Wendy's Story: Watch This Powerful Video From YWCA Peterborough On Survivor Of Abuse

A powerful new video on domestic violence released recently by YWCA Peterborough is getting thousands of views.

"Wendy's Story" tells the story of Wendy—a YWCA client, Board Director, mother and survivor of abuse—who is courageously sharing her story to save the lives of other women and children in our community and beyond.

Wendy

Safe Nights at YWCA's Crossroads Shelter are possible thanks to generous donors. To help save the life of another woman or child facing serious danger in their own home, click here for more information.

Watch and share this video below...

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The Holiday Window Contest In Downtown Peterborough Was A Merry Time

The Toy Shop of Peterborough has won the 2017 Holiday Window Contest in downtown Peterborough. The display at 176 Hunter Street West is full of colour and encompassed the Canadian theme, capturing the attention of the judges from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peterborough.
 
“We had a lot of fun decorating our display and incorporating the Canada 150 theme for the Holiday Window Contest,” says Jean Grant, owner of The Toy Shop, which will be donating the $300 grand prize to the Salvation Army Toy Drive.

DBIA Executive Director Terry Guiel presents Toy Shop owner Jean Grant with her first place prize in the annual Holiday Window Contest.

Second place goes to Watson and Lou at 383 Water Street and third place goes to Needles in the Hay at 385 Water Street.

Erin Watson, co-owner of Watson & Lou, receives her second place award in the annual Holiday Window Contest from DBIA Executive Director Terry Guiel.

Third place award

“It’s great to see so many stores lit up and decorated with all things Canadian for the holiday season,” says Terry Guiel, Executive Director of the Downtown Business Improvement Area. “It was also a lot of fun hosting Big Brothers Big Sisters as our judges and seeing how excited the kids were to be a part of this."

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peterborough promotes the growth and development of at-risk children and youth in our community through the provision of mentoring programs with positive adult role models.

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Neil Young & Daryl Hannah Visited The Sapphire Room In Downtown Peterborough

Neat moment for Peterborough on Friday night (December 1st), as Neil Young and his partner Daryl Hannah dropped by The Sapphire Room—aka "The Sapph"—in the downtown after his rockin' hometown show in nearby Omemee.

Here is Neil's tour bus parked in front of the Hunter Street cocktail bar...

Photo via Jonathan Hall on Facebook

In this blurred pic below, you can see Neil flashing the peace sign to Jonathan Hall, who captured the pictures.

Sapph owner Kerri Niemi tells PTBOCanada there wasn't a big entourage—it was "chill"—and it was "mostly family" who showed up. And they were hungry.

"It brought a lot of excitement to the neighbourhood," she adds.

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Omemee Shirt Purchased For Neil Young From PTBO Northern Originals In Peterborough

Mike Watt, owner of PTBO Northern Originals, a heritage-based clothing brand focused on local pride in Peterborough and the Kawarthas, was ecstatic when a member of Neil Young's crew dropped in to purchase his Omemee shirt on Friday (December 1st).

"An assistant came in and grabbed them for Neil and Daryl [Hannah, his partner] on Friday," Watt tells PTBOCanada of his T-shirt line, which is available online and at his store Flavour Fashion in downtown Peterborough.

"We actually hid an 'N Y' in the design—his initials—as a tribute to him," Watt tells PTBOCanada.

Neil Young's show in Omemee

Young may not have worn the Tee for his special concert Friday night in his home town of Omemee, but it was a cool moment the entrepreneur Watt won't soon forget.

"I have to be honest—when we developed the design for the shirt we always hoped to get one to Neil," he says. "We're huge fans and want to pay tribute in some small way. This was special."

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Entrepreneur Wins Cubs' Lair With Innovative Solution For First Nations To Obtain Tax Exemption

After six innovative pitches were made during the annual Cubs’ Lair competition Thursday night (November 30th) at the Gordon Best Theatre hosted by FastStart Peterborough, the Innovation Cluster and the Trent Youth Entrepreneurship Society, Rich Cochrane of Status Exempt was announced as the winner. His final prize package includes more than $14,000 to help push his startup.

Member of Curve Lake First Nation, Rich Cochrane started Status Exempt as a mission to make it easy for First Nations shoppers to buy online, tax exempt. Currently, First Nations online shoppers need to submit their receipts to the government for a tax refund, a process that can take up to 90 days—Cochrane’s innovative solution will reduce this to mere minutes.

Left to right: Runner-up Sultan Moni of Zatiq; Winner Rich Cochrane of Status Exempt, Runner-up Victoria Naish of The Cake Engineer.

Currently working in the Cluster’s incubator building his business, Cochrane has been busy creating a platform for businesses and First Nations consumers to provide tax exemption in an easy way.

“Reconciliation is a hot topic in Canada right now,” says Cochrane. “A big component of reconciliation is building a stronger relationship between Indigenous Canadians and the rest of Canada and businesses will play a critical role in building that relationship.”

First Nations represent over three percent of Canada’s population and are also the fastest growing segment of the population with many living in remote or rural areas having no other option but to shop online. With this solution, Cochrane predicts that businesses will gain a large group of consumers.

Cochrane’s background includes being a banker in downtown Toronto, an analyst in the Aboriginal Banking unit at the Bank of Montreal, and graduating from the University of Windsor with a Bachelor of Commerce, specializing in Finance, Accounting and Entrepreneurship.

Cubs' Lair finalists and judges (Photograph by Sofie Andreou)

Judges listened to pitches that included tech innovations for archaeology, real estate, energy saving and mobile apps, as well as a pitch for a cupcake bar service.

The two runners up of the competition are Sultan Moni of Zatiq and Victoria Naish of The Cake Engineer.

Rich Cochrane will now be able to push his startup with the grand prize package, which includes $3,000 cash from Ontario 150, extended incubator space at the Cluster, coaching and mentoring from established startups and more.

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Free 2 Hour Holiday Parking Has Begun In The Downtown

The City of Peterborough has partnered with the DBIA for free 2 hour parking again this year during the holiday season.

Photo via @jamiecsteel

The boundaries are as follows:

North: Murray Street
East: The Otonabee River
West: Bethune Street
South: the Railroad tracks south of Sherbrooke

You can have a look at the map below as a guide...

Map via City of Peterborough

Any money put in the meter will go to charity.

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City of Peterborough Is Moving To Online Registration For Recreation Programs

You will soon be able to search and register for programs online from your computers and mobile devices, thanks to the City of Peterborough.

They are now working together with PerfectMind—makers of innovative membership management, program registration, and facility booking software—to offer a user-friendly platform to connect members of the community with cultural and recreation services.

PerfectMind's unique platform has been used by major city governments throughout North America. PerfectMind improves the customer experience significantly by making it easy to find, reserve, and pay for programs and services using desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
 
Beginning in November, the Peterborough Sport & Wellness Centre (PSWC) was the first City facility offering the new software system. The PSWC features leisure and therapy pools, gymnasium, fitness centre, and a variety of health and fitness programs serving the residents of Peterborough and Fleming College, and will utilize a broad range of PerfectMind features within its membership base.

The balance of recreation, arenas, cultural services, and facilities will become active in the new system throughout December and January 2018.

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Heart Of Gold: Peterborough County OPP Officer David McNab Retires After 30 Years

David McNab, a humble, giving and caring Peterborough OPP officer, has announced he is retiring after 30 years serving for the force.

McNab, the man behind the viral video of Syrian refugees toboganning for the first time, wrote a heartfelt Facebook message announcing his retirement from this profession he loved.

McNab in his viral 2016 video toboganning with Syrian refugee at Armour Hill in Peterborough

"I have more gratitude than I could ever express for what this career has taught me and for what it has allowed me to be part of," McNab wrote in the Facebook post. "The job is more about problem solving than about enforcing rules, despite what it appears to be.

I’ve met incredible people and I’ve seen true heroics and unselfish acts far more than I’ve seen the bad side of human nature. Despite the feeling to the contrary, the world is full of goodness if we can only recognize it when we see it."

McNab pictured in one of his last moments on the job (picture via his Facebook page)

"I was fortunate to work for what I believe is one of the most professional organizations anywhere and I’ll miss the people and the sense of family," adds McNab. "I’ll miss the teams I was part of and the rush that came with successful resolutions amid serious situations. I’ll miss the public that I worked for and the ability to occasionally make a real difference for somebody deserving."

You can read his entire Facebook post below...

Watch the awesome video below by McNab and his wife Kristy from January 2016 that now has nearly 400,000 views on YouTube....

Snow is a new experience but fun in any language looks the same. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1t14vftSVo for video with real audio) These refugee children remind us how to see a Canadian winter with the innocence of a child. They have been extremely grateful for everything our country has to offer, including the warmth and generosity of a true Canadian welcome.

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Here's Info On Preparation Beginning On Urban Park Construction

Construction work on the Urban Park at Charlotte Street and Louis Street in Downtown Peterborough is commencing soon, with the demolition and removal phase starting on December 4th.

The contract for the demolition and removal of a portion of Louis Street, the entire Louis Street Municipal Parking Lot and the building at 220 King Street (the former Shish-Kabob Hut) has been awarded to Accurex Inc.

Urban Park Conceptual Plan

Completion of the demolition and removal phase will prepare the site for a Stage 2 Archaeology Investigation that is required in advance of deeper excavations needed to build the Park.

As part of the project, Louis Street will be widened to accommodate two-way traffic beside the King Street Parking Garage. Once this is complete, the section of Louis Street north of the Rivulet Apartments driveway will be permanently closed. Parking on Louis Street and in the Louis Street Municipal Parking Lot will be permanently removed.

Construction fencing will secure the site and prevent parking and pedestrian travel in the area. The King Street Parking Garage will be fully operational throughout construction.

For more information regarding the Urban Park, check out the online design brochure here.

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You Don't Want To Miss The Jungle Book At Showplace

Arbor Theatre's holiday productions are always a must-see and this year's is this no exception: The cast of The Jungle Book has been training hard for the play, which runs at Showplace in downtown Peterborough Thursday, December 7th and Friday, December 8th.

The all-star team behind the production includes Ray Henderson (writer, co-director and producer); Brianna Hill (co-director); Beau Dixon (music); Kate Bemrose, Madison Sheward and Rachael Froggatt (choreography); Jennifer Sek and Jess Payne (costumes and makeup); John Fewings (set design); Khira McFadden (stage manager); and Bev Breedon (producer).

The cast training

"It's a classic tale with the 'Arbor Twist', which means dancing, comedy, and performers of all ages," Ray Henderson tells PTBOCanada. "It will be unlike any version you've ever seen before!"

THE CAST

Asha Hall Smith, Riley Tutert, Ethan King, Matt Gilbert, Aiden Wilson, Adam Martignetti, Eloise Harvey, Bob Forsey, Alex Bemrose, Ashlee Courneya, Aiden Playford, Olivia Marshall, Mason Taylor, Brianna Hill, Noah Henderson, Carolyn McCarthy, Sophie Surerus, Kayla Leeson, Brooklyn Recker, Huxley Wilton, Saffron O’Neil, Hailee Phillips, Aurora Ash, Alissa Dykstra, Abby Davidson, Sarah Livingston, Sam Baker, Ella Smit, Lily Smit, Ethan Colling, Emily Jones, Emma Papageorge, Emma Wells, Griffyn Davis, Eve Baraball, Jenna Fillipowicz, Elsa Norton, Lily Papageorge, Dana Jordan, Peyton Davidson, Zoe Dunaway, Caoimhe McQuarrie, Kaitlyn Fawcett, Evalyn Webdale, Alleah Webdale, Naomi DuVall, Brad Brackenridge and Daniel Smith

Tickets are $15 for Adults, $12 for Students/Seniors and $8 for those under 12 years old. (Special: You can purchase 4 tickets or more for $10 each!)

Call 705.742.7469 or visit the Showplace Box Office for the special.

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