Peterborough Blogs
Completely Canadian 24 Good Deeds Charity Advent Calendar is Launched Out of Lakefield
/After selling out quickly in 2020, 24 GOOD DEEDS Charity Advent Calendar is back for the 2021 holiday season, this time with a completely Canadian edition.
Bob Gainey displays an advent calendar. Photo Courtesy of 24 GOOD DEEDS.
Much like a tradidional Advent Calendar, each day gives the opportunity to reveal something new. Though instead of a toy or a treat the calendar offers the opportunity to give back in a meaningful way, as well as an educational opportunity for donors to learn about various charities and their initiatives both locally and globally.
Behind every door, there is a different charity and cause that donors have supported with the charitable donation to 24 GOOD DEEDS.
24 GOOD DEEDS was launched in Europe in 2011, though it was just this year that a Canadian edition was launched in Lakefield by Ute Shaw, and spouse Carlos Daniel. The idea came to them while staying at their cottage on Katchewanooka Lake.
“The good thing is that with one donation you’re giving to 24 different charities, but the important thing is you’re not just giving to charities - you’re giving to specific projects within those charities. The money can not go to administration, or paying bills. It has to go to a direct cost of a project,” said Daniel, co-founder. “Charities report back to us next year so we can really see that the money went towards completing a project.”
The calendar is available in English and French, and all 24 Charities are from Canada with projects nationally and internationally.
Bob Gainey, who played for the Montreal Canadians from 1973 until 1989 is a big supporter of 24 GOOD DEEDS and also plays the voice of Santa Claus in the television. commercial.
To order a calendar click here.
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Local Veteran Lee-Anne Quinn Shares Remembrance Day from her Perspective
/Honourary Lieutenant Colonel Lee-Anne Quinn served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 23 years as an Air Medical Evacuation Nurse.
She was deployed in places like Former Yugoslavia, Somalia, Rwanda, Deer Lake and Fort Hope, Whitehorse and Afghanistan.
When she left the CAF in 2008, she immediately started working as a nurse practitioner in the civilian world.
Reflecting on her service, Quinn shares how important it is for her to make a difference in someone’s life each day.
“If I can’t make a difference for somebody else, it’s not a fulfilled day.”
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Lakefield WWII Veteran Arnold Graham Reflects on Remembrance Day
/Arnold Graham, now a month shy of 96-years-old, enlisted with the 2nd (Reserve) Battalion, Prince of Wales Rangers (Peterborough Regiment) on Dec. 2, 1942, just ten days before his 17th birthday.
Left, Arnold Graham 1943, Royal Canadian Airforce (Photo courtesy of Lakefield War Vets) Right, Arnold at the Buckhorn Community Centre, 95 years old. Photo by Angela O’Grady
Graham, the youngest of twelve children born to Claire and Isaiah Graham, was the last of his six brothers to enlist in the army.
“I joined up when I was 17 years old,” he said. “My mother said she didn’t want me to go, but I said I want to go because I had six brothers fighting all over Europe and I want to help them get home a little sooner.”
Graham was released from the Reserve Service May 8, 1943 in order to enlist with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Because he was not yet 18 his mother was required to provide a letter authorizing his entrance into the RCAF which she provided.
He got his wings in Quebec, then headed to England where he became part of an air crew flying Lancaster four engine bombers.
Graham joined the 433 Squadron of the RCAF, the “Porcupines”, Bomber Command, and became a Flight Sergeant Air Gunner.
The 433 Porcupine Bomber Squadron’s 1st Op was on Jan 2, 1944 (mining) and the last Op was on Apr 25, 1945 (bombing). They flew 2,316 total sorties with a 90.07% success rate.
During one particular mission with the 433 Porcupine Squadron on March 31, 1945 on Op 208 – Hamburg, a 500-bomber raid, set out with Mustang fighter escorts for the first time. F/Sgt Graham, manning the Mid/Upper Gun, was credited with shooting down an Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow); the first German jet aircraft which had attacked 16 times in 9 minutes. He was the first Canadian Gunner to do so and also recorded the only kill for their Lancaster.
Pictured at the Remembrance Service at the Buckhorn Community Centre are Robert Ough, Arnold Graham and John Bannon, WWII Veteran. Photo by Angela O’Grady.
When Graham reflects on his time in the air force, he recalls his mother.
“My mother was a widow,” he said. “She walked to the post office every day, never missed a day, to get a letter from one of her boys. When she met me when I came home and got off the train in Peterborough she looked at me and said ‘Oh my baby’s home’. I was her baby.”
He also recalls the men he served with in the Air Force.
“I had 13 brothers that I fought with during the war. My own six brothers, and seven in the Air Force. Everytime I go to the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day I start to cry.”
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The Significance of the Poppy Campaign in Canada
/Each year from the last Friday in October until Remembrance Day many Canadians dawn red poppies on their lapel.
The real poppy became widespread in Europe after soils in France and Belgium became rich in lime from debris and rubble from the fighting during the First World War. These little red flowers also flourished around the gravesites of the war dead.
In 1915, John McCrae, a doctor serving with the Canadian Artillery, famously made note of this phenomenon in his poem, In Flanders Fields.
On Saturday November 9, 1918, two days before the Armistice, Moina Michael was on duty in the reading room at the YMCA Overseas War Secretaries’ headquarters in New York—a place where U.S. servicemen would often gather with friends and family to say their goodbyes before they went overseas.
After reading McCrae’s poem, Moina made a personal pledge to always wear the red poppy of Flanders Fields as a sign of remembrance and for “keeping the faith with all who died.”
In 1920, Anna Guérin—the French Poppy Lady—attended the national American Legion convention as a representative of France’s YMCA Secretariat. She was inspired by Moina Michael’s idea of the poppy as a memorial flower and felt that the scope of the Memorial Poppy could be expanded to help the needy.
She suggested that artificial poppies could be made and sold as a way of raising money for the benefit of orphaned children and others who had suffered greatly as a result of the war.
In 1921, Madame Guérin visited Canada and convinced the Great War Veterans Association of Canada (predecessor to the Royal Canadian Legion) to adopt the poppy as a symbol of remembrance in aid of fundraising; which it did on July 5th of that year.
Today, the Poppy Campaign is one of the Royal Canadian Legion’s most important programs. The money raised from donations provides direct assistance for Veterans in financial distress, as well as funding for medical equipment, medical research, home services, long term care facilities and many other purposes.
The Poppy can be worn every day of the campaign. Often people place their poppy on a wreath or at the base of the cenotaph or memorial as a sign of respect at the end of the Remembrance Day ceremony.
The poppy may be worn at commemorative events throughout the year, such as anniversaries of significant battles, a memorial service, and other similar occasions. It is suggested that event organizers seek advice from the Royal Canadian Legion before using the Poppy outside of the campaign.
The Royal Canadian Legion suggests that the poppy be worn on the left lapel of a garment and as close to the heart as possible.
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Peterborough & District Sports Hall Of Fame Display Their Tribute to the Troops for Remembrance Day
/Several Peterborough athletes have served our country and the Peterborough & District Sports Hall of Fame has continued their annual tradition of honouring their efforts in an exhibit.
Pete Dalliday speaks with Pat Bronson as she walks us through displays with veteran/athletes such as Dootch Vitarelli, Bill Crowley Sr., Walter Miler, Gunner Lynch and more.
The displays honour those who served in World War I, II, through Peace Keeping/Modern Conflict efforts and others.
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Hometown PTBO: Beau Dixon On His Favourite Venue and Eats in Peterborough
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This week on Hometown PTBO, Pete Dalliday catches up with actor and musician Beau Dixon about his favourite venue in Peterborough and who has the best homefries in the city.
Douro-Dummer Celebrates Cenotaph's Century Milestone with Online Ceremony
/Douro-Dummer is going virtual for a second consecutive year with a Remembrance Day tribute to be streamed through Youtube for Thursday.
DOURO-DUMMER MAYOR J. MURRAY JONES NARRATED THE DOURO-DUMMER WAR MEMORIAL VIDEO ON THE TOWNSHIP’S YOUTUBE VIDEO DAYS LEADING UP TO THE EVENT. PHOTO BY DAVID TUAN BUI.
The pre-recorded video is made up of help from the township’s community and local notables to honour the 100th anniversary of the cenotaph.
The ceremony will be aired starting at roughly 10:45 a.m. this Thursday.
Students from St. Joseph’s C.E.S. and Warsaw Public School were invited to be a part of the video ceremony to get them actively involved in the day of recognition for veterans according to Mayor J. Murray Jones.
“That is the most important part of it all is to inject them with this spirit of Remembrance Day,” he said. “Years going by, we don’t want to see that going why so that’s why we included them in our video, our virtual service.”
The Remembrance Day Ceremony organizers will have personnel on-site at the cenotaph but encourage everyone to view the online ceremony if possible. The in-person event consists of a lowering of the flag, a reading of “In Flanders Fields” and a two-minute moment of silence.
A link to the video will be provided in November on the Township’s website www.dourodummer.ca.
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Norwood Pharmacist is Growing his 'Stache for Mens Health and the Community has Got His Back
/Local pharmacist Paul Hellier from Norwood Guardian-Centennial Pharmacy is participating in Movember for the first time this year to raise money for prostate cancer research.
Photo courtesy of Norwood Centennial Pharmacy.
Hellier has been a pharmacist in Norwood since 2019. After working in the community for two years and growing to love the area he and his family moved there in 2021.
“I feel I’m part of the community now, I’ve just joined the Lions, I’m trying to be active in the community,” said Hellier. “I see a lot of people suffering with men’s cancers- of which prostate is only one.”
Hellier says that while awareness around prostate cancer and the symptoms that come with it are growing, lots of people still miss important early signs.
“I give support on a daily basis to patients with prostate cancer, and answer questions all the time for people that are concerned about it,” he said. “I definitely think that because I’m a pharmacist - but more so because I’m part of the community - I feel it’s my job to help wherever I can.”
When Hellier announced the fundraiser on the pharmacy’s Facebook page on Nov. 3 his goal was to raise $500. Having already passed that goal he now hopes to raise $1000.
“I was afraid there would be very little response,” he said. “The community talks to each other really well here in Norwood, I love it here, it’s a wonderful place.”
Currently donors are asked to bring their donation to the pharmacy, located at 2375 County Rd 45, Norwood.
Donations above $20 are eligible for a tax receipt by request.
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Electric City Football Club Announces League1 Ontario Women’s Team and Open Tryouts For the 2022 Season
/Two weeks after declaring its participation in the League1 Ontario Men's Premier Division in 2022, the Electric City Football Club (ECFC) has been approved to compete in the League1 Ontario Women’s Premier Division in 2022 announced Wednesday.
The ECFC was formally announced to Peterborough on Aug. 9, 2021. Photo Courtesy of ECFC.
