In The Community • 20 May 2025

CENTURY 21 United takes the Carl Oake Rotary Swim to new fundraising heights

by Corporate User

May 2025, Peterborough, ON – In the Peterborough YMCA pool, the annual tradition of dressing up in costume and gathering your friends for a morning swim relay is still going strong. The 39^th Carl Oake Rotary Swim, sponsored by CENTURY 21 United Realty Inc., has officially tallied up $57, 748 in support of local and national causes.

This year’s event was the first after the passing of it’s founder Carl Oake. For his daughter, C21 United Realty owner Vanessa Oake Hogan, that meant this year’s event held extra weight. “This year was especially meaningful because it was the first without my dad here to witness it. We honoured him in a special way, reflecting on his impact, and it made the event even more emotional and inspiring.

“The energy, participation, and generosity exceeded expectations, and I know my dad would be so proud.”

More than just a simple swimming relay, the Carl Oake swim has long encouraged teams to get as silly as they’d like, and this year’s batch of participants did not disappoint. Sports jerseys, bee costumes and furry pink cowboy hats could all be seen as contestants tried to conquer the floating catwalk. Organizers noted that the younger generation showed up in big numbers for the cause, proving that this beloved tradition will continue for years to come.

“We’re committed to growing this event and keeping it strong,” Vanessa adds. “That means continuing to engage the community, bringing in new supporters, and ensuring it remains a fun and impactful way to give back – just as my dad envisioned.”

The money raised will go towards helping a number of initiatives, with $13,000 earmarked for Easter Seals Canada, the national charitable partner of CENTURY 21 Canada of which the Swim has long been a supporter.

With this year’s event now wrapped up, Vanessa and her family can now take a rest before turning their attention to next year. “Keeping this tradition alive means everything,” she says. “My dad started this event with a simple goal: to give back. Seeing it continue year after year, touching so many lives, is a testament to this legacy and the generosity of our community.”

In The Community • 28 March 2024

Carl Oake Rotary Swim marks 38 years of a beloved Peterborough tradition

by Corporate User

Peterborough, ON (March 2024) – For another year, the Peterborough YMCA hosted a beloved community tradition, the Carl Oake Rotary Swim. CENTURY 21 United Realty and the Peterborough Rotary Club brought the event to life, continuing a 38-year streak of supporting the local community and Easter Seals Canada.

Vanessa Oake Hogan, owner of CENTURY 21 United Realty, took up the mantle of pulling the event together from her father. “[Our Dad] put so much into this event every year, and he built so much momentum that it wouldn’t make sense not to carry it on. It’s great to see the ambassadors from the organizations where the money is donated come out to support the event, and it feels great for all of us to give back to the community.”

This year’s event saw 19 teams compete, including the Special Olympics swim team, which has been participating for five years. In addition to supporting Easter Seals Canada, the national charitable partner of CENTURY 21 Canada, the event raised funds for a literacy non-profit, Breakfast for Kids, and local homeless shelters.

“We’re a close community here in Peterborough, and it’s so important to our company that we support the people around us,” says Oake Hogan. To better include everyone who wanted to participate in the swim, this year saw the addition of the ‘Cannonball’ and the ‘Floating Catwalk’ challenge for anyone who could not join the swim or were supporting the event solo. “It was a great addition, I think it’s definitely something we would want to continue.”

One of this year’s supporters was the local lacrosse team, the CENTURY 21 Lakers, which CENTURY 21 United Realty has been a major sponsor of since 2014. The brokerage recently renewed their sponsorship for another three seasons. “This partnership made sense for a lot of reasons. One being community support and I think there is synergy in partnerships like this. The team benefits, our team benefits and I think the community benefits from this partnership (and) I know it’s valuable to our agents to see us being a part of the community this way.”

The Lakers donated $1000 towards this year’s Swim, and with the funds raised over the history of this event, the total has now reached over $1.4 million.

Swimming for a Cause: CENTURY 21 United Realty Helps Raise $40,000 for Charity

by Corporate User

The Peterborough YMCA pool saw the return of a beloved tradition, with the Carl Oake Rotary Swim taking over for another year. Hosted in Peterborough, Ont. by CENTURY 21 United Realty’s broker Vanessa Oake-Hogan, the event has been a long-standing tradition for the brokerage and her family.

“Honoring my father’s tradition is really important to me personally,” Oake-Hogan says. “The agents themselves that are a part of our brokerage really do appreciate that they’re part of an organization that does support our local community.”

While the event is back at full strength, she is well aware of the lingering effects of the past few years and stresses the importance of continuing with traditions, especially ones that help so many. “We embraced the fact that we could go full-swing this year and be back to normal. It’s ingrained in our culture as a company to be a part of the community, and our communities are definitely in need right now. A lot of cities across Canada are managing rising numbers of addictions and mental health issues, and here in Peterborough, we’re tight-knit. We support the people around us.”

That support manifested in teams of participants coming out to take a dive for the hour-long swim — some of them even had extra flair. “We know that not everyone might want to come out in a bathing suit, so we encourage people to have some fun. Some people jump in wearing their office clothes, some people like to dress up, and my favourite costume from this year was a fluffy unicorn — it added twenty pounds, so I’m not sure how he finished the lap, but he did!”

Overall, the event raised just over $40,000, with proceeds going towards Easter Seals Canada, and local Rotary Club projects, including youth emergency services, a school breakfast program, and a new nursing station at Camp Kawartha.

Oake-Hogan is already looking forward to 2024 and how the event will evolve. “We want to see more teams; we’re going to encourage more groups to come out and bring back everyone who came this year. And more costumes! We just want everyone to feel comfortable being a part of this, and we’re going to try to build on everything we’ve accomplished this year.”

The Carl Oake Rotary Swim was started by Carl Oake in 1987 and has raised over $1.2 million over its history.

In The Community • In The Community • In The Community • In The Community • 7 June 2022

CENTURY 21 Broker Vanessa Oake Hogan named to Business Hall of Fame

by Corporate User

Peterborough, O.N. (June 2022) – CENTURY 21 United Realty Inc. owner Vanessa Oake Hogan was named to the 2022 Junior Achievement Hall of Fame of Northern and Eastern Ontario Business. The 7^thannual ceremony recognized Peterborough’s exceptional business leaders, and with many successful years as a Broker under her belt, Oake Hogan is the perfect addition.

“When I was attending University I would come home to Peterborough for the summer months and work at the office doing reception. I always loved coming to the office. I enjoyed learning about the business, working with dad and meeting all of the agents. It was such a fun group of people.” Oake Hogan says. Carl Oake began the brokerage (which was one of the first CENTURY 21 Canada franchises) in 1977, and in 2016 he began the process of passing the torch to his eldest daughter. Vanessa Oake Hogan acquired her real estate license in 2013, and after waiting a few years for the timing to be right for her family, she felt ready to follow in his footsteps

“Once my kids were a little more independent, the time was right and it was an opportunity I just couldn’t pass up,” Oake Hogan says of her decision to take the reigns of CENTURY 21 United Realty Inc. “This was my father’s business that I grew up around, I was really attached to it. I wanted to carry on what he already started.” Oake Hogan says her father passed on his drive to succeed and she has continued a legacy of excellence, consistently placing on annual rankings within the Century 21 Global system, most recently as the #14 Office in Canada by production, and the #20 Office on the GLOBAL 21 list by the same metrics for 2021. Additionally, Carl Oake was inducted into the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame in 2018, and with Oake Hogan joining him, it marks the first time a father-daughter duo has received the distinction.

But it’s not just her business’s accolades that have earned Oake Hogan a spot in the Hall of Fame, community initiatives are also a large focus. The Carl Oake Rotary Swim is an annual fixture at the Peterborough YMCA, a day when teams and individuals dress in their wildest costumes and swim laps in support of CENTURY 21 Canada’s charitable partner Easter Seals, as well as other local causes. Oake Hogan currently co-chair’s the event and brought it back to the YMCA this year, surpassing their initial fundraising goal for a grand total of $50,000.

Not one to rest on her laurels, Oake Hogan is looking to the future of her company and its agents. “Providing valuable services and support to our agents is our first priority. We are also working on growing our team with both new and experienced agents. The official awards ceremony for the Junior Achievement of Northern and Eastern Ontario Hall of Fame took place on May 26^th.

In The Community • In The Community • In The Community • In The Community • 3 March 2020

CENTURY 21 United Realty Inc. & Rotary Host 34th Annual Swimming Fundraiser Raising Over $45,000 For Easter Seals And The Rotary Club

by Corporate User

On Friday, February 28, 2020, 20 teams braved the cold for the 34th annual Carl Oake Swimathon in Peterborough, ON. With the help of almost 100 swimmers, volunteers, and CENTURY 21 United Realty Inc., the event raised over $45,000 for Easter Seals and the Rotary Club of Peterborough. Since 1987, this event has raised over $1.2 million to help Canadians living with disabilities and to support local initiatives such as the school breakfast programs, the YMCA, and the Rotary Greenway Trail. Please join us in congratulating all participants, volunteers, and donators on another successful Swimathon!

Vanessa Oake Hogan of CENTURY 21 United Realty Inc. co-chaired the event, while her father Carl Oake, the founder of the event, was out of town. Carl started this event 34 years ago by getting his friends and family to donate 10 cents for every lap he swam. This year, his daughter Renee Oake took her father’s place and completed 136 lengths during the event.

This year a local Special Olympics team participated in the Swimathon. Wanting to give back to the organizations that have helped them succeed, they reached out to Vanessa to join this extraordinary event. Not only were they a top fundraising team, but they also swam the entire event while encouraging other participating teams.

“I am so grateful for the people of Peterborough coming together to give back to this community. With them braving the cold in their swimsuits and wacky outfits, we were able to raise over $45,000 to help our neighbours and Easter Seals participants” – Vanessa Oake Hogan, CENTURY 21 United Realty Inc.