Peterborough Blogs
Frank Flynn's Surfacing At ReFrame Film Festival Looks At Impact Of His Wife's Suicide On His Family
/The Canadian Mental Health Association, Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (C.M.H.A. H.K.P.R.) is once again a sponsor of the ReFrame Film Festival, and this year one of the films of note they're sponsoring is a local one called Surfacing.
Written by well known local director/playwright Frank Flynn—and produced by Blake Richardson and choreographed by Rachelle Bemrose—it tells the story of Flynn’s wife’s journey through mental illness, her subsequent suicide in August 2014 and its impact on the family and their eventual journey to healing.
TELLING HIS STORY THROUGH DANCE & MOTION
Flynn was rendered speechless and heartbroken when his wife took her own life, and didn't know how to put it to words. “When my wife died, I struggled to give sorrow to words," he says. "As a playwright, to be without words was a unique kind of torment. I felt a constant physical ache in my chest and pressure building in every cell of my body."
Months later, after seeing a dance piece by Richardson and Bemrose, it occurred to Flynn that his was a story best told with bodies in motion. Collaborative work on Surfacing followed soon after with the two.
Surfacing, a dance/soundscape/poem, was made for Frank’s children as a living memorial to their mother and also as an invitation into the discussion of mental health, stigma, and healing.
Surfacing plays at Showplace Performance Centre on Friday, January 27th at 11:30 a.m. For more info on Reframe Film Festival, visit their website.
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Nominations For Peterborough Civic Awards Now Open
/The nomination process for the annual City of Peterborough Civic Awards has begun and will continue until March 3rd at 4:30 p.m. The awards recognize and honour local citizens who did oustanding achievements in 2016, from volunteers to sports achievers to people in arts and culture.
You can nominate a deserving individual or group online here, or printed packages are available at City Hall (500 George St. North).
The awards ceremony takes place June 6th.
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About 3,000 People Used Peterborough Transit's Free New Year's Eve Service
/The City of Peterborough has announced that the 2nd Annual free New Year's Eve Transit service carried approximately 3,000 riders between 7:20 p.m. and 3:20 a.m. All 12 regular routes were in service and saw good usage throughout the evening with an average of about 375 passengers using the system per hour.
The City of Peterborough is pleased that so many residents chose to drink responsibly and take advantage of free transit service on New Year’s Eve. The ridership this year was about the same as what was carried last year.
Councillor Don Vassiliadis on New Year's Eve
Councillor Don Vassiliadis, who represents Monaghan Ward and is the Chair of Transportation, is happy with the numbers:
"Once again, the ridership numbers are indicative of the need for this service in Peterborough. Free New Year’s Eve bus service was a big success, giving rides to both young and young at heart. It was a chance for those who had not used Peterborough bus service in many years to get back on the bus. I am looking forward to offering free New Year's Eve busing again in 2017 and having even more people take advantage of this wonderful service."
The estimated cost for the evening of service was $15,000, which included the staff costs for the drivers and dispatch staff, as well as the costs for police at the downtown terminal and on-bus security. Funding for this service was made possible again this year through the generous sponsorship from Wolfe Personal Injury Lawyers, who also funded the first service in 2015/2016.
Councillor Don Vassiliadis on New Year's Eve
Based on the success of this initial program, the City is planning to continue to offer the New Year's Eve transit service in 2017.
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Here Is A Drummer Rocking Out In Freezing Rain Outside A Tim Hortons In Havelock
/Twenty-one-year-old Marmora-based drummer Dillon Lake likes to rock out in random places—scroll down to see his drum solo over a cliff. His recent choice was a Tim Hortons in Havelock near Peterborough outside in the freezing rain/snow.
Photo courtesy Dillon Lake
"I've been doing videos like this since the summer in crazy/random places and the response has been great to them," Dillon tells PTBOCanada.
"Everyone around loved my Tim Hortons drumming and thought it was so cool. I hope to one day make a living off playing drums. I love to play shows and play in bands so it was an idea to do these drum videos in random spots to get some more exposure and to hopefully find a band looking to tour."
Here is video of him at the Tim Hortons...
Here is Dillon last Fall rocking out on a cliff overlooking Eagle's Nest in Bancroft...
We have no idea where Dillon will play next on his random rock star drumming adventures tour—maybe somewhere in Peterborough?—but well played dude.
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Downtown Shoppers In Peterborough Donate $10,278.85 To Kawartha Food Share
/The generous shoppers of downtown Peterborough gave $10,278.85 to support Kawartha Food Share during the 2016 Holiday Season.
The City of Peterborough’s parking division and the Downtown Business Improvement Area have partnered since 2003 to provide two hours free parking downtown through the holiday season. The initiative starts on Black Friday and runs through to the end of December. During this time, all money put in the parking meters is donated to charity.
(L to R): Parking Operations Supervisor Dennis VanAmerongen, Mayor Daryl Bennett, George — King of Downtown, Transit Supervisor Andrew Burdett , DBIA Executive Director Terry Guiel, Kawartha Food Share board chair Dave Ralph
"Thank you to everyone who put money in the parking meters to support Kawartha Food Share during the downtown free parking program over the holiday season," says Mayor Daryl Bennett. "This small program has made a big difference in the lives of so many of our City's residents over the years."
“It has been a successful shopping season for local downtown businesses and it’s wonderful to see our shoppers also supporting the great work of Kawartha Food Share,” adds DBIA Executive Director Terry Guiel. “It’s amazing that people donating their parking meter change adds up to more than $100,000 over the years to support those in need in our community.”
Kawartha Food Share currently assists more than 8,100 men women and children every month through 36 member agencies. Last year, the warehouse distributed over 5 million dollars worth of food and emergency care needs.
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How The STSCO Makes The Decision On School Bus Cancellations
/Curious what goes into the decision making for Student Transportation Services of Ontario (STSCO) in Peterborough on how they decide on school bus cancellations? In his own words, here is what Joel Sloggett—Chief Administrative Officer with STSCO—says are the key factors that goes into their thinking...
1. When it comes to bus and transportation service cancellation decision making, our priority consideration is the safety of students. The journey to school for many students involves walking to a bus stop, waiting for the bus, boarding the bus and travelling through its route on the way to school, with the opposite occurring for the afternoon ride home. Looking at this journey, safety considerations include the students walking to stops, standing along roadsides and then travelling on the bus. The bottom line is that we must collectively focus on children’s safety and err on the side of caution as necessary.
2. In terms of the steps in the decision making process, STSCO and its bus companies work together to monitor forecasts and weather alerts on a daily basis throughout the school year. When a winter weather forecast calls for inclement weather—such as significant freezing rain or significant snow and poor visibility—we are on heightened alert.
3. Bus companies and myself, or my designate, coordinate beginning at about 5:30 a.m. on the day of inclement weather. Companies have drivers and staff who are dispersed across our three county jurisdiction (Peterborough, Northumberland and Clarington) and who assist in weather monitoring. We also contact municipal roads officials when necessary to discuss the situation.
4. If it is determined that weather warrants consideration of busing cancellation for one or more of the three county areas, our goal is to post the same on our website and on social media [Twitter and Facebook] by 6:00 a.m. We also communicate such decisions to radio and television outlets so they can help get the word out.
5. STSCO’s website has a function on the main page where families can sign up for automatic alerts regarding bus cancellations and delays. This is particularly useful on days when a small number of bus routes are cancelled (as opposed to the regional cancellation) or on days when some routes are delayed for any reason—weather related or not. (Note: Sometimes individual routes have to be cancelled due to the particular area or roads travelled and an example might be routing in the far northern part of our jurisdiction where weather might be a concern while it is not in the rest of the County or area.)
6. Families can also access delay and cancellation information on our website directly by pressing on the Delay and Cancellation Exception button on the right side of the main page.
7. It should be emphasized again that all involved in inclement weather decision making are committed to ensuring safe transport of students while also understanding that any cancellation decisions have an impact on families as arrangements need to be made to ensure young children are taken care of during the cancelled transportation day. Over the years, bus companies and ourselves have done the best job possible in making the right decisions and meeting expectations for getting students to school safely.
—Joel Sloggett, STSCO
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A Man Rescued A Deer Stuck On A Tennis Court On Stoney Lake
/Cottager Randal Myers was out walking his dog on Sunday (January 15th) on a Stoney Lake cottage road near Peterborough when he witnessed something you don't see every day: a deer trapped on a tennis court.
"I heard the deer crashing into the fencing of the tennis court at my neighbour's cottage two doors over," Myers tells PTBOCanada. "I put the dog in the house and went over to see if I could help the deer escape. It was running and jumping at the fence. Blood was coming from its mouth where it had been hitting the fence."
Photo by Randal Myers, Facebook
The deer had jumped the short portion of the fence to get in but then could not find its way out, and Myers had to act quick.
"I took a shovel and dug out snow around the gate to get it open," Myers tells PTBOCanada. "Then I walked around the outside of the fence where the deer was jumping at the fence hoping to get it to move towards the open gate. The deer was winded and tired just walking up to me. I was afraid it might get its leg caught in the fence."
Photo by Randal Myers, Facebook
Myers didn't want to cause the deer more stress so he decided to leave and let the deer calm down, get its bearings, and hopefully find the open gate.
"When I returned an hour later, the deer had escaped," Myers tells PTBOCanada. "I just felt lucky that the deer wasn't severely injured and it was a happy ending."
Photo by Randal Myers, Facebook
Myers' quick thinking helped save the deer from possibly bleeding to death or getting stuck in the fencing and injuring itself further. It was lucky he was up for a winter weekend in the Kawarthas to be able to act and help the deer eventually escape.
Photo by Randal Myers, Facebook
This incident is also a reminder to leave your gates open on fenced enclosures in the winter when you're not there.
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Peterborough Couple Both Finish In Top 50 In International Photography Competition
/A Peterborough couple has received a tremendous honour: Hugh Whitaker and Jennifer Moher both finished in the Top 50 of an International wedding photography competition that JuneBug Weddings ran of the Best Wedding Photos of 2016.
The competition was judged by esteemed press from across the world. There were submissions from over 50 countries and more than 9,000 images were entered. Hugh and Jennifer were one of only 5 photographers from across Canada in the Top 50.
Hugh & Jennifer
