Peter Adams' new book Peterborough Successes tells the Story of Four Highly-Effective Community Projects
Proceeds from the book to fund Casa De Angelae
Former MP and Trent University Professor Emeritus Peter Adams, together with Professor Al Brunger and Professor Colin Taylor of Geography and Bruce Stewart, has published a new book, Peterborough Successes: community organization in Peterborough in the 1970s and 1980s to be launched at the Peterborough Farmers’ Market at 10:00 am Saturday, December 11, 2010. Proceeds from the book will go to a local home for developmentally challenged women, Casa De Angelae
This new publication is an account of four community projects: the highly successful “Save PCVS” campaign; ParticipAction Peterborough; the 1980 Ontario Summer Games; and, Energy Savers Peterborough.
The Save PCVS chapter deals with the first attempt to close Peterborough’s oldest high school. This was a community-wide campaign which produced a slate of candidates who succeeded in taking over the School Board of the day. Among other things, the campaign included a public debate with the then Minister of Education, the Hon. Bill Davis.
The other three projects were examples of Peterborough being chosen to lead in Province-wide or Canada-wide movements.
Peterborough was the second community in Canada chosen as model for the national personal fitness movement ParticipAction. ParticipAction Peterborough led the nation in promoting healthy life styles. It helped make Peterborough a leader in bike and jogging trails, workplace fitness programs, fitness testing programs, school fitness programs and the like.
The 1980 Ontario Summer Games, and the preceding year of “Pre-Ontario Games Events” was a culmination of fitness and sports activities in the region. Peterborough was the smallest community ever to host these Games which involved almost 30 sports and 2300 athletes. In years following, the community was able to host a series of equally complex major sports and fitness events.
Energy Savers Peterborough was a pioneer community environmental organization, the predecessor of groups of today, like Peterborough Green-up. Peterborough was picked as a federal/provincial model for promoting energy conservation at the community level. Many of the conservation activities that we take for granted today, grew from seeds planted in those days. Home insulation, solar energy, fuel efficient cars and driving, recycling and composting and many other measures were promoted by Energy Savers Peterborough.
Prof. Adams and his colleagues stress links between those days and today. The book is edited by Prof. Al Brunger with an extensive Index by Prof. Colin Taylor. It is produced and published by Bruce Stewart of Package Plus, Peterborough. This is an Occasional Paper of the Department of Geography at Trent which was involved in all of the community activities covered in the book. Last year, this same department published the book Peterborough and the Kawarthas which is still selling well.
This new book, Peterborough Successes is on sale throughout the community, notably at: Chapters, Package Plus, Fontaine Source for Sports, the museums and Peterborough Kawartha Tourism.
This is the fourth book with which Prof. Adams has been involved since his retirement as M.P. In 2007, he published Trent, McGill and the North. Proceeds from the book now support an annual Bursary at Trent.
Prof. Peter Adams was the founding chair of the Geography Department and former dean of Graduate Studies at Trent University. He also was the executive director of the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies.
All proceeds from the sales of the new book go to Casa De Angelae (Home of Angels), a local family-supported home for developmentally challenged women, which opens in the New Year.
There will be a book launch at the Farmers’ Market at 10:00 am Saturday, December 11. The authors will be on hand to sign copies.
Early in 2011, there will be a book signing and fund-raiser for Casa De Angelae at Chapters.
This new publication is an account of four community projects: the highly successful “Save PCVS” campaign; ParticipAction Peterborough; the 1980 Ontario Summer Games; and, Energy Savers Peterborough.
The Save PCVS chapter deals with the first attempt to close Peterborough’s oldest high school. This was a community-wide campaign which produced a slate of candidates who succeeded in taking over the School Board of the day. Among other things, the campaign included a public debate with the then Minister of Education, the Hon. Bill Davis.
The other three projects were examples of Peterborough being chosen to lead in Province-wide or Canada-wide movements.
Peterborough was the second community in Canada chosen as model for the national personal fitness movement ParticipAction. ParticipAction Peterborough led the nation in promoting healthy life styles. It helped make Peterborough a leader in bike and jogging trails, workplace fitness programs, fitness testing programs, school fitness programs and the like.
The 1980 Ontario Summer Games, and the preceding year of “Pre-Ontario Games Events” was a culmination of fitness and sports activities in the region. Peterborough was the smallest community ever to host these Games which involved almost 30 sports and 2300 athletes. In years following, the community was able to host a series of equally complex major sports and fitness events.
Energy Savers Peterborough was a pioneer community environmental organization, the predecessor of groups of today, like Peterborough Green-up. Peterborough was picked as a federal/provincial model for promoting energy conservation at the community level. Many of the conservation activities that we take for granted today, grew from seeds planted in those days. Home insulation, solar energy, fuel efficient cars and driving, recycling and composting and many other measures were promoted by Energy Savers Peterborough.
Prof. Adams and his colleagues stress links between those days and today. The book is edited by Prof. Al Brunger with an extensive Index by Prof. Colin Taylor. It is produced and published by Bruce Stewart of Package Plus, Peterborough. This is an Occasional Paper of the Department of Geography at Trent which was involved in all of the community activities covered in the book. Last year, this same department published the book Peterborough and the Kawarthas which is still selling well.
This new book, Peterborough Successes is on sale throughout the community, notably at: Chapters, Package Plus, Fontaine Source for Sports, the museums and Peterborough Kawartha Tourism.
This is the fourth book with which Prof. Adams has been involved since his retirement as M.P. In 2007, he published Trent, McGill and the North. Proceeds from the book now support an annual Bursary at Trent.
Prof. Peter Adams was the founding chair of the Geography Department and former dean of Graduate Studies at Trent University. He also was the executive director of the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies.
All proceeds from the sales of the new book go to Casa De Angelae (Home of Angels), a local family-supported home for developmentally challenged women, which opens in the New Year.
There will be a book launch at the Farmers’ Market at 10:00 am Saturday, December 11. The authors will be on hand to sign copies.
Early in 2011, there will be a book signing and fund-raiser for Casa De Angelae at Chapters.