350 Students From Across Canada To Attend Trent University’s 2nd Annual Hackathon

Electric City Hacks is back and bigger than ever. More than 350 post-secondary students from across the country, including students from local area high schools, are expected to attend Peterborough’s only hackathon, which will return to Trent University on November 3rd to 5th.
 
Founded in 2016 by four Trent University Computer Science and Information Systems students, Electric City Hacks or “ECHacks” offers post-secondary students the opportunity to put their coding knowledge to the test by creating an original hack, gadget or app from scratch in less than 37 hours.

Photo courtesy Innovation Cluster

This year’s hackathon will consist of multiple categories such as “Best Green Hack”, “Agriculture Hack”, “Adventure Hack” and more, to encourage participants to create with a specific purpose in mind. Prizes will be awarded to the top team in each category Sunday afternoon.

In between hacking, participants can also look forward to a morning hike around the Trent nature areas, campus tours and yoga classes, as well as a taste of Peterborough’s downtown with meals provided all weekend by local vendors and restaurants.

Photo courtesy Innovation Cluster

The Innovation Cluster is a sponsor this year:

“We are extremely excited to support the second annual Electric City Hacks at Trent University,” says Michael Skinner, President & CEO of the Innovation Cluster. “This hackathon will be a great opportunity for students to expose talent, grow, recruit and bring new innovative companies to Peterborough.”

Photo courtesy Innovation Cluster

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St. Patrick CES To Host Catholic Board Robotics Competition

Design, check. Coding, check. Math, check. Problem solving, check. Team work, check. Fun, check.

The annual Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board Robotics Competition at St. Patrick Catholic Elementary School in Peterborough will have it all as they host 16 teams from six schools on November 9th, competing in three robotics challenges from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Photo from last year's competition

Participants will compete with Lego Mindstorms robots, which will be built before the competition, and students will be given time between competitions to upgrade robots as needed.

“This event inspires students to work together to solve problems in real time, while competing in a fun, good-spirited competition,” St. Patrick CES principal Karan Leal says. “Students design, program and code their own robots. They learn great STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills and we tend to get as many girls participating as boys, which is really promising to see.”

THE MAZE CHALLENGE

This challenge is to successfully finish the maze within two minutes. A robot must be able to navigate a maze from start to finish using either its touch or ultra-sensors. The winner will be the robot that makes it the farthest or finishes the maze the fastest.

THE HOCKEY CHALLENGE

Teams will create two robots that can move or hit a ball into a net. The robots will be run by a remote control. Teams will play against opponents in a round-robin format. The team that scores the most goals in the five-minute game will win. In the event of a tie, there will be a best-of-five shootout.

THE ROBOT CHALLENGE

Robots will fight for five minutes in a small arena. Robots can have any Lego battle attack strategies such as spinners, swinging arms, or shooting balls. Points will be awarded by the referee. The team wins by having the most points at the end of the five-minute match, by disabling the other robots, and/or by pushing the other robots out of the arena.

Check out this short video of last year’s Robotics Competition for a glimpse of all the excitement...

St. Patrick Catholic Elementary School in Peterborough hosted the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic Elementary School Robotics Competition on Tuesday, November 29, 2016. Six schools attended the tournament entering 12 teams that designed and programmed LEGO Robotics.

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New Decorative Bike Racks Installed In Downtown

Last winter, after hearing from Councillor Dean Pappas that there is an appetite for artistic bike racks in downtown Peterborough, staff at “City Welding” got to work creating some unique designs.

The resulting prototypes impressed City staff, who included some of the decorative racks as part of the regular annual order. Now, these custom bike racks are adorning City Hall, the sidewalk in front of Spa Euphoria and the sidewalk on Charlotte Street just west of George Street.

“I’ve had this idea for a while and it is great to see it come to fruition, and even better that these bike racks are designed and manufactured in Peterborough," says Councillor Pappas.

There are three designs so far: one depicting Market Hall, one of the Lift Lock and one of the Quaker building. This winter, City Welding plans to create additional designs.

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Put Your Director To Work Day For The United Way

Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington (PVNC) Catholic District School Board is excited to launch the 2nd Annual Put Your Director to Work Day.

Director of Education Michael Nasello is once again raffling himself off to raise money for a local United Way campaign. One lucky PVNC employee will get a day off to kick up their feet, while Nasello rolls up his sleeves and does their job for the day. Last year, the raffle raised $1,485 and sent Nasello to St. Paul CES in Lakefield, where he filled the role of an educational assistant.

Michael Nasello at last year's Put Your Director To Work Day

“I had a great time last year working closely with some great students and all the amazing staff at St. Paul Lakefield,” Nasello says. “Who will it be this year? A custodian? A kindergarten teacher? I can’t wait to find out.”

A single ticket costs $5 or employees can purchase three for $12.

The employee whose winning ticket is selected, whether it’s a supply teacher, a custodian, an educational assistant, a secretary or any other staff position, will get a paid day off while Nasello performs their job for the day.

PVNC is pleased to partner with four United Way campaigns in Peterborough, Durham, Kawartha Lakes and Northumberland. The winner’s work location will determine where the proceeds go.

“Every year we support the United Way’s mission as it works to empower some of our communities’ most vulnerable people and fund important social services that some of our students and their families rely on,” Nasello says. “This raffle is also a great opportunity to recognize the important roles all of our staff play each day in ensuring our students are given every opportunity to succeed.”

Tickets will go on sale to PVNC staff at school locations and the Board office on Wednesday, November 1st. The raffle runs until Friday, December 1st and the winning ticket will be picked at the monthly Director’s Meeting at the Board office on Wednesday, December 13th.

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Canadian Canoe Museum Attraction Increasing Number Of International Visitors

Over the past week, the Canadian Canoe Museum welcomed an incredible 18 international visitors from 11 countries, reflecting a trend of increasing international interest in its world-class collection.

Between October 17th and 25th, these individual international visitors from countries including Australia, Germany, Mexico, Russia and India signed the guest book and longtime museum volunteer Bernice Standen took note. “We are fortunate to have the preeminent collection of paddled craft in the world,” says Mrs. Standen, a museum volunteer who, since 2004, has been working with visitor statistics.

Here is a visual representation in red dots of where their visitors come from...

In 2016, 25 percent of those who signed the museum’s guest book were international visitors—up from 14 percent in 2015.

Visitors to the museum come from all over the world, and last year the guest book documented those from more than 30 countries. Many international visitors explore the museum more than once.

Some comments from international visitors include the following...

“I learned new things about the world and of course Canada.” (EGYPT)

“Superbe musee!” (FRANCE)

“Fantastic presentations—well interpreted and engages all (even very old and very young). RIVALS the Smithsonian!!” (U.S.A.)

In 2016, the museum welcomed 27,267 visitors overall—an increase of close to 2.5 percent over the previous year. That increase built upon the attendance figures of 2015, which were 11 percent higher than in 2014.

Early projections indicate that the new museum, to be built beside the Peterborough Lift Lock on the Trent-Severn Waterway, will welcome more than twice the number of visitors in its opening year alone.

“Our collection, and the museum as a whole, continues to attract national and international attention,” says General Manager Carolyn Hyslop.

“This, paired with the local excitement related to the new museum project and some of our newest programs, contributes to the incredible momentum we are experiencing right now."

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Take A Spooky Halloween Tour Of Peterborough

Our Creative Director Evan Holt takes you on a tour of some s-c-a-r-y Halloween houses in this video below...

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Bras Around The Building Campaign Collects 7,000 Bras & Raises $17,000

Country 105, Energy 99.7 and Merrett Home Hardware Building Centre have wrapped up the 7th Annual “Bras Around the Building” Campaign. With the support of the community, a total of 7,146 bras were collected.

With the generous contribution of $1 per bra from Merrett Home Hardware Building Centre, along with other monetary donations from local businesses, the 2017 Bras Around the Building Campaign raised $17,000 which will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society for breast cancer research.

For the last four weeks, women of Peterborough and The Kawarthas have been donating their gently used bras, and many local women took up collections from family and friends for the campaign.

The bras will hang on the Country 105/Energy 99.7 building at 59 George St. N. in Peterborough, and will remain on display until Monday, October 30th as a symbol of support for women battling breast cancer, to honour survivors and to remember those who have lost their battle.

The public are encouraged to stop by and take pictures over the weekend.

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Watch: Blue Rodeo Covers "Bobcaygeon" In Honour Of Gord Downie & The Hip

On his The Strombo Show YouTube channel, George Stroumboulopoulos has the "House of Strombo" where he opens his door to musicans across a variety of music genres who play live shows in his home.

Blue Rodeo performed there in an intimate performance to celebrate The Tragically Hip and Gord Downie with a touching cover of "Bobcaygeon".

Watch it below...

http://www.strombo.com/radio The Strombo Show presents Blue Rodeo in an intimate performance from the home of George Stroumboulopoulos to celebrate The Tragically Hip with a cover of Bobcaygeon. Listen our celebration of Canada's band featuring Canada's best covering their songs on HIP30: http://goo.gl/Qg5PQJ The Strombo Show / House of Strombo is the home of the best records played in the best order, from the 1-2-3-4 to the 808's and beyond.

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Watch: Documentary On Oral History Of Peterborough Downtown Farmers' Market

The Downtown Farmers’ Market is proud to have been a producers only market since their inception 20 years ago.

Starting in 1996, this market was formed by a group of local farmers looking to set up a new, producers only market that would help them grow their businesses, build community, and offer customers a mid-week downtown location for purchasing fresh seasonal produce, local meats, cheeses, flowers and other local goods.

Shoppers can be sure they are buying local seasonal vegetables, flowers, meats, and cheeses from the farmers themselves, as well as wonderful baking, prepared lunches, crafts, coffee and drinks from the folks who made them.

To learn more about the history of the market and how it has helped local farms and businesses, check out this new documentary from local filmmaker Brian Mitolo...

An oral history of our local downtown farmers' market, as told by some of the farmers.

The market's 2017 season ends October 25th.

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