New Canadians Centre Provides Update On New Ukrainians In Peterborough And Invites Community To Welcome Picnic

The New Canadians Centre provided Peterborough with an update on local, provincial and federal efforts to assist Ukrainians displaced by war.

File Photo.

As of July 5, approximately 55,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Canada through the federal Canada Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program.

Through this program, displaced Ukrainians can stay in Canada as temporary residents for up to three years.

In Peterborough, the NCC has served approximately 90 individuals to date, and another 46 in the Northumberland area.

As the CUAET program is a special pathway not typically applied to refugee resettlement, programs and initiatives to support displaced Ukrainians are constantly evolving.

In early April, in the absence of government support programs for displaced Ukrainians, the community raised over $30,000 for the NCC’s Client Emergency Fund to meet the most urgent needs of their clients. All the funds raised have been disbursed.

In response to the offers of support from the community, the NCC has worked with CCRC’s Housing Resource Centre to create a web listing for hosts to post their homestay offers and to support hosts with information and advice: https://www.ccrc-ptbo.com/home-together/ukraine/.

To welcome new, Ukrainian members of the community, the NCC is inviting community members to the Zabava-Ukrainian Community Picnic at King Edward Park from 5 -7 p.m. on Wednesday. Those interested in attending should bring a chair or blanket to sit on and a picnic meal for themselves.

Zabava is Ukrainian for a fun get-together.

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Dirt Bike Community Rallies Around Local Family After 8-Year-Old Boy Airlifted To Sick Kids

Nixon Parsons, 8, of Peterborough suffered a bad dirt bike accident at Burnt River Off Road Facility on Saturday.

Community, friends and family are rallying around the Parsons family to see them through this trying time.

According to Kieran Gillooly, family friend and member at Burnt River, Parsons, his brother and dad are regular riders and Burnt River members. His mom and baby sister can often be found cheering on the sidelines.

On Saturday, Parsons was air lifted to sick kids in critical condition, where he has had multiple CT scans and MRI’s. His neurology team is focusing on his brain.

Parsons suffered small contusions on his brain, some swelling and bruising. On Sunday hospital staff started to bring him off his medication. Gillooly says he is moving all limbs, ‘but only flickers in his left hand’.

Doctors and nurses are monitoring brain activity for brain seizures.

He has also suffered a broken nasal cavity, broken orbital bones and has lost many of his teeth.

As of Monday, Parsons has undergone surgery to close gashes around his mouth. That surgery will be followed by stitching in his mouth to help close a hole in his pallet and to try and reattach pieces of his gum. He will also need to undergo facial bone surgery.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Parsons mother let friends and family know that surgery went well.

According to Gillooly, Parsons is still using a breathing tube and is responding to his parents touches with small movements of his body.

“Our entire dirt bike community is feeling the heart ache for Nixon and his family,” said Gillooly in a social media post. “It is a parents worst nightmare come true.”

Parsons’ parents, Jake and Bennica, are by his side constantly, though the hospital only allows one parent from 9 p.m. - 6 a.m. Bennica and Parsons’ 5-month-old sister have been staying in a hotel.

To help lessen the financial strain, Gillooley asks those that are willing and able to send e-transfers directly to Parsons’ mom at bennicabrown@outlook.com. Funds will be automatically deposited and used for hotels, food and to keep up with bills at home.

“Nixon is only eight years old and is battling the biggest race right now and needs everyone’s prayers and to cheer him on,” wrote Gillooly. “He is the toughest kid I have ever met, and his continued forward progress shows just how much of a fighter he is.”

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Peterborough Police Service Deploy Summer Foot Patrol

As summer vacation begins after another school season, the Peterborough Police Service has redeployed Community Services Unit officers on foot patrols in the city beginning Thursday.

Photo courtesy of Peterborough Police Service.

The foot patrol is part of proactive policing measures to meet with community members, local businesses and visitors to our city according to the police. 

Downtown Peterborough is the primary focus of the summer foot patrol as stated in the police’s press release.

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Kinsmen Club Donates $25,000 Towards New Zoo Train; New Bell Purchased From Community Funding

The Riverview Park & Zoo is one step closer to getting a new train for next year as the Kinsmen Club Of Peterborough donated $25,000 on Wednesday morning.

The Kinsmen Club has been a partner in the Park and Zoo since the organization’s beginning. Photo By Luke Best.

“When we heard about their campaign to replace the train ride, we knew it was a great fit for our club to get on board,” said Barry Craft, Kinsmen Club president. “Our membership support was unanimous for this project as we feel that Riverview Park and Zoo brings tremendous value to our community.”

“The community support groups have come out in a big way,” Jim Moloney, zoo manager and curator. “We've already started to see a good groundswell of support from individual community members but we're really depending upon that to take us the rest of the way.”

The train will cost $350,000 and 60 per cent of funding has already been achieved through community donations and Kiwanis snack bar profits.

The original bell was stolen overnight and reported to the public on April 30. Photo by Luke Best.

The zoo acquired a new bell after a community member found one online from a store in North Bay last month. The zoo purchased the bell and took roughly two weeks for its arrival.

It will be on the current train after a mount has been built for it. The bell will hopefully be outfitted for the new train next year according to Maloney.

The original bell was reported stolen overnight and was publically announced that it was missing on the morning of April 30.

Roughly $5,100 was raised for the bell’s replacement but cost $2,600 according to Cathy Mitchell, zoo program supervisor. The surplus will go towards the funding of the new train.

The zoo is offering dedication plates set in each seat compartment of the new train ride to help fund the new train. The seat dedications are $2,500 each that includes a personalized plaque of your name or in honour of someone else.

To be a sponsor or dedicate a seat bench on the train, please contact Cathy Mitchell, Program Supervisor 705-748-9301 x 2304 or cmitchell@riverviewparkandzoo.ca.

Donations to the ‘All Aboard the Riverview Railway Train Campaign’ can be made online.

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The Gills Are Growing, Local High School Sweethearts Have Found A Surrogate

Josh and Brianna Gill, local high school sweethearts, have found a surrogate and hope to be able to grow their family soon.

Photo courtesy of ‘Growing The Gills’.

When Brianna was 16 she was diagnosed with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH), a condition that affects one in 5000 women. With this diagnosis Brianna learned that she was born without a uterus, though she does have ovaries.

At the time the two had been dating for two years and Brianna thought she should tell Josh right away.

“I always felt like I was going to be with Josh forever and I think that’s why I wanted to tell him right away. I thought he had a right to know that if he wanted kids that would be a challenge for us,” she said in a former interview with PTBOCanada. “I thought if he decided that was too much for him to deal with we could just end things right there, but he was so supportive and he has been by my side ever since.”

The Gills were married in 2018 and began their surrogacy journey in January of 2021. They started their Instagram account ‘Growing The Gills’.

A family friend offered to to be their surrogate, but after two embryo transfers that were unsuccessful it was back to the drawing board for the hopeful parents.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Brianna + Josh Gill = intended parents (@growingthegills)

On April 6, the two posted a video to Instagram re-introducing themselves and searching for someone willing to help them complete their family.

That video gained traction on social media and now three months later a candidate for surrogacy has been found.

Jenn, who will be the Gill’s surrogate, came across an article about the couple on Facebook and reached out.

Together, the Gills and Jenn are hoping to complete a transfer this fall, which would mean a baby Gill would arrive sometime in the spring or summer of 2023.

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Peterborough's Pathway to Fame Inducts Eight New Names For 2022

The class of 2022 Pathway to Fame has been released as eight new names to be recognized as arts and/or humanitarians of the Peterborough area announced on Wednesday.

Last year’s induction ceremony was limited to 50 people due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo courtesy of the Pathway to Fame, Peterborough & District.

The inductees will be honoured on Sept. 10 at Showplace Performance Center. Their stones with names and categories will be marked at Del Crary Park on the same date.

The following is a list of the inductees:

David Carley (Dramatic Arts)

With more than 450 Canadian and American stage, radio and television productions having resulted from his storytelling talent, including several locally-staged plays, David Carley has won and been nominated for, a number of honours, including a Governor General’s Award finalist distinction.

Kate Suhr (Entertainment)

Blessed with abundant musical and theatrical talent, PCVS graduate Kate Suhr has sung and acted her way into the hearts of audiences both near and distant while always taking the time to unselfishly perform in support of organizations and causes right here in her native Peterborough.

Ryan and Sam Weber (Entertainment)

Ryan and Sam Weber came to Peterborough from Maryland in 2000 to learn all they could about making and performing music from the legendary Ronnie Hawkins, learning very well to the tune of numerous studio albums, memorable performances locally as well as across North America and Europe and charitable support of several local causes.

Donald Glen Forde (Cultural/Community Betterment)

As a former executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peterborough, Donald Glen Forde set the organization on the path to success, all while contributing to his community as a minor hockey executive and as a multi-instrumentalist who performed with the likes of Del Crary and Bobby Kinsman during big band music’s heyday.

Jacob Rodenburg (Cultural/Community Betterment)

For more than 30 years, Jacob Rodenburg has made environmental stewardship, sustainability and education his business, not only as executive director of Camp Kawartha and as a Trent University environmental education teacher but also as a developer of forward-thinking ‘green’ related programs and initiatives.

Lois Tuffin (Cultural/Community Betterment)

From the time she arrived in Peterborough, former newspaper editor Lois Tuffin has tirelessly employed her considerable communication and organizational skills to the benefit of a number of causes and events including the Great Turkey Exchange that she started and has since fed more than 17,000 people during the holiday season.

John F. (Jack) Bardeau (Community Builder)

A combination of musicianship, service work and sports involvement saw John F. (Jack) Bardeau rarely sit still during his 44 years in Peterborough, the RCAF veteran’s work supporting the hearing impaired as a member of the Telephone Pioneers earning him Bell Canada’s Community Chest Award for Outstanding Citizenship.

David Adams (Community Builder)

For 26 years, David Adams was the face of the Five Counties Children’s Centre as its foundation’s executive director, endlessly promoting and heralding the groundbreaking treatment provided children with physical, communication and developmental needs while volunteering his time for a wide variety of community organizations and events.

2022 is the 25th anniversary of The Pathway of Fame, Peterborough and District.

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