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The Citizen, 2017-07-27, Page 1INSIDE THIS WEEK: SPORTS - Pg. 8 Jack Lee honoured by WOAA as sports builder IPM '17 - Pg. 10 The Citizen' Countdown to IPM 2017 continues FESTivAI. - Pg. 19 `Ipperwash' discussed at special museum event Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON NOG 1H0 4Citiz Volume 33 No. 30 n $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, July 27, 2017 Battle for the ball Despite the threat of rain for most of the day, there was plenty of soccer action on local fields Monday night, featuring U15 Girls teams. The Blyth U15 Girls fell by a score of 2-1 to their counterparts from Wingham, while above the Brussels U15 Girls took on Clinton, but came up short by a score of 4-0. All teams in the league continue to chase Lucknow, which is undefeated with seven wins and four draws for a league -leading 18 points. (Denny Scott photo) Blyth 140th anniversary this weekend The Blyth 140th anniversary celebration will kick off on Friday evening with the rededication ceremony of Blyth Memorial Community Hall. The rededication includes a blessing of the hall, which underwent major renovations in the last 10 months. Blyth Legion President Ric McBurney said the event will feature some special guests. "For guest speakers, we're welcoming Deputy District Commander Eric Ross and North Huron Reeve Neil Vincent," he said, adding that a representative from the Blyth Legion Ladies Auxiliary will also speak. "We will have the Brussels Legion Pipe Band piping the parade in." The parade, which will start from the Blyth Legion Branch 420, will mark the start of the event. Chairs will be set out for the rededication which McBurney said will be a brief presentation. "It's not going to be a very big ceremony," he said. "We want to keep it as discreet as possible as there is a [Blyth Festival performance] that night." Friday night the Blyth Lions wading pool at Lions Park will be open from 7-8 p.m. and, at dusk, the Huron County Health Unit will present a family movie night at the Blyth Lions Park. The film being shown is The Lego Batman Movie. If inclement weather is a problem, the movie will be shown inside the Blyth and District Community Centre. Saturday, a scavenger hunt will be hosted around the village and the truncated version of the Blyth Business Improvement Area (BIA) Streetfest will be held. Typically, the event closes a portion of Blyth's main street, however this year, to pair with the Blyth 140th Anniversary event, Streetfest will consist of vendors on the sidewalk in the village's downtown core. Local historian Brock Vodden will be hosting a historic display focused on the village at Sharon's Cars in Miniature at 432 Queen Street from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Blyth Cowbell Brewing Company will be serving refreshments at Lions Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with musical entertainment provided by Kendall Jardin. The Blyth Lions wading pool, normally closed on Saturdays, will be open from 1-4 p.m. A dinner will be held at the Blyth and District Community Centre on Saturday evening featuring Pineridge barbecue. Meals are available for $18 per person or $5 per child's meal. On Sunday, a community church service will be held at 10 a.m. at Blyth Lions Park followed by a "bring your own lunch" picnic at the park. Family games will be held after the picnic and the wading pool will again be open from 1-4 p.m. For more information, visit www.blythnow.com or find the Blyth 140th Anniversary on Facebook. TransCan cancelled The 2017 Walton TransCan Motocross Grand National Championships, scheduled for Aug. 16-20 is cancelled. The cancellation is due to, according to a press release, "an unfortunate combination of circumstances including, but not limited to, the uncertain financial viability of the event for this year and the inability to resolve management disagreements regarding the operation of Tite Racing Promotions Inc." Chris Lee, the founder of the Walton Raceway and TransCan event, said that the weather of the past several years played a part in the decision. "We had more than 200 millimetres of rain last year," he said. "People can't get to it and stay away in droves with that kind of rain. From that point forward, we were looking for a lot of things to go the right way and it didn't." Last year's wet weather came five years after a tornado hit Huron County, also during the TransCan, in 2011. "Those were amongst the most challenging events to run," Chris said. "Doing anything outdoors comes with a degree of risk, but getting caught twice in a five-year period was outside the norm of the 25 years of experience" Chris said the problems that led to the decision may have been overcome as individual hurdles, but several problems coalesced at once which resulted in the cancellation. The release recognizes the support of its sponsors, riders and sports fans, which made the decision a difficult one to make. "Without full confidence in our ability to maintain the quality and integrity of the TransCan as the preeminent event of its kind we have elected to suspend plans for 2017," the release stated. "The impending future of the Motocross Grand National Championships continues to be discussed, reimagined and recreated for 2018 in order to maintain the distinction, honour and pride of being a Canadian Motocross Grand National Champion." Those who paid for pre -entries are eligible for full refunds through Continued on page 8 Canyon to play IPM George Canyon, the winner of numerous Juno Awards, will be a highlight of the 2017 International Plowing Match and Rural Expo, which will be hosted in Walton this September. Canyon will perform on Friday, Sept. 22 and Saturday, Sept. 23. Gate admission on those days includes admission to Canyon's main stage show on the plowing match grounds on that particular day. Support for the event is provided by Celebrate Ontario 2017 and the Canada 150 Fund. For more information on the show or other events at this year's IPM, visit plowingmatch.org.