Check Out Kawartha Candle Company This Holiday Season

If you've ever been walking along Charlotte Street when all of a sudden you were drawn to the scents of vanilla, cinnamon and berries floating through the air, that's no doubt the wonderful smells of the Kawartha Candle Company located at 196 Charlotte St. Shirley Leahy will be celebrating one year of ownership in the new year—and the business was orginally established back in 1999 by its previous owners. She welcomes you to come and enjoy all the shop has to offer including purses, wallets, scarves, home accents and of course candles! Jar candles like the ones below range from $9.99 to $21.99. 

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

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61 Awesome Things About Peterborough In 2012

There was so much awesome about this city this year. In no particular order really, here's 61 of them (we had to cut if off somewhere)...

1. Peterborough Lakers winning the Mann Cup. Best in Canada baby!

2. Red Pashminas, which empower women locally and globally.

3. Trent's LipDub video, a great showcase for the university.

4. Doug Tilley's comedy, whether it's his "singing" or tweeting or... what's next Tilley?

5. Bandwagon episodes. Now in its 2nd season, which launched with Sloan.

6. Wild Rock celebrating 20 years in the downtown. And making the decision to stay in the downtown when they could have moved.

7. PMZ, Peterborough's TMZ celebrating local "celebrities".

8. I'd Rather Be In Peterborough tees. Community spirit.

9. Spanky's annual ping pong tourney for Movember. Spanky's offering a place to play ping pong in town.

"Call Me Maybe" 10. The city rallying behind a teenager's right to play basketball on his own driveway.

11. Philanthropy month in Peterborough showcasing all the people doing good in the community. #bethechangeptbo

12. The new downtown nightclub ARIA, which rivals Toronto's finest.

13. St. Peter's high school students dressing as superheroes during Head of the Trent regatta.

14. Peterborough Cycling Summit. Bike this city. Let's make it as bike friendly as possible.

15. Elton John concert, the one where he actually played Peterborough—not his cancelled one.

GPA EDC's Dan Taylor at Creative Cocktail16. The Peterborough Calendar Girls naked truth campaign raising awareness about the affordable housing shortage here.

17. Breakfast Television broadcasting live from Peterborough. Great coup for our city.

18. Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher at Gerti's. (We don't believe they had the polo sandwich, but it's excellent.)

19. Carly Rae Jepsen at Musicfest. Peterborough singing "Call Me Maybe".

20. Final photo of PCVS students and staff together. This city will never forget the impact this school had, and its legacy.

21. A canoe portage in downtown Peterborough.

22. The Taste of Downtown. So much great food down there. And great folk.

23. The Dragon Boat festival.

24. The Hootenanny on Hunter. It's a hoot.Mike Watt

25. The Gilmour Street Garage Sale. Epic as always.

26. Hunter Street, one of the best streets anywhere for food, drink, shops, live music, theatre, festivals, hot dogs, great vibe.

Rick Mercer at PCVS27. Maryam's Monsef's story about how a city and school saved her life.

28. Peterborough dog pictures.

29. Rick Mercer's Rant on PCVS.

30. Rick Mercer's visit to PCVS, in video and pictures.

31. Noah Leslie—aka @pennyboynoah, who raises money for the Salvation Army Toy Drive each year.

32. Pete Dalliday's unbelievable shot. Believe it.

33. Someone canoeing on a Peterborough street. Canoe Peterborough.

34. Koski.

35. The PeterTweeter awards. Twitter's where it's at. Amazing Twitter community in town. (Follow us here.)

36. Mike Watt's how-to plaid video. Hilarious.

37. Creative Cocktails—here's the one from Market Hall.

St. Peter's superheroes38. Jonny Trash DJing at Spanky's. Best DJ around.

39. The Peterborough web series Grimwell.

40. Petes Insider, giving us the inside goods on the Petes organization.

41. The excellent Canadian Canoe Museum. We're lucky to have it. And let's move it downtown by the waterfront.

42. Electric City Live, which covers the local music scene in Peterborough. Great name, great site.

43. The Art School of Peterborough. Creativity. Imagination.

44. Mike Judson, who went homeless on the streets of Peterborough for 48 hours to raise awareness about the problem here.

Silver Bean45. Peterborough Police for serving and protecting this community, and embracing social media by joining Twitter this year.

46. Rachel Seaman and Ashley Brzozowicz, who competed in the Olympics this summer (Ashley won a silver in her sport, rowing). The tees

47. Downtown Peterborough. Embrace it. Vital. Make it sustainable. Build a city from its core.

48. Silver Bean Café, beauty spot on the river.

49. Our friends at The Wolf and Kruz FM, huge supporters of Peterborough and us. And the always smiling Carol Edwards there, who lets us in through the out door.

50. Three Loonies, for Kawartha Food Share.

51. The return of the Wire Awards. Special night at Market Hall putting spotlight on amazing music scene in Peterborough—one of the best anywhere in Canada.

52. Gallery in the truck. A moving gallery. Great concept. Love it.

53. PtboFinds and PtboProps.

54. Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre.

55. The DBIA's new website by BrandHealth. Excellent.

56. Lois Tuffin, the news diva of Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Never shy about expressing her opinion.

57. Fleming's Student Volunteering Club, students with a sense of community pride.

58. Funny hashtags. E.g. 6,000 people went without power for a couple hours, and #ptboblackout began trending on Twitter in Peterborough. Sample tweet: "I wonder how many babies will be conceived during this blackout #ptboblackout" 

59. John Leacy's mural art around town. Gabby's wall, Spanky's wall and more.

60. Natas Cafe, the epicentre for Peterborough's amazing people.

61. All our readers and followers on Twitter and Facebook. You rock.

Here's to a great 2013!

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A Look At Tango In Peterborough's Fashion District

Désirée Fawn in her funky storeDésirée Fawn, who has been the new owner of Tango since April, invited PtboCanada to the shop in Peterborough's Fashion District to take a peek at all that it has to offer. Located at 366 George Street North, it is a must-stop when shopping downtown for something new to add to your closet. Tango prides itself as being "carefully curated to fit your lifestyle, body, and budget."

The store is welcoming and beautifully laid out with the works of Jackson Creek Press and Lucky Jackson on display, all of which gives this little downtown gem a sense of community and shopping local.  

Désirée strives to find unique clothing and accessory lines that you can't just walk into every store and find. Through various online resources, blogs and recommendations from her suppliers, the store is filled with brands that have a unique style, feel and look to them.

A few little updates around the shop - new shelves!

Désirée has been thrilled with the popularity of Yoga Jeans she sells. You have to try on a pair to truly appreciate how comfy and amazing these jeans really are. More styles, colours and sizes will be arriving at the store soon so be sure to check them out.

Take advantage of Tango's current promotion by buying a gift card for a friend and in turn you end up with savings for yourself in the new year. 

To find out more about Désirée and the shop, visit Facebook, Twitter or the Tango website. Holiday hours are Monday/Tuesday 10 to 6, Wednesday 10 to 5, Thursday/Friday 10 to 8, Saturday 10 to 6 and Sunday  12 to 5.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

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You Have 2 Hours Free Parking During Holiday Season Downtown

Thanks to the DBIA and the City of Peterborough, our little annual holiday treat of 2 hours of free parking is now in effect downtown. Any money that is put in the meters will be donated to local charities. Be sure to shop local this holiday season in our amazing downtown.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

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PTBOCanada Pics: Focus Fair At The Spill

[UPDATED] Here's some photos of the Focus Fair at The Spill, which took place all weekend and included local artisans and bakers such as Jackson Creek Press, Lucky Jackson, Urban Tomato, Needle and Nest Design, Two Dishes Catering and a host of others.

 

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

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Why Moving The Canadian Canoe Museum To A Waterfront Location Downtown Would Rock

The Canadian Canoe Museum announced today (November 21st) that a feasibility study is being undertaken starting in January to determine in part what it would take to move to a waterfront location downtown from their current location for the past 15 years at 910 Monaghan Road.

It's never made much sense to be where it is (more than one person has remarked as such), and moving this excellent museum right down by the water in the core of Peterborough seems like an entirely logical thing to do. It would drive many more tourists and cottagers—and even locals—into the downtown area to visit the museum.

Imagine touring the Canoe Museum, then stepping outside it and going canoeing and kayaking on the Otonabee River and Little Lake. And afterwards, tourists and the like can eat and shop and take in some theatre downtown. Brilliant.

"During the years that we've been operating on Monaghan Road, it has become apparent to us that we will need to redevelop the Museum in order to achieve these goals, and so we are commissioning a feasibility study as the first step," says the museum's director James Raffan in a PR release.

Funding for the study comes from private donors and a grant from the Peterborough Community Futures Development Corporation.

Where do you think a great place for a new site would be for construction of a facility near the downtown?

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You Gotta Eat Here! Book Featuring Reggie's HotGrill & Shish Kabob Hut

Back in 2011, we wrote about the Food Network Canada featuring Reggie's HotGrill and the Shish Kabob Hut on the show You Gotta Eat Here!. Well now the show's host John Catucci has released a new book version of the show, and it spotlights both Peterborough eateries—plus a recipe from each restaurant.

Read about how both restaurants came to be, as well as recipes for the Big Poppa Burger from Reggie's HotGrill, and Chicken Tigania (a tasty stir fry coloured brightly by red paprika) from the Shish Kabob Hut.

You Gotta Eat Here! is $29.99 and is available in hardcover format here in town at Firehouse Gourmet, Chapters, and the Shish Kabob Hut. Online, it's available via Chapters Online, Amazon.ca and in digital versions on the Apple iBookstore and Google Play Bookstore.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]



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Get Your Peterborough Festival of Trees City Sidewalks Tix

Tickets are now available for Peterborough Festival of Trees City Sidewalks. Festivities kick off on Tuesday, November 27th with the Tree Lighting Ceremony, and continue with unique events each night of the week. From Wednesday to Sunday, head down to Millennium Park to enjoy the Forest Fantasy (general admittance is only $5).

Proceeds support local health care initiatives such as Hospice Peterborough, Greater Peterborough Health Services Foundation, and the Peterborough Regional Health Centre Foundation.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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St. James Players "White Christmas" Opens At Showplace

St. James Players are performing the broadway production of Irving Berlin's White Christmas, and it kicks off Friday (November 16th) at Showplace.

Your beloved holiday favourite is back! Make your days merry and bright by warming to this unforgettable musical about love and friendship. Based on the classic holiday film, this tap-dancing delight brims with tunes—including “Blue Skies,” “Sisters,” and the ever-popular “White Christmas”—that will fill you with the joy of the season. 

There are shows on the 16th, 17th, 18th, 22nd, 23rd and 24th.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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7th Annual Focus Fair Takes Place At The Spill December 8th & 9th

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