Author: Gordon Gibb

Update to 2021 Induction

Gordon Gibb

As of this writing (August 19th) The Pathway of Fame continues to have clearance from local health authorities and the Showplace Performance Centre to host a small, in-person induction ceremony downstairs at the Nexicom Lounge on September 11th for our 2021 inductees. Specifics of the event are still being finalized. However, we can tell you that our plan is to have our 2021 inductees and selected guests in attendance to accept their honours – to a limit of 50 people for the entire event: this would include inductees, Pathway of Fame personnel, as well as selected guests and dignitaries. Masking and social distancing protocols will be in place, and enforced to ensure the safety of everyone in attendance.

We are also finalizing a brief presentation by which we can acknowledge last year’s honourees, due to the last-minute cancellation of the 2020 induction ceremony due to the status of the COVID-19 pandemic and amidst recommendations from health experts. We will cancel this year as well if things worsen between now and September 11th. However, we continue to move forward with the expectation that our event will proceed.

Please note that due space and COVID-19 protocol limitations, this event will NOT be open to the public. However a production crew from YourTV will be recording the entire event for later broadcast on the COGECO cable platform.

In closing, we look forward to inviting our honourees to pass through the ceremonial trellis and onto The Pathway of Fame, complete with engraved granite markers on the actual pathway that weaves through Del Crary Park. Please watch for these latest additions when you next stroll through our proud midtown park on the shores of Little Lake:

David Goyette (cultural/community betterment)

Graham Hart (media)

Brian MacDonald (dramatic arts)

Dr. Ramesh Makhija (cultural/community betterment)

John Mariasine (media)

Megan Murphy (cultural/community betterment)

Paul Rellinger (cultural/community betterment)

David Sutherland (community builder)      

Our New Inductees: The Class of 2021

Gordon Gibb

The Third Wave of the pandemic may have been raging, but the Nominations Committee for the Pathway of Fame rallied to the task nonetheless with an armload of ZOOM sessions, masks, Purell and tape measures to arrive at our Class of 2021. In alphabetical order, may we present:

David Goyette (Cultural/Community Betterment)

Selflessly donating his time and resources to a variety of community organizations and causes, remains at the heart of David Goyette’s existence. His skills as musician, artist, painter and writer serve to augment a life that has contributed much to the local landscape.

Graham Hart (Media)

As the decades-long ‘face’ of CHEX Television prior to his retirement, Graham Hart achieved a broadcast legacy in this community without equal. His selfless community service to countless organizations as an active board member, event host and ambassador has brought him countless honours, and accolades.

Brian MacDonald (Dramatic Arts)

Brian MacDonald’s unbridled passion for theatre has brought him numerous acting roles and directorial opportunities – but his co-founding and chairmanship of Arts For Awareness has exemplified his belief in the power of The Arts as a vehicle for raising awareness of social issues.

Dr. Ramesh Makhija (Cultural/Community Betterment)

Chemist Ramesh Makhija’s research into environmental challenges has earned him local, as well as national distinction and has led to a number of related initiatives, Peterborough’s blue box collection program among them. But he has always made time, to give back.

John Mariasine (Media)

As the warm, and inclusive morning voice of 1420 CKPT radio for 20 years, John Mariasine’s stellar broadcast career served as an inroad to his involvement with a variety of local initiatives and causes, together with his unwavering commitment to his audience, and to his community.

Megan Murphy (Cultural/Community Betterment)

Blessed with a spark and quick wit that endears her instantly to others, Megan Murphy’s talents as an actress, filmmaker, musician and radio personality are surpassed only by a giving nature that has benefitted a number of community causes.  Megan joins her late father, Marty Murphy, a lawyer and respected community Samaritan, who was inducted to The Pathway in 2014.

Paul Rellinger (Cultural/Community Betterment)

From camping out on the roof of The Brick to raising funds for Habitat For Humanity, helping an adult learner attain reading skills to emceeing a benefit for someone in need, Paul Rellinger’s inability to say ‘No’ guarantees he is rarely seen on the sidelines.

David Sutherland (Community Builder)

As the founding president of Sir Sandford Fleming College, the late David Sutherland’s nurturing of the College’s connections with the community it serves laid the groundwork for the future, including Fleming’s ongoing association with Trent University.

 

A total of 22 nominations were considered by the impartial Nominations Committee for this years’ class of Inductees. Now comes the task of readying the engraved markers for the actual pathway located in Del Crary Park, followed by planning for what will likely be a scaled-down, ‘pandemic’ version of our annual ceremony in The Nexicom Lounge at Showplace Performance Center, currently scheduled for September 11th.

Congratulations to our 2021 Inductees!

Our Inductees Offer Their Thanks

Gordon Gibb

We love getting mail – and recently we took delivery of two poignant letters from Class of 2020 Inductees Ann Douglas (Literary) and Rosemary McConkey (Cultural/Community Betterment). We would like to share them with you…

Rosemary McConkey writes:

“We have drunk from the wells that others have dug

                 and we have been warmed by the fires that others have lit”

History deserves a memory, and memory deserves a face.

Some 23 years ago a “handful of founders” of the Peterborough Pathway of Fame made this happen.  I call them the Pathfinders.  They gave the

community, the county, the area’s history the face of residents, and how they gave to Peterborough.

On entering the Pathway of Fame are the words, “Here we celebrate the gift of  our Creator” etched in granite.  Some  23 years ago these Pathfinders

had the wisdom and the courage to greet the visitor entering the path with this prayer of thanksgiving.

As you walk the trail through Del Crary Park in the heart of our city, it is bordered with the “faces” of those who represent the citizens of the

community past and present, and yet to come – a legacy, a “face” for history.  I am overwhelmed by the legacy of the seven honoured in 2020

and with whom I walk today through the Trellis.  I am humbled by the honour which the Committee and the person who nominated me has

bestowed upon me; to be a member of this Peterborough Pathway of Fame group who have given so much to our community.  Congratulations and

thank you for your admirable dedication which will echo down the years to come.”

 

Ann Douglas shares the remarks she prepared, had the burgeoning pandemic not prompted the eventual cancellation of our traditional induction ceremony in September:

It Takes a Village to Raise a Writer

“Today is an exciting day for me.

I am thrilled and honoured to be one of this year’s inductees into the Peterborough Pathway of Fame.

I am grateful that Peterborough has chosen me—just as I chose Peterborough.

My husband Neil and I made a conscious decision to move to the city back in 1988, when we were expecting our first child. We were attracted to Peterborough because of its high quality of life and because it was reasonably affordable for a young family. That way, our mortgage would be a little less crushing—although, to be fair, it still felt pretty crushing at the time!

Having a bit of financial wiggle room proved to be the game changer for me as a writer. I didn’t have to work full-time at a day job and then try to write books in the evening, after the four kids had gone to bed. I could afford to make writing my day job—to see if I actually had what it takes to establish a career as an author.

As it turns out, that gamble paid off. My books have sold over three-quarters of a million copies to date; and I just started work on a brand new book—Book 26, if anyone is keeping track.

But here’s the thing: I worry about the up-and-coming generation of writers. Will they have the same opportunity to pursue their writing dreams here in Peterborough, just as I did?

The math doesn’t seem to add up.

According to The Writers’ Union of Canada—Canadian’s national association for published authors—a typical Canadian author makes just less than $10,000 a year.  That’s roughly 75 percent less than it was two decades ago, back when my very first book was being published. It’s never been easy to make a living as a writer in Canada, but in recent years it has become a whole lot harder.

And given that houses in Peterborough are getting more expensive, not less (an average home in the city now sells for well over a half-million dollars), I’m worried that the up-and-coming generation of Canadian writers simply won’t be able to afford to make Peterborough their home, like I did.

It’s pretty clear that those sky-high housing prices pose an existential threat to the local arts community. And so today I want to urge everyone in Peterborough who cares about the arts to understand the need to invest in arts funding and to ensure an adequate supply of artist-friendly housing (in other words, housing that artists can actually afford to live in).

The City of Peterborough’s 2012 Municipal Cultural Plan noted that investment in arts, culture, and heritage yields an 18-to-one return on investment. That means that every dollar that a municipality invests in arts, culture, or heritage attracts roughly $18 dollars in added investment. And that’s just considering the impact of the arts in terms of dollars and cents. It’s impossible to calculate what the arts actually contribute to our collective quality of life.

So that, in a nutshell, is my hope for Peterborough—the community where I chose to raise my family and where I had the privilege of being able to establish my career as a writer.

I hope that Peterborough will acknowledge and celebrate its arts community in the very same way that I am being celebrated today.

I may be the writer whose name is being added to the Pathway of Fame, but it truly takes a village to raise a writer.

Thank you for being my village and for continuing to be the village for other writers.

 

Our thanks to both Ann and Rosemary for sharing  their thoughts and their words – and we thank them, too for their valued and generous contributions to our wonderful community.

 

Nominations for the Class of 2021 Now Being Accepted

Gordon Gibb

The Peterborough and District Pathway of Fame is now accepting nominations for our upcoming ‘Class of 2021.’

If you know of someone – a friend, a family member, or someone you respect in the community deserving of permanent and lasting recognition in the arts and humanities – music, theatre, wordsmiths and so on – please feel free to submit a nomination. Nomination forms will spell out the various categories that your nominee may fall into, and are available at Package Plus on Rink Street, or as a downloadable pdf document on the ‘NOMINEES’ page of this site, which you can then print out, fill in and forward by mail to the address listed. The required $10 fee as outlined on the nomination form can be paid by cheque, or by convenient e-transfer to pathwayoffame21@outlook.com

All too often we hear from people who wonder, sometimes aloud, why a certain someone isn’t in the Pathway of Fame? While there could be a number of reasons why this is so, one reason remains universal: no one becomes a member of The Pathway of Fame without a nomination from someone in the community. The Pathway of Fame itself does not nominate people: YOU do. So please nominate someone deserving of the honour. Your nominee will then be included for consideration by an impartial committee comprised of various members of the community who are not associated in any way with the Pathway of Fame, in order to achieve a fair, and equitable decision  that is made without bias or favour.

Your nominee just may, this summer, get to walk The Pathway of Fame and proudly show friends and family their unique, personalized stone marker inlaid into the Pathway that denotes their impact on the community.

But none of that happens, without a nomination.

Please do so…

Deadline is April 30th!

The Pathway Recognized by The City

Gordon Gibb

It was with honour and humility that Board Chair and co-founder Sean Eyre, Vice-Chair Geoff Hewitson and Second Vice-Chair Graham Hart were invited to Council Chambers on the evening of Monday, September 28th 2020 to receive municipal recognition on behalf of The Pathway of Fame.

With protective masks firmly in place, the three gentlemen met with Her Worship Mayor Diane Therrien as the first item on the Council Agenda. Beneath the official City Coat of Arms, the proclamation reads:

“Presented by The Mayor and Members of Council of the City of Peterborough, to Pathway of Fame, Peterborough District.

“In recognition to your outstanding contribution to the arts and humanities heritage in the City of Peterborough.”

The foregoing appears over the signature of Her Worship, Mayor Diane Therrien.

The Pathway wishes to warmly thank the City of Peterborough for this honour, together with the City’s ongoing support and that of our friends, our various partners and our benefactors who combine to allow us to continue this work on behalf of the community at large: the permanent acknowledgment of deserving citizens who make, or have made this community – and all too often the entire world – a better place for all.

 

Induction Ceremony Postponed

Gordon Gibb

September 17th, 2020 UPDATE:

For several weeks, the Pathway Executive and Facilitating Committees have been working in close contact with Showplace Performance Center with the goal of staging a scaled-down Induction Ceremony – which would abide by the latest Provincial, Municipal and overall restrictions and health requirements. The plan was for a small affair, with our inductees and a guest each, in an effort to keep everyone safe. It was always our intent to keep reviewing the plan against the latest information regarding COVID-19 caseloads, trends, and any changes in recommendations.

With that in mind, the Executive has made the difficult – but correct – decision, in concert with our hosts at Showplace, to postpone the ceremony. Should conditions warrant, we will revisit the issue when appropriate.

Here’s the official communique from The Pathway of Fame…

“Due to the rise of COVID 19 cases in Ontario and recent media updates from Premier Ford it has been decided by the Pathway of Fame executive in conjunction with the Showplace Performance Centre that this years Induction Ceremony scheduled for Saturday September 19th, will be put on hold.

This has not been an easy decision, but the health and safety of all those involved must take priority!”

Our original post from earlier this summer, is below.

Having now formally announced our slate of Inductees to The Peterborough and District Pathway of Fame for this year, we now look to our annual Induction ceremony in September…

Or do we?

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent Provincial, and Municipal guidelines regulating events for the foreseeable future, how could we even hope to honour our Inductees formally?

The short answer is, we can – with a vastly scaled-down event at Showplace Performance Centre.

But how is this possible? Showplace, in early July announced that it will remain dark until sometime in 2021. What’s more, with the fluidity of government response to a pandemic which could rear up into a second wave at any time, how could we make a plan for anything?

Should we even try?

We think we should, and we have – with a dramatically pared-down version of our normal pomp and circumstance. Regardless of how the summer goes on the pandemic front, this we know:

Showplace has generously made the venue available to us for a small event planned for September 19th that will not be open to the public. YourTV has generously agreed to attend, in order to record our event for posterity – however, no member of the public will be allowed onto, and into the premises except for the Inductees, a select number of immediate family, a few Pathway of Fame representatives, and dignitaries.

There will be no band this year. There will also be no post-ceremony luncheon downstairs in The Nexicom Studio. Our final number of people we’re allowed to have on premises that day will depend on many factors – not the least of which is the need for adequate physical distancing for those who are there, and the prevailing government and medical regulations and recommendations that are current as of September 19th.

If conditions warrant, we may have to cancel, and we will if necessary. The health, and safety of our inductees and their family members, Showplace staff, and anyone else required to be in the building for even such a small event, trumps all else.

However, we feel confident in planning for a small, intimate and appropriate event that will be recorded for broadcast by YourTV and hopefully might also be live-steamed for anyone unable to attend.

You may still have questions – and for those we turn to Emily Martin, the delightful and hard-working General Manager of Showplace.

Hi Emily,

Q: Why, and how can Showplace host such an event when the theatre has announced it will remain closed until next year?

A: By not opening the event to the General Public, it makes it much easier for us to control the social distancing that will be needed to undertake this sort of event. Of course, we thank the Pathway of Fame committee for being so understanding in this current state of events. The fact that we are able to control who comes and goes from the building will make it much easier for us to undertake this.

Q: How is it possible to maintain adequate physical distancing? Will there be two people to a row, in order to allow for adequate space to, say, take a washroom break for example? Will washrooms at Showplace be available?

A: We will work with the local health unit as well as provincial regulations to determine the necessary physical distancing guidelines. We will then have staff to direct guests to where they should sit. We will also mark the floors to enable proper distancing when using the restrooms. We will also mark one door into the theatre as enter only and the other door exit only to enhance physical distancing.

Q: Will masks need to be worn inside? Will their use be encouraged, or remain optional?

A: Yes. In keeping with the recent directive by Peterborough Public Health, masks will be required fashion when in the building, but can be removed for those speaking from the podium. The Peterborough and District Pathway of Fame will provide masks for all of our guests and attendees.

Q: It is assumed that numbers of people inside, seating, spacing for physical distancing and allowance for movement will be tightly controlled, and undertaken in accordance with the prevailing government regulations, and medical recommendations?

A: Absolutely. We are working closely with the Pathway of Fame committee to ensure that this is controlled.

Q: Will such an event require clearance from the local Health Unit, or could they simply provide us with guidance?

A: We will work directly with the Public Health Unit to ensure that we are in accordance with all guidelines.

Q: What is the latest opportunity to make changes to numbers, and protocol without cancelling the event altogether, in the event of a late-summer surge?

A: We will work closely with the Pathway of Fame committee and if necessary will cancel no later than one week prior to the scheduled event.

Q: Can Showplace offer any other insights, guidance, or assurances?

A: We can assure the attendees that Showplace takes safety and security very seriously and will work with the Pathway Committee to ensure that the space is well sanitized, safe and ready for use on September 19 (as long as there is not a second surge).

Q: Will guests be allowed to move freely, or will they need to be constantly chaperoned?

A: We will work with the Pathway Committee. A lot of this depends on how many attendees we will be able to welcome and we will work backwards from there to determine how much time we will require to get people safely and efficiently into the theatre (as of August 2nd, the limit is 50 attendees in the Showplace venue, excluding staff). We ask that guests try to remain in their seats as much as they possibly can to enable proper social distancing.

Thank you, Emily. We look forward to seeing our inductees and guests in an admittedly economic, but celebratory event nonetheless on Saturday, September 19th. Teresa Kaszuba of Global News Morning Peterborough will be our erstwhile Master of Ceremonies this year – and in keeping with the recent masking directive from Peterborough Public Health, masks will be worn by all attendees when in the building. However, they won’t be necessary for those speaking as part of the program.

Please enjoy a safe, and restful remainder of your summer from all of us at The Peterborough and District Pathway of Fame.

Our Stone Markers for the Class of 2020…

Gordon Gibb

…are IN! That’s one piece of very good news this challenging year can manage to celebrate!

As we near our COVID-reduced induction ceremony in September, we are pleased to announce that the permanent stone markers have been engraved, and are now a proud addition to the Pathway of Fame on behalf of our 2020 inductees.

Our Enhanced Online Presence

Gordon Gibb

New for 2020, we are pleased to introduce you to our enhanced web presence, along with a new site domain address and new hosting. If you reading this, you will have already discovered us at https://ptbopathwayoffame.ca (with our site mirrored to https://ptbopathwayoffame.com). Our site is now also a fully-secure site, and is hosted by our generous friends at Nexicom.

As with most things, there is a story behind all of this (as there usually is). Due to a series of circumstances beyond our control or knowledge, our original website went down permanently last summer, leaving us without the web presence so vital to today’s modern communications and marketing protocols. That left us scrambling to arrange for a new site host, the creation of a temporary site with a new domain, and the eventual rebuild of our original site with enhancements. We remain grateful to Nexicom for shepherding us through much of this.

As we are poised to announce our latest class of Inductees for 2020, our updated site has a refreshed archive of our past inductees going back over the years to our first Class of 1998. Inductees are also easily searchable either by name, or Year of Induction. It is our goal to keep the site fresh with updated news about The Pathway, as well as meritorious photos and such. For those of you who wish to donate in order to support the work of The Pathway, a PayPal link has been preserved. And for nominations, we have a one-page nomination form in pdf format that can be downloaded and printed at your leisure, which can than be filled out and mailed with the requisite $10 nominating fee. In polling previous users, it was found that having an online-form that could be filled out virtually, just proved too confusing for alot of folks. So we have dispensed with that.

Please have a look around, and let us know what you think. The Pathway of Fame is of the community, and for the community and all comments, or suggestions are welcome. Just send us a note at communications@ptbopathwayofffame.ca and we’ll get right back to you.

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