Royal Canadian Legion Names Peterborough Woman 2025 National Silver Cross Mother

The Royal Canadian Legion has named Peterborough’s Nancy Payne a recipient of the 2025 National Silver Cross Mother, announced on Monday.

Payne grew up in Peterborough and has graduated from St. Peter Catholic Secondary School and St. Anne Catholic Elementary School. Photo courtesy of PVNC.

With the honour, Payne represented all Canadian mothers who have lost a son or daughter in military service during the National Remembrance Day Ceremony in Ottawa on Tuesday.

She laid a wreath at the National War Memorial on behalf of all bereaved military families. She will continue to serve in this role throughout the year, attending national events that honour the Fallen.

Her son, Corporal Randy Payne, was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2006.

“I just want people to know about him, and I don’t want people to forget him,” she said.

Corporal Randy Payne. Photo courtesy of PVNC.

Her husband, David, and eldest son, Chris, also served with the Canadian Armed Forces. Military service is a long family tradition for her, dating back to the First and Second World Wars.

Born and raised in Peterborough, Mrs. Payne attended St. Anne CES and St. Peter CSS. She became a hairstylist and then a personal support worker and activity director in Gananoque.

For nearly two decades, Mrs. Payne has honoured her late son’s memory through the ‘Captain’s Award,’ presented each year to a Gananoque Secondary School student who demonstrates leadership, athletic ability and academic excellence — qualities her son embodied as a beloved hockey player and team captain according to the Peterborough, Victoria, Northumberland and Clarington Catholic School Board.

As the 2025 National Silver Cross Mother, Payne says it is a privilege to represent families who have experienced such profound loss.

“Never forget what they did for us,” she explained. “They gave their lives, we can’t forget that… we have what we have because of them.”

She and her husband reside in Lansdowne. Her hobbies include quilting, knitting and spending time with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Tiktok, Youtube and LinkedIn. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Hometown PTBO: Lt. Col. Lee-Anne Quinn and Timelining Her Military and Community Service

This week on Hometown PTBO, David Tuan Bui talks with Canadian Armed Forces veteran Lt. Col. Lee-Anne Quinn about why she joined the military, her local community efforts and Remembrance Day's significance.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Youtube and LinkedIn. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for our newsletter here.

List of City Services On Remembrance Day 2024

On Monday, in observance of Remembrance Day, many City services and facilities will operate under holiday hours or will be closed.

Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 52 Peterborough will host the Remembrance Day Parade and Service at the Citizens' War Memorial in Confederation Square on Monday starting at 10 a.m.

City Hall

City Hall, including the Tax Office, Clerk’s Office and Building Services, will be closed on Monday. Online services are available at peterborough.ca.

Green Bin, garbage and yard waste

There will be no changes to curbside collection of Green Bins, garbage and yard waste.

The City/County Landfill at 1260 Bensfort Rd. will be open regular hours, 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on Monday.

Public Works

Public Works can be reached at 705-745-1386. This line is answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Peterborough Sport and Wellness Centre 

The Wellness Centre will be open regular hours on Monday, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., and all programs will run as scheduled. At 11 a.m., a moment of silence will be observed in the facility.

Arenas 

• Kinsmen Civic Centre and Healthy Planet Arena will be open for scheduled user groups

• The Recreation Facility Booking office will be closed on Monday

• Peterborough Memorial Centre and Grant Thornton Box Office will be closed on Monday. Event tickets are available for purchase online at memorialcentre.ca

Art Gallery of Peterborough

The Art Gallery of Peterborough will be closed on Monday. For information about gallery exhibitions and programs, visit agp.on.ca.

Peterborough Museum and Archives

The Peterborough Museum and Archives exhibitions and gift shop will be open from noon to 5 p.m. on Monday. Information about current exhibitions is available online at peterborough.ca/museum.  

Peterborough Public Library

The Peterborough Public Library will be closed on Monday. Regular hours resume on the following Tuesday. Information and digital resources are online at ptbolibrary.ca.

Provincial Offences Act office

The Provincial Offences office at 99 Simcoe St. will be closed on Monday. Fine payments can be made online at peterborough.ca/POA.

Social Services office

The Social Services office at 178 Charlotte St. will be closed on Monday.

Emergency shelter services remain open: call 705-926-0096 during weekends and holidays.

Municipal child care centres

City-operated child care centres Pearson Day Care and Peterborough Day Care will be closed on Monday.

Before and After School programs in schools will be open and operating normal hours on Monday.

Parking

The Parking Services office in the King Street parking garage will be closed on Monday.

Transit

Peterborough Transit will operate on a regular service schedule on Monday. Temporary detours may be in place on some routes during the rolling road closures between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. while the Remembrance Day parade is underway.

Visit peterborough.ca/transit or call 705-745-0525 for detailed schedules.

Peterborough Airport

The Airport's hours of operation are from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Youtube and LinkedIn. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for our newsletter here.

List of City Services Closed or On Modified Hours For Remembrance Day

Several City services are offering modified holiday hours or may be closed on Saturday or Monday, in observance of Remembrance Day.

File Photo.

City Hall

City Hall, including the Tax Office, Clerk’s Office and Building Services, will be closed on Monday. Online services are available at www.peterborough.ca.

Waste Management services

There will be no changes to curbside collection of Green Bins, recycling, yard waste and garbage.

The City/County Landfill at 1260 Bensfort Rd. will be open from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. on Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on Monday.

The Hazardous and Electronic Waste Depot at 400 Pido Rd. will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Public Works

Public Works can be reached at 705-745-1386. This line is answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Recreation services

The Peterborough Sport and Wellness Centre will be open with regular hours on Saturday (6 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Monday (6 a.m. to 11 p.m.). Visit www.peterborough.ca/recreation for information about schedules and programs at the Wellness Centre.

Arenas will be available to user groups for scheduled ice time on Saturday and Monday:

Kinsmen Civic Centre will be open from 6 a.m. to midnight.

Healthy Planet Arena will be open from 6 a.m. to midnight. On Monday, November 13, Customer Service at Healthy Planet Arena will also be open from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The Recreation Facility Booking office will be closed on Monday.

Peterborough Memorial Centre will be open for the Arkells concert at 7 p.m. on Saturday and from 6 a.m. to midnight on Monday for scheduled user groups.

The Grant Thornton Box Office at the Peterborough Memorial Centre will be open from 1 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday 11 and will be closed on Monday. Event tickets are available for purchase online at www.memorialcentre.ca.

Art Gallery of Peterborough

The Art Gallery of Peterborough will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and closed on Monday. For information about gallery exhibitions and programs, visit www.agp.on.ca.

Peterborough Museum and Archives

The Peterborough Museum and Archives exhibitions and gift shop will be open from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Monday. Information about current exhibitions is available online at www.peterborough.ca/museum.

Peterborough Public Library

The Peterborough Public Library will be closed on Saturday. Regular hours resume on Sunday. Information and digital resources are online at www.ptbolibrary.ca.

Provincial Offences Act office

The Provincial Offences office at 99 Simcoe St. will be closed on Monday. Fine payments can be made online at www.peterborough.ca/POA.

Social Services office

The Social Services office at 178 Charlotte St. will be closed on Monday.

Emergency shelter services remain open: please call After Hours service at 705-926-0096 during weekends and holidays.

Municipal child care centres

City-operated child care centres Pearson Day Care and Peterborough Day Care will be closed on Monday.

Before and After School programs at Westmount Public School and Edmison Heights Public School will open and operate normally on Monday.

Transit

Peterborough Transit will operate on a regular service schedule on Saturday and Monday. Visit www.peterborough.ca/transit or call 705-745-0525 for detailed schedules.

Peterborough Airport

The Airport hours of operation are from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Monday.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Youtube and LinkedIn. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Local Veteran Lee-Anne Quinn Shares Remembrance Day from her Perspective

Honourary Lieutenant Colonel Lee-Anne Quinn served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 23 years as an Air Medical Evacuation Nurse.

She was deployed in places like Former Yugoslavia, Somalia, Rwanda, Deer Lake and Fort Hope, Whitehorse and Afghanistan.

When she left the CAF in 2008, she immediately started working as a nurse practitioner in the civilian world.

Reflecting on her service, Quinn shares how important it is for her to make a difference in someone’s life each day.

“If I can’t make a difference for somebody else, it’s not a fulfilled day.”

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Lakefield WWII Veteran Arnold Graham Reflects on Remembrance Day

Arnold Graham, now a month shy of 96-years-old, enlisted with the 2nd (Reserve) Battalion, Prince of Wales Rangers (Peterborough Regiment) on Dec. 2, 1942, just ten days before his 17th birthday.

Left, Arnold Graham 1943, Royal Canadian Airforce (Photo courtesy of Lakefield War Vets) Right, Arnold at the Buckhorn Community Centre, 95 years old. Photo by Angela O’Grady

Graham, the youngest of twelve children born to Claire and Isaiah Graham, was the last of his six brothers to enlist in the army.

“I joined up when I was 17 years old,” he said. “My mother said she didn’t want me to go, but I said I want to go because I had six brothers fighting all over Europe and I want to help them get home a little sooner.”

Graham was released from the Reserve Service May 8, 1943 in order to enlist with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Because he was not yet 18 his mother was required to provide a letter authorizing his entrance into the RCAF which she provided.

He got his wings in Quebec, then headed to England where he became part of an air crew flying Lancaster four engine bombers.

Graham joined the 433 Squadron of the RCAF, the “Porcupines”, Bomber Command, and became a Flight Sergeant Air Gunner.

The 433 Porcupine Bomber Squadron’s 1st Op was on Jan 2, 1944 (mining) and the last Op was on Apr 25, 1945 (bombing). They flew 2,316 total sorties with a 90.07% success rate.

During one particular mission with the 433 Porcupine Squadron on March 31, 1945 on Op 208 – Hamburg, a 500-bomber raid, set out with Mustang fighter escorts for the first time. F/Sgt Graham, manning the Mid/Upper Gun, was credited with shooting down an Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow); the first German jet aircraft which had attacked 16 times in 9 minutes. He was the first Canadian Gunner to do so and also recorded the only kill for their Lancaster.

Pictured at the Remembrance Service at the Buckhorn Community Centre are Robert Ough, Arnold Graham and John Bannon, WWII Veteran. Photo by Angela O’Grady.

When Graham reflects on his time in the air force, he recalls his mother.

“My mother was a widow,” he said. “She walked to the post office every day, never missed a day, to get a letter from one of her boys. When she met me when I came home and got off the train in Peterborough she looked at me and said ‘Oh my baby’s home’. I was her baby.”

He also recalls the men he served with in the Air Force.

“I had 13 brothers that I fought with during the war. My own six brothers, and seven in the Air Force. Everytime I go to the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day I start to cry.”

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

The Significance of the Poppy Campaign in Canada

Each year from the last Friday in October until Remembrance Day many Canadians dawn red poppies on their lapel.

The real poppy became widespread in Europe after soils in France and Belgium became rich in lime from debris and rubble from the fighting during the First World War. These little red flowers also flourished around the gravesites of the war dead.

In 1915, John McCrae, a doctor serving with the Canadian Artillery, famously made note of this phenomenon in his poem, In Flanders Fields.

On Saturday November 9, 1918, two days before the Armistice, Moina Michael was on duty in the reading room at the YMCA Overseas War Secretaries’ headquarters in New York—a place where U.S. servicemen would often gather with friends and family to say their goodbyes before they went overseas.

After reading McCrae’s poem, Moina made a personal pledge to always wear the red poppy of Flanders Fields as a sign of remembrance and for “keeping the faith with all who died.”

In 1920, Anna Guérin—the French Poppy Lady—attended the national American Legion convention as a representative of France’s YMCA Secretariat. She was inspired by Moina Michael’s idea of the poppy as a memorial flower and felt that the scope of the Memorial Poppy could be expanded to help the needy.

She suggested that artificial poppies could be made and sold as a way of raising money for the benefit of orphaned children and others who had suffered greatly as a result of the war.

In 1921, Madame Guérin visited Canada and convinced the Great War Veterans Association of Canada (predecessor to the Royal Canadian Legion) to adopt the poppy as a symbol of remembrance in aid of fundraising; which it did on July 5th of that year.

Today, the Poppy Campaign is one of the Royal Canadian Legion’s most important programs. The money raised from donations provides direct assistance for Veterans in financial distress, as well as funding for medical equipment, medical research, home services, long term care facilities and many other purposes.

The Poppy can be worn every day of the campaign. Often people place their poppy on a wreath or at the base of the cenotaph or memorial as a sign of respect at the end of the Remembrance Day ceremony.

The poppy may be worn at commemorative events throughout the year, such as anniversaries of significant battles, a memorial service, and other similar occasions. It is suggested that event organizers seek advice from the Royal Canadian Legion before using the Poppy outside of the campaign.

The Royal Canadian Legion suggests that the poppy be worn on the left lapel of a garment and as close to the heart as possible.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Peterborough & District Sports Hall Of Fame Display Their Tribute to the Troops for Remembrance Day

Several Peterborough athletes have served our country and the Peterborough & District Sports Hall of Fame has continued their annual tradition of honouring their efforts in an exhibit.

Pete Dalliday speaks with Pat Bronson as she walks us through displays with veteran/athletes such as Dootch Vitarelli, Bill Crowley Sr., Walter Miler, Gunner Lynch and more.

The displays honour those who served in World War I, II, through Peace Keeping/Modern Conflict efforts and others.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Douro-Dummer Celebrates Cenotaph's Century Milestone with Online Ceremony

Douro-Dummer is going virtual for a second consecutive year with a Remembrance Day tribute to be streamed through Youtube for Thursday.

DOURO-DUMMER MAYOR J. MURRAY JONES NARRATED THE DOURO-DUMMER WAR MEMORIAL VIDEO ON THE TOWNSHIP’S YOUTUBE VIDEO DAYS LEADING UP TO THE EVENT. PHOTO BY DAVID TUAN BUI.

The pre-recorded video is made up of help from the township’s community and local notables to honour the 100th anniversary of the cenotaph.

The ceremony will be aired starting at roughly 10:45 a.m. this Thursday.

Students from St. Joseph’s C.E.S. and Warsaw Public School were invited to be a part of the video ceremony to get them actively involved in the day of recognition for veterans according to Mayor J. Murray Jones.

“That is the most important part of it all is to inject them with this spirit of Remembrance Day,” he said. “Years going by, we don’t want to see that going why so that’s why we included them in our video, our virtual service.”

The Remembrance Day Ceremony organizers will have personnel on-site at the cenotaph but encourage everyone to view the online ceremony if possible. The in-person event consists of a lowering of the flag, a reading of “In Flanders Fields” and a two-minute moment of silence.

A link to the video will be provided in November on the Township’s website www.dourodummer.ca.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Douro-Dummer to Pay Respect to Veterans Online Remembrance Day

While restrictions on outdoor gatherings have recently lifted, the 2021 Douro-Dummer Remembrance Day Ceremony will be held online.

Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Organizers note that preparations for the ceremony were geared toward a more restrictive situation, and at this point it would require more time and resources than are immediately available to switch to an in-person ceremony.

“We truly hope that we can get back to normal for Remembrance Day next year. We can plan on a record turnout (next year) to demonstrate our community’s respect for those who served and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice” said Mayor J. Murray Jones.

The Remembrance Day Ceremony organizers understand that some individuals may still visit the Cenotaph to pay their respects and for those individuals, there will be personnel on-site during the late morning of Nov. 11.

To observe the complete Remembrance Day ceremony, as well as a tribute to the 100th anniversary of the Warsaw Cenotaph, a video will be broadcasted on the Township’s YouTube channel.

The pre-recorded video of the ceremony will be aired starting at approximately 10:45 a.m. on November 11th, 2021.

A link to the video will be provided in November on the Township’s website www.dourodummer.ca

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.