Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-11-03, Page 1INSIDE THIS WEEK: SPORTS - Pg. 9 Huron East Centenaires to play game in Brussels FARM - Pg. 18 Local goat farm opens state-of-the-art facility MAKEOVER - Pg. 27 Locals return from Toronto show with new looks Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON NOG 1H0 C1t1Z Volume 32 No. 43 n $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, November 3, 2016 Here comes hockey! With local soccer and baseball fields frosted over several times in recent weeks and the leaves changing colour and falling to the ground, it can only mean one thing for Huron County: hockey season is here. Many teams are still only playing their first few games of the year and getting their skating legs ready for the ice. Here, the Blyth Brussels Novice Local League Crusaders took on the Listowel Cyclones and came up on the short side of a 4-0 score on Sunday afternoon at the Blyth and District Community Centre. (Shawn Loughlin photo) Blyth 140th kick-off hailed as a success By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen A number of initiatives connected to Blyth's 140th celebration next year were officially launched on Saturday at the Beer and Brats in Blyth event in the main street parking lot. The event, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 1, but was moved due to weather concerns, served as the official kick-off event for next year's village anniversary. It featured music from Sal's Alley, barbecued sausages from Scrimgeour's, beer and games from Blyth Cowbell Brewing Company and the opportunity to be among the first on the list to get into the 140th anniversary spirit. Members of the Blyth 140th Committee had a successful day taking preorders for a number of items related to the anniversary. The Friends of the Village of Blyth group was selling preorders for the custom -bred daylily, which was announced in The Citizen just a few weeks ago, and members of the committee also used the event as an opportunity to make residents aware for the first time of a number of projects related to the anniversary. At Saturday's event, people heard that organizers are in the process of creating a calendar to help commemorate the year 2017 in Blyth and that a New Year's Levee is also in the works to help kick off Blyth's anniversary year. While many of the details for the Levee have yet to be worked out, organizers will be hosting a day of fun for the whole family in Blyth on Jan. 1. Specific activities, time and location, however, have yet to be determined. The group was also taking preorders for blue and red ribbons that could be seen adorning lightposts along the village's main street last week leading up to Saturday's event. Lissa Kolkman of the anniversary committee says she hopes members of the community will get in the spirit of the anniversary and really work to help decorate the village by placing several ribbons on their homes next year. Bunting will also be available in the same anniversary colours. For many, Saturday was the first time they were able to try Cowbell's Doc Perdue's Bobcat, the company's second beer in the Founders Series, while its first beer, Absent Landlord, was also on tap. Due to a North America -wide can shortage, Bobcat has yet to be canned and sold in LCBO stores, but it has been on tap at restaurants throughout Huron County for weeks and at events like the Rural Talks to Rural conference in Blyth in September and Saturday's event. Kolkman said she felt the event was a great one and with over 200 people attending, next year's anniversary is already off to a great start. To keep up with the Blyth 140th Anniversary, scheduled for the last weekend in July, 2017, or to preorder the calendar, daylily or ribbons and bunting, find the anniversary's page on Facebook. Clark announces new calling, will leave in 2017 By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Blyth and Brussels United Church Minister Gary Clark announced on Sunday, a joint Anniversary Service for both churches, that he would be leaving in 2017. Clark told members of the congregation that he felt called to serve elsewhere, although exactly where that is he isn't quite sure yet. In an interview with The Citizen, Clark said he began feeling as though it was time to move on last winter or spring. It's a complicated feeling, Clark says, to be called by God from a community where he has established deep roots, has many friends and has done plenty of work, not just on behalf of the church, but with the Blyth Lions Club and several committees and community groups. Leaving the communities of Blyth and Brussels for a location that has yet to be determined, however, is how Clark would prefer it if he is called to leave. He said it's important that one congregation doesn't feel as though it's being left for another. Clark says it's simply a calling from God that it's time to move on. Where he'll be moving, he said, he doesn't know, but he has faith that the next step will be the right direction. If he didn't have that faith in God, he said, how could he preach it to his congregations on Sundays? Clark says that he plans on leaving in June, 2017, which will give the United Churches of Blyth and Brussels time to find a good replacement for him who will work well with the communities. The decision to move on, Clark says, has not come as a result of anything the congregations did or didn't do. He says he's moving on almost in spite of the members of the community who he's come to love so much. Leaving when he is happy and the congregation and churches are in such good shape, he said, is in many ways an indicator that it's time to move on. It's a difficult decision, but that's another indicator that God is challenging Clark, he said. "God never calls us to do what's easy," he said. Blyth RD service set for arena By Denny Scott The Citizen The annual Remembrance Day service in Blyth has been moved to the Blyth and District Community Centre on Nov. 11 as a result of the ongoing renovations to Blyth Memorial Hall. Royal Canadian Legion President Ric McBurney explained to The Citizen that, aside from the venue, nothing else should change from the event except where the Legion parade starts. "We're going to have the parade come from the parking lot into the centre and up the stairs," he said. The service is set to start at 10:45 a.m. with the parade members scheduled to arrive at the community centre at 10:15 a.m. McBurney said the lift at the site should be in full operation for those with mobility issues. The Legion's poppy campaign started over the weekend and poppies are available at local businesses prior to the event. McBurney said he believes this is the only official Legion function that will be displaced from Memorial Hall and said that other events, like the recently held Blyth Legion Ladies Auxiliary Bingo night, have found the temporary space at the community centre to be welcoming and conducive to the events. Sunday, he said, was an emotional day for him, looking out into the joint congregation and telling so many he calls friends that he would Continued on page 26 D ht Saving Ends Clocks go back one hour Sunday, Nov. 6 at 2 am tib