The 6th Annual National Youth Week 2013 In #Ptbo Includes Dodgeball Tourney

The 6th Annual National Youth Week takes place the first week of May to improve the lives of young people in Peterborough.

"These initiatives are aimed towards uniting all youth from across the City of Peterborough and showing them the value of youth's empowerment within the community and the voice that represents them," says Ricky McDougall, Chair of the Peterborough Youth Council. 

• May 1st: The Bridge Youth Centre - 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. - Drop in for Games, Art and a Free Snack
• May 2nd: Free Movie night at the Peterborough Library - 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Free Resume Workshop - 4:00-5:30 p.m. at Employment Planning and Counseling on Simcoe Street
• May 3rd: Twoonie Swim - 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. at Peterborough Sports and Wellness Centre - $2.00 for youth ages 10 to 21
• May 5th: FREE Youth Bike Repair Workshop at Community B!KE - 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Drop in to their shop at 336 Rubidge St. New parts will have a cost.
• May 6th: Free Dodgeball Tournament - From 5:00 p.m.- 7:00 p.m. at the PCVS Gym
• May 7th: Blue Sky - FREE - 3:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. at Nicholl's Oval Park

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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#RandomActsofGreen: CFGP's 7 Days Of Green (#7daysofGreen) Creates Exciting Social Media Initiative

Roll up your sleeves, Peterborough! The community is about to get its green on. The Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough have announced an exciting new community initiative,  7 Days of Green (hashtag #7daysofgreen on Twitter). Why? To increase Peterborough’s creative dialogue about local green activities while building awareness around green living and giving. 

7 Days of Green kicks off April 16^th with Random Acts of Green, a day when community members throughout the City and County are challenged to incorporate green activities into their lives—and each day forward—and share them on social media. Wondering what you could do? A few simple ideas to greenify your life a little more include:

• Think before you buy: Purchase environmentally sustainable cleaning products and help keep our waterways toxin-free by using eco-friendly products (handy tip: you can get these products at the GreenUP Store!)
• Compost your food waste: One-third of what we throw away at home could be easily diverted from landfills. The bonus is you get nutrient-rich compost for your garden.
• Be water smart: Install aerators in your sink faucet and showerheads and reduce your water consumption by 30%—all without affecting the performance of your water system!

Starting April 16th, spread the word about Random Acts of Green. Why? Because every green act matters. Tweet your Random Acts of Green and pictures to @cfgp_ and use the hashtag #randomactsofgreen, or email your info and pictures to info@cfgp.ca and you’ll become a part of history.

Yep, history.

The Community Foundation is creating a community art installation from the images that you tweet and email that will be displayed over the next year throughout the community—starting at Lansdowne Place! 

For more information and a full schedule of 7 Days of Green activities, visit www.cfgp.ca/green (we're a proud sponsor of this). All events are open to the public.

To learn more about the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough, go to their Facebook page or website. And if you're on Twitter, use the #7daysofgreen and #randomactsofgreen hashtags.

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Watch This Video Promoting Fleming College's Next Open House April 6th

The Open House takes place this Saturday (April 6th) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more info, click here.

[YouTube]

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PTBOPics & Coverage From Seedy Sunday

Photo by Julie Morris

The 8th Annual Seed Sale and Exchange known as Seedy Sunday took place this past Sunday at George Street United Church.  

Photo by Julie Morris

Organizer Jillian Bishop from Urban Tomato Lady estimates that there were approximately 1,300 people that stopped into this year's event. Tomato seeds were a popular item from booth to booth, with a demand for all sorts of varieties in size and colour, and there were many questions surrounding growing tomato plants on balconies.

Photo by Evan Holt

One of the revisions they made this year other than extending the hours was moving the seed exchange area into the kitchen to allow for more room for people to shop and trade with others.

Also, Jillian tells us that over $250 was raised for Seeds of Diversity.

Photo by Evan Holt

Overall, it was a very bustling day as folks gathered what they needed to begin their gardening season. So wonderful to see so many people taking advantage of such a great event sharing the same love of gardening.  

Photo by Evan Holt 

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris and Evan Holt]

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Watch TVO's The Agenda Episode Filmed At Trent University On The Digital Future

As part of The Agenda With Steve Paikin's special Learning 2030 series, the show asks: Are Ontario teachers ready for the digital future? This was the topic of a recent show they filmed in the Great Hall at Trent University in Peterborough. Watch the show...

[AgendaStevePaikin YouTube]

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"Life Of Pi" Author Yann Martel Talks About Trent, Peterborough & The Writing Process

Yann Martel began writing, on the side, while studying philosophy at Trent University. "I was terrible, at first. I wrote a bunch of really bad plays and short stories. But I loved playing with language, creating a set, inventing characters," he says in this YouTube interview below. "I kept at it and, slowly, I became a writer."  In this interview, he talks about life at Trent, Peterborough, the writing process, the success of his book and the Oscar-winning movie adaptation, and more...

[YouTube]

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Case Study: What Happened When Springfield Opened A Casino

In the 1993 episode of The Simpsons, "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)", Principal Skinner pitches the idea of opening a casino during a town hall meeting discussing ways to revitalize the economy. And townsfolk seem to dig it. Mr. Burns, owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, really likes the idea and the boost it should give to the economy and how it will make him richer.

So Mr. Burns decides to build it on the waterfront and name it "Mr. Burns' Casino" and be the owner, while Smithers is his casino manager. Homer leaves his job at the power plant and takes a job with Mr. Burns at the casino as a blackjack dealer when it opens.

While Marge waits for Homer's shift to end at the casino one day, she finds a quarter on the floor and uses it to play a slot machine. She wins. And she almost immediately gets addicted to gambling, while neglecting everyone around her—including Lisa who has an important school assignment.

Bart is too young to gamble at Mr. Burns' Casino—he tries, but gets kicked out—so he starts his own casino for his friends and all their friends to play in his treehouse.

When Homer realizes Marge has developed a serious addiction to gambling—she's there at the casino 24/7—he looks for her in a panic in the casino. His outburst is caught on the casino's security camera, and when Mr Burns sees this, he demotes Homer back to his old job at the power plant. 

After Homer confronts Marge about her addiction, she realizes that she has a problem. She returns home and remembers what she had with her family. And Homer settles back into his job at the power plant. Mr. Burns, meanwhile, became a recluse, a germaphobe, once the casino opened and decides to return to the plant.

The casino is later demolished by an explosion. This was because of a mix-up behind the demolition crew in regards to setting it (it was supposed to be set for implosion).

[Simpsons Wiki; Wikipedia]

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Queen Mary Is Celebrating 100 Years In Peterborough With A Day Of Celebration On June 1st

Queen Mary Public School is celebrating 100 years in Peterborough this year, and the big celebration takes place June 1st, 2013 at the school from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (1445 Monaghan Road).

Then, that night alumni and community members will come together for a “Nuit Blanche”-inspired evening at ARIA nightclub, from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. You can register for the special day at queenmary100.ca.

Also, in conjunction with this, their 100th year, Queen Mary is looking for sponsorships to help them update their auditorium.

Their goal is to raise $25,000 to update the auditorium and install three smartboards, which would be about half the expected cost of the improvements.

There are various sponsorship opportunities available, ranging from platinum ($5,000) to bronze ($350). Those interested in sponsorships can email questions to qmparentcouncil@hotmail.ca.

[Queen Mary's 100th Reunion]

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Here's Video Of How Peterborough Took Part In One Billion Rising

Peterborough participated in the One Billion Rising yesterday (February 14th), which saw rallies being held in 203 countries around the globe.. Here's to "girl power", here's to uniting to stop the violence against women. More from CBC in this report. Watch the video from the Peterborough rally...

[YouTube]

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