A Trent University Nursing Student Is Trent Judo Club's First Female Black Belt

Trent University nursing student Sarah Miller has earned a tremendous honour, becoming Trent Judo Club’s first female black belt. The promotion was made by Sensei Tom Hino and the Trent Judo Club to Sarah, along with the assistance of Sensei Paul Teleki as her Uke partner, at Trent Athletics Centre on Monday (December 10th) evening.

Sarah Miller: “This black belt promotion is truly an honour.”

“This black belt promotion is truly an honour,” says Sarah. “I began Judo at three years old. I was taught discipline, courage, modesty and respect for my fellow Judoka. I learned very quickly that it’s not easy to win, and losing is sometimes harder. Competing at the Canadian Nationals was truly an honour and taking home the bronze medal was great but this milestone allowed me to remember why I love this sport so much. Judo is a part of my life and not a day goes by that I don’t remember what this great sport has taught me.”

Left to right: Eric Guy, Paul Teleki, Sarah Miller & Tom Hino

Sensei Tom Hino says Sarah’s promotion is significant for the following three reasons:

“1. The ratio of men and women is often one sided in Judo, therefore Sarah's black belt promotes positive role modeling for the girls in our Junior classes to be equals among genders.
2. Since the opening of our club in January 2011, we produced 5 Shodan (1st degree) black belt and 1 Ni-dan and Sarah’s accomplishment is a perfect addition to the team.

Sarah holding her Uke partner Paul

3. Sarah is a Trent U student with a heavy workload. Nevertheless she accomplished this feat which indicates Judo training can go hand-in-hand with academic success for all levels of study (from elementary to Ph.D.). Last year, we had a Master Degree student who got Ph.D. as well as his black belt and went on to become a professor at Queens.”

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There Is Free Late Night Transit Service On New Year’s Eve Again This Year

The City of Peterborough is partnering with Wolfe Lawyers for the fourth consecutive year to offer free late night transit service on New Year’s Eve. Last year, 2,476 riders used the free service.

Ride the bus is free of charge on all 12 regular routes between 7:20 p.m. on December 31st and 3:20 a.m. on January 1st. The last bus will leave Peterborough’s downtown terminal at 2:40 a.m. Route maps will be available here.

Handi-Van service will also run during the same hours. Handi-Van trip requests from eligible clients will be accepted until 12:20 a.m. and service will continue until 3:20 a.m. Bookings are accepted on a first come, first served basis. Riders wishing to travel during peak times are encouraged to reserve their trips in advance.

Details regarding the hours of operation will be posted on the “What’s New at Transit” page here and at the downtown Transit Terminal.

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Check Out This Adorable Video Of Riverview Park & Zoo's Stewie Working A Puzzle Feeder

The Riverview Park & Zoo posted an adorable video of a squirrel monkey named Stewie on their Facebook page working a “puzzle feeder” that is getting thousands of views.

Stewie

"An important part of zookeeping is providing daily enrichment for the animals,” the zoo explains in the Facebook post. “Enrichment promotes natural behaviours, enhances mental and physical well-being, and increases an animal’s control over their environment. In addition to all these benefits, it's fun!”

Watch a puzzled Stewie working the feeder to get to his fave food, mealworms…

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Former PCVS Student's Documentary "Youth Unstoppable" To Headline Peterborough ReFrame Film Festival

Youth Unstoppable, a documentary film made by former PCVS student Slater Jewell-Kemker made to amplify youth voices against climate change, will be the opening night film headlining Peterborough’s ReFrame Film Festival at Showplace on Thursday, January 24 at 7:30 p.m.

Jewell-Kemker say that climate change is “actually this incredible opportunity to change everything for the better.” It was while still a student at PCVS that she began her work as a filmmaker-activist chronicling the global youth movement, and most of her early work was made right here in Peterborough.

Slater Jewell-Kemker filming her documentary

Slater moved to the area from Los Angeles when she was 10 years old. “I love this area,” she says. “One of my very first short films, Peace Begins, screened at the ReFrame Film Festival, around the time I started this documentary. It always kind of stuck in my mind, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to come back here when I’m done with this film, to come back to my home area where I can bring my friends and have them see what I’ve been doing for the past ten years?’”

“Slater’s story shows us a way forward in a global crisis that often seems impenetrable, and I know it will foster critical discussion, action, and change amongst all who see it,” says ReFrame Creative Director Amy Siegel.

Scene from her documentary

ReFrame, celebrating its 15th anniversary, will showcase over 60 documentary films at downtown locations—including ten by local filmmakers. ReFrame runs January 24th-27th, 2019.

For more information on the ReFrame lineup and tickets, click here.

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Watch: Lakefield's Instagram Dog Celebrity Owen The Griff In Serena Ryder's New Christmas Video

Millbrook’s pride and joy Serena Ryder, who attended PCVS in Peterborough, has just released a new Christmas video called “Christmas Kisses”. The title track from her very first holiday album, the song spotlights rescue dogs from the Ontario SPCA and dog influencers wearing festive styles.

One of the dog influencers starring in the video is none other than Lakefield’s Owen the Griff, who has 73,000+ fans on Instagram.

Owen the Griff

“One of Serena’s people reached out to us via email,” Owen’s owner/”Momager” Lisa Besseling tells PTBOCanada. “It was filmed at a small studio in Toronto. We were really happy to be a part of this and help bring awareness to supporting animal shelters at this time of year.”

Indeed, the fit was great for Owen the Griff, as he has been an important influencer on Our Pet Project, the Peterborough Humane Society’s capital fundraising campaign to build a new state of the art facility in Peterborough to replace the existing one they are in that opened in 1956.

Watch the video below and spread the word about this great video raising awareness for rescue dogs…

We are proud to partner up with and support the Ontario SPCA this holiday season! Thank you to all the caretakers and volunteers for your continuous hard work and passion to make rescue animals' lives a little bit better and brighter. A special thanks to everyone involved in this video, both dogs and humans!

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The New Smilezone For Kids At PRHC Is Awesome

PRHC has opened an awesome Smilezone at their Pediatric Outpatient Clinic for kids thanks to Smilezone Foundation (which transform spaces in hospitals and health centres to make them more comforting and fun for kids), Peterborough Liftlock Atom Hockey Tournament and PRHC Foundation.

It’s sure to put a smile on the faces of kids and their families there, and help relax them. It comes with iPad stations, sensory panels and more.

Check out the new #Smilezones at @prhc1! The POP Waiting Room, Main Hallway and Entrance and 4 Treatment Rooms are now equipped with iPad stations, sensory panels, jersey boxes and so much more! Thanks again to Liftlock Atoms Hockey Team for making all it all possible. pic.twitter.com/Rc4V88bUqa

— Smilezone Foundation (@smilezone4kids) December 5, 2018

Check out more pictures below via PRHC’s Facebook page…

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Watch: Our "We Are PTBO" In Conversation With Reptile Enthusiast Jordan Leal From House Of Scales

PTBOCanada.com in collaboration with our spinoff agency StudioPTBO have launched a new Docu-Series called "We Are PTBO". The series spotlights ordinary citizens in the community who help make this city extraordinary.

Jordan Leal at House of Scales

The series is produced by Rob "Electric City" James from StudioPTBO. In this show, we chat with local business owner and reptile enthusiast, Jordan Leal, about all things community and reptilian.

Watch the episode below…

-> Watch the first episode here in conversation with Amino Yusuf.

-> Watch the second episode here in conversation with Wayne Ferguson.

Know someone that you think should be spotlighted in the series? Email Rob here.

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PTBOCanada Reaches 10,000 Fans On Instagram, Now 54,000+ Combined Between Our Social Media Channels

Exciting news for the team here at PTBOCanada, as our Instagram channel highlighting great photos, video and stories of Peterborough & the Kawartha has reached 10,000 fans.

This is an awesome milestone for us on Instagram, and means that all three of our social media platforms now have at least 10,000+ fans—we have 19,500+ on our Twitter page and 24,750+ on our Facebook page.

Combined, we have now reached 54,000+ fans between our social media channels…

Thank you Peterborough & the Kawarthas and to all our fans from across the country and around the world! We are grateful!

Follow us on Instagram here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
Follow us on Facebook here.

Contact our Brand Strategist Aaron Elliott at aaron@ptbocanada.com to learn more about how we can get the word out about your local business.

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15 Fun Facts About The History Of Quaker Oats Plant In Peterborough

The Quaker plant on the shores of the Otonabee River doesn’t just smell great with its wonderful aromas that emanate throughout East City and the downtown on many days depending on the wind’s direction. It also has a storied history, having been first established on the shores of the Otonabee in 1902 (it was rebuilt after the devastating fire of 1916).

The plant is an institution in Peterborough, a vital employer and part of the fabric of the community, standing tall next to the Hunter Street Bridge. We teamed up with the plant’s parent PepsiCo Foods Canada, the plant’s local resident historian Henry Clarke and Trent Valley Archives to compile the below fun facts and photos/postcards…

1. The day the plant opened for business to begin hiring back in 1900, there were lineups at the door of the hiring office and a huge shortage of sales clerks in the downtown stores—they had flocked to Quaker for the better wages.

2. The plant had a huge steam whistle that for years called everyone to work at 8 a.m., for lunch at 12 noon, back to work at 1 p.m., and then signal the end of the work day at 5 p.m. It also was used to signal the start and end of the two minutes of silence on Remembrance day.

3. Yummy aromas: The smell of warm oatmeal is always in the air and is often supplemented by maple brown when the plant is making maple squares, and strawberries when making one kind of chewy bar. 

4. The occasional burnt smell will alert employees—and the rest of us who smell it—that something hasn’t gone quite right.

5. It takes an area of about 100 square miles to grow the oats to run the plant for a year.

6. It would take a hopper car train 11 miles long to bring the oats to the plant.

7. When it was still a flour mill (until the 1960s), flour for Africa was packed in a special flour sack of a particular shade of blue and was the right width and length to be cut into a pair of men’s pants. The blue was a favourite of the area where the flour was sold.

8. Muffet shredded wheat has been a favourite for a hundred years. The box board dividers that separated the layers of muffets in each box was a staple in most houses for recipes, grocery lists and notes.

9. Quaker at one time sponsored Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, a radio and early TV program about a Mountie in the Yukon. A premium was given away that provided one square inch of land in the Yukon to the redeemer. Some folks assembled thousands of coupons to actually claim the land but were refused when they could not prove title to adjoining squares.

10. Quaker packed rolled oats in calico bags up until the 1980s to be sold at Hudson Bay trading posts in the far north. The labels could be removed and the cloth used for curtains and other purposes.

11. During the Second World War, when so many were away with the armed forces, the city jail just up the hill from the plant would become a source of labour, with prisoners being sent to work each day and returned to the cells each night.

12. At one time, the great grandson of the founder of Quaker worked at the plant. He had the first $.25 shinplaster that the company had ever earned.

13. The father, uncle and sister of the hockey legend Bob Gainey all worked at the Peterborough Plant.

14. Bill Plager of NHL fame worked at the plant.

15. At one time it was possible to collect sets of china for home use, the china having been packed in boxes of rolled oats.

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