HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-05-12, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2016.
Stewart receives one of Lions' highest honours
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
A long-time member of the Blyth
Lions Club has been awarded the
second-highest honour a Lion can
receive.
John Stewart, who has been a
member of the local club for
decades, was awarded the
Presidential Medal from Lions Club
International at the District A9
banquet, which was held on April 30
in Owen Sound.
Just under the Ambassador of
Good Will award, the Presidential
Medal is the second-highest award a
Lion can receive and Stewart said he
was a little surprised to find out he
was being honoured this way.
Only approximately 100 of the
awards are distributed worldwide
each year, Stewart said. As he and
his wife and fellow Lion member
Mary Lou sat at the banquet
together, the presenters began to run
down Stewart's numerous
achievements, but it was only when
they really narrowed it down that he
knew they were talking about him.
The winner, the speakers
announced, had been a president of
his local Lions Club and a Zone
Chair. However, looking around the
room, Stewart said, half the people
there could have applied. But as they
began to narrow it down and said the
winner was the current Multiple
District A Secretary, Stewart knew it
was him — because there's only one
of those.
Stewart described his response to
the award as "shock and surprise"
but added that he was certainly
honoured to receive the award.
The award is special to him, he
said, because it takes into account
not only his work with the Lions, but
his contribution to his community as
well outside of the world of the
Lions Club.
Recognized
John Stewart, who has been part of the Blyth Lions for
decades, received the Presidential Medal from Lions Club
International. The medal is the second-highest honour a
Lion can receive. (Photo submitted)
M -T scraps cat policy
Morris-Turnberry Council
scrapped a policy that was intended
to give the animal control bylaw
officer the ability to subdue cats he
felt were ill in favour of a wider -
reaching policy.
The policy, which staff was
directed to craft once Morris-
Turnberry councillors decided a
bylaw controlling cats wasn't the
way to handle feline issues being
reported throughout the
municipality, wasn't ideal according
to council members including
Dorothy Kelly who felt it may leave
the municipality open to litigation.
The policy empowered the
municipality's animal control
officer, through the animal control
bylaw, to handle any felines that he
or she felt were ill.
Councillor John Smuck, however,
disagreed with Kelly, stating that the
animal control bylaw officer should
have the ability to handle any
animals that pose a possible danger,
regardless of species.
Staff suggested that such a ruling
would be better enforced by a policy,
similar to the cat policy, that would
need to be brought forward and
discussed at a future meeting.
Hitting the road
Four Walks for Alzheimer's were held across Huron County on Saturday, raising money for the
Alzheimer Society of Huron County. One of the biggest teams at the Clinton event was Team
Howie, named for Howard Bernard of Brussels. His wife Joan, his children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren were named the honorary family for this year's walk. Exercising their legs
and showing their true colours for Team Howie that day were, from left: Collin Kikkert, Jillian
Hilt and Evan Kikkert, with Josiah Hilt being pushed in the stroller. (Vicky Bremner photo)
Council not closing arenas: MacLellan
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
With controversy swirling around
the future of recreation in Huron
East, Mayor Bernie MacLellan has
reassured the public that the
municipality is not looking to close
arenas.
After a conversation about
recreation costs at Huron East's May
3 meeting, MacLellan read a
prepared statement insisting that no
councillor has suggested closing any
of Huron East's arenas or changing
the level of service they provide.
"I have heard that members of the
public think that council will either
close an arena or not offer the full
service next year to save money,"
MacLellan said. "However, I don't
think any councillor has said such a
thing, but rather council has been
reviewing the escalating cost of
operating the recreation centres.
Council does need to figure out what
level of municipal assistance is
acceptable to the ratepayers of
Huron East. Everyone pays for all
municipal services through the
general levy, whether [they] use
them or not."
MacLellan said that if councillors
and ratepayers want to keep the level
of services they've come to know
and enjoy, then the money has to
come from somewhere in an era of
dramatic provincial funding
clawbacks and escalating costs for
utilities and policing that don't look
to stabilize any time soon.
"If council wants to keep all the
services that Huron East currently
provides, then we need to accept that
the trend of double-digit municipal
tax increases will continue for the
rest of the term and maybe even into
the next if we can't find more
efficient and cost-effective ways of
delivering the services to the
public," he said.
Despite earlier conversations this
year about serving Huron East with
only one community centre and
repurposing another — perhaps as an
indoor soccer facility — councillors
nodded in agreement with
MacLellan's statement.
Deputy -Mayor Joe Steffler
concurred with MacLellan, saying
that Huron East Council does not
want to close arenas and if there is a
councillor who wants that, that
councillor will not be popular with
Huron East ratepayers.
Grey Ward Councillor Dianne
Diehl said the public in the north
end of the municipality, including
the Grey and Brussels Wards, needs
to be engaged in the process,
because Huron East Council
currently isn't very popular there.
See histories and historic
photographs on the
Huron History section
of our website
www.northhuron.on.ca
"We need some damage control in
the north," she said, adding that
council has lost the support of the
Brussels Lions Club, which is very
concerning.
Diehl said that she and Brussels
Councillor John Lowe had talked
about potentially holding a public
meeting in Brussels to assure the
public that council isn't looking to
close community centres in Brussels
or in any other parts of the
municipality.
Brussels Councillor David Blaney
agreed that the Lions Club isn't very
happy right now and that members
should be part of the strategic
planning sessions.
He suggested that engaging
members of the public in the process
could be helpful for a number of
reasons, not the least of which
would be brainstorming
programming ideas.
"We could see a lot of ideas that
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519-523-9687
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Municipality of
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Municipality of Morris-Turnberry will be held:
Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. Regular Council Meeting,
instead of 7:30 pm as
previously advertised.
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