Roses and thorns
What we liked — and didn’t like — in 2025
Roses
For the members of service clubs and other civic organizations that do so much good for our communities. Optimists, Lions, Kinsmen, Soroptimists, Rotary, 100 Women/100 Men/ 100 Kids Who Care and others — thank you!
For everyone involved in memorable year-long commemorations of the 200th anniversary of the founding of Downeyville and the arrival of the Peter Robinson settlers.
For the speed at which road resurfacing was completed on Kent Street West in Lindsay. Workers were at it day and night to minimize disruption to all of us.
For unique retailers from The Bobcaygeon British Shop to White’s of Lindsay where the owners remember customers and provide everyone with terrific, personalized service.
For Victoria Shepherd, who has really hit the ground running since she was hired as the general manager of the Academy Theatre earlier this year. Shepherd has been open and enthusiastic about broadening the theatre’s programming and reach within the community.
For the completion of long-overdue improvements made to McQuarrie Point, Rivera Park, and other green spaces in Lindsay.
For Mayor Doug Elmslie who is a paragon of patience and civility, reminding us of the way it used to be before politics became a bloodsport.
For the outpouring of heartfelt love and support for the Mackey family in the wake of Linden Mackey’s death.
For LaMantia’s Country Market in Lindsay for an attractive expansion to its unmatched fresh produce area and an impressive new collection of cheeses.
For the ever-patient staff at the Lindsay landfill who deal courteously and respectfully with people, even when that goodwill is not returned to them by some members of the public.
For Cambridge Street Baptist Church’s decision to invest in restoring its 81- year-old pipe organ, so that its music could be experienced by generations to come.
For neighbours who cared for one another during the great ice storm of late March, inviting them into their homes for tea and coffee (if they still had power), loaning generators, and otherwise checking in via text messages and other means.
For Kawartha Lakes Council members who are making a real effort to demystify and democratize the budget process over the next few months.
For the work of Kawartha Land Trust to protect and preserve our area’s natural beauty and eco-diversity.
For Wards Lawyers for sponsoring the new local podcast In Good Company to highlight the terrific people and businesses of Kawartha Lakes.
For the Truth and Reconciliation Community Bobcaygeon and the group working to bring about the Mishkodeh Centre for Indigenous Knowledge.
Thorns
For the never-ending construction at Highway 7 & 35, especially the ramps. No doubt there’s more to the project than ordinary people realize, but hey Ontario government, why on earth is it taking so long?
For online commenters who run down our communities, spout racism and dehumanize people with addictions.
For those aggressive drivers who pass on double lines, ignore urban speed limits, tailgate and generally make driving more stressful for everyone around them. Your impatience could cost lives. Please slow down.
For the increasingly dilapidated state of the former St. Andrew’s Church, South Eldon (just east of Lorneville). This once grand and now privately-owned property has suffered from broken glass, crumbling masonry, and an apparently cluttered interior increasingly exposed to the elements. If you own an historic building, please care for it.
For every parent who doesn’t have their teacher’s back when it comes to the deplorable behaviour of their children. Yes, more supports are needed in classrooms. No, that doesn’t give you the right to attack educators for doing their jobs.
For those relying only on online giants for shopping that could be done locally. Amazon, Wayfair, Temu and the rest will never sponsor our ball teams or provide prizes for our charity nights.
For the minority of ATV operators who don’t respect private property or the routes designated for their use.
For the fact that, 30 years after opening its first emergency shelter, A Place Called Home is needed more than ever.
For those who complain about government decisions at all levels and then offer no constructive solutions for those same problems.
For those who make wild and unfounded accusations about people in positions of leadership and when pressed for proof fall back on half-baked rumours and unfounded conspiracy theories.
Roses and thorns, carrots and sticks, positive and negative reinforcement of behaviours and people you like and dislike. We enjoy the right to compliment and to criticize ideas and beliefs but we have a responsibility to do it artfully, to the best of our ability. From the other side, we try to understand from as neutral a stance as possible what the other is trying to say, what their meaning and intent are. Communication is a two-way street and if we are serious about unity, we owe it to ourselves to explore civility.
I’d like to thank the contract/gig worker delivery drivers (in their white vans) who literally deliver the world to my door, usually the next day.
In a world of increasing specialty and technology, I appreciate not having to make the trek to GTA area brick and mortar stores when we need something that iant available in Lindsay in a specialty hobby, technology or housewares area.
But its not just specialty or technology purchases – last week I was fed up with the roast of tough beef we received from a big brand Lindsay area grocery store. A $45 half-kilo chunk of leather. Using Instacart I ordered a few bags of groceries from Sobey’s in Fenelon Falls to see if Sobey’s had a better quality roast of meat. It was delivered to my door in Lindsay with no more fuss than ordering from the Lindsay store, and the Sobey’s roast was better. Might do that again.
Delivery services increase accessibility and increase competition between suppliers, ensuring that even in a town with 3 of the primary grocery suppliers being part of one Canadian food corporation, we can still have competition in Lindsay from Fenelon Falls or Peterborough, and we can partake in better deals at brands which are not resident in our community.
Comparison shopping and searching out better prices are a good tactic always, but especially in the current economic climate with escalating costs for seemingly everything. The Internet and delivery services are a balancing force in our world.
I think we need to also be careful consumers the advertising supported media in our community which has a dependancy on local business for advertising revenue and therefore is aligned and supportive of keeping Lindsay consumers captive in procuring goods and services at Lindsay businesses that buy Lindsay advertising.
When I downsized from my big house in Cameron, to a much smaller townhouse in Lindsay, I was disappointed to discover that my request for items that I had many years ago be found commonplace in local stores, were met with blank stares and shaking heads and blank stares. Items such as a rack with hooks on which to hang my long cooking utensils. You would think that if a store sold these items, which all have holes in the handles, suggesting they could be hung somewhere for easy access and storage, that they would also carry such an item, but alas, none were to be found. Other items, which were once easily found in hardware, building and dollar stores, such as push in tea towel holders, matching kitchen cupboard handles, hinges and plastic bins to make the two wooden panels in front of my kitchen sink into tip-outs for storage of magic sponges and pot scrubbers were also met with shaking heads. However, they, and many other items, even a Murphy bed and so many other useful items I had not even thought of, were readily available and attainable at my fingertips on Amazon, Wayfare, Bed, Bath and Beyond, and Temu and delivered to my doorstep. I have even purchased fashionable clothing and shoes online at a fraction of the price of local retailers. While I sympathize with local retailers for not spending my dollars locally, fingertip shopping for a person with limited mobility like me is much more practical.