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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-10-22, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2015. Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Lori Patterson 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 October 24, 1979 Farmers and the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority were busy working to control erosion along the Belgrave Creek. According to the Authority, the Belgrave Creek was one of the few remaining trout streams in the Maitland River area, but it was experiencing soil erosion problems due to livestock trampling and vegetation removal. Ross Taylor and Murray Scott, two landowners along the creek, agreed to work with the Authority on the project to help solve the problem. Merle Gunby was re-elected president of the Huron County Federation of Agriculture for another term at the organization’s annual general meeting, which was held in Brussels. Gerry Fortune was elected as the organization’s vice-president for the upcoming term. The Brussels Arthritic Society surpassed its goal of $800 in donations during the Oct. 11 blitz, which netted the group $816.94, with still some more to come, as the money collected during the postal walk had yet to be counted. October 24, 1990 Knox United Church in Cranbrook had cause to celebrate as its congregation was marking the 125th anniversary of the church, with a history dating back to 1855. Brussels Public School was home to a student who suffered a case of meningitis. Parents of Brussels students were informed of the case by Dr. Maarten Bokhout, Huron County Medical Officer of Health, who assured parents that everything was under control. Bokhout said that if the condition was kept under control, Huron County would stay with its historic meningitis numbers, which were typically two or three cases per year in a county of over 55,000 people. After many Huron County crops had been hurt by weeks of wet weather, farmers were encouraged by sunny weather that had come in recent days. October 24, 2001 All of the elementary schools in The Citizen’s coverage area had been named in a list prepared by the Avon Maitland District School Board as schools that could potentially close through the course of a review. Blyth, Brussels, Hullett Central, East Wawanosh, Turnberry Central and Grey Central Public Schools had all been named in the review, but at the time, those involved with the school board said it was unlikely they would all close, if any. “It’s obvious, however, that not all could be closed and, as the staff report states, ‘due to the large number of elementary schools (a consolidation of elementary schools) has many possible combinations,” The Citizen reported. A number of Grey Fire Department members were honoured for their years of service at the Medal Investiture Ceremony, which had been held at the Delta Armouries in London. The Fire Services Long-Standing Medal was presented to Jim Stephenson, 30 years; Bob Alexander, 40 years; Gary Earl, 25 years and Ron Cardiff, 30 years. October 23, 2014 The newly-formed Brussels Leo Club, a youth group sponsored by the Brussels Lions Club, was approved for its first-ever grant. The grant came courtesy of Libro Credit Union and it was the beginning of the club’s sports pad project that was envisioned for the land beside the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. Leo Club President Sean Mitchell said that he and the other members of the club were thrilled when they were told the grant had been approved. Over 100 applications had been received and only 39 were approved, so Mitchell said that made members feel as though the project had real merit. Blyth artist Kelly Stevenson took the top prize at the Huron County Art Show thanks to her work The Harvest: Cultivating Mechanisms. Stevenson had a great year creatively. First she was one of the youngest artists in recent memory to have an exhibition of her own at the Blyth Festival Art Gallery with Who Heals You and then she won the Huron County Art Show and had her piece accepted into the Huron County Art Bank. Glammis native Allan Thompson was selected to represent the Huron- Bruce riding of the Liberal Party of Canada, defeating Blyth-area doctor Maarten Bokhout. Thompson’s name was put forth by former MPP Murray Elston. In his speech to the Liberal supporters, Thompson pledged to work hard to win the riding back for the Liberals by committing to building up the rural economy. The Blyth Witches Walk hosted over 1,500 people at its new location behind the Blyth and District Community Centre after several years on the Blyth Greenway Trail. With the weather proving wild and unpredictable, the walk was moved indoors, however, for the first time in its history. 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 We’re still here! The late Sheila Richards, co-founder of The Citizen, was always a little irked by the comments of a former president of the Ontario Community Newspaper Association. When quoted, in a daily newspaper article on the founding of our community-owned newspaper back in 1985, the man seemed to cast doubt on the paper’s future when he spoke about the difficulty of keeping a small town newspaper alive. Sheila would take pride, if she were here today in saying “We’re still here!” It was 30 years ago this coming Friday, October 23, when the first issue of The Citizen rolled off the press. It was several hours late because, thanks to the efforts of our first advertising sales representative Bev Brown, and the extraordinary support from the Brussels and Blyth business communities that purchased advertising, we were putting out a 32-page issue, and the skills of those doing the work were a little rusty. Since that exhausting first edition, there have been 1,500 issues of The Citizen published as well as numerous special sections for community homecomings, the Blyth Festival, the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association and the annual spring salute to agriculture, among others. We’ve created the tourist magazine Stops Along the Way and repatriated The Rural Voice, which was originally founded in Blyth 40 years ago but had gone on to a succession of other owners. We have become a significant employer in the community. All this was made possible by many unceasingly dedicated staff over many years. We’ve also been assisted by countless volunteers who do everything from contributing photos to sending in news from their community to delivering newspapers to distant post offices. We wouldn’t be here without community support, especially from local businesses that advertise through the pages of The Citizen and therefore pay the bills to keep us going. It takes a lot of money to print a paper, pay postage and compensate staff. Thanks too, to the thousands of you who have subscribed and continue to subscribe. And then, of course, there’s the very special contribution of the dozens of area residents who voted with their dollars to show their belief in their community, buying shares in North Huron Publishing Company. So after 30 years, we’re still here and going stronger than ever. In this business – in any business – it’s foolish to make big predictions for the future. All we can say, is that if you’ll continue to support us, we’ll work hard to give you the best community newspaper we can. — KR Here’s hoping One of the most encouraging aspects of the Justin Trudeau Liberals’ astonishing win in Monday’s federal election was that it was, for the most part, accomplished without the bitter negativity of attack ads that has come to characterize recent elections. Instead Trudeau focussed on hope and positiveness. Well here’s hoping that now that he is about to become Prime Minister, Trudeau doesn’t forget his promises to make our political system less partisan and more productive. Others have promised change before but once in office, the temptations to maintain control of government and reward party loyalists has often been too much to resist. For instance, Trudeau has promised to create a special, all-party parliamentary committee to study alternatives to the current first-past- the-post electoral system, and, within 18 months, introduce legislation to replace it, based on the committee's recommendations. But the Liberals obtained a strong majority in this election with less than 40 per cent of the vote. Would they have preferred only 135 seats under a strict proportional representation system? Trudeau has promised less control from the Prime Minister’s office, even criticizing his father Pierre Trudeau for being part of the trend to centralize power in the executive branch. Will his close advisers who helped get him elected want to relinquish power to MPs and parliament? He’s promised to develop a non-partisan system to naming senators but others have promised Senate reform before and instead used appointments to reward party supporters. So here’s hoping Justin Trudeau, who has surprised us before, will surprise us again with a strength of character to resist the temptation to turn his back on these power-sharing promises. It would go a long way to restoring Canadian’s faith in democracy. – 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.