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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-03-26, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015. Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Lori Patterson & Amanda Bergsma The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Fax 519-523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.northhuron.on.ca Looking Back Through the Years CCNA Member Member of the Ontario Press Council 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 N0G 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca March 22, 1962 A broomball team from Brussels captured its local championship, as well as the Red Cap Carling Trophy after defeating a team from Formosa by a score of 2-0. The cup had been held by a team from Exeter for the previous three years. It was now on display at one of the village’s stores. The Melville Young Women’s Guild was in the midst of planning for their annual spring bake sale and tea, which was to be held at the Brussels Library in late April. Bodmin Bridge, located on the fourth concession of Morris Township, was officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The structure cost $52,000 to construct. March 21, 1979 Ken and June Webster, the former owners of J&K Shoes and Jeans, took over the Brussels Inn from previous owners Terry and Moira Sugg, who had decided to move to Kitchener. The pair had grand plans, including a weekly Saturday matinee in the beverage room and a disco once a month. While they planned to change the name of the pizza restaurant, they planned on leaving the name of the hotel the same. The Brussels Business Association was busy in the planning stages for the upcoming Carnival Days celebration, including the announcement that a number of bluegrass bands would be performing there. The bands being considered by the association were the Kent County Pickers, Humber River Valley Boys and A Touch of Grass. About $1,500 in damage was caused at the garage of Wilbur Turnbull when a car drove into it over the weekend. There was no evidence to indicate who did the damage, so police were in the midst of investigating further. March 21, 1990 The Blyth Festival continued its tradition of promoting from within when it announced that Peter Smith would be the Festival’s new artistic director. Smith had been no stranger to Festival audiences, having appeared in the Blyth Festival productions of Girls in the Gang, The Mail Order Bride, The Right One and Another Season’s Promise. Slated to take over in his new capacity on May 1, Smith would soon begin working with previous Artistic Director Katherine Kaszas in her final year in the position. Smith had already spent some time working on the administrative side of the Festival, serving as the associate director the previous summer. According to The Citizen, Smith, who lived in Calgary, Alberta at the time, was planning on moving to Blyth with his wife Laurel and their son Matthew. Another child was expected later that spring. “He really impressed the Board [of Directors],” said Board Chair Carol Irwin. Those behind the newly-created Blyth Rutabaga Festival were in the midst of searching for a new logo for the festival. Organizers were also looking for a potential mascot for the festival as well. A meeting had been proposed to discuss the future of the George Radford Memorial Ball Diamond reconstruction project. An ongoing debate over costs associated with the project resulted in the need for a meeting as both sides found it difficult to come to a consensus. March 21, 2001 Some local municipalities had been informed that several of their street names were too overused and emergency services were suggesting the re-naming of several streets in order to reduce the overlapping. In Huron East, Clerk- Administrator Jack McLachlan presented council with a list of 20 overused street names that could be found within the municipality. Some overused street names were allowed to remain because they didn’t have similar address numbers. Others, however, like Church Street, which was used five times in Huron East alone, four of which featured overlapping numbers, needed to be changed, council was told. Proposed street name changes had to be submitted by March 31 in order to be officially considered. It was the start of a new era for the former Walton Public School property as Dorothy Cummings and her business Barmy Tech was the first to move into the building, which was being called the Walton Venture Centre. Cummings, who had run her business out of her home for years, said the building was perfect for the needs of her business, saying that she was able to begin there right away. “It was ready to move in with no renovations,” she said. An open house was planned for late April for both Barmy Tech and the rest of the Walton Venture Centre. It was to be an opportunity, Cummings said, for potential renters to see the building and what it had to offer, as well as talk to facility directors about the centre’s potential. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Combining for success The Ontario Minor Hockey Midget Championship captured this weekend by the Blyth Brussels Crusaders is another fine example of the two northern Huron communities working together for success. Several years ago when the two hockey-loving communities began to have problems finding enough players and coaches to keep their proud traditions alive, they made the brave decision to come together to pool their resources. It was much the same sort of thinking that brought shareholders of the two communities together 30 years ago to fund a newspaper to serve both villages when neither could have supported a paper by itself. The coaches of the champions say it took a while for their players to come together and meld themselves into a winning team. By doing so, they’ve done our area proud and brought two villages together in a united purpose. Congratulations to the players, coaches and to the visionary hockey leaders who created an organization that allowed this championship to happen. –KR Making the big, bigger Reacting to industry and government sources that the Ontario government is exploring letting retail giants like Loblaws and Walmart sell beer in their stores, the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers has, rightly, called for a level playing field. Politicians often lament the growing gap between the people at the very top of the income heap and the vast majority, but in cases like this, government is threatening to speed up the process. There’s no doubt the easiest deal for the province can make to try to reap more money from what is now The Beer Store monopoly, owned by the major, foreign-owned brewing companies, is to cut a deal with a handful of major retailing chains. It’s much simpler than dealing with hundreds of independent grocery stores or thousands of corner convenience stores. But by giving the exclusive contract to sell beer to major chains, the government would not only keep small retailers from profiting from selling beer like their major competitors, but would also make it more attractive to shop in the big stores. It’s a legitimate debate whether, in a free enterprise economy, governments should take specific action to help small retailers, but governments certainly shouldn’t be tipping the balance in favour of the giants at the expense of the little guys. –KR It’s called addiction The Public Interest Advocacy Centre this week released a report that said some Canadians are doing without food and healthcare so they can afford cellphone, internet and cable services. The Centre, in its report No Consumer Left Behind: A Canadian Affordability Framework for Communications Services in a Digital Age, had a solution: the federal government should make affordable communications a federal law. Currently, it said, people are paying $100- $212 a month for these services, averaging 7.67 per cent of their monthly income. The report once again raises the bar as to what’s seen as a “basic necessity”. In the 1930s nobody would have argued that government was somehow responsible for seeing every home could afford a radio. The same for a television in the 1950s or a newspaper any time in the past century. In those days, you couldn’t afford it, you did without. But digital communications seem to have a stronger hold on consumers than any of those earlier communications technologies. (There probably weren’t many people who did without food so they could afford a television.) Let’s face it, when people “need” something so badly they’ll give up the necessities of life like food, it’s called an addiction. The solution to helping crack addicts is not to provide them with affordable drugs. Certainly there are many benefits to families having the latest digital communications compared to other addictions, but we still need to help everyone, not only the poor, learn that missing out on 24/7 contact with Twitter and Facebook is not a hardship beyond bearing. –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.