Peterborough's Humour On Display From "Sign Wars" One-Year Anniversary

One year has passed since Peterborough and the surrounding area playfully poked fun at each other with the “Sign Wars” phenomenon that began last April.

The original friendly feud started as Anden Kitchen & Bath Centre called out Friendly Fires and Merrett Home Hardware Building Centre. Both businesses responded to Anden and the trend took off in Peterborough.

Businesses such as Trent Valley Honda, Whelan’s Flooring and Trent Security Systems Ltd., Peterborough Police Service and Pete & Dani of 100.5 Fresh Radio quickly joined in on the teasing among hundreds of participating businesses.

The trend began in Christiansburg, Va. where Jim Bohan, owner of music store Bridge Kaldro put up a sign challenging Super Shoes — the next-door shoe store — to a sign war on April 16 last year with a message, "Hey Super Shoes! Wanna start a sign war?"

Hundreds of photo submissions were given to PTBOCanada to showcase over eight days since the war began.

A running gag of “Aisle 15” being a party at Home Hardware was sparked by Whelan that inspired a fundraising t-shirt containing the same reference.

There was $6,360 raised that went towards the Kawartha-Haliburton Children’s Foundation (KHCF) to fund their “Soaking Up Summer” program.

“When the call came through was just so thrilled that it’s going towards helping kids who are in need of our community,” said Deb Aben, Executive Producer of KHCF.

Anden was voted the best sign of all the wars with Home Hardware as the runner up and Franz's Butcher Shop & Catering as the third-best.

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PTBOCanada Donates Sign Wars Funds to Children's Foundation

The Kawartha-Haliburton Children’s Foundation (KHCF) received a cheque of $6,360 from PTBOCanada on Thursday morning.

Deb Aben (left) recieves the cheque of $6,360 from PTBOCanada owner Kirtus Evoy (middle) and Pete Dalliday (right). Photo by David Tuan Bui

The funds came from the Peterborough Sign Wars campaign PTBOCanada ran in late April, selling “Meet me in Aisle 15” t-shirts.

The PTBOCanada team including owner Kirtus Evoy, Fresh Radio 100.5’s Pete Dalliday and editor David Tuan Bui arrived at the charity to donate the proceeds.

Fresh Radio and The Wolf were one of several businesses that were highly active in the #PTBOSignWars. File Photo.

Deb Aben, Executive Producer of KHCF was there to accept the money on behalf of the charity and could not be happier to receive the donation.

“When the call came through was just so thrilled that it’s going towards helping kids who are in need of our community,” said “It’s going to make a huge difference this summer.”

“It was amazing to see the community come together over a quick period handing out thousands of smiles through the sign wars and raise money for a great cause,” said Evoy. “I’m proud to be part of an amazing community.”

KHCF sends kinds either for one or two weeks of summer camp every year with the exception of last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The money will go towards sending kids to summer camp and their “Soaking Up Summer” program. Developed last year, the program purchased athletic equipment, toys or anything designed for kids to play outside and be active. The campaign was created as an alternative to sending kids to day camp due to the pandemic.

“I felt I’d won the lottery,” said Aben. “How lucky these kids are to be the beneficiaries of something that engaged the community and made us smile, laugh and made us feel like a kid again.”

KHCF supports children in activities that are not government funded, provides money for families newly caring for extended family members, post-secondary bursaries and gift cards for youth transitioning to independent living who were formerly in youth care.

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