People of Peterborough
People of Peterborough is a series setting out to provide a glimpse into who really makes up the beautiful city of Peterborough, Ontario. I was born and raised in Peterborough, and I have a deep love for this city and her people. People who come from different countries, who have different backgrounds, customs, and beliefs, all come together to make Peterborough what she is today. Each person we meet or pass on the street has a unique story, a story that longs to be shared.
What is your story? If you would like to be part of this series, please contact me!
This series is inspired by HONY and Strangers Photo Concept
“My favourite memory is when I was little and we lived in Selwyn in a big, big blue house. My sister and I would play house with the grass cuttings after my dad mowed our massive lawn. It was the best place to grow up and we made the best memories there. You know, being a child again, without a care in the world, playing and laying in the grass outside all day…I would go back to that time any day.” Erin
(Seen on George Street)
“It all started with a Michael Jackson CD. I’ve always liked to sing, but traveling has made it a reality. My partnership with Alex fortified that it was something really important. I just picked this cornet up; it is pretty similar to the trumpet which I learned a little bit in the seventh grade. We found this in the hock shop and cleaned out the bank to get it. We bought the cornet and made enough money playing for food that night. We are honestly doing good. We’re doing some jazz improv now. We’ve got a whole bunch of songs and even a couple of albums.” Christian
(Seen Downtown, Peterborough)
“I started playing music when I was 17. I had a lot of issues; I couldn’t skateboard anymore and was discouraged because of guys like Ryan Sheckler out there dong crazy stuff. I thought, I’m never going to be a profession skateboarder, so I have to find a new art. I started writing graffiti, but I got arrested my first time, so I thought that probably wasn’t the best idea. Then 17 came and I started to play the guitar and that’s kind of where it all took off. I wasn’t very good for a couple of years, but then I started busking.” Alex
“We are walking to Halifax. It is a pilgrimage to find ourselves, promote healthy and happy living, and trying to help out people. We’re doing the Trans Canada Trail and stopping in the small towns and trying to get into the community, talking to people and having dinners with them. We play at the farmers markets, meet farmers, and help out on their farms for a bit. The most challenging part is the walking, because we have so much stuff. We are going to get a donkey and walk it up the trail. It’s a good trail animal, because nothing screws with a donkey, so it will help us as we camp out on the trails.We met in Vancouver. Christian was sleeping on the couch I was promised, and so naturally we had to become friends.” Alex and Christian
This is Brian.
He is happy and laid back. He likes his brother and sister, being around people, and clapping.
(Seen at Olde Stone Brewery)
How did you get the name Red Man?
“I came home from the hospital and my six year old brother said “Mom that’s a real red man” - Red Man
(Seen on Millennial Trail)
“My grandmother worked at Pearson daycare. She used to take me to work on my P.A. days. The best part of going there with her was that I could take a nap. She always gave me activity in my life; I was a Brownie, Girl Guide, and Pathfinder. She also gave me money to enjoy things. Grandmothers sure are the best. My grandmother is no longer alive, but she is buried in Highland Park.” Terrylyn (Seen on McDonnell and George)
“I want to live out in British Columbia where all the hippies are. There are not enough hippies here. I am an old hippie .” Rosie
(Seen in East City, Peterborough)
“On Sundays my Mom cooks for the whole week. She spends the whole day cooking and listening to CBC radio. That was one thing I really enjoyed as a kid: sitting in the kitchen and helping her cook while listening to Vinyl Cafe. But right now she has a broken leg, so I’m going there to cook and bring her Tim Hortons.” Sasha
(Seen at Millennium Park, Downtown Peterborough)
“My mom is very supportive. She has a good practical approach to life and is very levelheaded. She tells really terrible jokes. They are not usually very funny, and she will tell the same joke over and over again. She’ll forget how it goes or miss the punch line, but she starts laughing and can barely keep it together.” Carolyn
(Seen in Millenium Park, Downtown Peterborough)
“My favourite memory is when my mother told me about Jesus. I was six years old-that was in 1952. My mother is one of the most remarkable people that I know. She is one of the most humble people who has done more to encourage people all over the world than anybody will ever know about. She has written so many letters and continues to write. Most people don’t know that, except the ones who get the letters.”
“I had a stroke and the entire right side of my body is useless. I can’t work, I can’t write, I used to play guitar but now I can’t do anything. I am stuck here. At least the sun is out.” - Andrew (Seen in front of Black Horse Pub)
“Some people still look at tattoos badly, as though you’re a criminal or something, but it’s getting better. I have them all over. I started getting tattoos about 12 years ago. There is no sense in quitting now, so I may as well finish.” Tom
(Seen Downtown, Peterborough)
“Ever since I was little, I’ve had this hole in me that burns; I feel as though I will never belong anywhere. My mom didn’t want me and my dad beat and abused me, so when I was 13 years old I was forced to live on the streets. I got into many different drugs, robbed people, and have hurt a lot of people I cared about. I didn’t want to be around, and I thought if I killed myself someone would care after I was dead. While I was living with an abusive boyfriend, a lady came and took me in and made me a part of her family. I’m now 16 and back in school, getting straight A’s and completely clean off all drugs. I’ve never had people love or care about me so much. I finally get to understand what a family is. A lot of days it’s hard because I feel terrified that I’m just dreaming or that something will happen to take them away. I love my new family and am now dating my best friend.” -Anniesha
(Seen in the courtyard at Peterborough Square)
“I went through a lot in my life. A lot of people picked on me; my family are druggies and stuff. My favourite memory is how good I’ve done in life: I’ve got my own place and I love my fiancé. We have been together for a year and a half now and we were best friends for 8 years before that. I also love my dog, who is five months old.” -Jessy
(Seen on King St, Downtown Peterborough)
“I was told by the doctors that I would never have kids, so getting to see my daughter born was the best moment of my life. She is four years old now, but I don’t even know her name because I am not allowed to see her. I was there at the hospital when she was born, but then her mom took off without me with some other guy.” -Don
(Seen on King St, Downtown Peterborough)
“Don’t wait for other people to validate you. It took me a long time to learn that. I don’t need anybody else’s approval or validation. I can validate my own emotions and my own opinions and ideas, and that’s all I need. It got a lot easier for me to let go of things that I couldn’t control. I use to depend upon what other people thought about things that I was doing or saying and who I was in order to justify my actions, opinions, and myself. I don’t need to justify myself. For me, like it or not, I can validate myself. I did what I did and said what I said for a reason, and I don’t really need you to agree with it” - Caroline
(Seen on George and Simcoe)
“I am from Toronto and have lived in Peterborough for 25 years. I met my wife in Toronto; she wanted to come back home to Peterborough, so we came back and have been here ever since. I really enjoy it here; it’s a lot slower than Toronto, and less violent.” - Sonny
(Seen on Brock Street)
“I don’t even know what I am doing myself. I am 19 years old and I want to go to London, England next fall. I have family there and want to travel a lot. I would rather be broke and have seen everything than stay in one spot and have a car or something.” - Kennedy
(Seen Canvasing at Peterborough Square)
“Right now I’m really excited for the summer. I love Peterborough in the summer, it’s so beautiful!” - Ruth (Seen at Peterborough Square)
What do you want to be when you grow up? “A photographer. I don’t have a camera yet but I really want one.” - Destiny (Seen in Confederation Square)
“The government has no right to tell parents they can not chastise their children. They need to mind their own damn business.” Do you have any children of your own? “Me? No, I’m one of those same-sex people.” - Pearcy (Seen at the Peterborough Bus Terminal)
“My dad was born in 1930. He was an alcoholic. He is dead now, because he drank himself to death. Out of the seven kids he had, two of us are alcoholics; me and my brother Doug, who shot himself in the head. If you can have couple beers and walk away, that’s great, good for you. But if you’ve got a problem with drinking you need to stop now and don’t let it get worse. If you can have a sociable drink, go for it, just don’t drink with me. I blackout and do things I am not proud of. I’ve been married three times and have more kids than I can count. I am not proud of that. I loved my wife and worked hard to provide, but nothing I could do could stop me from drinking. Once I have a taste, you never know what’s going to happen or when I will stop. I didn’t want my kids to see that, so I left. I send them lots of money. I have nothing, but they are doing really well. But I am not doing that anymore, and I’ve got two years totally off drugs and alcohol.” - Joe (Seen on Simcoe Street, Downtown Peterborough)
What are you most looking forward to? “A garden.” - Darcy (Seen Downtown Peterborough)
“Just trying to make some coins bro, just trying to make some coins.” - Matty (Seen Downtown Peterborough)
“I like poetry and rhymes. I can spit a crazy freestyle.” -Blaine (Seen Downtown Peterborough)
“Most people don’t know this, but I’m legally blind. After my second surgery, one of my friends called me and we were talking for probably 45 minutes and I was thinking to myself ‘Why doesn’t she talk louder?’, because I couldn’t really hear her. So I thought maybe I needed to turn up the phone. Then I realized that the phone was turned upside down. I was talking into the ear part, and listening through the place I was suppose to talk. Turns out she was actually talking pretty loud.” -Trae (Seen Downtown Peterborough)
“Oh yeah, I sky dive all the time. I’ve gone 8 times. I’m going to start again in April. Once I’m fully certified I can jump anywhere in Canada. It’s become a passion now. I started thinking about it, then finally said, OK, I’m going to do something about it. I got a GoPro and started doing cliff diving, then decided to try sky diving. It’s fun.” -Mike (Seen at Peterborough Square, Downtown Peterborough)
“I’m going to try to write a book while I wait to defend my thesis. It’s about the levels of monetization in the provinces of Egypt in the late antiquity, which is about how much money is circulated between the fourth and seventh century A.D through evidence of translations of papyrus and stuff. I worked on it for eleven months. It was too big, so I had to cut it back from over 200 pages down to 75. I’d like to write a book that is interesting, that is something anyone can read. There is a lot of interesting material there that people would like to read about.” - Nicholas (Seen at Nata’s Cafe, Downtown Peterborough)
“I’ve been in Peterborough since ’94. I was born in Montana City, Montana. My mom and dad were Canadians, so I have dual citizenship. Dad was a civil engineer working on a project down there, so we lived on a construction site. It was cool. Mom and me traveled with Dad all over North America, so I didn’t start school until I was six. Dad had little work boots and a hard hat for me and he used to take me with him sometimes to work. We were walking back at lunch time and there was a lunch hall for the construction workers. One of the guys yelled to one of the guys coming out, ‘What’s on the menu today?’ and the guy yelled back, ‘Shit on a shingle’. I looked at my dad and he said ‘Oh, pork and beans on toast’. So we get back to the house and Dad asked Mom what was for lunch. She said, ‘Pork and beans on toast’ and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s what the lunch hall is having, shit on a shingle!’ And then- Whack!” - Gary (Seen at Nata’s Cafe, Downtown Peterborough)
“I’ve been brewing for the Olde Stone for about 12 years. I started as a home brewer and enjoyed it so much, and realized that people can actually get paid to make beer. There is a lot of good beer in Peterborough. They make great beer at the Publican House, as well as the folks at Smithworks down on Rye Street.” - Doug (Seen at The Olde Stone Brewery, Downtown Peterborough)
“I’m dating a beautiful Irish girl that keeps me on my toes. She’s a straight shooter and doesn’t allow you settle for less than you deserve. She’s witty - a great sense of humour - and constantly has me in stitches. She’s also not afraid to call you on something if it doesn’t sit right. I love her optimism and her smile. She has an ability to make you believe in yourself that a lot of people don’t have. She’s genuinely enthusiastic for people around her to be successful and is supportive in a way that isn’t unrealistic.” - Pat (Seen at Nata’s Cafe, Downtown Peterborough)
“My mom called me and said she has to tell me something and that we need to get together, so we met at a Tim Hortons by my work. She didn’t want to go inside; she wanted to stay in the car and talk. So we had some awkward small talk for a bit, and then she comes right out and goes, ‘Your dad is not your real dad’, and I’m like ‘What???’ ‘Yeah, I found your real dad on Facebook and I contacted him and let him know about you.” At this point my mind is just blown, I don’t know what to think, I don’t know what to say. Then she hands me her phone and shows me a picture of him. As soon as I saw the picture of him I was like, “Yeah, that’s obviously my father”. All of a sudden everything in my life started to make more sense. He lives in Texas and is half Jamaican. Through this I’ve also learned of my Jamaican Grandmother who lives in London, an aunt and uncle, as well as a whole whack of extended family that I have met and been getting to know over the past year. It’s been a crazy cool ride. It’s like something in a movie, but its real life, it’s wild man. It’s crazy how much me and my dad are alike for never meeting. Not only in looks, but also in our mannerisms, food preferences, musical talent, and personality. We have so many of the same thoughts and views, even when it comes to spirituality. As soon as we started talking, it was like talking to a really close friend. Easy. Funny, he feels more like a really good friend then he does a dad. Because of Christ and the gospel, I haven’t had any anger towards my mom, but am able to forgive and it’s a beautiful thing.” -Dave (Seen at Black Honey Cafe, Downtown Peterborough)
“I am at Fleming College for fire fighting. It is going to be a lot of work and a lot of money, but once I have work, it will pay itself off. Fire fighting is great if you want to be a family man. You have a lot of time off so you can be home with the family.” -Adam (Seen at Nata’s Cafe, Downtown Peterborough)
Are you from Peterborough? “Yup.” Have you always lived here? “Yup.” What’s your favorite part of Peterborough? “It’s just nice.” What are you up to? “I’m about to take the bus down to Value Village. I’ll see ya, eh!” -George (Seen Downtown Peterborough)
“I’ll never forget this instance in which my dad and I were arguing and he just gave up the fight, not because he “lost”, but simply because he chose to give up the fight for the sake of peace in the family. I’ve never forgotten that. When you are a teenager, it is that moment where you realize, “Oh my goodness, I am a jerk.” And here is this man taking it on the chin while I am trying to swing and throw punches for my own benefit. That was a big turning point in my life.” -Carlo (Seen at The Olde Stone Brewing Company, Downtown Peterborough)
“A beard gets you attention, a second look. People walk past you and do a second take. They try not too look, but they just can’t. Sometimes it scares old ladies. I was at the LCBO and this little old lady watched and followed me. It’s like a mask, it covers your face so you can’t see someone’s smile as much, you can’t see their mouth. It’s interesting to play that character. If we were dressed in our suits and had our beards and our briefcases, that’d be one thing. But if you’ve got your jeans and hoodie on and you’re walking down the street with some beer, there is a stereotype that people tend to do automatically.” -Keith
What’s your favourite part of the job? “Definitely my customers.” -Vanessa (Seen at Soupcon on Charlotte St.)
“Stick up for yourself” -Terry (Seen at Confederation Square)
If you could give your younger self any advice, what would it be? “Stay in the military. I had a bad motorcycle accident and I asked for my own release but I should have stayed in because life has been rough every since I got out.” -Rob (Seen at Peterborough Farmer’s Market, Landsdowne St.)
“I was working with wool and dye and I thought, ‘I’m going to take a break and blacksmith until I run out of money and have to go back to work’. I’ve been doing it now for 15 years so it has worked out alright.” -James (Seen at the Peterborough Farmer’s Market, Landsdowne St.)
What’s your favourite thing about Peterborough? “I would have to say the community.” - Andrea (Seen at the Peterborough Farmer’s Market, Landsdowne St.)
Steph (Seen in Downtown Peterborough)