With Christmas just around the corner, it doesn't have to be expensive or difficult to find a unique little something for that special someone. To help you find a gift, here is PTBOCanada's 12 Days of Christmas - 12 Local Gifts for $20 and under.
Today's gift is a pass to Peterborough's Rock & Rope Climbing Centre. An adult day pass is $12 and it's only $10 for students. With walls for all skill levels, this is a healthy way for exercise when the temperatures drop and you are looking for something to do. Equipment rentals and lessons are also available at an additional cost.
Rock & Rope is at 280 Perry Street, Unit 16, and is open Monday to Sunday 12 to 9.
Photo: Julie MorrisStewart Street has gained a reputation as being the most dangerous street in Peterborough—a man was stabbed to death there just this summer. We asked Inspector Ted Boynton if that street is in fact the most dangerous one in town, and whether they have a breakdown of streets in Peterborough that police respond to the most for emergency calls. Here's his response:
Ted Boynton: "Stewart Street does in fact have this reputation as we have heard it before, but I do not think we can provide the stats to prove that. There are a number of streets in the city that we would respond to just as often or possibly even more to. We do not keep statistics or a breakdown of the emergency response calls we attend as to their specific addresses. In the City of Peterborough, we are broken down into four Patrol Areas and our stats are broken down into these zones. It is amazing at the end of each year how close our calls for Service are divided between these four areas. We have had our share of calls on Stewart Street and thus the reputation I suppose. I cannot support it with facts unless our Crime Analyst was tasked with this research and it would be too time consuming to consider with all the demands she has.
In times of economic turmoil, the tendency is often to look for ways to entrench and wait out the storm. However, this belies the fact that in tumultuous times great opportunities often emerge. Joseph Schumpeter, the late Harvard economist, claimed that times like these possess forces for "creative destruction." It is from the "creative" nature of economic change that opportunities arise. One such opportunity for the future of the Peterborough-area economy is emerging.
There is no doubt that the public sector has targeted water as a primary infrastructure and public health challenge. Over the past decade, the emphasis has changed from supplying water (e.g., transmitting large quantities of water) to one of water quality. Water quality is emerging as the fastest growing global issue of our time.
Fortunately, it is in the area of water quality that the region has existing expertise. The recent Ontario Speech from the Throne (March 8, 2010) spoke directly to developing "clean-water" organizations in the private and public sectors. This is clear recognition of water as a public policy challenge and the growth that will be supported through public funding.
In 2010, the GPAEDC and Greater Peterborough Innovation Cluster released a major study that mapped and analyzed the energy and water sectors in the area. In the water field, there are fourteen active and five interested Peterborough-area firms in the water supply chain. It is a good sign that all segments of the supply chain are currently populated by Peterborough-area firms.
Photo: Evan HoltIn addition to private sector firms, the water related research Fleming College (the Centre for Alternative Wastewater Treatment) and Trent University (the Trent Water Quality Centre) make the sector in our region that much stronger.
All indications are that Peterborough could—should it act quickly and in a concerted way—become a global centre in the field. The challenge comes not from just growing locally, or attracting those from outside, but from combining existing technologies and expertise to better position it for future growth.
Thankfully we are not beginning from scratch. Along with existing businesses in the field, there is a high level of academic involvement in research centres and programs being offered at Trent University (10 centres/programs) and Fleming College (10 centres/programs) that are related to water.
In each centre and program has faculty, research and students attached to them. They represent a very significant resource—particularly human—in the field. Combining these centres and programs with the private-sector activity that has been identified reveals a strong foundation upon which to build a comprehensive water cluster in the region.
As much as the analysis of the private- and public-sector strengths that exist in the area's water sector, it is clear that it is made up of several successful, but rather isolated elements—there are few interconnections across the sector. With the considerable technological capacities, and high-level expertise, and a growing market, it is apparent that the region's water sector is less than the sum of its parts. That is, it is possible for the region to take a stronger position in the water sector if it were able to better utilize its existing technologies and expertise.
To shift the situation to one where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, the water sector resources available in the region must be combined in such a way to improve its overall productivity and innovativeness to better position it to grow in this burgeoning, national and international market.
The greatest challenge is not in getting skilled people or technologies in place. The challenge is to create an organizational structure that can help the relatively isolated organizations identify and create new collaborations that can strength the region’s place in the national and global water market. In effect, we need to create an organization that can provide the overarching, coordinating services that were once provided by the "umbrella" organization of a multi-divisional corporation.
When new market opportunities arise, there needs to be an organizational mechanism by which the existing technologies and expertise can be assessed relative to the opportunity. Should the technologies and expertise exist, a new business entity must be created to exploit it.
In the past, when a large corporation was faced with a new market opportunity, it would pursue it by re-combining its existing expertise and technologies by simply creating a new division. Our current circumstances call for the creation of innovative business partnerships across—not within—organizations (e.g., joint ventures, strategic alliances) that promote growth, jobs, and the creation of wealth in the region.
There is absolutely no doubt that water will be a global issue in the twenty-first century. It will be a thriving international business sector. For Peterborough, taking a key role in that growing sector is an opportunity that we either proactively move on soon or lose to a less well equipped, but more organized community.
Opportunities like this do not present themselves often. We must seize the day.
****[UPDATE BY TOM PHILLIPS: Here's Dan Taylor, President & CEO of the Greater Peterborough Innovation Cluster, speaking about the potential for a Water Cluster in the Peterborough Region]
Now we don't know the gender of the baby yet, but some of the names suggested so far are Stella, Sam Adams, Miller and Foster. Add yours below or on Twitter.
The Book of Remembrance was formally dedicated on November 11, 1962. It listed the names of men and women "who were killed in action, died of wounds, illness or injuries in the First Great War (1914-1918), the Second Great War (1939-1945) and in the Korean Conflict (1950-1953)."
Since its unveiling in 1962, the Book has been on permanent display at Peterborough City Hall. But late last fall, Conservators at the Peterborough Museum & Archives (PMA) removed the original Book of Remembrance from the lobby of City Hall as a regular inspection had revealed that the book had begun to experience some cockling—where paper becomes buckled and will not lie flat—and warping.
At the time, the book's removal was expected to be temporary but as PMA Conservator, Cindy Colford, notes, "this kind of minor damage is typically an early warning sign that a paper object is being stored in an environment where the relative humidity is out of its ideal range."
Conservation treatments on the original have thus far been successful, but in order to ensure that this valuable artifact is preserved for future generations it will need to remain in specialized storage at the Museum.
Back in June, Peterborough’s Cenotaph Committee approved an expenditure amount of up to $5,000 from the Cenotaph Trust Fund for the purpose of the reproduction and binding of the Book of Remembrance. The replica has now been completed and will be available for public viewing at the Museum from November 5 to 20, 2011.* It will later be placed on permanent display back in the lobby of City Hall. Visitors will be able to access the replica directly and can view any or all pages.
A full digital version of the Book of Remembrance is available online by clicking here.
*The Book of Remembrance will not be at the Museum on November 8th between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. as it will be on display at the Peterborough Armories as part of the Veteran’s Week Celebration and Educational Fair.
After nearly a month of collecting bras for "Bras Around The Building", today was the day where they would all be linked together and chained around the CHUM Kawarthas building on George Street. Firetrucks hoisted up the thousands of bras that were generously donated by the community in the campaign to help raise awareness about breast cancer. 4,595 bras were donated, meaning that OLG Slots—which said it would donate $1 for every bra collected—will be donating $4,595 to the Peterborough & District unit of the Canadian Cancer Society. Once the bras are cleaned now by both Rocky's and Kent Cleaners, they will then be donated to the YWCA for distribution.
