Watch Mayor Bennett Tell His Canadian Stories

Mayor Bennett talks to the Peterborough Partnership Council on Immigrant Integration about his lineage and the importance of immigration integration to the Peterborough community.

[YouTube]

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Watch This Great Fleming Video On Sustainable Agriculture

The Sustainable Agriculture program at Fleming College is designed for new and beginner farmers seeking an intensive, applied learning experience in sustainable, ecological or natural farming methods. More info here on the program and check out the video below.

[YouTube]

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Workplace Integration Program Provides Valuable Service In Peterborough

Employers should check out the non-profit Workplace Integration program, which is affiliated with the New Canadians Centre here in Peterborough.

Their mandate is to assist employers in the Peterborough area to attract, hire and retain immigrants, refugees and other newcomers.

They facilitate connections between local professionals who can assist newcomers with informational interviews, mentoring relationships, volunteer placements and work placements. An informational interview is a one-time meeting with one of their clients in which they can ask a professional particular questions related to the field. A mentoring relationship lasts about 4 to 6 months, in which the two parties meet once every 2 or 3 weeks.

As a "mentor", you are not responsible for hiring or finding employment for the client you meet with, but to provide advice and information. More information about the program and being a mentor to a newcomer can be found here.

[Workplace Integration Centre]

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61 Awesome Things About Peterborough In 2012

There was so much awesome about this city this year. In no particular order really, here's 61 of them (we had to cut if off somewhere)...

1. Peterborough Lakers winning the Mann Cup. Best in Canada baby!

2. Red Pashminas, which empower women locally and globally.

3. Trent's LipDub video, a great showcase for the university.

4. Doug Tilley's comedy, whether it's his "singing" or tweeting or... what's next Tilley?

5. Bandwagon episodes. Now in its 2nd season, which launched with Sloan.

6. Wild Rock celebrating 20 years in the downtown. And making the decision to stay in the downtown when they could have moved.

7. PMZ, Peterborough's TMZ celebrating local "celebrities".

8. I'd Rather Be In Peterborough tees. Community spirit.

9. Spanky's annual ping pong tourney for Movember. Spanky's offering a place to play ping pong in town.

"Call Me Maybe" 10. The city rallying behind a teenager's right to play basketball on his own driveway.

11. Philanthropy month in Peterborough showcasing all the people doing good in the community. #bethechangeptbo

12. The new downtown nightclub ARIA, which rivals Toronto's finest.

13. St. Peter's high school students dressing as superheroes during Head of the Trent regatta.

14. Peterborough Cycling Summit. Bike this city. Let's make it as bike friendly as possible.

15. Elton John concert, the one where he actually played Peterborough—not his cancelled one.

GPA EDC's Dan Taylor at Creative Cocktail16. The Peterborough Calendar Girls naked truth campaign raising awareness about the affordable housing shortage here.

17. Breakfast Television broadcasting live from Peterborough. Great coup for our city.

18. Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher at Gerti's. (We don't believe they had the polo sandwich, but it's excellent.)

19. Carly Rae Jepsen at Musicfest. Peterborough singing "Call Me Maybe".

20. Final photo of PCVS students and staff together. This city will never forget the impact this school had, and its legacy.

21. A canoe portage in downtown Peterborough.

22. The Taste of Downtown. So much great food down there. And great folk.

23. The Dragon Boat festival.

24. The Hootenanny on Hunter. It's a hoot.Mike Watt

25. The Gilmour Street Garage Sale. Epic as always.

26. Hunter Street, one of the best streets anywhere for food, drink, shops, live music, theatre, festivals, hot dogs, great vibe.

Rick Mercer at PCVS27. Maryam's Monsef's story about how a city and school saved her life.

28. Peterborough dog pictures.

29. Rick Mercer's Rant on PCVS.

30. Rick Mercer's visit to PCVS, in video and pictures.

31. Noah Leslie—aka @pennyboynoah, who raises money for the Salvation Army Toy Drive each year.

32. Pete Dalliday's unbelievable shot. Believe it.

33. Someone canoeing on a Peterborough street. Canoe Peterborough.

34. Koski.

35. The PeterTweeter awards. Twitter's where it's at. Amazing Twitter community in town. (Follow us here.)

36. Mike Watt's how-to plaid video. Hilarious.

37. Creative Cocktails—here's the one from Market Hall.

St. Peter's superheroes38. Jonny Trash DJing at Spanky's. Best DJ around.

39. The Peterborough web series Grimwell.

40. Petes Insider, giving us the inside goods on the Petes organization.

41. The excellent Canadian Canoe Museum. We're lucky to have it. And let's move it downtown by the waterfront.

42. Electric City Live, which covers the local music scene in Peterborough. Great name, great site.

43. The Art School of Peterborough. Creativity. Imagination.

44. Mike Judson, who went homeless on the streets of Peterborough for 48 hours to raise awareness about the problem here.

Silver Bean45. Peterborough Police for serving and protecting this community, and embracing social media by joining Twitter this year.

46. Rachel Seaman and Ashley Brzozowicz, who competed in the Olympics this summer (Ashley won a silver in her sport, rowing). The tees

47. Downtown Peterborough. Embrace it. Vital. Make it sustainable. Build a city from its core.

48. Silver Bean Café, beauty spot on the river.

49. Our friends at The Wolf and Kruz FM, huge supporters of Peterborough and us. And the always smiling Carol Edwards there, who lets us in through the out door.

50. Three Loonies, for Kawartha Food Share.

51. The return of the Wire Awards. Special night at Market Hall putting spotlight on amazing music scene in Peterborough—one of the best anywhere in Canada.

52. Gallery in the truck. A moving gallery. Great concept. Love it.

53. PtboFinds and PtboProps.

54. Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre.

55. The DBIA's new website by BrandHealth. Excellent.

56. Lois Tuffin, the news diva of Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Never shy about expressing her opinion.

57. Fleming's Student Volunteering Club, students with a sense of community pride.

58. Funny hashtags. E.g. 6,000 people went without power for a couple hours, and #ptboblackout began trending on Twitter in Peterborough. Sample tweet: "I wonder how many babies will be conceived during this blackout #ptboblackout" 

59. John Leacy's mural art around town. Gabby's wall, Spanky's wall and more.

60. Natas Cafe, the epicentre for Peterborough's amazing people.

61. All our readers and followers on Twitter and Facebook. You rock.

Here's to a great 2013!

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Why Moving The Canadian Canoe Museum To A Waterfront Location Downtown Would Rock

The Canadian Canoe Museum announced today (November 21st) that a feasibility study is being undertaken starting in January to determine in part what it would take to move to a waterfront location downtown from their current location for the past 15 years at 910 Monaghan Road.

It's never made much sense to be where it is (more than one person has remarked as such), and moving this excellent museum right down by the water in the core of Peterborough seems like an entirely logical thing to do. It would drive many more tourists and cottagers—and even locals—into the downtown area to visit the museum.

Imagine touring the Canoe Museum, then stepping outside it and going canoeing and kayaking on the Otonabee River and Little Lake. And afterwards, tourists and the like can eat and shop and take in some theatre downtown. Brilliant.

"During the years that we've been operating on Monaghan Road, it has become apparent to us that we will need to redevelop the Museum in order to achieve these goals, and so we are commissioning a feasibility study as the first step," says the museum's director James Raffan in a PR release.

Funding for the study comes from private donors and a grant from the Peterborough Community Futures Development Corporation.

Where do you think a great place for a new site would be for construction of a facility near the downtown?

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2nd Annual Purple Onion Festival September 23rd At Millennium Park

The 2nd Annual Purple Onion Festival, celebrating local food and culture, will be held on September 23th at Millennium Park from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hosted by Transition Town Peterborough, it features local restaurants, farmers and businesses.

[YouTube]

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A 5:15 Video That Captures Much Of What Peterborough Has To Offer

Justin Schofield spent about four hours driving around Peterborough, filming the architecture, landmarks and beauty of Peterborough—and included some footage from prior filming experiences here—to capture the essence of what this city has to offer. Nicely done.

[YouTube]

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The Impact Of The Baskin Robbins Closure On The City & Downtown

The Peterborough and District Labour Council says this closure is part of a disturbing trend in Peterborough, where the unemployment rate is hovering around 10 percent...

[Chex Newswatch]

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100 Mile Dinner To Support Local Farmers Held On July 22nd At Morrow Building

The 2nd Community 100 Mile Dinner will be held on Sunday, July 22nd at 6 p.m. at the Morrow Building. Tickets sold out fast last year so be sure to pick yours up soon (see locations to purchase tickets on poster above) to guarantee a spot for this delicious dinner to support the Agricultural Society and our local farmers.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

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PtboPics: Casserole Night In Peterborough

Inspired by the Quebec student strike and its popular uprising against rising tuition fees and Bill 78, Casserole marches have been taking place in Peterborough through the downtown. Here's pictures from last night's protest...

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