2nd Annual Purple Onion Festival September 23rd At Millennium Park

The 2nd Annual Purple Onion Festival, celebrating local food and culture, will be held on September 23th at Millennium Park from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hosted by Transition Town Peterborough, it features local restaurants, farmers and businesses.

[YouTube]

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A 5:15 Video That Captures Much Of What Peterborough Has To Offer

Justin Schofield spent about four hours driving around Peterborough, filming the architecture, landmarks and beauty of Peterborough—and included some footage from prior filming experiences here—to capture the essence of what this city has to offer. Nicely done.

[YouTube]

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The Impact Of The Baskin Robbins Closure On The City & Downtown

The Peterborough and District Labour Council says this closure is part of a disturbing trend in Peterborough, where the unemployment rate is hovering around 10 percent...

[Chex Newswatch]

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100 Mile Dinner To Support Local Farmers Held On July 22nd At Morrow Building

The 2nd Community 100 Mile Dinner will be held on Sunday, July 22nd at 6 p.m. at the Morrow Building. Tickets sold out fast last year so be sure to pick yours up soon (see locations to purchase tickets on poster above) to guarantee a spot for this delicious dinner to support the Agricultural Society and our local farmers.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

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PtboPics: Casserole Night In Peterborough

Inspired by the Quebec student strike and its popular uprising against rising tuition fees and Bill 78, Casserole marches have been taking place in Peterborough through the downtown. Here's pictures from last night's protest...

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How To Land A Summer Job In Peterborough

Fleming student Victoria Forbes teaches dance lessons and runs a photography business to make summer earningsFor the hundreds of students who call Peterborough home, the daunting task of searching for a summer job often feels like an uphill battle. However, students losing hope shouldn’t give up because when armed with a little bit of creativity, knowledge of local resources, and a lot of effort, it becomes possible to win this battle and successfully gain a job.

What’s impressive about Peterborough is the large number of resources that exist to help students living in the city. Websites such as Employment Planning and Counselling and Peterborough Careers list a broad range of positions, many of which are temporary student jobs.

Yet with so many students living in the city, sometimes it takes more than just this knowledge to land an interview. Over the course of my own job search, I discovered that social media is a great tool for connecting locally and receiving leads on jobs. I sent out over ten tweets in which I tagged locals who specialize in the area I was looking for work (Communications), and I couldn’t be happier with the number of responses I received. No one had jobs available with their organizations, but many tweeters went out of their way to direct me to others companies and job postings that I may find helpful. Social media also helped me learn that tourism is extremely important to Peterborough and therefore businesses that benefit from tourism are extremely likely to hire seasonal help.

Another way I’ve learned to make local connections is through volunteer opportunities. I think many students (myself included!) expect to see job postings that are an exact match to their interests, skills, and education—oh how rare that is! While some people aren’t picky about summer opportunities, those that are hoping to eventually find work in their field should highly consider volunteering for organizations that interest them.

The beautiful thing about smaller cities like Peterborough is they have a great community feel, and local professionals are often more than happy to help a keen student looking for opportunities to grow. I’ve had many friends tell me that they’ve called and emailed people they would like to work for, and that as long as you demonstrate you’re passionate and carry yourself with courtesy and respect, you can gain some great advice and unpaid experience from these organizations.

Of course the ultimate goal is to gain employment with the organization, and maybe that will come the following summer, upon graduation, or maybe never. But the references, networking skills, and experience that can be gained through volunteering are greatly rewarding.

Occasionally, individuals try all the above strategies and are still stuck. It’s at this point that some students take matters into their own hands and use their education and passions to create their own job. This is what I’ve done for the past three summers. Having received a certificate in music from Humber College, I realized I’d be hard-pressed to find a summer job relative to my field in Peterborough, so I started teaching saxophone and piano lessons. While this has only been a side job for me, I’ve spoken to several other students over the years who rely on their entrepreneurial skills to make all of their summer earnings. Examples range from photography businesses to dance and music lessons.

The key takeaway is that living in a smaller city is not always a bad thing when it comes to the summer job hunt. Being able to get your name out relatively easily and talk to a variety of resources on a regular basis is a unique opportunity that Peterborough students should be proud to say they have.

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Beth McClelland is a public relations student and music certificate graduate of Humber College in Toronto. She grew up in Peterborough and enjoys spending summers here with her family. Beth is passionate about innovations in social media, music performance and marketing, and community service opportunities.

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Job Fair This Weekend For New Restaurant Being Started By Reggie's Owners

As seen on their Facebook page, Reg Maranda and Cameron Green, owners of Reggie's and El Camino's, will be running a job fair this weekend.

The job fair is in search of a new team for their latest venture—a new sit-down restaurant to open up later in June at the corner of Hunter and Aylmer Streets. 

Here's the info below from their Facebook page:

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

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Here's Pictures & Coverage Of The Bears' Lair Peterborough Competition

The Bears' Lair Regional Competition was last night at Fleming College.
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Backroom Briefing Q: Will Athletic Facilities Really Help Drive Population Growth?

Q: The Mayor has been quoted as saying that there could be more population growth if the community had more “athletic facilities.” I believe that there is just such a link. Could you expand on this thinking? —Bill O’Byrne

Goyette: Bill is a regular and welcome visitor to our office, and the Chair of Sport Kawartha—an impressive organization with more than 30 sports group/associate members that launched in April of 2010 with a mandate to value, improve, recognize and promote sport participation in the region. You can see the savvy in the man: He quotes the Mayor and then seeks confirmation as a method of promotion. I like it.

The Mayor was responding in February to a report on the City’s growth. He said that we might consider building new sports facilities and other infrastructure to attract young families to the City.

The question has to do with the reasons people move to a new location. These can be divided into two categories: One is a set of “push” factors at the point of origin that trigger movement, such as a lack of economic or educational opportunity; personal issues such as divorce, retirement or a preference for independence; and cultural discomfort such as religious or political conflict or persecution. Another is a set of “pull” factors at the point of destination that attract movement, such as jobs, education, the presence of family or community, climate, and a host of personal perceptions of benign conditions. These are all tied to the stages and cycles of life, as well as psychological outlook. For many, the grass can easily look greener on the other side.  

The research indicates that because of “distance decay,” people are more likely to move to places that are closer to them rather than further away. It also indicates that you are more likely to adopt a new hometown if you already know it. That means that people who move to Peterborough are statistically more likely to have come from somewhere nearby, and have been here before. The arrival here of people from the GTA and those who have prior cottage or rural experience would seem to bear this out.

Do athletic facilities rank highly as a drawing card for these newcomers? Not on their own, and not to the degree of other factors such as a new job. While they are probably more important in retention rather than attraction, they are undoubtedly part of the bundling of community benefits—the “infrastructure” that the Mayor referred to—that inform smart economic and tourism promotion. There is consensus that we have an entrenched deficit of sports facilities in the region, and the remedy for that, which is well underway, stands on its own merits as an issue of the quality of community life.  

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David Goyette is the Executive Assistant to Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett. Email your burning questions for David about City Hall to feedback@ptbocanada.com.

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Here's The City Documents That Reveal How Canteen Of Kawartha Took Over Contracts From Reggie's & Hippy Chippy

Here are the documents for Request for Proposal P-05-12, Mobile Food Service Operations at Nassau Mills Road, Beavermead Park, and West 49 Skateboard Park, that reveal how Canteen of Kawartha was awarded the new contracts for mobile food service operations at those locations. Aside from their 34 years of being in operation and existing contracts in place with other companies/organizations like Havelock Jamboree and GE Canada, it is mentioned in the "Recommended Bidder" area on the last page (see below) that Canteen of Kawartha "presented the menu with the broadest range of healthier food choices. They offered the highest level of financial compensation of all proponents, in the amount of $10,800 for the Beavermead site and $24,727 for Nassau Mills site, for the initial three year term of the lease agreement."

This is all public material, provided to us by Mayor's office. Have a read of the documents...

 

 [Related: Reggie's Chip Truck Closed]


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