The Citizen, 2013-04-04, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013.Blyth BIA debates date for Buskerfest 2013
Hospice looking for volunteers
The Blyth Business Improvement
Area (BIA) ran into some debate
when trying to decide a date for the
second annual Buskerfest later this
year.North Huron Councilrepresentative and Deputy-Reeve
David Riach stated he felt there were
two dates that would well suit the
event; the weekend of the Blyth
Festival’s Bonanza Weekend, (Aug.
9-11) and the Walton Motocross TransCan (August 16-18).An early mailer, however, said the
event would be held in June, making
it difficult to to schedule the event
concurrently with the two
suggestions.
Riach stated that either weekendwould work well because of thenumber of people who visit the
community, however the same
sentiment wasn’t shared.
North Huron Economic
Development Officer Connie
Goodall said that the Walton
TransCan, which saw many people
visit the Blyth campground last year
prior to the event, had not confirmed
they would be repeating the camping
experience and Blyth Festival
General Manager Deb Sholdice said
that not many people camp during
Bonanza weekend, meaning that, in
either case, there wouldn’t be the
same amount of foot traffic there
was at the last Buskerfest which
coincided with Campvention.
Campvention is an annual event
which is held in a different place
every year, so it won’t be returning
this year.
“We have one family that comes
from Michigan and camps at Falls
Reserve every year,” Sholdice
explained. “But there aren’t many
others.”
Having the event during the
Festival’s Bonanza Weekend was
dismissed as well as having street
performers may be disruptive to the
Festival’s performances.
Sholdice said she would like to
see Buskerfest in late spring/early
summer as a stand-alone event.
“That way it’s one more reason to
bring someone into town,” she said.
“It’s better than throwing all the
events on the same weekend.”
BIA Vice-Chair Peter Gusso said
that he wondered if it would do well
being held during the annual Huron
Pioneer Threshers and HobbyAssociation Reunion in September. Chair Rick Elliott, however, said
the reunion may not be perfect, as
having it that late in the summer, or
too early, may not be ideal as it
would limit the audience the event
could pull in.
“My thoughts are that in June, the
kids are still in school,” he said.
“The weekend is there, yes, but kids
aren’t really getting into their
holidays until July.”
Discussion was also held about
weather, stating that it is typically
better in Huron County in July than
in June.
Goodall said that, regardless of the
decision, last year’s Buskerfest was
an unmitigated success because of
Campvention and was very much
tailored to fit the schedule of that
event.
Elliott said that last year’s event
was perfect, save for the heat.
“I think it went well,” he said. “I
just don’t want to push it too late
into the day this year, as we’ll be
pushing it into two meals, not just
one.”
In the end, it was moved by Riach
that a committee should be struck to
determine the best schedule for the
event.
THE EDITOR,
Volunteers are an essential part of
the fabric of our society. Huron
Hospice Volunteer Services knows
this very well. The support of our
dedicated team of volunteers caring
for those with life-limiting illness
and supporting their families
through this important journey
would be impossible without
hospice volunteers. We are grateful
to those volunteers who give of their
time, dedication, love and care to
help families along their journey.
Huron Hospice is offering a 30-
hour training program May 9, 10,
11, 17, 18 for those person who
want to better understand the
journey of bringing hope to those
who are facing ‘end of life’ issues.
Volunteers will be introduced to
topics such as: communication
skills, different physical and
emotional issues that come with a
life-limiting diagnosis, spiritual
concerns of the dying, ethical and
legal aspects, grief and bereavement
support and self-care. When a
volunteer is matched with a client
they are given ongoing support and
supervision.
For more information and
registration please call 519-527-
0655 or 519-357-2720. We look
forward to exploring hospice
palliative care volunteering options
with you.
Sincerely,
Kathy Procter
Manager of Volunteers/Programs
Huron Hospice Volunteer Visiting.
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Letters to the Editor
Get on the bus
As part of the School Malaise Trap Program, the BioBus was at North Woods Elementary
School last week chatting with the school’s Grade 6 students about insects, animals and DNA
barcoding. Students were enthralled with discussion surrounding finding new species of
insects and animals and then they had their chance to investigate the BioBus and several
displays the group brought along. Here, Dirk Steinke shows the students around a collection
of insects after Brianne St. Jacques and Jen Gleason, not pictured, took care of the in-class
portion of the presentation. The group operates out of the University of Guelph. (Shawn Loughlin
photo)
By Denny ScottThe Citizen
OFA to fight new tire fees
THE EDITOR,
Ontario Tire Stewardship recently
announced significant increases to
tire stewardship fees levied on
off-road agricultural tires. These
fees apply to all tires used
off-road and impact many
farm businesses across Ontario.
The fee increases are to fully
cover the costs of tire recycling,
including costs to collect and
transport used tires to a recycling
facility.
No public consultations were done
before these increases came into
effect on April 1. Before the
increase, agricultural tires
carried a flat stewardship fee of
$15.29 each, regardless of rim
diameter or tire weight. Now, those
fees range from a low of $5.88 for
tires less than 33 pounds, to a
whopping $352.80 for tires
weighing between 826 and 1,543
pounds.
These drastic increases will
unfairly penalize farm businesses,
adding thousands of additional
dollars in extra fees each year.
The Ontario Federation of
Agriculture (OFA) is encouraging its
members to voice their concern over
this increase. We want the Ontario
government to reverse the decision
to significantly increase the tire
stewardship fees in Ontario on
agricultural and off-road tires, and
commit instead to working with the
industries affected to find a
workable solution.
If you are concerned about the
impact of these new fee increases to
your farm business, go to
www.actnow.ofa.on.ca and send a
letter to your MPP.
Mark Wales
President, Ontario Federation of
Agriculture.
#3 And We
Try Harder
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Huron County show
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