The Citizen, 2015-07-23, Page 9THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2015. PAGE 9.
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Wants to Hear from You!
The CitizenThe Citizen
Wants to Hear from You!
Radford looks at
origins of sayings
Did you ponder on the word
‘curfew’ this past week? The French
phrase “couvre-feu” means ‘cover
the fire’ and refers to the time at
night of blowing out the lamps and
candles.
In the Middle Ages that phrase
became the English ‘curfeu’ which
became the modern ‘curfew’. In the
first pioneer homes there were no
real fireplaces so a fire was often
built in the centre of the room. To
prevent house fires in the night it
was required that all fires be
covered, at an agreed upon time,
with a clay pot called, a ‘curfew’.
I guess the heated exchanges that
might result when someone, a
teenager perhaps, misses a modern
curfew is the connection for the
word.
Now, here is a new saying to
ponder: passing the buck. A little
hint, the phrase has nothing to do
with money.
This past weekend many folk were
looking to spend time indoors out of
the heat and humidity. A nugget of
information I picked up at an event
on the weekend is that it was a hot
July 2, 1902 when air conditioning
was invented – aren’t we all
thankful!
The day this report was filed, July
20, was the anniversary of Neil
Armstrong’s walk on the surface of
the moon back in 1969.
Although recovered nicely from
hip surgery at the end of April,
Martin Wilts spent most of last week
in hospital in London dealing with
complications in preparation for
cancer treatment. Keep him and
Janie in your thoughts and prayers
for the next while.
Typical of small communities
where news seems to spread through
ESP, many folk in the area knew of
the passing of one of
Londesborough’s residents even
before the church phone chain got
going. Ann Adams and family will
need your support and comfort as
they come to terms with the very
sudden passing of Murray last
Saturday evening.
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NEWS
FROM LONDESBORO
By BRENDA
RADFORD
Call
523-4296
PEOPLE AROUND
LONDESBORO
Up, up and away
Townsend Tire in Londesborough celebrated its 20th anniversary on Saturday and a
significant aspect of the event involved getting a view of the world from far above. Those in
attendance were treated to helicopter rides (if they had the courage). Here, Dean Vincent,
takes a spin around the community, getting the best view available. (Vicky Bremner photo)
The Benmiller Community Hall
Committee received a big boost in
its effort to renovate the township
structure and make it more
accessible.
Last Thursday, Huron-Bruce MP
Ben Lobb announced that the
committee would be receiving
$50,000 from the Federal Enabling
Accessibility Fund to help with
planned renovations to the building.
The amount is the maximum
available through the program.
Committee Chair Gina
McDonnell explained that the
money was an important step.
“The building needs some TLC,”
she said. “It’s totally inaccessible to
people with mobility issues. When
you go in the front door, there are
stairs up and stairs down. We wanted
to put in a lift and accessible
washrooms on both levels to make it
more user-friendly and more
rentable.”
The entire project will cost
$450,000 according to McDonnell,
however the project will need to be
completed by November, 2016, to fit
in with the fund’s guidelines.
To that end, the committee
approached Ashfield-Colborne-
Wawanosh (ACW) Township
Council – the township purchased
the building four years ago from the
local chapter of the Foresters – and
asked for help.
Council agreed to help and
eventually decided to provide bridge
funding for the group to cover the
cost of the renovations until they
could raise all the necessary funds.
Whether that means the entire
$450,000 or just the first phase of
the project, which includes a lift and
renovated washrooms in the lower
level of the structure, however,
remains to be seen.
“We’re aware the project may be
done in phases,” McDonnell said.
“We may not be able to do the full
job by this deadline, but that’s
something we haven’t figured out
just yet.”
To date the committee has raised
approximately $160,000 through
this fund, other grants and
fundraising, though McDonnell said
they haven’t really started a local
fundraising campaign.
“We plan on canvassing local
business and private individuals,”
she said. “What we’ve raised has
been from local events at the site.
“We’re also hoping to put in a
Trillium grant application this
summer as well to help with the
renovations,” she said.
Modernizing the hall is an
important step for the community,
McDonnell said, because it is one of
the few meeting places Benmiller
has left.
“We formed the committee fairly
recently because the township was
tired of spending money on it,” she
said. “It got rented a little bit, but not
a lot and it needed more. There
were local citizens worried
about losing it like we lost the
local church across the road.”
ACW Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek
said that he felt the group is doing
good work and was fortunate to
receive the funding.
“The township had to put in the
application, so Gina has been
working with [ACW Clerk] Mark
Becker,” he said. “They got the
information right, got the
application in and got the funding. It
will go a long way to making that
hall more accessible.”
With such a high price tag, council
was originally considering other
options for the structure including
replacing it with a smaller building
with just washrooms for the nearby
baseball diamonds, which see
regular use. However, with the
history the building has, McDonnell
said it was important to preserve it.
“The building is an 1880 school
house that was still in use in the late
1960s,” she said. “After that, the
Foresters used it until four years ago
when the township received it.”
The committee, which currently
includes 19 members, is looking for
individuals to help and welcomes all
donations.
For more information, or to get
involved, contact McDonnell at 519-
524-9394.
MEETING NOTICE
MUNICIPALITY OF
MORRIS-TURNBERRY
The upcoming meeting for the
Municipality of Morris-Turnberry will be held:
Tuesday, July 28 at 7:30 pm
Joint Council Meeting with the Township of North Huron
Purpose — Wingham & Area Industrial Land Strategy
Being held at the Emergency Services Training Centre, Blyth
Benmiller Hall receives funding
By Denny Scott
The Citizen