The Citizen, 2017-05-11, Page 34PAGE 34. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017.
Blyth delegation hosts `Taste of Rural' in Ottawa
A Taste of Rural
A number of Blyth locals made their way to Ottawa last week to hopefully connect the many
economic development initiatives ongoing in the village with the decision -makers in Ottawa.
They attended several meetings and then held an event called A Taste of Rural, which was
attended by between 100 and 150 people. From left: Alecia Anderson of Blyth Cowbell
Brewing Company, Karen Stewart of the Canadian Centre for Rural Creativity, Gil Garratt of
the Blyth Festival, Chris Lee of the Goderich-to-Guelph Rail Trail, Peter Smith of the Canadian
Centre for Rural Creativity, Steven Sparling of Cowbell, Genny Smith of Cowbell and Allan
Thompson, Liberal candidate in the 2015 election. (Photo submitted)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
A small delegation of Blyth
representatives travelled to Ottawa
last week with a message of rural
revitalization and left a pretty good
impression according to many
observers.
The group, which included
representatives from the Blyth
Centre for the Arts, Blyth Cowbell
Brewing Company, the Canadian
Centre for Rural Creativity (CCRC),
the Goderich-to-Guelph (G2G) Rail
Trail and Regional Tourism
Organization 4 (RTO4), attended a
number of meetings with some
Canadian decision -makers, but the
jewel of the trip was the hospitality
event dubbed A Taste of Rural on
May 4.
Peter Smith from the CCRC led
the charge, saying that he found the
trip to be extremely productive in
getting Blyth, and everything that's
happening in the community, on the
radar of those in Ottawa.
The initiative, he said, very much
began with Allan Thompson, who
ran in Huron -Bruce for the Liberal
Party in the last federal election, but
lost to incumbent MP Ben Lobb of
the Conservative Party.
Thompson said that what was
happening in Blyth has been on his
radar for years, even before he had
won the local Liberal nomination,
and he has been a champion for the
town and its ongoing revitalization
efforts ever since.
He said it began when Blyth
14/19 hosted Fare on 4 and
served dinner to 1,419 people
on the closed main street of
the village. With that event,
Thompson said, he saw the extreme
determination and passion behind
the project.
Thompson got in touch with those
behind Blyth 14/19 and he and his
son volunteered at the dinner.
In the years since, renovations
were announced for Memorial Hall,
home of the Blyth Festival, the
CCRC was founded and Cowbell
began work on a cutting edge
destination craft brewery in the
village in 2017.
Thompson, a journalism professor
at Carleton University by day, had
suggested a trip to Ottawa for
representatives of Blyth, and the
wheels began to turn late last year.
Smith said that one of the key
moments in the process was when
what is ongoing in Blyth was
identified by RTO4 as important.
For a regional tourism organization
to identify the work being done in a
village of just over 1 ,000, Smith said
was a big step towards gaining
attention on a much wider scale.
Thompson began discussing the
potential for an Ottawa visit in
earnest with Smith and the idea soon
expanded to include all of the
aspects of Blyth's resurgence,
including the G2G Rail Trail, which
provides an active transportation
connection between hundreds of
thousands in the Kitchener, Guelph
and Waterloo areas and smaller
Huron County communities like
Walton, Blyth and Goderich.
After some discussion and
working to further shape how the
event would look, the group set up a
number of meetings and rented a
room on Parliament Hill in which it
would eventually host its Blyth -
focused reception.
Smith said that the group's key
meeting was with Tobique-
Mactaquac MP T.J. Harvey, the
newly -elected chair of the Liberal
Party's Rural Caucus.
The Rural Caucus has just recently
been established by the Liberals,
says Thompson, and includes over
50 MPs from the party who
represent rural areas across Canada.
Smith said that what is going on in
Blyth seems to have found some
fans among those in the Rural
Caucus — with many wanting to
hear more, even delaying flights to
their home ridings to attend the
Continued on page 35
The main event
A delegation from Blyth, including representatives of the
Blyth Centre for the Arts, the Canadian Centre for Rural
Creativity, the Goderich-to-Guelph Rail Trail and Blyth
Cowbell Brewing Company, hosted a special event called A
Taste of Rural last week on Parliament Hill. Peter Smith of
the CCRC, left, is seen here discussing ongoing projects in
Blyth with Roula El-Rifai, a senior program specialist with
the International Development Research Centre and
Senator Jim Munson. (Photo submitted)
Blyth Memorial Community Hall
Friday, May 19, 2017
OPENINC CEREMONIES - 4pm
OPEN HOUSE 4:15pm - 7pm 4116
Evert e Welcome!
Fashion show
Christine's Clothes Closet in Wingham held a fashion show
recently which raised funds for the Wingham Hospital
Auxiliary. More than 175 people were in attendance and
over $500 was raised for the North Huron Food Share and
$1,750 was raised for the Wingham and District Hospital
Auxiliary. (Denny Scott photo)
BRomr
Hosted by the Renovation Committee, including: Blyth 14/19 Inc., Blyth Centre for the Arts, Legion
Ladies Auxiliary to Branch 420, Royal Canadian Legion - Branch 420, Township of North Huron