Edmison Heights P.S. Student Luke Howard Wins Safety Patroller Of The Year
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Peterborough Blogs
Pop-Up Patio Comes To Downtown Peterborough This Summer
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Mayor Bennett; Delia Senra, Co-owner of Natas Café; and DBIA Executive Director Terry Guiel at the Ribbon cutting ceremony for pop up patio. Photo by Evan Holt
The Peterborough downtown, which is constantly innovating in exciting and dynamic new ways to showcase our beautiful downtown core—from upcoming (free) outdoor Wi-Fi (no official launch date yet) to the Summer Music series on Fridays to downtown murals—is now launching a "pop up patio".
The first pop up patio/sidewalk is at Natas Café on George Street...
Photo at Natas by Terry Guiel, DBIA
This pilot project meant to look at ways of "animating George Street" is a joint partnership between the City of Peterborough, the DBIA and Natas Café. Parking along this section of George Street will shift as the police have given up their dedicated spaces to become regular parking, resulting in no parking spaces being lost.
Photo by Evan Holt
The patio is on the sidewalk, and a pedestrian bump-out has been created to ease traffic around it. Much like the seasonal patios on Hunter Street, the new pop-up patio will be available when the weather gets warm and will be stored off-site in the off season.
“This is going to help animate George Street as people driving and cycling down one of our busiest streets see our downtown patrons outside enjoying themselves,” says Terry Guiel, Executive Director of the DBIA. “We’re excited to launch this pilot project at Natas Café and hopefully we can build on this in the future.”
"The City and the DBIA are working together to activate public spaces in our downtown," says Mayor Bennett.
"The sidewalk bump-out pilot project joins other initiatives such as the downtown murals program and the planned urban park at the Louis Street parking lot as we continue to invest in creative ways to generate activity in the commercial core for the benefit of the entire community," adds Mayor Bennett.
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Pavement Marking Refresh Happening On City Streets
/The City of Peterborough Public Works Division has begun pavement marking operations to refresh all existing lines and pavement markings on City streets.
All existing markings—including center, skip, bike, stop bars, school crossings and crosswalks, as well as pavement edgings—will be repainted with work expected to be completed by October.
Photo by Evan Holt
To reduce the impact on traffic and enhance the safety of workers, crews will work Monday to Thursday nights from 8:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
Temporary lane closures will apply when crews repaint symbols, stop bars and crosswalks with regular traffic control measures in place. Long lines will be completed with a rolling operation by slow moving vehicles delineated with hazard cones.
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Why People Are Going Bananas For Peterborough's NICEcream Locally & Beyond
/Peterborough entrepreneur Brooke Hammer has created a unique—and yummy—product called NICEcream that consumers are raving about, and that is scaling locally and beyond.
Hammer, who took home multiple awards including the FastStart Innovation Award, the Women’s Business Network of Peterborough Award and the StartUp Peterborough People's Choice Award at the recent Bears' Lair entrepreneurial competition in Peterborough, is building terrific buzz about her product.
Founder Brooke Hammer (at left) with Innovation Cluster's Rosalea Terry at product launch event (Photos from launch by MossWorks Photography)
NICEcream is a delicious ice cream made entirely from bananas (no extra ingredients or preservatives are added), and is the signature product from Brooke's new startup Chimp Treats. NICEcream recently launched at Amuse Coffee Co., and people are going bananas for it.
"The reaction to it has been overwhelmingly positive," Hammer tells PTBOCanada. "As we all know, children are incredibly (and sometimes brutally) honest, but all of the children at our launch party loved it—and moms loved it too! I could not be happier with the way Peterborough has been responding to the product, and the kind words and encouragement that they've shared with me."
This healthy junk food alternative is available to order online, and is already available at Jo Anne's Place Health Foods, Amusé Coffee Co., Play Café and Baked 4 U in Peterborough. It will be expanding to other local retailers in the upcoming weeks and months, and plans are in the works to expand to retailers in Toronto and beyond.
NICEcream is unique in that Chimp Treats is recreating everyone’s favorite junk foods entirely from fruit. It is essentially junk free junk food, a delicious product that tastes like a treat but is healthy. Sweet!
Customer sampling NICEcream at launch event
Hammer, who credits the Innovation Cluster, FastStart Peterborough and Peterborough Economic Development for helping her develop and scale this business, plans to roll out other products—all made from fruit—down the road. "We're changing the game completely by reimagining 'junk food'," says Hammer, who studied Business & Entrepreneurship at Trent University.
"We've partnered with Sustainable Peterborough, River City Farms (they'll be utilizing our thousands of banana peels for compost for their crops) and local strawberry farmers (via the Agricultural Society) to create a strawberry banana NICEcream for the PTBO Ex," Hammer tells PTBOCanada. "We will also be present at many festivals and events in the coming months, such as the Peterborough Yoga Festival, Hootenanny on Hunter and more!"
Sampling NICEcream at launch event
Hammer tells PTBOCanada she has huge plans for the business outside Peterborough. "We are currently negotiating with a co-packer (and distributor), and have partnered with amazing investors, so we predict being available across Ontario within the next four months and across Canada within the next seven months. I am planning on growing this business on an international scale."
Customers sampling NICEcream at launch event
UPDATE: The Centennial Fountain Is On!
/UPDATE: June 24th -> The fountain is repaired and on! We officially declare that summer has started!!
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ORIGINAL POST
The Centennial Fountain, installed in 1967 on Little Lake, is an important landmark in Peterborough. It's always a sure sign of Spring when it's turned on for the season.
It is scheduled to run from the middle of May to the middle of October annually, but the City of Peterborough says that when staff began preparing the fountain for service this year, it was discovered that the ground fault device that powers the fountain had been triggered and was inoperative.
Further investigation revealed that the 1,000 foot long cable that provides power to the fountain has been compromised and it is not safe to operate.
A meeting has been held with potential contractors to supply and install the necessary cable and specifications are being finalized. All efforts are being made to get the fountain back in working order as soon as possible, the City says.
[Related: Amazing Historical Footage Of Centennial Fountain]
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Local Female Artists Combine Forces For Awesome "Bean Up" Series To Support Local YWCA
/Local female artists are gathering every Friday throughout the month of June at the Silver Bean Café in support of YWCA Peterborough Haliburton for the "Bean Up" Series.
This great initiative was the brainchild of well known local artist Brianna Gosselin, who teamed up with the YWCA Peterborough Haliburton and the Silver Bean Café to hatch "Bean Ups" that feature her and other local artists.
Brianna Gosselin
Featured Bean Up artists in June include Lucky Jackson on Friday, June 3rd; Brianna Gosselin on Friday, June 10; Silvia Ferreri on Friday, June 17th; and Lisa Martini-Dunk on Friday, June 24th.
The featured artists will be at the Silver Bean on their scheduled Friday from 10 am to 11 am creating live art for the public to view, and a piece of their art will be on display—and available to win—for those who sign up as a YWCA Monthly Donor during the event.
The YWCA will be present and providing information to the public about the vital services they offer in the community for women and kids fleeing domestic violence.
Here Is Santa On A Jet Ski On The Otonabee River Because Why Not
/Catherine Brown spotted Santa on a jet ski Saturday evening (May 28th) cruising the Otonabee River in Peterborough. This is not a common occurence.
Photo by Catherine Brown
"I was with my parents and grandparents," Catherine tells PTBOCanada of seeing Santa on a jet ski. "We were all surprised to see Santa and my mom's reaction was, 'You never know what you'll see on the river!' My grandma's reaction was, 'We should tell him we've been good!'"
Photo by Catherine Brown
It is off season for Santa so we guess this sorta makes sense—plus Peterborough and the Kawarthas is a great tourist destination. No word where Rudolph is (probably in the woods somewhere)...
Here is another picture below of Santa with a couple other jet skiers...
Photo by Catherine Brown
