Peterborough Roller Derby Indiegogo Campaign

The Peterborough Roller Derby is looking to raise some funds to help pay this summer's fees, and keep the games here in Peterborough again next year. They have a $1,500 goal with only a few weeks to go and you can help contribute through their Indiegogo campaign. You can pledge anywhere from $1 to $1,000 and in turn you will receive "perks" for your contribution which could include everything from recipes from the PRD Cookbook to a season's pass.

Stay up to date on Peterborough Roller Derby news by following them on Facebook and Twitter. 

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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The Peterborough Dog Owners Association Is Dissolving

 The Peterborough Dog Owners Association has announced that it is dissolving the corporation and donating the money to the city for an off-leash dog park. As they say in a statement:

The PDOA feels very proud of the fact that their organization pushed the envelope farther than any other group before them and that there are now Policies and Procedures for dog parks in the City of Peterborough. We hope that the new operators will honour all commitments from sponsors in terms of signage and recognition at the dog park. We wish to thank all who have given their support and donations over the last two years.

For more information, contact the group.  They will also be closing their Twitter account.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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DBIA Featured Post: Nielsen’s Watches & Jewellery

Often times when owners of a family owned business look to move on, they look to pass on the business to someone else in the family. If this doesn’t materialize, they come to a cross roads—either dissolving the business altogether which is an unfortunate ending, or find someone else to take it over.

Thankfully for Nielsen’s Watches & Jewellery, the second option took place! Located at 406 George St N, Nielsen’s has been located in downtown Peterborough now for 30 years. Owned and operated by the Nielsen’s for 12 years, the business was sold to Tony Bustos and his wife Marlene, who subsequently kept the name and the business flourishing! They have now operated it for over 18 years in the same location.

As one can easily imagine based on the name of the business, Nielsen’s deals with fine watches and jewellery. They have a large selection of Stirling silver, Canadian Diamonds and Italian Gold jewellery from top name producers, as well as a massive selection of watches from names such as Seiko, Rotary, Wanger, and Cardinal to name just a few. Nielsen’s also offer repairs in the shop of everything they sell from the jewellery and watches all the way to clocks. They offer sizing and soldering as well!

Tony and Marlene are happy to be a part of such a friendly and accessible downtown which they say is always evolving. They love how accessible they are to get to, with lots of parking in the area. And they enjoy seeing the vibrancy that many of the locally owned and operated shops downtown offer. As our downtown has moved to more of an arts and entertainment hub, it is great to see that such a business like Nielsen’s has been able to prosper now 30 years after it opened.

If you’re looking for a great locally owned and operated jewellery and watch shop that has a tremendous selection and smalltown friendliness to it, we suggest you give Nielsen’s Watches & Jewellery a visit.

For more on Neilen's Watches & Jewellery (406 George St. N.), go to:
Phone: 705-742-9881
Facebook: Nielsen's Watches & Jewellery

For more on Downtown Peterborough and the Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA), click here.

—By Aaron Elliott

Peterborough Native Phil Davies Enters Song Into CBC's Hockey Night In Canada Song Quest

Peterborough native Phil Davies is on a quest, a Song Quest to be exact. The St. Peter's Secondary School grad has entered his latest tune "Rise Up" into CBC's Song Quest for the chance to record a studio version with Joel Plaskett to be aired in prime time during one of the iconic montages that precede Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts. If Davies wins, he'll also be flown out to Lloydminster, Alberta where he will get to play his tune live during the Scotiabank Hockey Night in Canada concert (the same event that Peterborough had the honour of hosting last February).

Paul Pengelly of The Vanishers provides vocals on his track while Davies plays guitar, bass and percussions. "Rise Up" is about "living life to the fullest, no matter the cards that you have been dealt" and was inspired by the last conversation Davies had with his dad George before he passed away last year. Davies currently lives in Guelph but still has strong ties to the city; his brother Mike Davies is a sports writer for Peterborough Examiner.

Contestants have until November 20th to submit their songs and then the first round of voting will begin on the 23rd.

The winning song will be selected in part by the fans and also by celebrity judges that include Joel Plaskett, Theo Fleury, P.J. Stock, Chantal Kreviazuk and Sara Quin—all of whom have been recent guests in Davies' hometown of Peterborough:
• Plaskett opened up this year's Peterborough Folk Festival at Market Hall in August.
• Fleury strolled through Peterborough in May with his courageous Victor Walk.
• P.J. was here in February as part of the Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada festivities.
• Kreviazuk has played Peterborough several times and was here last March when her husband Raine Maida hit The Venue's stage with Our Lady Peace—the first time the band had played Peterborough in 18 years.
• Sara Quin has not played Peterborough lately but fun fact: the twin sister duo Tegan and Sara did play The Trasheteria about 10 years ago (November 2nd, 2003).

You can check out Phil Davies' entry "Rise Up" here, and don't forget that voting begins November 23rd!

—PTBOCanada's Scott Arnold

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Why I'm Participating On PTBOCanada.com Movember Team

The hairiest month of the year has finally arrived! Movember is a month that many men can’t wait for. As most of you know, this is a month dedicated to raising awareness and funds for mental health initiatives and to help battle prostate cancer.

To some, Movember is simply an excuse to grow the best duster possible and to wear it with pride. To others, such as myself, Movember means quite a bit more. Though I do enjoy the task of growing as good a moustache as possible, which I am terrible at by the way, it is the raising funds and awareness aspect that I take more seriously.

Though my immediate family has been relatively unscathed by cancer, I know many others that haven’t had such good fortune. Thankfully due to early detection, many of these people have beaten the odds and the cancer itself. I know this was only possible due to the research that doctors have been able to perform thanks in part to raised funds. I know they appreciate it when people take action to raise funds to further study and hopefully find more ways to treat and beat such a prominent cancer in today’s world.

So, as much fun as Movember can be for many Mo Bro’s and also Mo Sista’s, I ask that you not just grow a moustache for the fun of it, but that you attempt to make a difference by raising awareness and money for a worthy cause.

Prostate Cancer might not impact anyone in your family, but odds are at some point it will affect someone you know. The more money raised, the better our chances become of finding a way to beat it!

If you’d like to join our PTBOCanada.com team, we would love to have you on board. Or if you would like to donate to us, that would also be appreciated! Every donation counts in this ongoing battle! Together we can change the face of men’s health.

Find our PTBOCanada.com team here.

—by Aaron Elliott 

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PTBOCanada Christmas Party December 5th At ARIA In Downtown Peterborough

We're excited to formally announce the PTBOCanada.com Inaugural Christmas Party! It takes place at ARIA Thursday, December 5th starting at 8 p.m., so mark it on your calendars! This is a community event, and no tickets are required to be admitted—invite your friends, family, colleagues. Peterborough love. Members of Kawartha Food Share will be at the door accepting cash and food donations, as so many are in need in this community. There will be a PMZ red carpet—you're all VIP!—a photobooth (with mistletoes!) and much much much more. Who knows, even Santa may show up! Spread the word!!

If you'd like more deets on the party, or want to be involved in some capacity, email here.

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Column 4: Dating In The City With Match Me Peterborough's Rebecca Cooper

COLUMN 4 TOPIC: Choosing your Life Partner wisely.

The person you decide to marry is someone you should be able to imagine yourself beside in your 89th year, sitting on your front veranda enjoying tea, good conversation and the company of each other.

A relationship is not like buying a new shirt, one that you will surely grow out of and end up throwing out when it no longer fits you the way it once did.

When it comes to finding a partner to spend your life with, it’s important to be selective, as this will very well be one of the most important decisions you will ever be a part of. Finding someone to love, encourage and emotionally support you is something that each and every one of us deserves as human beings.

There is a special gift that we have all received in life: it is that we have all seen or been a part of a challenging relationship. There is a lot that we can take from that, most importantly it is about understanding that every day and in every decision we are the ones that make a choice.

Life is too precious to not pay attention to your happiness. When you find that special person you will know, make sure you enjoy every second of the ups and downs, live consciously and passionately.

Rebecca Cooper's dating column appears bi-weekly on PTBOCanada.com. Click here to learn more about Rebecca Cooper's Match Me Peterborough. Sign up here for her newsletter, "Like" her Facebook page, follow her on Twitter, check out her website, email her here or call 1.877.553.8883.

Email here for deets on getting Featured columns on PTBOCanada.com.

Tweed & Hickory Ladies Wear is Closing Downtown

Tweed & Hickory Ladies Wear at 351A George Street North is closing. Drop on in for final sale pricing...

• Mon-Thurs: 9:30-5:30
• Fri: 9:30-8:00
• Sat: 9:30-5:30 

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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PTBOCanada Review: Every House Is Haunted By Peterborough Author Ian Rogers

If you’re looking for a spine-tingling book to sit down with on a candle-lit All Hallows’ Eve, try local Peterborough author Ian Rogers’ collection of short stories, Every House Is Haunted.

While it can be found in the Horror section of bookstores, I found the stories to be more supernatural. Each story had a twist that took ordinary regular day-to-day events and shifted reality ever so slightly. You won't look at your cat, a house in the woods or even a school the same way after reading these stories.

Ian also has a gift for adjectives and had no shortage of different ways to characterize people or things. His work hasn't gone unnoticed. “The House on Ashley Avenue” short short which is included in this book was nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award in the novelette category, selected by Ellen Datlow to be included in The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 5. Also, "Aces" has been selected for Imaginarium 2013: The Best Canadian Speculative Fiction.

Ian loves Peterborough and is a huge fan of the growing restaurant food selection. I had the opportunity to go for coffee with Ian and I asked him if Peterborough provided any inspiration for any of his stories. He mentioned that the short story "The Candle" is entirely set in a house he used to rent on McDonnel Street, and even is inspired from scented candles that they light, and conversations he had with his wife about "who was going to go blow out the candle". He found there to be very human elements to the story and enjoyed making reference to Peterborough landmarks (one being the now closed I See France lingerie store).

There are a couple copies left of Every House Is Haunted at Chapters at the time of writing (one of them is even signed by Ian himself) and you can purchase them online to read as well.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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Spanky's Epic Movember Ping Pong Tournament November 16th

It's the annual sporting event everyone talks about, with some of the best double's ping pong players from Peterborough and the Kawarthas participating. And all the proceeds go to a great cause, Movember! Enter now, with tix available at Spanky's on Hunter!!

Find a cat and start practising...  

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