Here's A Beauty Shot Of The Sky And Hunter Street From Tonight

[via @candaceshaw]

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Check Out The PCVS/DBIA Banners on Hunter Street

There are numerous different PCVS/DBIA banners on Hunter Street now.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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PtboPic: Sign Says "Welcome To The Hunter St Café District"

This fancy new sign went up in the little alley located next to Newdle Bar on Hunter. 

[Related: What About A Designated "Entertainment District" for Peterborough?]

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

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Jamaican Self-Help + Peterborough = 30 Years In Partnership

Youth awareness trip participant at St. Peter Clavier School in JamaicaFor thirty years, local organization Jamaican Self-Help (JSH) has been working to empower people and build communities. Through partnerships with hard-working Jamaicans, vocational centres, schools, health care facilities and other institutions, JSH has successfully improved the lives of many Jamaican adults and children.

The community of Peterborough is an essential part of the success of this organization. Supported by the small but committed staff, the organization is based on Hunter Street in downtown Peterborough. Hundreds of Peterborough residents have participated in the activities of JSH as they lead, promote, educate and fundraise for the organization’s activities.

“The mandate of JSH is twofold," says Marisa Kaczmarczyk, Executive Director of JSH. "Our objective is to work with our Jamaican partners in order to successfully do as our slogan suggests—‘Empower People and Build Community’ in the Jamaican context. We also work to promote global education for Peterborough residents through a number of activities and events, thereby ‘Empowering People and Building Community’ in the Peterborough context and between these two countries, as well."

Local couple Rosemary and John Ganley founded the organization after traveling to Jamaica in the 1970s through their volunteer work with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). With the help of friends and community members, the Ganleys have remained advocates for the organization’s activities in Peterborough and its programs in several parts of Jamaica. Other Peterborough residents continue to support JSH through volunteer work in areas such as fundraising, global education, programming in Jamaica and event planning. The organization continues to lead students and adults on "awareness trips" to Jamaica that promote knowledge of international issues.

As JSH looks into the next thirty years of its work, Peterborough remains significant in all aspects of its activities. “The support that JSH receives from the residents of Peterborough is essential to its success," adds Kaczmarczyk. "We rely so heavily on the volunteer hours, the corporate support, the public and private donations that we receive from the people of Peterborough. We continue to grow as an organization because of new ideas and support from members of this community of all ages."

To learn more about JSH, go their website, follow them on Twitter @JamaicanSH, or contact the office at 705-743-1671.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Sarah McDougall]

[Photo courtesy JSH]

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Black Honey's 5th Anniversary

Black Honey (a dessert, coffee and catering company located at 221 Hunter Street) is celebrating their 5th Anniversary tonight.

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PtboPic: Coming To Hunter Street... Gabby's

[photo submitted by PtboCanada contributor Julie Morris, @cupcakeJu]

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PtboPic: Sam's Place Rocks

[Located on Hunter Street across from the Red Dog]

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Stuff Just Happens in The Patch

[The Silver Hearts play on Hunter Street after last call]

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Peterborough's Art Supply Stores (We Are Pretty Lucky To Have Some Gems)

I must confess to being a bit of a sucker for an art supply store. When I was a kid, growing up in Peterborough, I wasn't aware of any art supply stores. In those days, you picked up "art supplies" at Towers on Lansdowne Street. They were hardly art supplies as you might think of them, but to me, being 10 years old, I guess they fit the bill. Construction paper, scissors, bottles of glue with the red rubber squishy top—they were all readily available.

When I left Peterborough to go to art school in Toronto, that is when I discovered what a real art supply store could be. While the college where I went to school had some art supplies, they had nothing on Curry's, downtown on Yonge Street in Toronto. Walls of tactile papers, markers, paints and pencils, all taunting money from my pocket. In the years that followed, I found stores like Gwartzman's on Spadina and Aboveground Art Supplies that seemed to have a impossibly comprehensive selection.

These days, here in Peterborough, we are pretty lucky. Things have changed. We have more than department stores now as a resource when it comes to art supplies. If I suddenly run out of Yellow Ochre oil paint, lino-block or those nice small bottles of black india ink, I’ve got choices. Sure, I could go to Michael's on Lansdowne—they've pretty much got anything you might be looking for. But the ambiance is not really in keeping with the artsy feel I’d become used to. I like to go where like minds meet.

The Blue Tomato Art Shop on Hunter Street has art supplies. They also have gallery space, where they show and sell local art. Finding art treasures alongside lino-block and a lovely selection of Japanese paper makes for a nice experience. There is a gallery upstairs, too, which pretty much demands a visit. Local art is a top priority at the Blue Tomato.

Victory Art Supply, located in the Cox Terrace on Rubidge Street, has most anything you will need, sans the gallery space of the Blue Tomato. Here you will find a compact space, filled with everything from ready stretched canvases to fine pencils, and a wide selection of watercolour papers and frames. While the space is not large, there is still a lot of poking around to be had, which is all part of the fun.

If I were a young artist growing up in Peterborough, the resources are aplenty for creating and experiencing visual art. Make it.

—Jeffrey Macklin, PtboCanada contributor

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