Loading...
The Citizen, 2015-11-19, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 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 November 21, 1979 Jim Prior of Brussels was presented with the Mike Weichel Award, which is given for an outstanding contribution to the Western Ontario Athletic Association (WOAA) community. Brussels Minor Hockey had put Prior’s name forward in thanks for his hard work and ongoing dedication on behalf of the association. Eighty women from the Majestic Women’s Institute, as well as from the neighbouring Walton Women’s Institute, were on hand for a special meeting at the Brussels Public School to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Majestic Institute. WI members from Walton, Bluevale, Ethel, Moncrieff, Molesworth, Cranbrook, Gorrie, Wroxeter, Fordwich and Lakelet were all on hand to help mark the special occasion. November 21, 1990 Elementary school teachers in Huron County ratified a new collective agreement for the next two school years that would see teachers get a 6.1 per cent raise. In addition, the new agreement also saw a clause added that would add time to a teacher’s allotted preparation time over the duration of the agreement. Bodmin Farms of RR5, Brussels was named the premier exhibitor of market hogs at the year’s Royal Winter Fair. George Procter, general manager of the company’s swine division, was starting to get used to winning the award, having been at the Royal Winter Fair to accept the award on behalf of the company every year since 1987. The Blyth Scouts were busy for their annual apple day fundraiser, raising $385 for the organization selling fruit that guaranteed to keep the doctor away throughout the village. November 21, 2001 North Huron’s representative on the Avon Maitland District School Board of Trustees Colleen Schenk praised the opening of the Walton Little School at a recent board meeting, saying it was truly a good news story. “It was really terrific to see such a worthwhile use of a former school,” she told her fellow trustees. Both the Avon Maitland District School Board and Huron East Council were hearing from parents and delegates as the threat of school closures again loomed in the municipality. Many parents called the school board close minded and wondered if the area was being treated in an unfair manner. North Huron Council was concerned as councillors heard that unless the Seaforth Medical Clinic in Blyth received some municipal funding, it might be forced to close, leaving the village without a doctor. Work began on the installation of the new playground at Blyth Public School. Members of the Blyth Legion and the Legion Ladies Auxiliary had come up big for the students, contributing to help pay for the playground. Several other community sponsors also helped see the construction come to fruition through the school’s spring walk-a- thon. November 20, 2014 Londesborough-area track and field star Lexi Aitken had another achievement to add to her mantle as she was awarded a full athletic scholarship to Texas Christian University (TCU), one of the most prestigious athletic schools in the United States. Aitken, who was in high school at St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School in Clinton at the time, signed her way to Texas as part of a special ceremony held at the school. Aitken said she immediately felt like she was home when she visited the TCU campus, which is in Fort Worth, and she knew she didn’t need to visit any other schools (she had prepared to visit three more, but cancelled those visits after being in Fort Worth). Two Blyth chefs found themselves atop the Huron County food world by way of a special soup fundraiser that brought 15 of the county’s restaurants to Goderich to help raise money for charity. Jason Rutledge of the Blyth Inn won the competition’s top prize, while Part II Bistro’s Peter Gusso took home the people’s choice award. With talent assembled from all over Huron County, the competition’s top two prizes went to chefs from Blyth. The two had officially fostered a professional relationship earlier in the year, collaborating to feed 1,419 people as part of Fare on 4, a fundraiser for Campaign 14/19. In addition to Rutledge being a friend of his, Gusso acknowledged that it was good to have “two Blyth boys” on the podium. Two new businesses were hoping to have a Merry Christmas in Brussels as both the Jam Jar Pub and Eatery and the Brussels Pharmacy opened their doors in advance of the big holiday. The Majestic Women’s Institute in Brussels marked an important milestone, celebrating its 75th anniversary with a special lunch with all of its members. 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 Who’d have guessed? Who could have guessed that three years after Brussels lost its public elementary school, the building would be full again with the sound of children attending classes and playing in the school yard. But as a report in this week’s Citizen explains, nearly every classroom in the former Brussels Public School is now being used by the nearly 130 students of the Brussels Old Colony Christian Mennonite School. Students are coming from a 45-minute radius to attend the school. Their parents are willing to pay tuition fees in order for their children to have the kind of religion-guided education they feel is necessary. This couldn’t have happened if not for the bravery of the Municipality of Huron East in purchasing the building when it was offered for sale by the Avon Maitland District School Board. By sticking their necks out, councillors found a use for the building – even if it’s slightly different than they might have foreseen. From Brussels’ standpoint, the new use for the school may not be as integrated as the old community-oriented school but who knows what lies ahead? Perhaps the fact that families are sending their children to school in Brussels might lead to more shopping in Brussels or other ties to the village. As we’ve learned over the years one thing leads to another and one can never guess how things can develop. The sound of children in those once-empty halls proves that. — KR What do those dues pay for? Thankfully, with the signing of a new contract between the provincial government and the Ontario Elementary Teachers’ Federation, labour peace seems to be in store for Ontario schools, but the distaste at the process continues. Polls last week showed that two-thirds of people who were asked did not agree with the payment by the province of $2.5 million to teachers’ unions to defray their costs during negotiations. Almost as many disagreed with the $4.6 million the province paid local school board officials to cover the cost of attending contract negotiations. While it can be argued that covering the costs of school board negotiators at least comes from the same public pocket, the payments to union negotiators are more mystifying. Teachers already have substantial fees deducted from their salaries to cover just such costs. If union dues aren’t to cover negotiators’ costs, what do they cover? The pool of money accumulated does provide strike pay for teachers in the event of a strike, but some suspicious minds look at the money unions have donated to support political parties and wonder if the government has put itself in a conflict of interest with the payments. Taxpayers resent their money being spent to make it more comfortable for union negotiators to hold out longer for a deal which will then cost taxpayers even more. The thought the governing party may profit as well from union donations is even more aggravating. – KR Evil in the name of good The inconceivable part of last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris is that the perpetrators thought that God was on their side as they killed 129 innocent people and wounded 350 more. They aren’t the first people who perpetrated evil in the name of good. Those who killed six million Jews, Gypsies and others in the Second World War’s extermination camps thought they were doing good. Hutus in Rwanda thought they were doing good in slaughtering upwards of a million Tutsis. Christian church officials in the Dark Ages who burned people at the stake for heresy were acting in the name of God. We will never understand the minds of such self-righteous extremists. The one thing we can do is to not descend into evil actions ourselves. The burning of a mosque in Peterborough after the Paris attacks is unacceptable. Similarly our outrage shouldn’t be directed at stopping the acceptance of Syrian refugees who continue to suffer in refugee camps, many fleeing ISIS terrorists. We want to continue to be people who act for good. Don’t let the terrorists win by making us do bad things in the name of revenge. – 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.