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The Citizen, 2016-03-24, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2016. Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Lori Patterson & Brenda Nyveld The Citizen is published 50 times a year in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $36.00/year ($34.29 + $1.71 G.S.T.) in Canada; $160.00/year in U.S.A. and $205/year in other foreign countries. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Mon. 2 p.m. - Brussels; Mon. 4 p.m. - Blyth. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON NOG 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca The Citizen P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. NOM 1H0 NOG 1 HO Ph. 519-523-4792 Phone Fax 519-523-9140 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.northhuron.on.ca Canada ..ocna CCNA Member of the Ontario Press Council We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or Department of Canadian Heritage. photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright CMCA AUDITED Hidden gems are priceless The provincial government's announcement of a $3 3 million grant for Blyth's 14/19 initiative last week proves again how important it can be for a community to discover its hidden assets, and build on them. While the funding will support both the renovation of Blyth Memorial Hall and the establishment of the Canadian Centre for Rural Creativity in the former Blyth Public School, there's no doubt none of this would have happened if the community didn't have Memorial Hall. Community leaders nearly a century ago got all this started by deciding to build a superb theatre facility as a memorial to those who served and died in World War I. It's hard to remember now but after 50 years, that vision was only half -used — the downstairs meeting room busy but the upstairs theatre seldom used except for the annual Remembrance Day service. There were questions, when a structural flaw was discovered in the building's roof, if it was worth the cost of replacing the roof's superstructure. With groups like the Legion and seniors citizens leading the way, the community renewed its vision for the building in the fall of 1974. The Blyth Festival moved in the following summer and the building has welcomed around a million visitors since. In 1974, Memorial Hall was a small part of a main street that was a busy shopping centre for the surrounding countryside and didn't seem that important economically. Since then, changing shopping patterns have led to many of those shops closing, to be replaced by restaurants and other shops catering to those attending events at Memorial Hall. Without that building there would be many empty stores. And without the national reputation created by the building's major tenant, the Blyth Festival, there be no Canadian Centre for Rural Creativity. In these changing times, every town and village must ferret out hidden gems such as closed schools, scenic waterfronts or abandoned rail lines to spark reinvention of their communities. Blyth Memorial Hall shows what can happen. — KR The game comes first The news media may complain about the need for Senate reform, but when reform happens, they only seem capable of interpreting it in terms of the way games were played in the regime they complained about. Last week, for instance, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed seven new Senators to act independent of any political party. Rather than examine the qualifications of the new Senators, the media zeroed in on the issue of how the government could get legislation passed if it didn't have the ability to command Senators through their party allegiance. The new Senators seem to be a diverse group of accomplished, intelligent individuals. Aren't we better to have people like this giving "sober second thought" to legislation passed by the House of Commons than party hacks who will do the bidding of the government? The new system may have growing pains but we should trust these fine people to do what's best for the Canadian people. — KR The muddy world of ketchup The ketchup wars are over, but the oligopoly in grocery sales remains. Last week the ketchup hit the fan when the public reacted to an announcement by grocery giant Loblaws that it would no longer sell French's ketchup. Since the French's brand is produced in Leamington, in the plant that its rival Heinz had closed in 2014, and uses tomatoes grown in the Leamington area, a lot of consumers were outraged. After the issue exploded through social and main stream media and boycotts were threatened, Loblaws said it would continue to sell French's. In the meantime, a light was shone on the dirty little secrets of big- time retailing. Loblaws claimed its only reason for not selling French's was because customers weren't buying it. A leaked internal memo, however, suggested the real reason was that French's was cutting into the sales of Loblaws' own President's Choice brand. Meanwhile a retailing expert pointed out that major chains demand money from companies to give their products shelf space, and established competitors might buy out that space so their upstart rivals can't get traction. The grocery business today is so dominated by a handful of giant retailers that the open market is no longer "open". — KR Letters Policy The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and should include a daytime telephone number for the purpose of verification only. Letters that are not signed will not be printed. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity and content, using fair comment as our guideline. The Citizen reserves the right to refuse any letter on the basis of unfair bias, prejudice or inaccurate information. As well, letters can only be printed as space allows. Please keep your letters brief and concise. Mari 'nal4 ,.q111 dim 1110� obi Ism MIA Looking Back Through the Years March 25, 1959 Members of the Huron Beef Producers took a tour of Ohio, visiting a number of farms and feed lots. The trip, organized by the group's president, Robert McGregor, was cursed with poor weather for the duration of the trip. The Blyth Standard reported that Ohio farmland was very similar to that of Huron County, with the exception of that it was valued at between $500 and $600 per acre. Thirty-two members of the Blyth Women's Institute held their annual Sunshine Sisters banquet at Memorial Hall, while the Blyth United Church was in the midst of preparing for its annual Easter services. The 4-H Homemaking Club's achievement day was set to be held in Blyth on April 3. March 26, 1970 The Brussels Horticultural Society was busy planning its annual spring flower show at its March meeting. With 17 members and four guests present, the club decided that the flower show would also include a bake sale in order to help raise money for the organization. The Brussels Lions Club decided to think outside the box and hold a farmers' night for its members. Led by President Cal Krauter, the annual farmers' night was held at Melville Presbyterian Church. The evening's guest speaker was Don Pullen, an agricultural representative from the Clinton area. While farming was the topic of discussion that night, the Lions members also took time to plan ahead for their next event, their annual ladies' night, which would take place on April 13. March 19, 1986 After a series of closed -to -the - public meetings, Brussels Village Council and the Brussels Public Utilities Commissioners dismissed Clerk -Treasurer Stuart Parker from his duties with both organizations. Parker had been hired the previous April to replace Bill King, who retired from the position. He was still in his probation period when council made the decision to dismiss him. Reeve Hank Ten Pas said there were a number of "personality problems" and with the probationary period coming to an end, council had a decision to make, while it still could. With spring on the horizon, residents of four Blyth streets had gone through their last muddy spring thaw, as they were set to have their roads paved in Blyth Village Council's 1986 budget. McConnell, Wellington and King Streets, all east of Morris Street, would be paved in the coming years, as well as Dinsley Street west of Gypsy Lane. The four roads would cost the village $32,000. Considerable discussion had also been had regarding the potential paving of Hamilton Street east of Morris Street, but in the end councillors decided not to go any further than discussion. Plans for the new Brussels swimming pool were set for a June 1 opening, pool building committee chairman Paul Mutter told Brussels Village Council. Blyth councillors said they would not support a viewpoint of Clinton Town Council suggesting that the second and third years of a three- year salary agreement between Huron County and its department heads be set aside. Despite a letter from Clinton council calling the salaries "exorbitant", Blyth would not support the salary review. Councillor Tom Cronin said he was in favour of the three-year plan, because it came after a salary freeze. During the salary freeze, he said, the county fell behind other areas paying for the same job. March 27, 2002 The Blyth Midget Bulldogs completed their provincial championship run with a 5-1 victory over Sunderland in the team's final game of the year. With the victory, Blyth had then claimed six all -Ontario hockey championships. Micah Loder led the team that game with two goals, complemented by single goals from Matt Bromley, Rob Archambault and Neil Salverda. Huron East Council was deep within its budget deliberations and had a number of different factors to consider. One of them, however, was not recreation in Brussels, as the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre boasted a healthy surplus heading in the 2002 budget year. Treasurer Brad Knight cautioned council about getting too optimistic, however, as the numbers reflected more than 12 months of rental revenue and therefore were slightly misleading. The Brussels Curling Club ended its year on a high note and handed out one of its most prestigious trophies, the D.A. Rann trophy. For 2002, the hardware went to the team of Marilyn Jones, John Dorsch, Jo -Ann McDonald and Skip Stewart Steiss.