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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-06-23, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016. Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Lori Patterson, Brenda Nyveld & Dawn MacLeod 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 Have a great party Residents of the former Grey Township and their friends are getting together this weekend to celebrate the community's 160th anniversary. Events such as this as so important in community building. They bring people, both current and former residents, together — something that seems more and more rare in this age of electronic communications. They remind us of our shared history and by showing us where we came from, give us a little perspective. They build new generations of community leadership by bringing volunteers together to make the event a success. So to our Grey readers and former residents who have come home, have a great party. To residents of other areas, start planning your own celebrations. Besides having a good time, there's so much to gain. — KR Any place but Canada Word leaked out last week that the National Hockey League is planning to expand to Las Vegas, but not to Quebec City which had also been seeking a franchise — showing the league's obsession with putting teams in cities with no history of hockey ahead of cities in the country that gave birth to the game continues. For nearly 50 years NHL owners and executives have been chasing the dream of the same sort of big -money U.S. television contract that has pumped billions into the pockets of owners (and players) of baseball, football and basketball teams. To get that kind of deal, however, they know they need teams in cities across all regions of the U.S. They also know U.S. television audiences have no real interest in watching teams from Toronto, Montreal or Calgary. So beginning with the 1967 expansion (ironically, Canada's centennial year), the NHL doubled in size with all the teams going to U.S. cities. Today Canada has seven teams compared to two back then but few came because the NHL wanted Canadian teams. Some of those teams came about because the rebel World Hockey League awarded Canadian franchises that later joined the NHL when the leagues merged. Several of those teams in cities like Calgary and Winnipeg were franchises that failed in southern U.S. cities the NHL really favoured so league owners were willing to have Canadians bail out their failures. Meanwhile the big money U.S. television contract has remained illusive. The biggest media jackpot has come from Rogers Media in Canada which bought the NHL television rights for $5.2 billion. This money, ironically, has helped prop up some money-losing teams in southern U.S. cities where hockey just hasn't caught on despite the dreams of NHL owners and executives. And in the long run, Quebec City may get its team when another of these southern franchises fails and needs to be rescued by Canadian hockey fans and owners. That seems to be the only time the NHL will accept Canadian cities for the game we invented. — KR Reliving the wild west Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican Party candidate in this fall's U.S. presidential election, has a simple solution (doesn't he always have simple solutions?) to end mass shootings like the one that killed 49 people in a Florida night club last week. Trump argued that if more of the people in the club had been carrying their own weapons when that gunman entered the club and started shooting, they could have shot him (Trump demonstrated in a speech holding an imaginary gun an inch from his head and pulling an imaginary trigger) and it would have been all over. This is the gospel according to the National Rifle Association. The problem isn't that there are too many guns in the U.S., it's that there are too few. When a gunman killed 20 children in an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, pro -gun supporters countered calls for tighter gun control by arguing that if teachers has been armed, they could have shot the killer and protected their students. In fact pro -gun organizations like the Crime Prevention Research Centre would argue that the fact the Orlando night club billed itself as a "gun -free zone" actually put its patrons at risk because the killer saw it as an easy target (though the club had an armed security guard). What's hard to imagine, and what the pro -gun lobbyists never mention, is how many people might have been killed and injured in the cross-fire if every patron of the club carried a gun, pulled it out and tried to gun down the gunman. Maybe it's the death of television series and movies about the old west that has made Americans blase about people carrying guns. It was a story -line staple in those old westerns about the lawless towns where everyone carried a gun and people were in constant danger until a courageous lawman came to town, banned carrying hand guns and brought peace, order and civilization. The pro -gun lobby seems to want to return to the "freedom" of the frontier society without learning the lessons people of those days learned. — KR Iliilikw;"'" .iii i Looking Back Through the Years June 24, 1959 A fire of unknown origin burned the back kitchen and wood shed adjoining the main house of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ross Anderson of Belgrave in the early morning hours of the previous Saturday. The fire was noticed shortly after 3:30 a.m., by a couple from Wingham as they drove past the house. Fire departments from both Blyth and Wingham attended the fire and it took them over three hours to get the blaze under control. The Blyth Standard reported that the main part of the Andersons' home was damaged as a result of the fire, smoke and water associated with the incident. June 25, 1970 Mrs. A. Edwin Martin, a teacher at Brussels Public School, hosted a special piano recital at the school, where a number of her pupils performed for those in attendance. Seventy people were in the audience and witnessed students from Grades 1 to 9 perform a number of piano solos, 14 duets and one trio. Bluevale's John Brent served as chairman for the special event. In his regular report to his constituents, Huron -Bruce MPP Murray Gaunt said that a Liberal bid to immediately begin preparations for hearings on the economic impact of new County Boards of Education was turned down by the Legislature's Committee on Education and University Affairs. Gaunt wrote that as a member of the committee, he and members of his riding were very concerned about the issue and that his residents wanted to ensure they were getting good value for their tax dollars. June 18, 1986 Despite the recent controversy facing Blyth Village Council after the resignation of long-time Clerk - Treasurer Larry Walsh, the following council meeting was relatively quiet, with no mention of the "turmoil" facing council. The Citizen reported the increased media presence at the meeting, which included a television reporter, but little was said to address the situation. The Ontario Provincial Police were still in the midst of investigating the situation and said that a decision regarding the investigation could come as early as later in the week. Approximately 200 people were in attendance for a special parade held to celebrate the opening of the new Brussels Lions Pool. The parade was led by the Brussels Legion Pipe Band and included members of the Brussels Fire Department, clowns and children riding bicycles they decorated especially for the event. The grand opening was marked by a special appearance by Huron County Warden Leona Armstrong, who helped officially open the pool to members of the public. The contract for paving portions of four Blyth streets was awarded to Lavis Contracting in Clinton. The total cost of the paving project was $32,416.45. The project came in slightly above estimates, which had predicted that the project would cost the town just over $30,000. The Blyth Festival opened its 12th season with a special gala dinner, which featured Ross Daily as the guest speaker. Daily was the agriculture and business editor at CFPL Television in London. The food for the special dinner was served to those in attendance by the Blyth United Church Women. June 26, 2002 Three artists who were busy working at the Blyth Festival during the summer of 2002 were honoured with Dora Mayor Moore Awards. Michael Healey, a playwright, was honoured for his work on Plan b, which was named the year's best play. Healey's The Drawer Boy premiered in 1995 and went on to achieve major success throughout North America. The play returned to Blyth for the 2002 season and was set to premiere on Aug. 7. The other two Dora Awards went to set and costume designer Victoria Wallace and then to Gil Garratt. It was Wallace's work on The Bald Soprano and the Lesson at Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto that won her best set and costume design, while Garratt was named the year's best actor in a theatre for young audiences for his work in Danny, King of the Basement, on which he worked with David S. Craig, another playwright who was no stranger to the Blyth Festival, having written Fires in the Night in 1988. The Bluewater Kennel Club was set to bring its annual dog show to Blyth once again. The 2002 event would be the organization's 20th. The Western Ontario Athletic Association celebrated its 60th anniversary and one of the special guests at the ceremony in Wingham was Ron Mason, the winningest coach in college hockey history. Mason, who was born in Blyth, coached at various American colleges before becoming the head of the athletic department for the Michigan State Spartans.