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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-01-03, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 2013. Munro festival deemed a success Festival announces 2013 season, officers honouredContinued from page 9position, saying one of the things shewas most proud of was not fallingoff of her horse during the BoothillBash celebrity challenge at BrusselsHomecoming.John Black, the late chief of theFire Department of North Huron,was set to be honoured as HuronCounty’s top firefighter, an awardhanded out annually by the warden and the rest of Huron County Council. Both attendance and submissions were said to be low at the Brussels Fall Fair, a fact that was attributed largely to the closure of Brussels Public School. The former Blyth Public School building was sold to an anonymous bidder at the Sept. 20 auction. Morris-Turnberry Council began the restructuring process, moving to reduce the number of councillors by two and to eliminate the ward system. Papineau, Quebec MP Justin Trudeau was in Seaforth to meet with Liberal Party supporters in an event catered by Blyth’s Peter Gusso, owner and operator of Part II Bistro and The Station House bed and breakfast. Interim Artistic Director Peter Smith announced that the Blyth Festival would be taking on a Christmas play later in the year. He said the play would be “local” adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, featuring any local person who was willing to step out onto the stage. A business retention and expansion report on Blyth was presented three times in the community to mixed reviews. “The reaction was less than favourable,” said Blyth BIA Chair Rick Elliott. McGavin Farm Equipment in Walton and The Old Mill in Blyth looked to the future and participated as charging stations for the Sun Country Highway, a project enabling electric cars to travel across Canada.Huron-Bruce MPP LisaThompson said she was “frustrated”with the resignation of PremierDalton McGuinty, calling it “acheap, selfish way to avoid furtherscandal”. Those involved with the Gateway Rural Health Research Institute in Seaforth announced that it would be officially partnering with Georgian College to offer joint programming in future years. The Blyth Festival announced its 2013 season, which will be led by a remount of Dear Johnny Deare and then a new visit to The Farm Show with Beyond The Farm Show. Three fallen Huron County police officers were honoured with bridges being named after them. Vu Pham, Dave Mounsey and Bruce Crew were honoured on Nov. 1 when OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis were in Goderich to officially make the announcement. It was announced that a corporation appropriately called 237 King Street had purchased the former Blyth Public School building. The corporation consists of Steven and David Sparling and Rick and Jeff Elliott. No further details were available on the group’s future intentions for the building and the surrounding property. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization began its screening process in Central Huron, investigating whether or not the municipality will make a good site for a nuclear waste facility. The Blyth Festival announced that Canadian singer/songwriter Fred Eaglesmith, the artist at the heart of 2012’s runaway success Dear Johnny Deare, would be performing live at Memorial Hall to help kick off the 2013 season. Organizers said they hoped the move would help expose theatre- goers to Eaglesmith and Eaglesmith fans to the theatre. Gordon McGavin and Russel Bolton were honoured by being inducted to the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame. Their replica induction documents were hung in the Huron County Museum as a local reminder of their honour and contribution to the world of agriculture. Huron East was awarded a grant of over $65,000 for the construction of the Brussels Library, which is set to commence in 2013. Blyth’s Emergency Services Training Centre and Conestoga College announced that they would be officially partnering. Morris-Turnberry Council set a fire deal deadline with North Huron, giving North Huron until Jan. 8 to decide on the terms dictated by Morris-Turnberry. Morris-Turnberry’s history book A Harvest of Memories was released. South Huron Mayor George Robertson was named Huron County warden, ending Huron East’s Bernie MacLellan’s bid for a second term in the position. After the release of Huron County CAO Larry Adams, the county hired a new CAO, Brenda Orchard. A new use for the former East Wawanosh Public School building was approved by Huron County Council. The building has been purchased by Euro-Parts of Lucknow owner Henry Van Heesch. The Alice Munro Readers and Writers Festival was a success according to organizer Karen Stewart. The festival, which was held in Wingham and Blyth, was a revitalizing effort by the group after the festival’s previous cancellation. Stewart explained during North Huron Township’s Dec. 18 meeting that the future of the festival was one of continuing growth saying that, over the next three to five years, they hoped to revitalize the program. “The festival recognizes and celebrates Alice Munro and provides a forum for writers and offerg opportunities for like-minded people to communicate,” she said. The festival had every age represented according to Stewart, with 52 submissions in the adult category and five in the youth category. Stewart explained that, for a festival serving an area the size of North Huron, that was an expected turnout. “That’s a good sign that, in the first year, we had that kind of turnout,” she said. The Festival ran Sept. 28 to 30 and was launched at Blyth Memorial Hall featuring Munro’s former publisher, a book fair, a gala dinner, silent auction and the final awards ceremony. In Wingham, a brunch Big draws The Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association held its annual reunion in Blyth in September, above, while neighbouring village Brussels also held a rather large celebration in honour of its Homecoming anniversary. Steve Scott, above, an Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh chainsaw artist, entertained school children at the reunion, while the Ryan family, below, celebrated nearly 140 years of farming in the McKillop community. (File photos) October November December By Denny Scott The Citizen Continued on page 14