Lift lock tour a new experience for some Streamway residents, a time to reminisce for others

Streamway Villa residents show off their big smiles as they make their way down the Otonabee River towards the Peterborough Lift Lock.
17 residents from Cobourg LTC home take visit world’s tallest hydraulic boat lift
Streamway Villa residents and staff members went on the famed Peterborough Lift Lock cruise on Sept. 11. The outing was a new experience for some residents, while others found themselves reminiscing about times they had spent on the water.
Seventeen of the Cobourg long-term care home’s residents, accompanied by staff members, took a school bus from Port Hope to Peterborough. This was the first time many residents had been on the lift lock cruise. The tour through

Streamway Villa resident Joe Sherman is seen here during the Sept. 11 trip to the Peterborough Lift Lock.
the Otonabee River section of the Trent-Severn Waterway brought back many memories for residents of times they had spent on boats.
The tour took the group down the Otonabee River to the lift lock, which is located in the east end of Peterborough. At 65 feet, the Peterborough Lift Lock is the tallest hydraulic boat lift in the world. The lift lock is also a national historic site.
“It was an amazing day,” says Streamway Villa life enrichment co-ordinator Christina Doughty. “Even with the sun not shining and the weather being kind of chilly, the residents still enjoyed it.”
RAI co-ordinator Kerrie Chapple was another Streamway Villa team member who went on the cruise. Like Christina, Kerrie says the outing was an experience that residents enjoyed whether or not they had been to the lift lock before.
“For some of the residents it was their first time on the cruise, so they really did have a good experience,” she says. “Everybody enjoyed it.”
Resident Jean Varep says the lift lock cruise provided a “fun” day for her. While Jean had not been on the Peterborough Lift Lock cruise before, she has been to several other canal boat lifts.
“It was really nice and I enjoyed (the cruise),” Jean says. “My husband and I used to do a lot of sailing in our own boat, and we went through a lot of lift locks.”
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