Peterborough Police Service On Mental Illness And Looking After Their Own

On Bell Let's Talk Day, Peterborough Police put out a powerful release about the importance of looking after the needs of their own. Read it below...

"The Peterborough Police Service supports Bell Let’s Talk Day and the fight to end stigma around mental illness.
 
For our Service, the wellness of all of our members, sworn and civilian, is crucial. The work of providing emergency service presents unique personal challenges that are not limited to operational staff.
 
We continue to seek opportunities that help our members cope with the rigors of their work and we have launched a variety of initiatives to ensure our employees are healthy both in mind and body.

These initiatives include an Employee and Family Assistance Plan that provides staff and their immediate family members with the ability to contact any registered psychologist, social worker or psychotherapist for confidential support and assistance.
 
In January of 2015, our Service implemented a Wellness Program for our members who are exposed to traumatic incidents on a more frequent basis. The mandatory aspect of this program removes stigma and ensures consistent check-ins.
 
In addition, five senior leaders completed a certificate course from Shepell and Queen’s University on 'Leading a Mentally Healthy Workplace' focusing on creating a healthy work environment and removing stigma.
 
Our Service recognizes that no one is immune to mental illness and we continue to build on the internal programs we have in place to ensure our members are properly supported."

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Someone Wrote "Send Love" Message On Trent University Bridge

Bridges have this way of connecting people, and bringing them together. So this simple, inspiring message someone made on the bridge at Trent University on a snowy Wednesday was a beautiful, symbolic gesture.

Julie Davis, Trent's Vice-President, External Relations & Advancement, tweeted about its impact here...

What a lovely message on the bridge @TrentUniversity today! pic.twitter.com/tLWijaUnD5

— Julie Davis (@julietrentuvp) January 25, 2017

Heading into Bell Let's Talk day, send love by sharing this post with others.

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New Canadians Centre Presents "One Night In Brazil" Gala March 4th At The Venue

PTBOCanada.com is delighted to be a media sponsor of New Canadians Centre's "One Night In Brazil" gala taking place March 4th at The Venue.

Dust off your dancing shoes, as you're in for an evening of fantastic music by Samba Toronto! Delicious Brazilian cuisine, vibrant and memorable performances highlight this annual fundraising event which supports the amazing work of the New Canadians Centre.

Since 2015, the New Canadians Centre has welcomed more than 220 newcomers from Syria to the Peterborough community. This has resulted in a 30 percent increase in the clients the Centre serves annually. With support from the community and sponsors, the Centre can help empower immigrants and refugees to become full and equal members of Canadian Society.

To purchase your tickets for "One Night In Brazil", click here. (A tax receipt for a portion of the ticket cost will be emailed to you after the event.)

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Concrete Work Is Progressing Well At Healey Falls Lock 17

Since October 2016, Parks Canada has been working on repairs to the west wall at Healey Falls Lock 17 on the Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site. The work has been progressing well and contractors are on track to complete repairs prior to navigation season in May 2017.

The contractor has recently poured the second level of the west wall on Lock 17, completing approximately 65 percent of the wall reconstruction. Next week, they will begin backfilling behind the west wall to reinstate the bank between the lock wall and Canal Road.

In order to keep up this pace of work while maintaining public safety, Canal Road will remain closed through to April. This will allow contractors to operate machinery and equipment freely to complete backfill, erosion protection and site restoration next to the lock.

Healey Falls Locks were built in 1910—66 years after the original construction of the Healey Falls timber dam. The flight of two locks were erected as part of the lower Trent River development created to accommodate power generation expansion. In 1913, a new concrete dam was commissioned and elements of the old dam were removed in 1915.

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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...

Music Courtesy of Clairmont the Second https://soundcloud.com/clairmontthesecond Drone Footage Courtesy of Rylan Boldrick https://www.facebook.com/RyGuys-Aerial-Photography-1765062993708290/ Video Editing Courtesy of Cheyenne Chamberlain https://www.facebook.com/creativecurvedesigns/

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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