Peterborough's Leslie Vilneff Wins $683,592.40 In Jackpot

Peterborough’s Leslie Vilneff won the $683,592.40 jackpot from the March 2nd LOTTARIO draw with a ticket purchased at the Circle K on Hunter Street.

"I've been playing the lottery for over 30 years," says Leslie, while at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto to pick up his winnings. "I play LOTTO MAX, LOTTO 6/49 and LOTTARIO weekly. I was shocked when I realized I had a winning ticket. I couldn't believe it!"

Leslie Vilneff

The retired, married father of two plans on completing some home renovations, taking a trip to Hawaii and topping up his savings. 

"This win means financial security," says Leslie. "I can buy things I couldn't buy before!"

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Flying Colours Corp. Launching Series Of Recruitment Events

Flying Colours Corp. is launching a series of recruitment events to attract new and existing talent to the expanding North American maintenance, repair, overhaul and completions company. They take place Friday, March 22nd and Saturday, March 23rd at its Peterborough headquarters. 

A combination of existing and new roles will be highlighted during the two-day showcase. Flying Colours Corp. is hoping to fill in excess of 50 openings in its paint, avionics, maintenance, interiors, cabin installation and upholstery departments by mid-summer. They are using the recruitment event as a platform to showcase the types of roles on offer, the dynamic work environment and the career opportunities the business presents.

Flying Colours Peterborough location is looking to welcome some 50 new recruits this summer. (Photo courtesy Flying Colours Corp.)

Many of the new roles are being created to support the addition of a new paint and maintenance hangar, which when completed will add a further 100,000 squared feet to the Peterborough facility.

Existing employees will be on hand to explain their roles, management will respond to specific company questions and the HR team will be accepting resumes and organizing interviews. Flying Colours specializes in the custom completion and maintenance of mid to large size business jets. Every project is unique and requires the talents and skilled labour of a variety of technicians and artisans to perform detailed, hand-crafted work.  

“We’re looking for additional people to join our work family as we continue to expand,” says Sean Gillespie, Executive VP Flying Colours Corp. “We’re interested in everyone from recent grads who want the opportunity to work towards their license to seasoned professionals, skilled craftspeople and aircraft technicians. Many people in other industries might not realize that their skills are transferable, which is why we’re holding this event.”

Photo courtesy Flying Colours Corp.

Participants will be able to view a business aircraft and learn about how working at Flying Colours provides the opportunity to earn a good wage, excellent benefits and enjoy career progression while performing interesting and varied work.

The event hours are Friday, March 22nd from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday, March 23rd from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. To preschedule an interview, resumes can be sent in advance to HR@flyingcolourscorp.com with “FCCN Careers" in the subject line. 

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Faith Dickinson Chosen One of 12 Outstanding Young People For The Diana Award’s Change_Makers

Lakefield’s Faith Dickinson has been chosen as one of 12 outstanding young people from across the world to take centre stage for The Diana Award’s Change_Makers campaign.

The campaign kicks-off the Diana Award’s 20th anniversary year to drive a new wave of nominations from across the world for an award in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Faith Dickinson (Photo courtesy Diana Award)

The Diana Award is the most prestigious accolade a young person can receive for their social action or humanitarian work. The youth charity benefits from the support of Diana, Princess of Wales’ sons, The Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex—both of whom Faith met in May 2017 when she received a Legacy Award from them.

All the young people leading the campaign alongside Faith—who come from the UK, USA, Canada, India and UAE—challenge negative stereotypes young people are often labelled with.

Faith (3rd from right) is one of 12 kids from around world chosen for campaign

Faith, 16, a Grade 11 student at Lakefield College School, received a Diana Award herself in 2017 for starting Cuddles for Cancer, a non-profit organization which provides blankets to people suffering from cancer and other illnesses.

To date, she has made more than 4,000 blankets and they have been sent across Canada, the United States, the UK, Germany, Brazil, Australia, France and countries in Africa.

Among many other accolades in recent years, Faith was also winner of a Me To We Youth In Action Award in 2015, and was the Youth Ambassador (a newly created role) on the United Way Peterborough campaign cabinet in 2017/18.

Faith with Will and Harry in 2017

Faith’s involvement in the campaign follows her invitation to Windsor, UK as a group of young people from The Diana Award who attended the Royal Wedding of HRH Prince Harry and Meghan Markle last year.

Nominations for a Diana Award are now open for young people aged 9 to 25 years. The deadline is March 29th. Nominate someone here.

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14th Annual Seedy Sunday Takes Place March 10th At Emmanuel East United Church

On Sunday, March 10th, the 14th Annual Seedy Sunday takes place. This popular seed sale and swap is a great place to get all the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to get growing this season, and get inspired for spring!

More than 20 vendors will be selling a huge diversity of locally grown heirloom vegetable, flower and herb seeds, vermicomposting supplies, bulbs and fruit trees and bushes. Ten community groups will be displaying information about their work, and providing visitors opportunities to get involved with local food, farming, water and environmental programs. 

The Seed Exchange Area there is a great place to swap seeds with other growers, pick up some new and unique seed varieties, and chat with other seed savers. 

There will be informative workshops for this free event, including: Pruning Fruit Trees & Bushes, Growing Great Soil, Rematriation of Seeds and Saving Tree & Native Plant Seeds. 

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Yay! Daylight Saving Time Begins March 10th

This will take a little of that chill out of your bones: It's Spring Forward time on Sunday, March 10th—a sure sign of spring!

Remember to turn your clocks ahead an hour—not back or you'll be two hours behind the rest of us and your life will be confusing.

Sunrise and sunset will be about one hour later that day. And don't forget to change your smoke alarm batteries as well!

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Community Minded Joe Muldoon To Retire From Trent University After 33 Years There

After a 33 year career at Trent University—including six years as the head of Trent University Durham Greater Toronto Area (GTA)—Joe Muldoon has announced his retirement on September 1st.

“Joe Muldoon has played a formative role in the development of Trent—first at our Peterborough campus and then in Durham,” says Dr. Leo Groarke, president and vice-chancellor of Trent University. “His leadership in so many areas has been a key factor making Trent what it is today. In the last five years, his work on programming at Durham and his community involvement in the Region of Durham has positioned the campus for continued growth in both the short and long term.”

Under his leadership, the Trent University Durham GTA campus has grown from 900 to 1,400 students. His work was instrumental in developing several new Durham specific programs including Communications & Critical Thinking, Child & Youth Studies, Masters in Management, and Policing & Community Well-being. Over the last two years, Muldoon has worked on planning a new $35 million expansion with a 200-bed residence as well as increased academic and student space.

“I am deeply appreciative of all the opportunities Trent has provided me with over the years and feel remarkably fortunate to have spent the last six years in a leadership role at Trent Durham,” Muldoon says.

The community-minded Muldoon will still be involved with Trent as he continues to coach the Men’s Varsity Curling team. He has coached several sports in the Peterborough community over the years, including hockey, youth soccer, competitive soccer and curling.

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3rd Annual First Responders Cup Raises Nearly $15,000 For Mental Health

The 3rd Annual First Responders Cup has raised more than $14,800 for the Canadian Mental Health Association, Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge Branch (CMHA HKPR).

The CrossFit Kawartha team won the coveted Cup for the third year in a row on February 23rd at the Peterborough Sport and Wellness Centre. Hosted by Fleming faculty member Jodi Stevens and students in Fleming College’s Pre-Service Firefighter, Paramedic, Customs Border Services and Police Foundations programs, the event features six-person, co-ed teams that are given eight different first responder fitness challenges to complete over eight hours. The team with the fastest cumulative time over all eight circuits wins the cup.

Photo courtesy Fleming College

“I am blown away by the incredible athletes that battled their hearts out for eight hours in support of mental health,” says Jodi Stevens. “This year’s event was the largest to date and participants surpassed our fundraising exceptions. I am so proud of our students, our volunteers and all the athletes that competed.”

Students initiated the First Responders Cup in 2017 after taking a mental health class that discussed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the policing profession. The students wanted to eliminate stigma around the topic and help bring awareness to the community. 

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The Dam At Scotts Mills Lock 19 Is Being Replaced, Construction Starting In Spring

Following an in-depth planning and design process, Parks Canada and partners at Public Service and Procurement Canada will move forward with construction to replace the dam at Scotts Mills Lock 19 this spring.

This project is part of a $125 million investment in Parks Canada assets in the City of Peterborough, through a five year program of infrastructure work across Parks Canada sites. Engineering inspections have demonstrated that the current dam at Lock 19 is nearing the end of its useful life. 

Photo of Lock 19 courtesy Parks Canada

The Scotts Mills Dam at Lock 19 will be fully replaced with a new dam that respects the historic look of the site and has a life expectancy of more than 80 years. The new dam will optimize hydraulic capacity, increase the safety of water management operations, and be constructed in a way that allows improved access for maintenance activities.

The replacement of the dam at Lock 19 holds logistical challenges due to its location in an urban area. To manage this challenge, Parks Canada purchased four properties adjacent to the dam on the east side to use for construction staging. During the project, this space may be used to store materials, manoeuvre machinery and access the construction site.

Unique to many construction projects on the Trent-Severn Waterway, Parks Canada must maintain an ability to manage water through the dam during construction to mitigate the risk of flooding upstream and downstream of the dam, and within the City of Peterborough. For this reason, the dam will be constructed in phases, and construction will be scheduled to maximize flow capacity during the spring melt.

Residents can expect construction noise and increased construction traffic during the project.

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Watch: TSN's Cabbie On The StudioPTBO Podcast In Peterborough

For the first time ever, TSN’s Cabbie came to Peterborough—and that included a stop at the StudioPTBO headquarters to tape a show with hosts Cody May and Neil Morton.

Cody May & Neil Morton interviewing Cabbie on StudioPTBO show Saturday, February 23rd

On the podcast, Cabbie talks about interviewing NBA/NHL players, pop culture, social media, positivity, networking, kindness and more! Watch it below…

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