This past Saturday (June 24), a stray cat was found on North Asphodel 5th Line and brought into the Peterborough Humane Society.

The cat, who the Humane Society has named “Forrest”, had an injured paw. Upon examination by the Emergency Veterinary Hospital, it was discovered that he had been shot; the bullet was still lodged in Forrest’s leg.

While he is being kept comfortable, Forrest will have to have his front leg amputated — a fairly complicated and costly surgery.

The cost of this surgery is a huge undertaking and the Peterborough Humane Society is reaching out to the public for assistance in Forrest’s care.

To support Forrest, please visit peterboroughhumanesociety.ca and donate to the Milo fund, which was set up over 20 years ago by the shelter, as a means for the community to help out with some of the costly surgeries and medications required for injured animals in their care.

An investigation has started into the state in which Forrest was found and the Peterborough Humane Society is asking for the public’s help. If anyone is aware of this incident or has information, please contact 310-7722, Crimestoppers, or the Peterborough Humane Society at 705-745-4722 ext 204.

The City of Peterborough and the Peterborough chapter of the UN Peacekeepers Association will be unveiling the design for the UN Peacekeepers Monument on Saturday, July 1st.

The event will take place at 10 a.m. at the north end of the Louis Street Parking lot at Charlotte and Louis Streets — the location of the new urban street park where the monument will be installed.

The public will have an opportunity to view models of the monument and learn about the project from members of the design team, Studio F Minus of Toronto.

The event will go rain or shine and light refreshments will be served.

The UN Peacekeepers Monument Project was developed in partnership with the Peterborough chapter of the UN Peacekeepers Association. Studio F Minus from Toronto was selected after a nation-wide call for proposals resulted in 24 submissions from across the country.

The design consists of two 14-foot mirrored sculptures, and is expected to be completed along with the new park in late 2018.

Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group, based in Lindsay, has donated $25,000 to Lang Pioneer Museum in Keene and another $25,000 to Kawartha Settlers ‘Village in Bobcaygeon.

The donations are part of the company’s celebration of Canada 150 by spporting heritage causes in the Ontario communities the company serves.

The company is donating a total of $150,000 for heritage causes, with another $25,000 going to each of the Glengarry Pioneer Museum in Dunvegan, Lanark County Archives in Perth, Rural Ottawa Museums in Ottawa, and the Hastings County Historical Society in Belleville.

“As a community-based business celebrating our own legacy of 122 years,” says Tim Shauf, President and CEO of The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group, “we recognized Canada 150 as a perfect moment to step up and specifically help these organizations in their important work to remember, recount, and reenact our shared history for future generations.”

The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group was formed in 2014 as an amalgamation of Farmers Mutual Insurance Company (Lindsay), Glengarry Mutual Insurance Company, and Lanark Mutual Insurance Company.

Since its founding, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group operates on the same historical premise of its three legacy companies: maintaining a focus on local presence and service that builds strong long-term relationships for the benefit of the greater community.

Peterborough’s Seeds of Change announced today (June 26) it will no longer have any paid staff as of July.

The non-profit group located in downtown Peterborough has joined the growing list of small, community-based organizations that have not been able to secure a stable financial base.

The organization, which began as a United Church Outreach project in 2011, received a three-year grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation that enabled it to expand and hire staff.

However, the grant ended this year and — despite contributions from the United Church, the City of Peterborough, and others — the organization does not have sufficient funds to support staff after June. Staff contracts will expire when their terms are over on June 30, 2017.

Sponsor Emmanuel United Church intends to carry on the work of Seeds of Change as much as possible by relying on volunteers. If you are interested in helping, contact the church office at 705-742-4162 to speak to a volunteer co-ordinator. Community groups who wish to discuss rental of space will also be served by the church office.

Seeds of Change describes itself as “a place to gather and grow the seeds of community resilience and transformation in Peterborough”, partnering with organizations such as Emmanuel United Church and with neighbours and community groups to cultivate social justice, spirituality, and artistic expression.

It is known as a place where groups and organizations can hold their workshops (Stage Cafe presents its concerts there). The organization also provides a community garden and offers community meals.

Seeds of Change received a Sustainable Peterborough Award in 2016, recognizing the organization’s efforts to reduce social isolation while improving physical health, nutrition, and mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

For more information about Seeds of Change and to donate, visit www.seedsofchangeptbo.org.

With a 122-year-old downtown building now granted a new lease on life, its tenants are crossing their fingers that it will continue to provide a roof over their heads.

The Commerce Building at the northwest corner of Water and Hunter streets — St. Veronus Café and Tap Room is located at street level — has been purchased by Paul Bennett, co-owner of Ashburnham Realty, the deal having gone through this past Wednesday (June 21). The building had previously been owned for many years by Jim Braund.

“He and I have been talking for a couple of years,” says Bennett. “I mentioned I had an interest and, if he was ever moving on from it, we’d find a way to do it.

“We hopefully will bring it back to its original glory. I don’t think you want to do anything other than redo what’s there and make it the true icon of the downtown that it probably once was. You can certainly tell how beautiful it once was.”

That’s music to the ears of artists Laurel Paluck and Joe Stable. Both have a long association with the building — Paluck having rented affordable upper-storey art studio space there for more than 20 years and Stable living there for close to 42 years.

“A lot of art has been made in this building and a lot is still happening here … it really is an arts hub,” says Stable, noting that, among other things, iconic folk singer/songwriter Willie P. Bennett “passed away here.”

“An excellent group of artists has been making things happen in this building,” adds Paluck. “Short of genuflecting and proclaiming ‘All hail our new Lord, Lord of the land, Paul Bennett and Ashburnham Realty,’ there may be hope.

“The hope is perhaps our new landlord’s powers will not dismantle the creative spaces, but instead be invested in maintaining a hard-working community which brings life and vibrancy downtown.”

That’s the plan, says Bennett.

“Hopefully we can make it into a real cool art stop in our core,” he says.

“We always meet with the existing tenants and go through things; talk about the plans and see what they think and hopefully get them all to stay longer. They have all been given nice welcome notices. I’ll personally meet with the commercial tenants; sit down with them and let them know what we do and how we do it.”

Early overtures have encouraged Paluck.

“After meeting with the property manager this morning — a lovely person scrambling to keep track of this new behemoth of a property and yet taking the time to ask about my work — and taking my post-dated rent cheques, I feel hopeful,” she says. “Maybe it’s not a fight, but a path to a shared goal.”

Making Paluck wary is her experience in Toronto “in the good old days” when artists, herself included, discovered affordable studio and/or live-in space could be had in abandoned warehouses and other vacant properties.

“Gardens were built, impromptu festivals arose, and entrepreneurial partners started up cafés and pop-up shops,” she recalls.

“Then developers sniffed the air and ‘Kaboom!’ It really was like a bomb dropping. Goodbye affordable rents. Goodbye dynamic spaces. Goodbye mid-career endeavours. Hello Starbucks, and hello artist lofts priced beyond any artists’ means.”

Earlier this month, at a panel discussion hosted by Electric City Culture Council examining what needs to happen to ensure a thriving and sustainable cultural presence in the downtown core, Paluck appealed directly to Bennett to work closely with the arts community should he come to own the building.

“I hoped the building sale would have been closed by then but, with it not having closed, I didn’t really want to say anything. So I just sat on the sidelines and listened.

“I knew everyone would be very passionate. That’s a good thing. It shows you’ve got tenants and a community that cares. I think we’ll probably see more of that passion as we move forward and have meetings with the tenants and the whole arts community.”

As for Bennett’s plans for the building structurally, they include a dramatic upgrade of the red brick façade along with the installation of new windows, a new roof, and a Water Street-facing banner proclaiming the structure as the Commerce Building.

Inside, halls and common areas will be renovated while the courtyard in back of the building — accessible now via an alley off Water Street — will get a major facelift.

Bennett’s purchase of the property is the latest example of his commitment to the development of Peterborough’s downtown core. He’s currently a partner in the development of VentureNorth at 270 George Street North — the former Promenade Building that’s now home to Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development as well as Innovation Cluster clients.

“The idea there was to create a one-stop location for starting or growing a business,” Bennett explains. “It allows the tenants to be more efficient in how they operate. They have smaller spaces because they can have shared spaces, so their overhead is lower.

“Hopefully, we can put together a similar type product for the arts community, where they’re not all competing for the same resources but can share some things.”

In taking ownership of the Commerce Building, Bennett has acquired a property of considerable historical significance.

Designed by architect John E. Belcher (who also designed the Market Hall), it was built over two years in the mid 1890s and was home to the Canadian Bank of Commerce, its principal tenant alongside along with several smaller shops. Over the ensuing decades, a number of firms and retail shops also called the building home.

“I have a huge passion for our core,” Bennett says. “I’m excited to see what happens over the next 10 years. I do believe there’s a whole new wave of people, whether they’re 20 or 90 years old, that want to live closer to the core.

We (Ashburnham Realty) focus a lot on the core and what I call the donut around the core, where I see the most growth coming, where people want to live a 10- or 15-minute walk outside of the core.”