County And City's Respect The Collect Program Getting Great Response

The County and City of Peterborough is encouraging residents to “Respect the Collect” by acknowledging the great work of recycling and waste collectors in your community.

“Collecting waste and recycling can be a very challenging job,” says Tara Stephen, Manager of Waste Management for the County of Peterborough. "It is easy to forget how many obstacles and hazards these workers face over the course of a day.”

Each day, recycling and waste collectors in the County of Peterborough will travel 200 km of road and manually lift thousands of kilograms of material. Working outside 8 to 12 hours per day, collectors are regularly exposed to extreme temperatures, rain, snow and wind—all the while working on high traffic, high speed roads.

Since the start of the Respect the Collect Campaign on July 4th, the City and the County say they have received numerous kind emails and phone calls about their waste and recycling collectors.

Residents can email kind notes to respectthecollect@peterborough.ca or call 705.742.7777, ext 1616 to express thanks. All thank-you’s received will be forwarded to the collectors.

You can help your collector further by doing the following:
• sort recyclables into Containers and Papers
• keep waste containers under the limit for your Township
• pass collection trucks with extreme care
• take hazardous items (i.e. propane tanks) to the Household Hazardous Waste Depot
• wrap sharp objects before placing in the garbage

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here. Watch our PTBOCanada Love video here.

Visual Artist Katriona Dean Creates Amazing Blue Jay Street Piano In Cobourg, Ontario

Katriona Dean, a self-taught visual artist in Cobourg, Ontario near Peterborough who loves art projects that braid the arts and music together, has hit a home run by creating a Toronto Blue Jay street piano that is now on display in downtown Cobourg.

Katriona Dean creating Blue Jay piano

The nearly 100-year-old piano she used for her creation—called "Arpejayo" (more on that later)—is part of a Key’s to Our Town creative art project put on by the Town of Cobourg.

"This is my 4th year being a part of this initiative for Cobourg," Dean tells PTBOCanada. "They have always sat at the northwest corner of Victoria park in Cobourg, which is why my pianos have a very organic/woodland feel about them [she did a fox, raccoon and owl in previous years]. I wait for inspiration to hit me. 'Arpejayo' came to me in a dream one night after the town issued the call for artists to this project."

COMMUNITY EVENTS: Town of Cobourg unveils pianos for this year’s Key’s to Our Town creative art project. pic.twitter.com/5OZnFNGM8U

— Town of Cobourg (@TownofCobourg) July 7, 2016

Photo by Chris Lotton

Katriona, who tells PTBOCanada she is a huge Jays fan—"I became a Jays fan last September when I attended my first game," she says—conceived of the Blue Jay piano in a dream, woke up and grabbed some markers and rendered her vision to paper. This was the sketch you drew...

Then her drawing began to take shape in real life through a transformation in a chapel in Cobourg. "The piece took about 35 hours to complete, between hand carving with an angle grinder for the beak and top feathers, and then priming and painting," Dean tells PTBOCanada.

Here it is coming together in stages...

The piano was just transported out of the chapel to its home in downtown Cobourg...

Dean loves this community art project: "It brings complete strangers together in a positive way to share a common enjoyment," she tells PTBOCanada. "The creative collision is boundless! I like to say that art unites us."

Katriona reached out on social media for names for her piano and chose "Arpejayo".

"I knew Arpejayo would be it, but it wasn't until I used Wikipedia to search the actual term—Arpeggio—that the real synergy became apparent," she tells PTBOCanada. "It's a 'broken chord' in music—I only work on broken pianos, and I work to make them new again to have a second life, with more potential for enjoyment and creativity. This piano turns 100 this year. It's had many lives before this one. I love that, that they're relics from another time. My wish is that the pianos continue to unite people from all walks of life and to create smiles, laughter, dancing and music for everyone."

Photo by Chris Lotton

Reminiscent of the Hunter Street community piano from last summer in Peterborough, adults and kids are already interacting and experimenting with this unique piano...

It would be great to see this inspirational Blue Jay piano used during a national anthem at a Blue Jays game. That would be a grand slam opportunity to showcase this unique piano.

Katriona with her Blue Jay piano

—post by Neil Morton

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here. Watch our PTBOCanada Love video here.

14th Annual Rotary Ribfest Is This Weekend In Downtown Peterborough

Millennium Park will once again be filled with the smell of barbeque and the sound of live music with the return of the 14th Annual Rotary Ribfest from July 8th to 10th.

Photo courtesy DBIA

This year’s live music lineup includes Lindsay Barr and Rikki Nicks (Fleetwood Mac Tribute) on Friday night; Melissa Payne, Kim Doolittle and Hot Rocks – The Rolling Stones Tribute Show on Saturday night; and an afternoon of country music on Sunday.

Photo courtesy DBIA

Admission is free to Ribfest, and the festival will be open the following hours:
 
• Friday, July 8 from 11 am to 11 pm
• Saturday, July 9 from 11 am to 11 pm
• Sunday, July 10 from 12 to 5 pm

Photo courtesy DBIA

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Canadian Music Icon Burton Cummings Is Playing Showplace October 11th

One of the most celebrated artists in Canadian music history is coming to Peterborough. Burton Cummings is playing Showplace October 11th.

His remarkable career as a performer, singer-songwriter and recording artist has spanned over five decades and garnered a myriad of awards and accolades, including seven JUNO Awards.

picture via burtoncummings.com

Cummings is a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame through his band The Guess Who (inducted in 1987), and 2016 marked the singer-songwriter’s solo induction.

Tickets go on sale Monday, July 11th at 10 am, and will only be available to be purchased online.

------------------------

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Awesome Act Of Kindness For City Of Peterborough Garbage & Recycling Collectors

Jessica Fleury was walking her dog Tuesday morning when she spotted a water stand on Chamberlain Street set up for Peterborough garbage and recycling collectors.

Photo by Jessica Fleury

It's sweltering hot out today, and Fleury was touched by this act of kindness. "I thought it was extremely thoughtful and considerate, especially in this very hot weather," she tells PTBOCanada. "I also thought it was very sweet how they set the water out on a nice table, with nice glasses and a sign :)"

Fleury also tweeted out about the gesture...

Extreme #thoughtfulness spotted on Chamberlain street today! #ptbo @CityPtbo pic.twitter.com/4zUJZbIZT4

— Jessica Fleury (@jessicamfleury) July 5, 2016

[UPDATE: This is an initiative of Random Acts of Green in Peterborough, where Random Acts of Green meet Random Acts of Kindness.]

Every act of kindness counts in large amounts. Tell us when you spot them. Email us.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Lansdowne Place's Summer Classic Drive-In Night Is July 22 With Proceeds To Five Counties

Lansdowne Place is turning its parking lot into a giant drive-in theatre for a great cause! On Friday, July 22nd, they are showing Paddington Bear in their parking lot, and all proceeds from ticket sales will go to Five Counties Children's Centre.

"For over 40 years, Five Counties has provided essential services for the children and youth in our community and we’re delighted to support their amazing work,” says Emily Dart, Marketing Manager at Lansdowne Place

For more info on this great event for parents and kids including how to get wristbands, click here. See the poster below for further deets...

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Peterborough's Publican House Brewery Wins At The Canadian Brewery Awards

Publican House Brewery in Peterborough has announced that their Flagship brand, Pub House Ale, was awarded a bronze medal at the 2016 Canadian Brewing Awards.

The Canadian Brewing Awards is the only national competition to judge the quality of Canadian manufactured beer and ciders in a variety of style categories. With over 1,200 submissions from 244 breweries, a Canadian Brewing Award medal is a widely recognized symbol of brewing excellence in Canada.

“As our best selling beer, Pub House Ale has a unique flavour profile that creates a distinct, yet easy drinking experience,” says Matt Philips, Partner at Publican House. “We’re excited to be recognized for the quality of our beer that we are so proud to produce.”

Pub House Ale is available in 473ml cans at select LCBO locations throughout Ontario and of course at Publican House's retail store at 300 Charlotte St.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.