PTBOCanada's Top 10 Stories of 2022

2022 marked the first full year since owner Kirtus Evoy bought the business from Neil Morton early last year. It was a fantastic year that PTBOCanada hopes to keep rolling into 2023.

Here are the top stories that were the most read, engaged and liked by the PTBOCanada community in chronological order.


"‘Coach Cal’ HAS MADE APPEARANCES ON OTHER AMERICAN SHOWS SUCH AS ABC’S GOOD MORNING AMERICA AND FOX LOS ANGELES. PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL ROZMAN/WARNER BROS.

Callan Perks aka ‘Coach Cal’became a viral sensation in late 2021 with the Peterborough Petes and took his stardom to the City of Angels as he was a guest on the Ellen DeGeneres Show that aired on Jan. 5.

He gave a pep talk to DeGeneres for having her show run for 19 seasons as it was her final year.

As a gift, Degeneres gave Perks a tracksuit, clipboard and megaphone to continue his motivational speaking.


THIBAULT WAS BORN IN MONCTON, N.B. HE LEAVES BEHIND HIS FIVE-YEAR-OLD SON RYDER (RIGHT). PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNIE THIBAULT.

It was an unfortunate incident for 32-year-old Donnie Thibault whose body was found at Jackson Park on Jan. 5 last year.

A GoFundMe was created, raising $3,555 to help with funeral costs and family support for his tragic passing. He leaves behind his six-year-old son Ryder who was born on July 14, 2016.

Thibault would have celebrated his 33rd birthday this past Sunday.


PERKS IS A STUDENT AT LAKEFIELD DISTRICT PUBLIC SCHOOL. HIS FAVOURITE NHL TEAM IS THE EDMONTON OILERS WITH CONNOR MCDAVID AS HIS FAVOURITE PLAYER. PHOTO COURTESY OF LARA PERKS.

Coach Cal strikes again as he got to open up the Jan. 22 edition of Hockey Night In Canada with his signature motivational pre-game speech encouraging kids to remain strong during the temporary closure of hockey.

He previewed the night’s matchups of all the Canadian teams playing and gave a motivating speech for the hosts of Hockey Night in Canada in Ron MacLean, Kelly Hrudey, Jennifer Botterill, David Amber and Elliotte Friedman.


PHOTO COURTESY OF BRIANNA GILL.

High school sweethearts Brianna and Josh Gill were seeking out a surrogate to help them start the family that they’ve always wanted.

Brianna was around 16 she was diagnosed with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome which left her born without a uterus but still had her ovaries intact.

Eventually, they found a surrogate in mid-June that reached out on Facebook. Their last update was posted in late November saying they’ve had four failed frozen embryo transfers with one remaining for now.


File Photo.

Peterborough was part of the May 2022 Canadian derecho that saw a huge storm knock over powerlines, uplift trees and caused tremendous amounts of damage.

The City declared a State of Emergency on May 25 as a result of the storm as most of Peterborough was without power.


The Havelock Jamboree was cancelled after 30 years of operation and hadn’t run since 2019 from COVID-19.

The organizers announced on social media that the 2022 festival has been cancelled and plans for 2023 are uncertain.

Regarded as one of the big country music festivals in Peterborough and the Kawarthas, its cancellation left a stinging feeling to those who frequent what has been a Peterborough County mainstay for three decades.


PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PETERBOROUGH PETES.

It was an unfortunate incident for Peterborough Petes prospect Eli Palfreyman who passed away during a Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League preseason tournament game on Aug. 30.

He passed out in a locker room during an intermission and medical staff were unable to resuscitate him.

Palfreyman was selected by the Petes 223rd overall in the 12th round from the Cambridge Hawks in the 2018 OHL Priority Selection.


GOFUNDME PHOTO.

A fatal car crash on Hwy. 7 killed four people including three MacHart family members, leaving one with critical injuries on Nov 22.

A GoFundMe was created with a $10,000 goal to help care for Rowghan MacHart, the lone survivor and cover any incidentals. The community rallied and raised over $90,000 for the cause.

The driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision was also killed as a result of the incident.


Peter BOUZINELO’S BRAND OF OLIVE OIL AVAILABLE AT THE PIZZA FACTORY CAME FROM HIS HOME VILLAGE OF KOUTSI, GREECE. THE TREES WERE PLANTED OVER 50 YEARS AGO THAT MADE THE OIL. PHOTO BY DAVID TUAN BUI.

What a ride for Peter Bouzinelos and The Pizza Factory as they are closing their doors since opening in 1980.

Bouzinelos is retiring and is closing the restaurant on Jan. 29.

In addition to his food, he is known for his brand of signature Caesar dressing and olive oil under the name ‘Peter’s Famous Foods.’

We all with Bouzinelos the best in retirement and we’ll miss the in-house pizza and pasta.


(FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) JOHNATHAN MACDONNELL, ROWGHAN MACHART, RIDDICK HART AND STEFPHANIE HART. THE FAMILY ACCIDENT OCCURRED NEAR THE BLUE JAY MOTEL IN OTONABEE-SOUTH MONAGHAN TOWNSHIP. PHOTO COURTESY OF KATHRYN WILSON.

Actor Ryan Reynolds sent Rowghan MacHart a video of encouragement following the aforementioned Hwy. 7 crash.

During that time, we learned that Rowghan endured five major surgeries over three weeks during her recovery process. Doctors fear she may never be able to walk again but Rowghan remains hopeful.


As we enter 2023, PTBOCanada is proud to have 88,000+ followers and counting across all our platforms.

A big thank you to everyone who continued to support us and we will strive to continue giving great local coverage of Peterborough and the Kawarthas. 2023, here we come!


PTBOCanada's Top 10 Stories of 2021

It has been an amazing year for PTBOCanada in 2021.

Editor David Tuan Bui (left), owner Kirtus Evoy (middle) and journalist Angela O’Grady (right) moved into the PTBOCanada office in September located in East City. Photo by Pete Dalliday.

Here are the top stories that were the most read, engaged and liked by the PTBOCanada community in chronological order.


Rob with the exhausted deer after its rescue. Photo Courtesy of Shelley Fine.

This story was still under Neil Morton’s watch but on Jan. 15, a Buckhorn man — who just wanted to be named “Rob” — saved a young deer from the freezing water.

His neighbour Shelley Fine got a shot of Rob saving the deer as he paddled out with his kayak to save the helpless animal from death.


Hudson Wells (pictured) typically gets to visit his grandfather two to three times a week. Photo Courtesy of Stephanie Wells.

My first published article for PTBOCanada already hit a soft spot for Peterborough and the Kawarthas.

Published on Feb. 26, Hudson Wells suffered from encephalitis since he was 13 months old resulting in his physical disabilities. He wanted to ride through the snowmobile trails and the community showed their generosity with $5,000 for a custom sled.

The GoFundMe was started on Feb. 11 where the goal was met in less than 24 hours.


We do not think the name “Little Lake” should be changed to “Big Lake.” Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Okay, we may have fooled a few people on this one. Morton came back to do a guest post for us and this is what he came up with.

Little Lake has always been an iconic part of Peterborough and tampering with its name would have been a fun April Fools’ Day joke.

Nonetheless, we love the name of Little Lake and saw how passionate Peterborough was about the name and its ongoing legacy.


The tooth (2.6 cm) is barely shorter than a loonie’s diameter (2.65 cm). Photo courtesy of Craig Boulton

Luke Boulton is currently the Guinness World Record holder for the longest milk tooth extracted at 2.6 cm. that was officially set on Sept. 17, 2019.

The application process for a Guinness record took intervals of 12 weeks and required multiple applications so the news was made official in April. Congrats Luke for giving Peterborough a world record holder.

You have to wonder how much the Tooth Fairy would give for that world-record milk tooth.


Deb Aben (left) receives the cheque of $6,360 from Evoy (middle) and Pete Dalliday (right). Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Peterborough and the Kawartha showed their lighter side for a week with the sign wars phenomenon that happened in April.

Businesses used their signs to tease and poke fun at other places and so many places got in on the action. PTBOCanada turned it into a fundraising effort for the Kawartha-Haliburton Children’s Foundation selling “Meet me in Aisle 15” t-shirts towards the cause.

We “signed” off the campaign raising $6,360 and we had hundreds of picture submissions.


Helen McCarthy (left), KitCoffee owner with her employees and actress Anna Kendrick (Middle right) after the Hollywood star finished filming her scene in downtown Peterborough. Photo Courtesy of KitCoffee.

It is not often you see a Hollywood celebrity in Peterborough but Anna Kendrick was at the downtown café KitCoffee, filming a scene for her upcoming thriller movie, “Alice, Darling.”

Helen McCarthy, KitCoffee owner and her staff managed to snap a selfie of the star after the filming.

McCarthy gave permission for her café to be used as a film set ahead of time but had no idea it was going to be as big a star as Kendrick.


ECFC was officially announced on Aug. 9 at the Silver Bean Café. Photo by Angela O’Grady.

It is no secret that Peterborough is a sports town. We have witnessed the Peterborough Petes and Lakers win their respective championships. Hopefully, we can add a pro soccer title to our resumé with the announcement of the Electric City Football Club (ECFC) that was introduced on Aug. 9.

ECFC president Rob Jenkins brought the club to town and is now a part of the League1 Ontario men’s and women’s division.

The team will make its debut for the 2022 season.


Mitchell Stephens won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning in his first two NHL seasons. Photo Courtesy of Mitchell Stephens.

Speaking of things that do not appear in Peterborough often, Mitchell Stephens brought the Stanley Cup back to his hometown following his 2020-21 win with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Stephens spoke about how thrilled he was to bring the trophy back to Peterborough since he was unable to the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lord Stanley took a trip down the historic Lift Lock for the first time in a boat parade that ended in Del Crary Park.


All butter tarts are made from scratch at the Butter Tart Factory. Photo by Angela O’Grady.

Butter tarts have always been a Canadian staple in treats and The Kawartha Butter Tart Factory is opening a second location on Lansdowne Street next month.

The bakery has been serving up the delicious treat in Douro-Dummer since 2015 and is going to expand its services in Peterborough.

Skor, Rolo and pumpkin pie butter tarts are some of the PTBOCanada staff favourites.


Callan Perks signed a one-day contract as the Peterborough Petes Next Gen head coach on Nov 28. Photo by Jenish Odigski.

Coach Cal is amazing.

Also known as Callan Perks, the seven-year-old took the world by storm and went viral with a pre-game locker room speech for the Peterborough Petes.

Since the video’s release, Perks gained recognition from several media outlets such as ABC’s Good Morning America, TSN, CTVNews and Fox Los Angeles.

Perks was selected as one of 10 kids aged 5-12 for the Petes’ Next Gen game. The day allowed the children a chance to join the Petes hockey operations and entertainment staff and participate in their respective roles.

Watch out hockey world, Perks wants to be an NHL player when he grows up then a coach or NHL general manager following his playing career.


Prior to moving into the new office building, O’Grady, Evoy and Bui were working from home. Photo by Pete Dalliday.

Former owners Neil Morton and Evan Holt did a fantastic job building a following and keeping Peterborough in the loop for over a decade. They handed the keys to current owner Kirtus Evoy who took over officially on Mar. 1.

He hired me a few weeks before that as the editor to kick off a new age of PTBOCanada. Four months later, we were gaining momentum and hired journalist Angela O’Grady to help pump out additional content.

We started with over 71,000 followers on social media since the change in ownership in March. That number went up to over 80,000 at the publication of this article.

We want to thank everyone who continued to support us and we will strive to continue giving great local coverage of Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Here is to 2022!

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The Peterborough Petes Are Now Ranked No. 9 In Canadian Hockey League

Your Peterborough Petes are on a roll. Earlier this week, goalie Hunter Jones was named OHL Player of the Week for the first time in his career, and after three straight victories they have now cracked the Top 10 in the CHL standings at No. 9.

The weekly rankings of the CHL’s Top-10 teams are selected by a panel of National Hockey League scouts.

The Petes sit atop the Eastern Conference Standings with a 9-3 record, their most recent victory being a 2-1 win over the No. 2 ranked Oshawa Generals in Oshawa on Sunday. They also have the most points in the OHL right now.

The Petes take the ice Thursday night (October 24th) against the Sarnia Sting at the PMC, and host Mississauga Steelheads Saturday night.

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