In 2013, Kylea Dobson was a kid in the stands at the Oshawa Civic, watching the world lacrosse championship. This week she's on the field at Civic Fields, wearing the maple leaf.
"To come back now as one of the athletes representing Canada feels like a full-circle moment," she says.
It's a good weekend to be out in Durham. The lacrosse gold medal games are Sunday at Civic Fields. Up in north Oshawa, there's an art festival tucked into the woods at Camp Samac. In Nestleton, the volunteers behind Cartwright Fields roll out the classic cars on Saturday. And Saturday morning in Whitby, nine organizations that stand beside survivors of intimate partner violence are walking together. They'd like you there.
Also in here: a Pickering retail worker who thought he'd won ten bucks💰, two Uxbridge doctors 🩺 who wrote the book on family medicine, and a woman who has spent 25 years making sure Brock eats.
Pour the coffee. This is Durham Life.
🎬 AJAX — A TIFF film, no Gardiner required.
Friday, October 2 at 7pm, the TIFF Ajax Film Circuit screens Eleanor the Great at the Ajax Centre for the Arts (78 Church St. S., the old St. Francis Centre). It's Scarlett Johansson's first film as a director. June Squibb plays Eleanor Morgenstein, a funny, stubborn 94-year-old who, after a devastating loss, tells a story that takes on a life of its own. Tickets are $13, with concessions and a bar. No traffic, no downtown parking.
Watch the trailer ⬇️
Source: Town of Ajax
Photo: DDSB
🛝 BROCK — They watched their playground disappear. Now there's a new one.
In 2018, McCaskill's Mills Public School in Cannington found out its playground needed more than $5,000 in repairs and was near the end of its life. It kept closing for fixes until it was taken down for good. The school council needed $80,000 for a new one. Between September 2025 and February 2026, families, local businesses and groups raised more than $110,000, starting with $5,000 from the Cannington Lions Club. It opened in July.
"This playground is a symbol of what can happen when an entire community decides that something matters."
Source: McCaskill's Mills PS · Durham Radio News
🤝 CLARINGTON — Clarington wants your kindness stories.
On Wednesday, September 23, people filled Garnet B. Rickard for Together, We are Clarington, a community night about recognizing hate, spotting misinformation online, and talking across differences. The Municipality ran it with the Region, Victim Services of Durham Region and Clarington Library, Museums and Archives, with a resource village of faith and cultural groups. "This is the start of a conversation, not the end of the conversation," says Mayor Adrian Foster.
The part you can join: Clarington is collecting stories and photos of kindness. A neighbour who made you feel welcome, an event that brought people together. Share yours at clarington.net/CommunityConnections.
Maddie Baxter, Maggie Cuddy and Kylea Dobson
🥍 OSHAWA — The road to the LA Olympics runs through Civic Fields.
The Pan-American Sixes Lacrosse Championship is on at Oshawa's Civic Fields through Sunday, October 4: sixteen national teams, eight men's and eight women's. The top five in each go on to the 2027 world championship in Colorado Springs, the next step toward lacrosse at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Canada opened with a 29-10 win over Brazil on the men's side and 32-2 over Mexico on the women's. Three Trent players are on the women's roster, including Kylea Dobson of Oshawa, who grew up playing at the Civic. Gold medal games are Sunday.
Source: World Lacrosse · Durham Post
🎟️ PICKERING — He thought he won ten bucks.
Luca B., a Pickering retail worker, scratched a $5 5X The Cash ticket and figured he'd won $10. It was the $100,000 top prize. "I called my dad, who was at work, and was crying tears of joy," he says. His dad's answer: "Get out of here!" His mom thought he was joking. He plans to invest some, buy a new car and save for a house. The ticket came from Lucky Twyn Rivers Variety on Twyn Rivers Drive.
Source: INsauga
🚗 SCUGOG — A park built by volunteers throws its fall party Saturday.
Back in 1999, people around Nestleton bought 28 acres off Highway 7A with help from the Township and decided to build a park. They moved 27,000 cubic metres of material, built two ball diamonds, soccer fields and walking trails with wood chips and community work days, and opened Cartwright Fields in 2004. It's still run entirely by volunteers, with a 19-person board. Their Classic Car Show & Fall Festival, which they've held since that first year, is Saturday, October 3, 11am to 4pm. The money goes back into the park: next up are a covered shelter at the lower diamond, more parking, and the last stretch of an accessible walkway.
Source: Cartwright Sports & Recreation
📚 UXBRIDGE — Two Uxbridge doctors wrote the book on family medicine.
Dr. Jenn Wilson and Dr. Carlye Jensen have worked side by side in Uxbridge for 20 years, including shifts in the Uxbridge Hospital ER. Their new book, Family Rooms: Inside Family Medicine, collects the dramatic, funny and quietly devastating moments from that work. They wrote it to change a story they keep hearing, that family medicine is what doctors settle for. "We get to see the impact of our work on our patients and in the community," says Wilson. "That's why we aren't burnt out, I think."
Photo: Erika Jensen-Mann / familyrooms.ca
Source: Family Rooms · The Uxbridge Cosmos
🏆 WHITBY — Last week we told you about the good kids. Here's where you nominate one.
Whitby's 21st annual Celebrating Youth Awards are open for nominations: young people aged 12 to 18 who make the town better through volunteering, school or community work. Past winners raised money for The Denise House, Operation EcoPen, Girl Up and the Malala Fund. Nominations close Friday, October 23 at 4pm, and the winners are honoured Thursday, November 26. If last week's issue made you think of a kid, this is the form.
Nominate: whitby.ca/youthevents
Source: Town of Whitby · Whitby This Week
❄️ Know a senior in Clarington who can't shovel this winter? The Municipality's snow clearing program does the sidewalk in front of and beside the house, plus the windrow at the end of the driveway, after any storm over 7.5cm. It's for residents 65 and up or with a certified physical disability, with no able-bodied resident under 65 in the home. $107.69 for the season. Register by Saturday, October 31: returning participants online through Be Active, new applicants in person at Alan Strike, Courtice Community Complex, Diane Hamre, Garnet B. Rickard or South Courtice Arena.
Source: Municipality of Clarington
Run a Durham group that needs hands? Hit reply and we'll put the word out.
💜 Saturday, October 3, 10am — Walk to End Intimate Partner Violence, Durham Region HQ, 605 Rossland Rd E, Whitby.
Nine organizations that shelter, counsel and stand beside survivors across Durham are walking together for the third year: Bethesda House, Herizon House, Luke's Place, Safety Network Durham, The Denise House, Victim Services Durham Region, the Women's Multicultural Resource & Counselling Centre, Durham Rape Crisis Centre and YWCA Durham, with the Region. It's a walk to honour survivors and remember the people who didn't survive. "Ending intimate partner violence requires all of us," the coalition says. Free, donations welcome, with family activities and prize draws after.
Source: The Denise House · Durham Post
🚚 Friday, October 2, 5 to 8pm — Food Truck Spotlight, Dorsay Community & Heritage Centre, Pickering. Free to get in, food for purchase, games for all ages.
Source: City of Pickering
🏟️ Saturday, October 3, 1 to 5pm — Bowmanville Community Complex open house, 1 West Side Drive (enter from Green Road). First look inside the new FIFA-sized dome before programs start Tuesday, October 13. Free activities, and a three-lane indoor walking track where three laps add up to more than a kilometre.
Watch the video ⬇️
Source: Municipality of Clarington
🎨 Saturday, October 3 & Sunday, October 4, 10am to 5pm — 43rd Oshawa Art Association Fall Art Festival, Camp Samac, 275 Conlin Rd E, Oshawa. Free, with free parking. More than 56 Durham artists, a live drawing demo on the porch, Tom Hodgson on keyboard, and art draws.
The setting is half the reason to go. Camp Samac is the Scout camp Col. Sam McLaughlin gave to Oshawa's Scouts in the 1940s. The name is short for Sam Mc, and it opened on September 5, 1946. Its woods and trails run along the Oshawa Creek valley, and the City designated it a heritage property for its history and natural features. Early October is a good time to walk it while the leaves turn. Come for the art, then take the long way back to the car.
Here’s a video we did about the show a few years ago. ⬇️
Source: Oshawa Art Association · Oshawa Museum
💪 Saturday, October 3 — Strong in Scugog, Port Perry Fairgrounds, 15835 Old Simcoe Rd. Team 5K and obstacle event for all ages, raising money for the Port Perry Hospital Foundation. Registration required.
Source: Strong in Scugog
🖍️ Sunday, October 4, 10am to 2pm — Culture Days Trailside Finale, Marie Hubbard Trail, Bowmanville. Free: chalk art, Clarington Concert Band, puppet show, food trucks. Free parking and shuttle at Bowmanville High School.
Source: Municipality of Clarington
🚁 Durham Regional Police have a new helicopter. Air4 is an Airbus H125, one of the most widely used police helicopters in the world, bought with funding support from the province. It can stay up for 4½ hours at up to 250 km/h, and carries a thermal camera, night vision and a searchlight to back up officers on the ground anywhere in the region. Photo: DRPS. (durhampost.ca/ontario-provided-funding-support-for-the-new-air4-copter)
Watch the video ⬇️
🔋 Curbside battery week is Monday, October 5 to Friday, October 9. Put used household batteries in a clear, sealable bag on top of your closed green bin on your green bin day. Durham has kept more than 544 tonnes of batteries out of the garbage since 2012. (durham.ca/news/posts/take-part-in-curbside-battery-collection-during-the-week-of-october-5/)
Artwork by Dorsey James
🎨 Pickering's new Council Chambers got a piece of local art. Je Me Souviens ("I remember"), by Pickering resident Dorsey James, is two circles with ten leaves running through them, each bigger than the last, about where we've been and where we're going. James grew up in Philadelphia, spent four years fixing jets in the U.S. Air Force, then moved to Toronto and studied art at York. His work has shown in Canada, the U.S. and Germany. (pickering.ca/news/posts/je-me-souviens)
Luca B. scratched a $5 ticket in Pickering, figured he'd won ten bucks, and walked away with $100,000. His mom thought he was joking. Honestly, so would we.
That's one way to do it. The rest of this week took a little longer. Kylea Dobson needed thirteen years to get from the Civic stands to the field. Two Uxbridge doctors did twenty years on the job before they wrote the book. And the folks at Cartwright Fields have been building their park one car show at a time since 1999.
Luck is great. Keep buying the ticket. But around here, most of the good stuff gets built the slow way.
Until next week...
Be Good. Do Good.
This is Durham Life.
MiKe Dee
Publisher
Durham Life — Local Media that Inspires
Covering Durham Region's 8 municipalities: Ajax · Brock · Clarington · Oshawa · Pickering · Scugog · Uxbridge · Whitby