Here Are The Entrepreneurs Selected As The 2017 Bears' Lair Finalists

The Top 6 businesses were selected from a group of 21 Bears’ Lair semi-finalists on Tuesday (March 21st) by local business community judges. Chair Diane Richard announced the finalists on stage at the Showcase event at The Venue, where contestants had that opportunity to display the best of their businesses. Three of the finalists are innovation based businesses, and the other three finalists have a focus on Goods and Services.

The 2017 Innovation Stream finalists are: Dock HitchHinge, Lab Improvements and Mont Pellier for the Innovation Stream. The finalists for the Goods & Services Stream include That Dam Tea (TreeWell Limited), Loch, and Ship Shape Service.  

Since the inception of the Bears’ Lair Entrepreneurial Competition, $120,000 in cash and business support services has been made available to contestants. This year, finalists are competing for more than $45,000 in cash and business support services.

2017 Bears Lair Finalists on stage at the Bear' Lair Semi-Finalist Showcase at The Venue on March 21st, 2017. From left to right: That Dam Tea (TreeWell Limited), Loch, Ship Shape Service, Mont Pellier, Lab Improvements and Dock HitchHinge.

“We had such a strong and talented group of entrepreneurs this year—regardless of tonight’s outcome, everyone here is a winner,” says Chair Diane Richard. “Every Bears’ Lair contestant has used the entrepreneurial competition to take their business to the next level."

Bears’ Lair invites everyone to come to the finale event on April 25th at The Venue. The finale event will expose the finalists to a cross-examination, challenging questions and feedback by the judges before a live audience at The Venue. The selected finalists’ presentations will be scored based on innovation, commercialization, diversification, business plan quality and the benefit to the local economy, and two final 2017 winners will be selected.

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Here's The Love A Grade 5/6 Peterborough Class Showed To A New Syrian Student

A Grade 5/6 class at St. Teresa Catholic Elementary School in Peterborough showed that love and inclusiveness are the everything. Below is how they welcomed Mahfouz, their new Syrian student, to show him how happy they are to have him at the school—and in this city and country.

Picture via St. Teresa Facebook page

Welcome to Canada and our St. Teresa community Mahfouz and family!! @PVNCCDSB @StTeresaPVNC #pvncserves pic.twitter.com/dlvqXXtpoO

— Ashley Curtis (@MissCurtis6) March 20, 2017

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Here Is The Peterborough Petes First Round Playoff Schedule #PetesRising

After clinching the East Division title and the first seed in the Eastern Conference, the Petes’ first round schedule and opponent for the OHL Playoffs has been confirmed.

The Petes will play the Central Division’s third ranked Niagara IceDogs in a best-of-seven series in the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals beginning on Thursday, March 23d. Game 1 is at the Memorial Centre. The full schedule is as follows...

Peterborough had a 3-1-0-0 record against Niagara during the regular season.

Tickets are available for playoff home games one and two by visiting the Peterborough Memorial Centre Collins Barrow Box Office online, in person, or by phoning (705) 743-3561. Playoff group tickets are also available by phoning (705) 743-3681.

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Police Remind Public Not To Transport Unknown Items To The Police Station After They Had To Evacuate Station Today

This Peterborough Police release on Friday (March 17th) is a good reminder to all citizens not to transport unknown items to the police station...

"On Friday March 17th, 2017, just prior to 12:00 p.m., a citizen entered the Peterborough Police Station with an item to be turned in for disposal. The item was packaged in a manner that made it difficult to determine what it was and had the appearance of an explosive device. In the interest of public safety, the Police Station was evacuated and the immediate area was closed to the public until the device could be safely examined. This evacuation included the relocation of the 911/Communication Center to the Fire Station on Sherbrooke Street.
 
The Durham Regional Police Explosives Disposal Unit (EDU) was notified and attended to examine the item. The examination by EDU Specialists has determined that the item is not an explosive device although it had several characteristics of such a device. The investigation regarding this matter is complete and there was no criminal intent by the citizen who brought the item to the station.
 
As a reminder to all citizens, please don’t transport unknown items to the Police Station if you are concerned about what it might be. Please contact the police and we will come and examine the item at its current location to determine what the best course of action is.
 
During this event, the Non-emergency lines into the Communication Center had to be unattended for a short period of time. However, the 911 lines were always available for any emergency calls. Effective immediately, all normal operations in the Commutations Center and at Police Headquarters are resuming. We apologize for any inconvenience this disruption may have caused and appreciate the patience and cooperation of everyone during this situation."

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#PetesRising: Peterborough Petes Capture First OHL East Division Championship Since 2005-06

The Peterborough Petes shut-out the Hamilton Bulldogs 4-0 in front of 3,817 fans at the Memorial Centre Thursday night (March 16th) to clinch first place overall in the OHL's Eastern Conference.

This is the first time since 2005-06 that the Petes have captured the OHL East Division championship.

The Petes—who have been one of the hottest teams in the OHL since the end of November—now hold home ice advantage through at least the first three rounds of the playoffs.

The 2017 playoff schedule will be released early next week, with possible first round opponents including Ottawa, Niagara, Sudbury and North Bay. Tickets are available now for playoff home games one and two.

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Peterborough-Based Chimp Treats Will Have Product Line In Whole Foods Stores Across Ontario

Brooke Hammer

Peterborough-based company Chimp Treats has announced their Nicecream line of products will soon be available on the shelves of Whole Foods.

Whole Foods—known for their natural and organic food options—makes for a perfect match with the single ingredient fruit ice cream 22-year-old entrepreneur Brooke Hammer has created with Nicecream. Chimp Treats will also be introducing two brand new flavours to the mix, Mango Banana and Strawberry Banana.

As the founder of Chimp Treats, Hammer came up with the idea of taking a popular recipe she was making in her home (an ice cream made entirely from bananas) and bringing it to grocery store shelves everywhere.

As a varsity athlete and Trent University student, she put her company ideas to action and added entrepreneur to the list, developing the process to make it all possible. She launched Chimp Treats in June 2016. She currently operates her business full time in the Innovation Cluster’s downtown Cube, Peterborough’s innovation incubator.

Chimp Treat's products are currently on shelves in Toronto, Peterborough and the surrounding area including Sobeys, JoAnne's Place, Fiesta Farms and Foodland. Now, Chimp Treats is excited to expand its signature product to the Whole Foods organization, showing that eating healthy can also be a treat.

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Newcomers To Peterborough Community Try Curling For The First Time

The Peterborough Curling Club generously donated its ice on Saturday (March 11th) for a Curling Day so newcomers could try their hand at this Canadian winter sport. About 40 newcomers participated in the event, which was a collaboration between the New Canadians Centre and Peterborough Curling Club.

About 10 volunteers from Peterborough Curling Club provided curling instructions and equipment for the new curling learners.

Photo via New Canadians Centre Facebook page

“The objective is to welcome newcomers to the community and introduce them to a very popular Canadian winter sport,” says Ken Featherstone of Peterborough Curling Club. “Newcomers can meet and socialize with other newcomers while learning a part of Canadian sports culture.”

Photo via New Canadians Centre Facebook page

Photo via New Canadians Centre Facebook page

“Some newcomers, especially if they do not speak English, can feel isolated,” says Anne Elliott, Community Coordinator at the New Canadians Centre. “The New Canadians Centre offers different opportunities and services to connect newcomers to the community and feel welcomed and at home. The curling day is ideal because it is Canadian, active and fun.”

Photo via New Canadians Centre Facebook page

To learn more about the New Canadians Centre, visit their website.

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Peterborough's Neat Connections & History With Its Sister City Ann Arbor, Michigan

Our sister city Ann Arbor is about a six hour (575 km) drive from us and is located in Michigan. It has been our sister city since 1983.

“It lets people have an excuse for getting to know each other in ways they never would otherwise,” said former Ann Arbor Mayor Edward Pierce. We found this to be very true when we visited the city recently. When shop owners asked where we were from, we would say “Your sister city, Peterborough” with a slight grin. While most residents didn’t recall the link at first, it was certainly an ice-breaker which lead to further conversation.

Below is more of the backstory and the connections to Ann Arbor...

ARBOROUGH GAMES

The Arborough Games—a cute play on words combining Arbor and Peterborough—started in 1982 and was a biennial event that took turns being hosted between Ann Arbor and Peterborough. Sadly, the games ended after the year 2000 due to lack of volunteers and youth participation.

JUMPER MOVIE

The movie Jumper (starring Canadian actor, Hayden Christensen) was filmed primarily in Ann Arbor. Two back-to-back scenes at around the 3:50 minute mark of the movie were filmed in Peterborough, however.

A scene within the Peterborough Library at 345 Alymer Street North (also shown in the trailer above) shows the main character teleporting into the library, then opening a book to reveil an Ann Arbor Library book stamp (but we know better!).

Ann Arbor doesn’t have a water tower, and Peterborough was used as a stand-in. Our water tower (and view of Kenneth Avenue, filmed from Sherbrooke Street) with the "Ann Arbor" name digitally added to our water tower was briefly shown after the Library scene.

A Fairy Door at TeaHaus located at 204 N 4th Ave, Ann Arbor, MI

FAIRY DOORS

Fairy doors have been another connection between Peterborough and Ann Arbor with there being numerous tiny doors appearing in both cities.

Keep your eyes pealed around our city, you never know where you might find one!

-->> Share your connections with our sister city on our Facebook page post.

—Written and Photographed by Evan Holt

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Nassau Mills Lock 22 Concrete Repair Work Progressing Well

Since October 2016, Parks Canada has been undertaking concrete repair work at Nassau Mills Lock 22 on the Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site.

The lower approach walls and the pier were formed—and new concrete poured—at the end of February. After this work was complete, gravel and other material was then backfilled up against the repaired walls and new concrete was poured for the decking at the top of the lock walls.   

With the repairs to the walls now complete, it is expected that the temporary cofferdams will be removed in the coming weeks. The project will then conclude with the restoration of the concrete stairs and the overall site.  Some of the work to restore the site will continue into spring, as activities such as replanting, seeding and sodding are warm weather dependent.

Overall, the work has been progressing well and is on schedule to be completed in time for the 2017 navigation season beginning on the Victoria Day weekend. This year, you can celebrate with Parks Canada as they commemorate Canada's 150th anniversary by offering a free lockage permit to boaters along the Trent Severn and other waterways.

For up-to-date news on infrastructure work along the Trent-Severn Waterway, click here.

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