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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2014-03-05, Page 44 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, March 5, 2014 www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com Seaforth mn Expositor PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 P.O. Box 69, 8 Main Street Seaforth Ontario NOK phone: 519-527-0240 fax: 519-527-2858 www.seaforthhuronexpositor SUN MEDIA A Quebecor Media Company NEIL CLIFFORD Publisher neil.clifford@sunmedia.ca MAXWELL BICKFORD Advertising Rep. max.bickford@sunmedia.ca DIANNE MCGRATH Front Office seaforth.classifieds@sunmedia.ca WHITNEY SOUTH Multimedia Journalist seaforth.news@sunmediaca Publications Mail Agreement No. 40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT RO. 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Canada' Fr: pd IIi rkiJ w4-312; editorial ROMA is a conference our politicians should be at Everyone will have a different opinion on the importance of our local politicians attending conferences. We hope they go in as sponges and soak up everything on offer and bring it back to their own backyard and do some sort of good with what they have learned. A bunch of Huron County councillors were in Toronto last week for the Rural Ontario Munici- pal Association (ROMA) conference at the Fair- mont Royal York Hotel. Essentially, what matters to rural government types and the residents they represent are shared with colleagues from across Ontario. The provincial and federal government have representatives there, and, again, we hope they are listening and taking careful notes. Huron County councillor Deb Shewfelt said it's important to make an appearance at ROMA. You get some ideas, but more importantly, you are in the game and up to date on what is happening, he said. Local politicians can get a grasp of the provin- cial grant process, for example, and what needs to be done at the municipal or county level to make it happen. You can listen to a presentation from the Min- ister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in the morning and follow that up with an information session on capital projects and debt financing. It's the kind of conference you want your elected officials at because they are going to learn to serve their communities better and make the right connections. But again, the proof is in the pudding. Confer- ences cost money and taxpayers often pick up the tab, so we want to make sure the bang -for - buck is worth it. Sometimes we need to slow down and put everything in perspective The winter that never ends, or lets up, hit us with another blast last week when a white out rolled into south- western Ontario packing a nasty punch. For anyone who has to hop in a car and drive a distance for the morning commute, the sudden impact of a blinding wall of snow is disconcerting. Unlike other storms that have ravaged the region, though, there was little to no advance warning of what lay ahead. We all set on our way thinking it was a relatively nice day compared to what Mother Nature late. The best indicator that no one knew it was coming? School buses had picked up the students and were headed to schools when the worst of it hit. I was driving along thinking about the busy day ahead when the wall came in from nowhere. At first con- fused by the sudden change in weather, I slowed down to the point where I was driving less than 20 km/h. The next few minutes were a combina- tion of cool and panic, if that makes sense. I couldn't go anywhere, so I pulled off to what I hoped was the side of the road, just a few kilometres from Dublin. My hazard lights went on and I immediately started to brainstorm for ideas about what to do. I wasn't sure if I was far enough off the road to avoid getting rear-ended, so I jumped out of the car to try and get my bearings. The wind was unrelenting. I saw a recycle box slowly moving down the road and a 911 address sign. I looked for a driveway, as an entrance to a res- idence but had no such look. I could barely make out what appeared to be a barn - maybe a house - off in the dis- tance but only for a moment when the wind shifted direction. I didn't want to get back in my car but the sudden drop in temperature and fierce wind left me freezing and shivering. So I grabbed my bright yel- low straps from the emergency kit in my trunk and wrapped then around the back end. From a short distance, I couldn't even tell my hazards were on - they were basically useless if another vehi- cle came from behind. So I sat inside my car, hoping that whoever was coming from behind had the good sense to ease up on the gas pedal. While I sat and waited, two snowplows happened by. One of them was going in the opposite direction I was heading, but was in the middle of the road. If I kept going, I would have hit that sucker dead centre, I thought. Another plow went by Column and then a recycle truck. A couple in a truck Paul Cluff pulled up alongside when it finally started clearing has offered of up and I followed them into Dublin. A small crew of stranded commuters gathered at Terry's Restaurant and we shot the breeze about the crazy condi- tions and where we were going. All roads were closed at that point but some who lived close enough departed for home. Police reports would later confirm what everyone knew would happen: accidents. A police officer in Perth County suffered major injuries when her vehicle was rear-ended. Two young people had just been in an accident and were sit- ting in the backseat of the cruiser at impact. At least four police cars in that county suffered damages during the whiteout conditions. There were 17 reports of accidents in Huron County and no one, thank- fully, suffered any serious type of inju- ries. All up and down southwestern Ontario, there were reports of vehicles leaving the road, rear -enders and mas- sive pileups on major highways. Two people died after a massive pileup on Highway 402. The day we never saw coming will be one we will never forget. I never made it in to work that day, and felt fortunate for the good com- pany at the restaurant in Dublin. I went from hustling to work to having my day slow to a crawl. It was eight or so hours away from the newsroom, replaced by reflection, good coffee, conversation and new friends. Winter scares like that put every- thing into perspective - life it too short, enjoy it and, if you haven't heard it enough, slow down. 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