they have experience working with heritage buildings and that their work complies with the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada.
A space at the event will cost $15. Completed forms must be returned by March 23rd to the Heritage Preservation Office or via email to eturner@peterborough.ca.
Learn more about medical marijuana at Peterborough Chamber breakfast meeting on March 13
Erika Calhoun of Bodystream Medical Marijuana Services, which has a location at 53 Hunter St. E. in Peterborough, will be speaking at the Peterborough Chamber’s March 13th breakfast event. (Photo: Bodystream)
Erika Calhoun of Bodystream Medical Marijuana Services will be the guest speaker at Chamber AM, the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce’s bi-monthly breakfast meeting, on Tuesday, March 13th.
The event takes place from 7 to 8:30 a.m. at Carousel Restaurant & Tavern (116 Lansdowne St. E., Peterborough). Networking begins at 7 a.m., followed by breakfast at 7:30 a.m. (where you can make your best 30-second elevator speech to the room), with Erika Calhoun speaking at 8 a.m.
The event is free (you only pay for your breakfast) but registration is requested. For more information and to register, visit www.peterboroughchamber.ca.
Kawartha Chamber hosts Young Professionals Panel on March 20
Matt Logan (2013 Young Professional) with his wife Tracey, Lisa Besseling (2015 Young Professional), and Erin McLean (2017 Young Professional) will be the panelists of the Kawartha Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Young Professionals BOSS session on March 20, 2018. (Photos courtesy of Kawartha Chamber of Commerce & Tourism)
On Tuesday, March 20th, the Kawartha Chamber of Commerce & Tourism is hosting the latest in its Business Owners Sharing Solutions (BOSS) serminars.
This month’s session features a panel of local professionals, each of whom is a past recipient of the Chamber’s Young Professional Award of Excellence: Erin McLean of McLean Berry Farm, Lisa Besseling of Stony Lake Furniture Co., and Matt Logan of Logan Tree Experts.
Erin, Lisa, and Matt will be sharing their stories, successes, and challenges as young business owners.
Julia Wood, Economic Development Officer for the Rural and Agriculture sectors at Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development, will be moderating the session.
The Young Professionals session is takes place at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 77 (10 Nicholls St., Lakefield) from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. The cost is $15 for Kawartha Chamber Members, and $25 for guests. A hot breakfast will be provided.
Bill 148 Information Session with the Ministry of Labour on March 20
On Tuesday, March 20th, the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce and Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Association (DBIA) are hosting an an information session with Kelly Howe, Regional Program Coordinator with the Ontario Ministry of Labour.
Howe will be speaking on how Bill 148 (Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017) changes the Employment Standards Act (ESA), along with the various ways a business could interact with the Ministry of Labour and differences between those interactions, as well as the powers a standards officer has under the ESA.
The event runs from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Peterborough Public Library (345 Aylmer St. N., Peterborough). Networking begins at 5 p.m., with remarks from Howe from 5:20 to 6 p.m. followed by a facilitated question-and-answer session from 6;05 to 6:30 p.m., and more networking and one-on-one question time with Howe from 6;30 to 7 p.m.
The session is open to Peterboough Chamber and DBIA members. For more information and to register, visit www.peterboroughchamber.ca.
Panel discussion on communicating with the media on March 20
Peterborough & the Kawarthas Business Advisory Centre is presenting a panel discussion called “Telling your Story: How to Effectively Talk with the Media” on Tuesday, March 20th from 6 to 8 pm. at Showplace Performance Centre (290 George St. N., Peterborough).
The panel discussion is intended for small business owners or entrepreneurs who struggle to share their story with local media. Panellists include local media professionals Paul Rellinger, Jessica Nyznik, and Catherine Hanrahan.
The discussion takes place in the Nexicom Studio. A cash bar will be available and light appetizers will be served.
Meet Trent University and Fleming College students seeking employment on March 20
The Trent Business Students’ Association is hosting “Peterborough Connects” from 12 to 1:45 p.m. at the Innovation Cluster (270 George St. N., Peterborough).
Employers can meet students from Trent University and Fleming College who are seeking employment, showcase their businessses, network with representatives from Trent University and Fleming College, and market any summer internship positions.
Lindsay & District Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting on March 21
The Lindsay & District Chamber of Commerce AGM will be held on March 21 at the the Kawartha Art Gallery. (Photo: Lindsay & District Chamber of Commerce)
The Lindsay & District Chamber of Commerce is holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 21st at the Kawartha Art Gallery (190 Kent St. W., 2nd Floor, Lindsay).
At the AGM you can find out about the Chamber’s activities and successes of the past year, learn about Chamber initiatives for the coming year, review the financial statement, and pass a motion to accept the slate of Board members as presented.
There will also be an opportunity to view the Annual Student Juried Art Exhibit, featuring the talents of Lindsay secondary school students.
Trent Hills Business Excellence Awards nominations open until March 23
Nominations for the Trent Hills Chamber of Commerce 2018 Business Excellence Awards are open until Friday, March 23rd.
Nominations are limited to businesses, organizations, or individuals in the Trent Hills community or who are a member of the Trent Hills Chamber of Commerce.
Award categories include Excellence in Business (three employees or fewer), Excellence in Business (four employees or more), Emerging Entrepreneur, Pride and Progress, Customer Experience Award (Service Business), Customer Experience Award, Community Impact, Ignite 2018 (Business), Ignite 2018 (Non-Profit Organization), and the Chair’s Award.
Makeover seminar for retail businesses on March 27
Barbara Crowhurst is a retail specialist, business coach, writer, international speaker and trainer. She will be leading a retail makeover seminar on March 27, 2018. (Photo: Barbara Crowhurst)
Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development and the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area are hosting “A Retail Makeover For Your Business” from 8 to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 27th in the boardroom at VentureNorth (270 George St. N., Peterborough).
The seminar will be led by Barbara Crowhurst, North America’s leading retail business coach and trainer, who will have you evaluate your business and consider how you generate traffic, engage more customers, and generate higher revenues.
Peterborough Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting on March 27
The Peterborough Chamber of Commerce is hosting its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday, March 27th from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at Peterborough Golf & Country Club (1030 Armour Rd., Peterborough).
The AGM will take a look back at highlights from 2017 and chamber members will be asked to approved the corporation’s audited financial statements, the actions of the board of directors for 2017, and the proposed bylaw change.
The AGM will be followed by a special presentation by keynote speakers Jeffrey Humble, Director of Planning and Development Services with the City of Peterborough, and Bryan Weir, Director of Planning with the County of Peterborough.
The event costs $20 for members and $30 for non-members. Doors open at 7 a.m. for networking, with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. followed by the AGM at 8 a.m. and guest speakers at 8;30 a.m. For more information and to register, visit www.peterboroughchamber.ca.
Kawarthas Northumberland Regional Ambassador session on March 28
Regional Tourism Organization 8 (RTO8) is seeking frontline staff and business operators who want to become Kawarthas Northumberland Regional Tourism Ambassadors.
RTO8 is hosting a session on Wednesday, March 28th from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Holiday Inn Peterborough Waterfront (150 George St., Peterborough) where you can learn what it takes to be a Regional Ambassador and the tools you can use to stay up to date on what the region has to offer.
You can also meet other people who share your interest in encouraging visitors to stay longer, explore farther, and spend more during their visit.
Lunch and refreshments will be provided. Space is limited. To register, contact Sarah Kerr at sarahp@rto8.com or 705-874-8505 ext.102.
PetSmart Charities of Canada donated $161,000 to the Peterborough Humane Society at the shelter's annual fundraising gala on February 24, 2018. Pictured from left to right: OSPCA CEO Kate MacDonald, OSPCA senior director Daryl Vaillancourt, PHS board chair Nicole Truman, PHS executive director Shawn Morey, PetSmart Peterborough's Star Shaw, gala emcee Ray Henderson (in costume), and Pet Smart Peterborough, Ray Henderson MC, amd PetSmart Charities regional relationship manager Dani Mailing. (Photo courtesy of Peterborough Humane Society)
PetSmart Charities of Canada has donated $161,000 towards the Peterborough Humane Society’s capital campaign for the society’s planned humane education centre and low-cost spay/neuter clinic.
PetSmart Charities presented a cheque to the Peterborough Humane Society at the shelter’s annual fundraising event, the Furball Gala, held on Saturday, February 24th at The Venue in downtown Peterborough.
“Together, PetSmart Charities of Canada and organizations like the Peterborough Humane Society are helping to reduce pet overpopulation in this region by promoting pet adoption and providing access to more affordable, accessible spay and neuter services,” says Dani Mailing, regional relationship manager at PetSmart Charities.
The Peterborough Humane Society already has a strong relationship with the local PetSmart store (898 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough) where cats, rabbits and other small pets from the shelter are brought into the store in the hopes of being adopted and finding their forever home.
“We’re so grateful that our community believes in the great work that we do here at the Peterborough Humane Society,” says Shawn Morey, Executive Director of The Peterborough Humane Society. “Because of their belief and generosity, we are that much closer to accomplishing the task at hand of raising the much-needed funds for the new build”.
The Peterborough Humane Society’s planned new facility will be home to a humane education and adoption centre, a low-cost spay and neuter clinic, and the Ontario SPCA’s Dog Rehabilitation Centre — the first of its kind in Canada.
“It will allow us to provide better care for the animals entrusted to our care,” Morey says. “They deserve this state-of-the-art new facility.”
If you are interested in supporting the Peterborough Humane Society’s capital campaign, either as a volunteer or as a donor, contact Frances Buzcko at fbuczko@thedennisgroup.ca for more information on how you can help. You can also donate online at peterboroughhumanesociety.ca.
PetSmart, North America’s largest pet retailer, founded PetSmart Charities of Canada, a registered Canadian charity, in 1999. In addition to finding forever homes for more than 25,000 shelter pets each year through its in-store adoption program in every PetSmart store, PetSmart Charities provides funding to registered charities. For more information, visit www.petsmartcharities.ca.
Soprano Leslie Fagan, who was recently appointed to the Order of Ontario, will perform with the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra (PSO) at 'Requiem' at Emmanuel United Church East on March 24, 2018. Also joining the PSO for a performance of Johannes Brahms moving choral composition 'A German Requiem' will be the full Peterborough Singers and baritone Alexander Dobson. (Photo: Tony Hauser)
As the roller coaster of weather continues this month across the Kawarthas, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is preparing a thrilling and dramatic end to the winter season on March 24th with Requiem, a concert at Emmanuel United Church East in Peterborough.
The PSO’s March 24th Requiem concert at Emmanuel United Church East is sponsored by Scotiabank. Tickets are available from the Showplace box office.
Sponsored by Scotiabank, Requiem will feature the 58 musicians of the PS0 performing the music of German composer Johannes Brahms along with the 100 voices of the Peterborough Singers, baritone Alexander Dobson, and soprano Leslie Fagan, conducted by PSO Music Director Michael Newnham.
The PSO is pleased to be joined by these extraordinary guest artists to present the moving choral composition A German Requiem, to Words of the Holy Scriptures, Op. 45. Brahms wrote the work between 1865 and 1868, following the deaths of his friend and fellow composer Robert Schumann and Brahms’ mother.
Rather than creating a requiem in the Roman Catholic tradition to mourn the dead, the Protestant-raised Brahms wrote his composition with a focus on humanity, to bring comfort to the living.
A German Requiem is an ambitious and profound piece. It is Brahms’ largest composition, and one which has found renewed popularity in today’s society. Last year, the New York concert season featured several performances of it programmed with commissions and other works meant to offer hope and reflection on today’s social, political, and environmental conflicts.
‘Requiem’ marks the first time in over a decade the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra will perform with all 100 members of the Peterborough Singers (pictured here in 2013), which is celebrating its 25th season this year. (Photo courtesy of Peterborough Singers)
James R. Oestreich, music critic with The New York Times, wrote that the German Requiem “has become something of an anthem for our time”.
A portrait of German composer Johannes Brahms in 1865, the year he began work on ‘A German Requiem’. (Public domain)
Indeed, the themes of the large-scale work completed 150 years ago have a powerful, ageless appeal. Maestro Newnham explains that the composition “is about bringing comfort to all, helping us understand where we fit in the greater scheme of things
“This is the piece which made Brahms famous, still as a young man. Its style is the perfect combination of romanticism, classicism and music from the 16th and 17th centuries. It is timeless.”
Requiem marks the first time in over a decade that the PSO will perform with the full Peterborough Singers. This season the highly regarded vocal ensemble celebrates its 25th anniversary.
“The Peterborough Singers are one of the defining elements of musical life in our city,” Maestro Newnham says.
“Syd Birrell has built not only a very fine choir, but a huge family. Their joy of music making and sense of being in the moment is tangible whenever I see them. I am very grateful to Syd and the choir for the opportunity of joining with the PSO to perform Brahms’ German Requiem, one of the greatest works for choir and orchestra ever written.”
Soprano Leslie Fagan was appointed to the Order of Ontario earlier this year in recognition of her contributions as a singer, educator, and promoter of Canadian music. (Photo: MPP Jeff Leal / Twitter)
Also joining the PSO on March 24th are soprano Leslie Fagan, who was recently appointed to the Order of Ontario, and the acclaimed baritone Alexander Dobson, who will be performing with the PSO for the first time.
“Leslie Fagan and Alexander Dobson are at the forefront of operatic and oratorio singers in and outside of Canada,” Maestro Newnham says. “Both are very well-known in Peterborough and well-loved by the PSO musicians and our audiences. This is a dream team for Brahms’ German Requiem.”
Baritone Alexander Dobson is performing ‘A German Requiem’ three times this season, including his debut performance with the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra on March 24, 2018. (Photo: Melissa Tremblay)
Alexander explains that his connection with the German Requiem is intense, as he is singing it three times this season.
“The first being in Peterborough, then on to Edmonton and finally in Charleston, South Carolina at the Spoleto Festival,” he explains. “I had the great joy to sing it with the Orchestre Metropolitain and Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducting a few years back.”
That connection is also an emotional one for Alexander.
“It is a piece that is dear to my heart,” he says. “Not only from the sheer beauty of the music but also the scale of it. It is challenging for all involved and after putting all the pieces together it becomes extremely satisfying to perform.
“I am really looking forward to making my Peterborough Symphony debut with this piece especially, and to work for the first time with Maestro Michael Newnham. I have always been so impressed with his energy on the podium and the orchestra loves to play with him.”
The Requiem concert program also includes Joseph Haydn’s theatrical “La passione” symphony and excerpts from J. S. Bach’s Orchestral Suite no. 2.
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at Emmanuel United Church East (534 George St. N, Peterborough, formerly known as George Street United Church), but ticket holders are invited to attend Meet the Maestro, a popular pre-concert chat with Maestro Newnham, in the church at 6:40 p.m. Doors into the main seating areas of the church are scheduled to open at 6:30 p.m..
VIDEO: ‘A German Requiem’ performed by Berlin Philharmonic and Berlin Radio Choir
Although Requiem takes place at Emmanuel United Church East, single concert tickets are only available from the box office at Showplace Performance Centre (290 George St. N., Peterborough). Tickets are priced at $38.50 for adults and $10 for students. Visit the box office in-person, online at www.showplace.org, or call 705-742-7469 to buy tickets.
Seating at Emmanuel United Church East is general admission, but there will be sections of seats reserved for PSO season subscribers. Volunteers will be on hand at the church to assist audience members, including those who require use of the elevator to access the main floor of the church. The elevator entrance is located outside of the church, to the left of the main entrance on George Street.
Calgary-based indie folk-rock band Reuben and the Dark (Brock Geiger, Ian Jarvis, Shea Alain, (Brendan) Dino Soares, and Reuben Bullock) are performing at Peterborough's Market Hall on March 15, 2018, with special guest Kalle Mattson opening. (Photo: Reuben and the Dark / Instagram)
When it comes to music, 33-year-old singer-songwriter Reuben Bullock was a late bloomer.
The front man for Calgary-based folk-rock band Reuben and the Dark, performing at the Market Hall in Peterborough on March 15th, only began writing music in his early twenties and admits he didn’t even sing as a child.
Market Hall Performing Arts Centre presents Reuben and the Dark
When: Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 8 p.m. Where: Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte St., Peterborough) How much: $18/$23
Tickets are available at the Market Hall Box Office, by calling 705-749-1146, or online at tickets.markethall.org. Tickets are also available (cash only) at Moondance (425 George St. N., Peterborough, 705-742-9425).
“I didn’t sing along with the radio,” he tells Meredith Dault of SOCAN. “I couldn’t sing around a campfire.”
In fact, Bullock’s first passion as a child was skateboarding, which he took up when he was 11 years old. By the time he was a teenager, he was competing at a semi-professional level — but then he started writing poetry.
“I went nuts with it like any 16-year-old that gets obsessed with something,” he says in an interview with Jen Zoratti of the Winnipeg Free Press. “I filled journals and journals with poetry that resembled lyrics. But I never shared them with anyone.”
Those journals would come in useful when Bullock was 21 years old and his brother gave him an acoustic guitar. He learned to play a couple of chords, and immediately wrote 20 songs.
Reuben Bullock. (Photo: Kaelen Ohm)
“I picked the guitar up out of necessity, to get words off of paper,” he says. “Once I figured out how to play two chords, it gave writing a completely different meaning.”
To overcome his shyness about singing and performing in front of people, Bullock spent two years performing at open mics in venues around Calgary.
“I did it over and over and over again until it started feeling right, but it was a huge source of anxiety for me.”
In 2009, he recorded his debut solo album Pulling Up Arrows, followed by Man Made Lakes in 2012. In both cases, he was backed by a band, with the second record featuring current Reuben and the Dark member Shea Alain and Bullock’s brother Distance Bullock.
VIDEO: “Alberta Canada” featuring “Bow & Arrow” by Reuben And The Dark
That album caught the attention of Mairead Nash, manager of the U.K. indie rock band Florence and the Machine, who heard one of Bullock’s songs while she was at a coffee shop in Mexico.
Bullock ended up performing with Florence and the Machine drummer Chris Hayden at a number of shows in Mexico, and then travelled to London where he and Hayden worked on demos that would end up on Funeral Sky, the debut album under the newly named Reuben and the Dark, which was released on the Arts & Crafts label in 2014.
The band went on to tour Canada and the United States in support of the album, and got a big boost when its first track “Bow & Arrow” was used as the soundtrack for a tourism video by Travel Alberta in 2014. That video has since racked up over one million views on YouTube.
VIDEO: “Heart in Two” – Reuben And The Dark
Reuben and the Dark returns to Peterborough three months after opening for Serena Ryder at Showplace Performance Centre on December 15, 2017. Their energetic performance earned them quite a few new fans in the audience, prompting Market Hall to bring them back to town.
Now that the tour with Ryder is over, the band is embarking on an eight-date Ontario tour with the first show in Peterborough at the Market Hall on March 15th. As well as some of the band’s older tunes, the audience can expect to hear the new singles “Heart In Two”, “Hurricane”, and “All Or Nothing” from their sophomore album, Arms of a Dream, which is set to drop on May 4, 2018.
Both singles “Heart In Two” and “Hurricane” have done well on commercial alternative radio and CBC Radio 2.
VIDEO: “Hurricane” – Reuben And The Dark
VIDEO: “All or Nothing” – Reuben And The Dark
Arms Of A Dream finds Reuben and the Dark working outside its comfort zone, both musically and lyrically.
Reuben Bullock. (Photo: Alexander Souetre)
“This album is about love and the inner war that can exist when the heart and mind are torn,” Bullock says in a media release about the new album.
“It is about family and intergenerational trauma. It is about holding your darkest secrets and truth from the people you love the most, and it is about dreams. Making this album was a journey to find a place where I can live my own truth, where there is a congruency of body and spirit.”
Reuben and the Dark performs at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte St., Peterborough, 705-749-1146) on Thursday, March 15th at 8 p.m. General admission tickets are $18, with assigned cabaret table seats $23, available at the Market Hall box office or online at tickets.markethall.org.
Tickets are also available (cash only) at Moondance (425 George St. N., Peterborough, 705-742-9425).
Ottawa-based singer-songwriter Kalle Mattson will be opening the show. His music video “Avalanche” was nominated for Video of the Year at the 2016 Juno Awards, and won the 2016 Prism Prize.
The Ontario Cannabis Store name and logo. (Graphic: LCBO)
The Province of Ontario has revealed the name and logo for government-operated marijuana stores once recreational pot is legal — to widespread mockery on social media.
The stores will be named “Ontario Cannabis Store” and the logo is a black-bordered circle with the acronym OCS inside. The legal name of the LCBO subsidiary is Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation.
“The name is designed to convey a safe, simple and approachable environment for consumers, and agency employees, in a clear and easily understood manner,” according to a statement from the LCBO on lcbocannabisupdates.com.
The LCBO has estimated the cost of the overall brand strategy, including the brand name and logo and other aspects of brand development, at approximately $650,000.
The apparently intentional lack of creativity in the proposed branding immediately prompted mocking from Twitter users:
The logo for "Ontario Cannabis Store" which is where you'll buy weed in Ontario looks like a front for a business that used microsoft word to put something together. pic.twitter.com/NffTRredTl
Ontario plans to open Ontario 40 stores by July 2018, growing to 80 by July 2019, and up to 150 stand-alone cannabis stores by the end of 2020.
To date, 29 communities have been selected to get one or more stores, including Peterborough and Lindsay in the Kawarthas. Specific store locations will be selected following public consultation.
The stores will sell cannabis products in the forms allowed under the proposed federal law. Initially, this will include dried and fresh cannabis, cannabis oil, as well as cannabis accessories. Edibles will not be sold until such times as the federal government may choose to make these legal.
Canadian commerce platform Shopify will be used for both in-store and online sales.
Hydro One is withdrawing from negotiations for the sale of Peterborough Distribution Inc., according to a joint media release issued today (March 9) by the City of Peterborough and Peterborough Utilities Group.
The media release provides no information on the reasons for Hydro One’s withdrawal from the negotiations.
Hydro One approached the city in 2014 to express interest in purchasing PDI. In October 2016, City of Peterborough Holdings Inc. — the city’s private corporation that owns Peterborough Distribution Inc. (PDI) — recommended the city accept an offer from Hydro One.
The offer included $105 million in cash, a reduction of electricity distribution rates by one per cent for existing PDI customers, a freeze on distribution rates for five years, a promise to protect jobs for PDI employees for one year, and a new Hydro One operations centre and fleet maintenance garage in Peterborough.
In December 2016, Peterborough City Council decided to accept the offer from Hydro One, despite strong opposition from members of the community.
Shortly after the City of Peterborough issued its media release, Ontario Hydro issued a similar release that also provides few details on why the negotiations fell through.
“The role of both parties in these commercial negotiations is to ensure that the end result is an outcome that creates customer and shareholder value,” the release states. “In this particular case, despite the strong offer made to the City of Peterborough, the two parties were unable to achieve that balance.
“Hydro One would like to thank Mayor Bennett, the City of Peterborough and members of both negotiating teams and looks forward to continuing its relationship as long-time neighbours and proud members of the Peterborough community.”
This story will be updated when more information is available.
Peterborough residents gather at the Market Hall on March 4, 2016 for a public information meeting on the proposed sale of Peterborough Distribution Inc., where Mayor Daryl Bennett (pictured in the front row) reiterated his support for the potential sale (photo: Paul Rellinger / kawarthaNOW)
kawarthaNOW.com offers two enews options to help readers stay in the know. Our VIP enews is delivered weekly every Wednesday morning and includes exclusive giveaways, and our news digest is delivered daily every morning. You can subscribe to one or both.
Submit your event for FREE!
Use our event submission form to post your event on our website — for free.
To submit editorial content or ideas, please contact us.
