Watch: Dave Pogue On Team 55, Mental Health, Peterborough Petes & Community

On Episode 23 of our show PTBOCanada, Dave Pogue talks about the impact Team 55: Let's Tackle Suicide Awareness is having in raising awareness and funds around mental health programs.

Dave Pogue on "PTBOCanada" show

Dave's son Mitchell took his own life in 2013, and shortly thereafter he decided to start the Team 55 program after approaching the Canadian Mental Health Association local chapter. He had no idea at the time the impact it would have, as the program is going stronger than ever since its inception more than five years ago.

Watch the episode below as Pogue—also President of the Peterborough Petes—talks about Team 55, Friday Night Lights, the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Petes and community love...

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PTBOCanada & StudioPTBO Launch "We Are PTBO" Docu-Series

PTBOCanada.com in collaboration with our spinoff agency StudioPTBO have launched a brand new Docu-Series called "We Are PTBO". The series will be spotlighting ordinary citizens in the community who help make this city extraordinary.

Amino Yusuf spotlighted

The series is produced by Rob "Electric City" James from StudioPTBO and the debut video filmed at Peterborough Public Library highlights Amino Yusuf on what Peterborough and community mean to her.

Watch it below...

Know someone that you think should be spotlighted in the series? Email Rob here.

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Amusé Coffee Co. Launches Second Location The Edison In VentureNorth Building

After pursuing her entrepreneurship dreams opening an authentic Paris themed café Amusé Coffee Co. in 2015 on George St., Lindsay Brock is celebrating her third anniversary in operation on August 23rd by opening a permanent second location called The Edison (Powered by Amusé).

The espresso and pastry bar is housed the lobby of the VentureNorth building at 270 George St. North. In a sense, it's like coming home for Lindsay, as The Edison is located in the building where various economic development establishments reside that helped her originally start her business.

Entrepreneur Lindsay Brock at The Edison, located in VentureNorth Building in downtown Peterborough

Through entering the FastStart program—a partnership with the Innovation Cluster, Trent University and Fleming College that provides youth startup business support and funding through Community Futures Peterborough—Brock was able to learn the skills needed to open her own café.

Brock has hosted a pop-up cafe in the VentureNorth lobby since March 2018 as a business test running two days per week, providing fair trade organic whole bean coffee and baked goods. With the overwhelming success in sales, Brock says there was no question about opening a permanent location there.

“The past five months serving at the VentureNorth building has been a great experience for Amusé’s business,” says Brock. “Being able to cover two locations downtown has allowed us to provide our specialty products on either sides of the downtown core, and with the new permanent location, we will now be providing more meal options.”

The grand opening of The Edison is Thursday, August 23rd from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and its hours will be from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday starting the following week.

You can also visit Lindsay's Amusé location at 641 George St. N.—we spotlighted it in a post in August 2015—pictured below...

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Peterborough Girl's Video On Raising Awareness For Type 1 Diabetes Has Nearly 27,000+ Facebook Views

Ten-year-old Peterborough girl Tilly Stimpson is hoping to return to Parliament Hill in October for Kids For A Cure Lobby day—they were there in November 2016 for this bi-annual event—to lobby once again for Type 1 Diabetes. Both Tilly and her father Matt have the disease.

As part of her application process for the special day, Tilly had to produce a video which her Dad posted to his Facebook page that has now garnered nearly 27,000 views and counting already (scroll down to watch it below).

Tilly (pictured with her dog, Olive) is making a great impact on raising awareness about living with Type 1 diabetes

"We are thrilled with the reaction the video has received, and even more thrilled with the support of people through their comments on social media," Tilly's mother Joanna tells PTBOCanada. "We’ve been showing Tilly the responses and she is really excited by the number—she checks every day to see the counter go up!"

"Tilly had such a great experience at the last event in 2016, and was was keen to apply again this year. They changed the application process slightly in that she had to produce a 60 second video in addition to the online application and a bio she had to write," Joanna adds.

The family chose an angle about research in the video as this is the part Tilly, who was diagnosed at two and a half, feels is most important. Without research, they won’t find a cure to this very misunderstood disease which is often compared to Type 2 diabetes.

"Lobbying the government for money is not just about funding research, it’s also about making the life saving supplies needed accessible to everyone," Joanna tells PTBOCanada. "Not every province covers the pump and the standard of care differs everywhere (even on a school by school basis). Tilly is about to take part in a clinical trial at Sunnybrook for a new insulin."

The Stimpson family have been advocating for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) since Tilly was first diagnosed, and her school has raised $12,000 and the Stimpson family $32,000 through the generous support of the community.

After Kids for a Cure in October which Tilly hopes to be accepted for again, the family is part of a local chapter hosting a JDRF fundraising event "Cuisine For A Cure" at the Venue on November 9th. More info on that event can be found here.

Watch (and keep) sharing Tilly's powerful video below...

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Watch: Christian Harvey On The Warming Room & One City Program In Downtown Peterborough

In Episode 19 of "PTBOCanada", Warming Room Community Ministries Executive Director Christian Harvey talks about his passion for helping the homeless (the Warming Room is well beyond capacity) and the potential of the new One City program to change people's perceptions about the marginalized and downtown.

Watch the episode below about how we can all work together to break down barriers...

To learn about the Volunteer program at The Warming Room, click here.

Watch other past episodes of "PTBOCanada" here.

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Peterborough Police & Riverview Park & Zoo Team Up To Show The Community Love For Boy After Recent Incident

You may recall the recent incident at Riverview Park & Zoo involving a boy named Logan with autism who was visiting the zoo with his family from Belleville when they were verbally accosted by a man that was apparently unhappy with Logan's behaviour.

"We would like to extend our sincerest apologies to this family and want to let them know that they are always more than welcome here at the Park and Zoo," the zoo wrote in a Facebook post, the remainder of the heartfelt entry you can read below...

Well on Monday (June 25th), the zoo showed just how welcoming they are, as they had Logan and his family (pictured below) back to the zoo for a private tour to show them what this community is really about—and how inclusive we are.

Photos of Logan and his family at the zoo courtesy Peterborough Police

Not only that but the Peterborough Police showed up to show their support for Logan...

The @RiverviewZoo did an outstanding job today making Logan & his family feel welcome and included. We were there to show Logan, who has severe autism, that #Ptbo is about inclusion and to raise awareness for @AutismONT https://t.co/tHr8Ntdouy -LG pic.twitter.com/vRP2gjv4WH

— Peterborough Police (@PtboPolice) June 25, 2018

"After we heard this story we wanted to show up to support Logan, his Mom, his sister and his Nana," Peterborough Police said on their Facebook page. "Our community is about inclusion. Everyone has a place. Everyone belongs."

Photos of Logan and his family at the zoo courtesy Peterborough Police

Logan, thanks for giving the zoo and Peterborough another chance.

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Manager At McDonald’s Restaurant In Peterborough Wins 2018 Outstanding Manager Of The Year Award

McDonald’s Canada has announced that Tara Andrews, manager of the McDonald’s Restaurant in Peterborough at Lansdowne and The Parkway, has won a 2018 Outstanding Manager of the Year award, an award which recognizes the top performing managers across the country.

Tara has been a Restaurant Manager for 14 years and has been highly awarded in her career: she received an Outstanding Manager of the Year award in 2016, and has won both Employee of the Month and Employee of the Year.

Tara Andrews (photo courtesy McDonald's)

“I am very honoured to receive this award for the second time,” says Andrews. “I love every day of my job and, together with my crew, we’re focused on providing our local and visiting guests with a great dining experience— from hello to goodbye.”

Every year, McDonald's franchisees and regional management nominate restaurant managers across the country for the Outstanding Manager of the Year award to recognize their hard work, dedication, and commitment to McDonald's Canada and its customers.

“Since joining the McDonald’s team, we’ve watched as Tara has applied her strong leadership skills, strategic business acumen and unrivaled work ethic to our business,” says Peterborough's James Campbell, McDonald’s Franchisee. “This award is our way of thanking Tara for her ongoing efforts to grow and improve our engagement with both employees and guests.”

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Scott Gilbert Is The New Chief Of Peterborough Police Service

The Peterborough Police Services Board has announced the appointment of Scott Gilbert as the ninth Chief of the Peterborough Police Service.

Gilbert, who has spent his career with the Toronto Police Service, will officially take over from retiring Chief Murray Rodd on July 1st. Chief Rodd announced his retirement last fall after 35 years in policing serving as Chief for the last decade.

Scott Gilbert (picture via his Twitter account)

Scott Gilbert started in Toronto as a cadet and rose through the ranks. He served as a Member of the Emergency Task Force, held various positions in the Criminal Investigations Bureau, and was an Inspector in Prosecution Services and Superintendent of various divisions.

He was also elected as the President of the Toronto Senior Officers Association for two years and was a Director with the provincial Association. He is a graduate of Humber College and Guelph-Humber University.

Welcome to Peterborough Scott!

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