HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-08-16, Page 1INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
TELEVISION - Pg. 2
Brussels' Nichol spearheads
brand new television project
SPORTS - Pg. 10
Local athlete claims
national gold medals
FESTIVAL. - Pg. 20
Blyth Festival returns to
roots with 'Wing Night'
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Volume 34 No. 32
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Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, August 16, 2018
Morrison crowned Brussels Fall Fair Ambassador
The year ahead
It was a night to remember for the community on Saturday
as the Brussels Legion played host to the Brussels
Agricultural Society's annual Fall Fair Ambassador
competition. Amanda Morrison, centre, was the last young
woman standing as she was crowned as the 2018/2019
Brussels Fall Fair Ambassador, fulfilling a dream she's had
since she was a little girl. Morrison was joined in the ranks of
local royalty by this year's Little Ambassador Kaleigh McCallum,
left, and the Junior Ambassador Maddy Bernard, right. The trio's
work will begin right away, with the Brussels Fall Fair right
around the corner, scheduled for Sept. 18-19, 2018. (Hannah Dickie
photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Amanda Morrison has been
crowned the Brussels Agricultural
Society's Fall Fair Ambassador for
2018/2019.
Morrison was one of three young
women from Brussels vying for the
position and was crowned by
outgoing Ambassador Erin
McMahon on Saturday night at the
Brussels Legion. She triumphed
over Taylor Dietrich -Illsley and
Brittany Struthers, both of whom are
her co-workers and friends.
Saturday night's crowning was a
dream come true for Morrison, she
said, because she can remember
wanting to be the Brussels Fall Fair
Ambassador as a little girl growing
up in the village.
Morrison admits that when she
was very young it was the
glamorous tiara that attracted her to
the position, but in recent years, she
viewed it as a way to better connect
to the community she loves.
As Brussels Fall Fair Ambassador,
Morrison said she's so proud to be
able to represent the community,
which she says is a close-knit,
special village.
When it came time to put her
name forward for this year's
competition, it was as a result of her
friends and eventual competitors
encouraging her to be part of the
annual tradition. Morrison said it
was an easy decision to make since
it's been on her radar for years.
Last month she decided to enter
the competition and immediately
began preparing.
At times, she said, the three
friends, who all work together at the
Jam Jar Pub and Eatery in Brussels,
would prepare together. In the end,
however, it's a competition, so there
were times that they played their
hands close to the vest as well
Continued on page 12
Blyth Festival enjoying banner year says Garratt
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
The 44th season of the Blyth
Festival, which started earlier this
year with a week-long remount of
the critically -acclaimed The Pigeon
King, has been a banner year for the
local theatre.
Blyth Festival Artistic Director Gil
Garratt said that the Festival has sold
nearly 23,000 tickets as of Bonanza
Weekend, Aug. 10-12, a milestone
the theatre hasn't hit in a decade
when, in 2008, Innocence Lost: A
Play About Steven Truscott, debuted.
(The play would go on to be
remounted and be one of the most
succesful in recent Festival
memory.)
As far as revenue goes, the Blyth
Festival hasn't had such a successful
year since 2002, Garratt added.
He attributed the success to the
variety of plays on stage this year.
Wing Night at the Boot offers a great
local experience, he said, focusing
on a landmark across the street from
the theatre in Memorial Hall, while
fare like The New Canadian Curling
Club speaks to a national point of
view.
The season also features the rural -
focused Judith: Memories of a Lady
Pig Farmer and 1837: The Farmers'
Revolt, a Canadian theatre mainstay
that has deep connection to the Blyth
Festival but has never actually been
produced by the theatre company.
"There's so much excitement and
energy around The New Canadian
Curling Club," he said. "I anticipate
it will be produced in several places
over the coming years."
Garratt said that the conversation
behind the play, about immigrants
and asylum -seekers, is an important
one, which explains why Alberta
Theatre Projects has already picked
up the production for March of next
year.
"People in Canada want to
pretend, suddenly, that immigration
is dangerous and costs jobs and
asylum -seekers are a liability and
that's false," he said. "It's lies. This
is an important subject matter."
He said the play speaks to the
richness a community can encourage
by affording an atmosphere of
openness and welcoming to people
from across the world.
The New Canadian Curling Club's
playwright Mark Crawford said the
announcement was startling, but a
welcome surprise.
"To be honest, it's pretty
unexpected," he said in an interview
with The Citizen. "That was a
change in their upcoming season"
He said there is usually a year
between a successful play
premiering and being picked up by
other theatres.
"It's exciting to have the play
being performed in a completely
different place," he said. "It's a
different city in western Canada, a
totally different part of the country."
Crawford said the uptake on the
show has been amazing and proves
there's an appetite for a story about
immigrants finding their way in
Canada. He went on to say that an
artist may never know why his play
connects with audiences, though he
has an idea.
"People have got in touch with me
and told me they loved it," he said.
"I'm really, honestly grateful for the
way people are embracing it."
The success of the play indicates
that people aren't just enjoying it,
Crawford said, but going that extra
mile and telling their friends and
family to see it.
As for The New Canadian Curling
Club's run at the Blyth Festival, it
has been expanded due to how
wildly successful the play has been
after its premiere in June.
The play was set to end Aug. 23,
but five new performances have been
added in September: Sept. 18
Continued on page 10