Thursday, November 5, 2026
It's 18 degrees today. In November. If you went out this morning in a t-shirt and felt slightly guilty about it, you're not alone. Enjoy it while it lasts, because it won't last long.
The drizzle sticks around through Saturday while the temperatures slide: 12 on Friday, 8 on Saturday, and a dip below freezing Sunday night. The rest of next week stays grey and cool, with gusts near 40 km/h on Tuesday. Remembrance Day on Wednesday looks like a 6-degree high with a low of minus one and only a small chance of drizzle. Dress warm if you're heading to a ceremony. With the sun setting at 4:49 now, this is also the week the evenings start to feel properly dark.
This was council's first meeting since the election, and every incumbent is back. The agenda covered a lot: an 11% police bill, a clean audit, a new playground, and a request from a grieving family that moved the whole room. The story most likely to affect you on your drive home, though, is about speed.
Eighteen residents complained about speeding on Acres Road, so the OPP put radar on it. The results were worse than expected. Sixty-four percent of drivers were going faster than the 60 km/h limit, and one driver hit 128 km/h, more than double the limit on a road where people live.
Council responded by approving $5,000 for a radar speed display sign, plus $500 for installation on the Petawawa side. Acres Road runs along the boundary with Laurentian Valley, which has agreed in principle to put a matching sign on its side. That cooperation matters, because a sign facing only one direction catches only half the problem.
Mayor Gary Serviss was blunt about who's doing the speeding.
That's worth thinking about. When people picture speeders, they usually picture someone cutting through from out of town. The data points the other way. It's the person heading home a few doors down, late for pickup, who knows the road well enough to stop paying attention. The mayor described the sign's purpose as "basically educating the residents of Petawawa that you are endangering the safety of your neighbours driving high speeds on your roads." In other words, the sign is a mirror more than a trap.
Acres Road also isn't unusual, which is the uncomfortable part.
The mayor separately mentioned another municipal road where 85% of vehicles were clocked over the limit. He suggested going back to the county again about lowering the speed limit on a stretch where 250 new homes are coming. "I don't think the problem's gotten any better," he said. There was one lighter moment. The detachment board's "Too Fast for a Pumpkin" Harvest display, a pumpkin officer holding a hair-dryer radar gun, won an award in the business display contest. The mayor joked that next year they should put a real radar in it. Radar signs are cheap, and so is easing off the gas. If you live on one of those dozen roads, the person who can fix it fastest might be you.
48 events on the calendar. Here are the ones we'd actually go to.
This one grows with every poppy the community makes. Email FamilyNavigator@PetawawaMFRC.com by Friday, November 6 to request a kit, make your poppy at home, and return it by November 10. You can visit the garden November 9 and 10 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The best time to go is Tuesday, November 10, from 1 to 3 p.m., when Veteran Family Program Coordinator Louise Anderson will be there to hear stories and memories, and the curator from the Garrison Petawawa Military Museum will bring historic artifacts and photographs. It's a good way to bring kids into Remembrance Day before the ceremony itself.
Saturday, November 7, 9 to 11:30 a.m. This is free EarlyON drop-in play for kids 0 to 6. With 8 degrees and drizzle outside, it's a good way to let the little ones burn off energy somewhere dry. One heads-up: EarlyON is closed Monday, November 9 and Wednesday, November 11, so plan around those days.
Tuesday, November 10, 4:30 to 7 p.m. Pizza, play, and an evening with your kid that you don't have to plan or clean up after. It's free, but you need to pre-register on KEyON because spots go quickly. (Moms get their turn November 24.)
Mondays, 3 to 5 p.m., for ages 14 to 18. If you've got a teen who still needs community service hours, this is an easy way to get them, and they might make some friends too. Intake can happen on the first visit. Contact VSC@PetawawaMFRC.com with questions.
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