Watch: Peterborough Grandpa Creates Mapey Leafy Spider Song For Kids

Dr. Matthew Stewart, a Peterborough man who has a website 50 Ways To Be Happier, put together this "Mapey Leafy Spider" song to inspire kids and their parents who are Leafs fans. The lyrics are:

Mapey Leafey Spider skatin' icy rink,
blast a puck in goal 'cause you call him dirty fink,
so if you don't talk nice, you get ready then,
'cause Mapey Leafey Spider gonna win the game again!

Now watch for yourself, it's getting a lot of views...


Dr. Matt has songs for other NHL teams on his YouTube channel, including Boston, Chicago, Calgary and more.

[YouTube]

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#RandomActsofGreen: CFGP's 7 Days Of Green (#7daysofGreen) Creates Exciting Social Media Initiative

Roll up your sleeves, Peterborough! The community is about to get its green on. The Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough have announced an exciting new community initiative,  7 Days of Green (hashtag #7daysofgreen on Twitter). Why? To increase Peterborough’s creative dialogue about local green activities while building awareness around green living and giving. 

7 Days of Green kicks off April 16th with Random Acts of Green, a day when community members throughout the City and County are challenged to incorporate green activities into their lives—and each day forward—and share them on social media. Wondering what you could do? A few simple ideas to greenify your life a little more include:

  • Think before you buy: Purchase environmentally sustainable cleaning products and help keep our waterways toxin-free by using eco-friendly products (handy tip: you can get these products at the GreenUP Store!)
  • Compost your food waste: One-third of what we throw away at home could be easily diverted from landfills. The bonus is you get nutrient-rich compost for your garden.
  • Be water smart: Install aerators in your sink faucet and showerheads and reduce your water consumption by 30%—all without affecting the performance of your water system!

Starting April 16th, spread the word about Random Acts of Green. Why? Because every green act matters. Tweet your Random Acts of Green and pictures to @cfgp_ and use the hashtag #randomactsofgreen, or email your info and pictures to info@cfgp.ca and you’ll become a part of history.

Yep, history.

The Community Foundation is creating a community art installation from the images that you tweet and email that will be displayed over the next year throughout the community—starting at Lansdowne Place! 

For more information and a full schedule of 7 Days of Green activities, visit www.cfgp.ca/green (we're a proud sponsor of this). All events are open to the public.

To learn more about the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough, go to their Facebook page or website. And if you're on Twitter, use the #7daysofgreen and #randomactsofgreen hashtags.

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Watch How A Peterborough Man Got His Sunday New York Times Through Twitter

Here's a neat local social media story: It involves how a TV producer—@rdolishny—got his print edition of the Sunday New York Times by meeting an executive airline pilot—@jetdrivr—through Twitter. The video debuted at the #PeterTweeter awards last week, a celebration of the power of Twitter in Peterborough.

[YouTube]

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Here's A Full List Of 2013 #Petertweeter Winners From Awards Show At ARIA

[UPDATE: And here's a bunch of great pics from the Photo Booth at the event.]

Peterborough, we saw your tweets last night. Thanks for voting our @Ptbo_Canada handle as "Best Local Media Source" and "Best Local Promoter". Here's a full list below of the winners...

Local News: @kawarthaNow

Photographer: @hazlewoodimages

Visual Creative: @BriGosselin

Writer: @carollawless

Local Promoter: @ptbo_canada

Live Performers: @thespades

Not for Profit: @red_pashmina

Sports/Fitness: @petedalliday

Peter Builder: @MaryamMonsef

Retail Business: @SLfurnitureco

Peter Feeder: @Sams_Place_Deli

Local Media Source: @ptbo_canada

Local Media Person: @chan_rahan

Peter Breeder: @sofawned

Twit Disturber: @jayboy_williams

Funniest Tweeter: @Jimtruswell

Peter Pair: @hazlewoodimages & @SLfurnitureco

Twitter Trendsetter: @Ash_street

PeterTweeter: @vanderherberg


[video from #Petertweeter Awards of co-hosts Dani Stover and Catherine Hanrahan via Vince Bierworth on YouTube]

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2013 #Petertweeter Awards Take Place March 21st At ARIA

Catherine Hanrahan & Dani Stover hosting last yearThe 2nd Annual #Petertweeter Awards, celebrating the best of Twitter and social networking in Peterborough and area, will take place March 21st at the downtown nightclub ARIA.

The first #Petertweeter awards last year at Splice were a huge success—view pictures here—and this year will certainly carry on that momentum.

The awards show will again be hosted by Catherine Hanrahan and Dani Stover—the Tina Fey and Amy Poehler of Peterborough—and will spotlight individuals, businesses, non-profits and more.

For more information, contact donald@smallprint.ca or call 705.977.0604.

 [via smallprint.ca]

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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 Woman Has Created A Facebook Page To Suggest Delaying Trick-or-Treating Until This Friday In Peterborough

A Peterborough woman named Kimberley MacDougall has created a Facebook page suggesting that trick-or-treating be delayed until this Friday due to Hurricane Sandy's possible effects here. The page does have its supporters but others totally disagree. Tell us your thoughts below.

[Postpone Peterborough Trick-or-Treating Facebook page]

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Our @Ptbo_Canada Twitter Account Cracked 5,000 Followers!

Photo by: Evan Holt

We hit 5,000 followers this week—nice milestone! Thanks to all of our amazing followers! If you haven't joined Twitter, consider doing so. Sign up here. There is an amazing, vibrant Twitter community in Peterborough exchanging great ideas—and great fun.

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Naked Truth Campaign Begins To Bring Awareness To Affordable Housing Shortage In City

Naked Truth Teaser ShotA new campaign, "The Naked Truth About The Affordable Housing Shortage in Peterborough", has begun.

Some of the stats from a teaser press release that went out:

Naked Truth #1: At 1,500 families, Peterborough has one of the longest waiting lists for affordable housing.

Naked Truth #2: 25% of Peterborough tenants are paying more than half of their income on rent. In some cases, people are paying up to 80 percent of their income on rent.

Naked truth #3: More than half of Peterborough renter households can't afford a one-bedroom apartment.

According to the release, "there is hope and one group of Peterborough women are taking matters into their own hands."

Follow @PtboCalndrGirls on Twitter and "Like" Peterborough Calendar Girls on Facebook for updates in the coming weeks and to help spread the word about the Naked Truth campaign, which officially kicks off early October.

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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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