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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-03-19, Page 15THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2015. PAGE 15. Taking home the hardware A number of PeeWee broomball players were honoured earlier this month at the Blyth broomball organization’s annual year-end banquet. Back row, from left: Maleah Taylor, most dedicated; Evie Reid, most dedicated; Mason Wain, most improved and Dawson Hoggart, most dedicated. Front row, from left: Dixon Shoemaker, most dedicated; Elianna Kreuger, most improved; Ben Buttar, most improved and Kayla Cowan, most improved. (Vicky Bremner photo) Honoured The various broomball teams of Blyth handed out their year-end awards earlier this month in a special ceremony. Honoured from the PeeWee and Atom teams were, back row, from left: Addie Treble, most improved; Robyn McPhee, most dedicated; Travis Wilts, most improved and Connor Flynn, most dedicated. Front row, from left: Tori Kennedy, most improved; Jordan Rutledge, most improved; Audrey Kreuger, most dedicated and Ethan Buttar, most dedicated. (Vicky Bremner photo) Good job A number of Blyth-based broomball players were honoured earlier this month at the organization’s annual year-end banquet. Honoured among the Bantam and Midget teams were, from left: Ryan Forbes, most dedicated; Nicolas Dunsmore, most improved; Tyler Westerhout, most improved; Josh Scott, most dedicated; Cody Bos, most dedicated and Matt Van Dorp, most improved. (Vicky Bremner photo) Continued from page 12 problem of bullying? In a few weeks, we are going to celebrate Good Friday. It’s an odd adjective to use for that particular Friday, for if we consider the events of that day, we would not call it good. Crucifixions are more brutal than beheadings and more cruel than the electric chair. Jesus was crucified on a cross on a Friday about 2000 years ago, and it did not seem like a good day. It seemed like a day when all the goodness was sucked out of life. Yet, for Christians, we call this Friday good. It is good for us because it was on that day that God offered to us a renewed relationship with himself. Even though we had walked away from him, he came after us, and he gave his Son so that we could become his children once again. It was in his self-sacrifice that Jesus gave to all who would put their trust in him the right to be called God’s children. Those of us who call ourselves Christians understand the significance of that Friday so long ago. We understand that the first step was taken to restore goodness to this world, even though that step took place in the presence of terrible evil. Jesus suffered the fullness of the evil of this world so that we could be restored. As Christians, people who trust Jesus and follow him, we believe that Jesus has introduced a new way of life to us. It is actually the old way reintroduced. We know that our first task is to take care of the rest of creation. That means that we love our neighbours as ourselves. Because of that, when someone is hungry, we understand that it is our responsibility to feed them. When someone is bullied or abused, we are quick to speak on their behalf and even stand beside them and take the blows if necessary. We understand that because God created this world to be good, each creature has its rightful place, and we must be alert to the destruction of habitats of endangered species. We understand that when we ourselves suffer harm or violence, we do not retaliate with greater force but rather we turn the other cheek. We offer ourselves to others and to the world to care for both people and the rest of creation. We do this self-sacrificially and with joy. We do this because we are God’s children. We recognize that God has determined how we should best live and submit ourselves to his will. In this way, because God has given us a relationship with himself, renewing what was lost, we strive to restore goodness to this world. Our goal is not to make this world perfect again. That would be impossible. But we can bring back some of the goodness that has been lost. We can restore things to how they were intended to be. And, as we do that, we make life just a little better for all. We do it because we no longer live for ourselves, but for the Lord. Do Christians do this well all the time? Certainly not. Perhaps you are one of those who has seen someone who calls themselves a Christian take away goodness from the world instead of restoring it. Sadly, it does happen. Followers of Jesus Christ don’t have it all figured out, nor do we do as well as we could. But let’s not judge Good Friday and God’s intention to restore goodness to the world by the failure of some. Rather, let’s take a moment and consider again what the biblical narrative tells us: that the root of our problems is found in our walking away from God, and the solution to our problems begins with a renewed relationship with God. Renewing relationship with God is the solution to all worldly problems CHIP grant approved despite not meeting county grant criteria Despite information from Treasurer Michael Blumhagen that a grant request from the Coalition for Huron Injury Prevention (CHIP) does not comply with the county’s grant policies, Huron County Council approved one in the amount of $5,000 to the group. Representatives from CHIP made their request official at the Feb. 4 council meeting, but it was at council’s March 11 committee of the whole that council officially approved it, though the decision wasn’t without its dissenters. Blumhagen told council that the county has been supporting the group since its inception in 2002 and the organization has become dependent on the county, something council has sought to avoid in its grant policy. Huron East Mayor Bernie MacLellan spoke against the grant first, saying that a dependency on the county is clear and if an organization is going to keep “coming back and coming back” to council looking for funding, he felt it was time to cut it loose. Goderich Mayor Kevin Morrison agreed with MacLellan, saying that if the county was to continue to support CHIP, it would set a dangerous precedent that other organizations could seek to exploit, saying that if the county is the sole supporter for one organization, in the spirit of fairness, it should be for others as well. Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek said that if CHIP didn’t receive its money at the county level, representatives would then lobby lower-tier municipalities for funding, as they had in the past. North Huron Reeve Neil Vincent, however, said he saw value in CHIP, especially its outreach into the senior citizen community with safe driving courses, and felt the county should support the group. Vincent acknowledged that the grant would be against county policy, but said that if councillors felt there was value added by the service, then the county should continue to support it. Council approved a motion to support the $5,000 grant request with direction that it be taken from the county’s “unforeseen” account, as had been planned over the course of budget deliberations.