HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-04-18, Page 24PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2013.Local businesses suffer due to power outage
Power outage cancels UCW’s Women’s Day Out
A storm’s carnage
There were plenty of tree limbs on the side of roads throughout the community over the
weekend, including this tree (above) with a large branch taken totally off near Cranbrook. Also
near Cranbrook was this collection of trees (below) with dozens of branches taken off due to
the power of the storm. (Shawn Loughlin photos)
Firefighters secure
scenes for Hydro One
A wild blast of winter hit central
and southern Ontario last week and
left more than 150,000 households
and businesses without power for
varying lengths of time.
Two local businesses,
Scrimgeour’s Food Market in Blyth
and Foodland in Brussels, had to
make difficult decisions about how
to proceed when the lights went out.
Foodland Store Manager Keith
Bell explained that, as soon as they
knew the extent of the power outage,
they brought in a generator.
“Food safety was our first and
foremost priority,” he explained.
“We brought in a generator as soonas we knew the power was going tobe out for a long period of time and
losses were minimal.”
He said there are always some
losses incurred during a power
outage, but that there are policies in
place to ensure these losses are
minimal.
The generator saved food and in
the end allowed the store to be open
on Saturday while most of Brussels
was without power, which was
an important goal according to
Bell.
“It’s our responsibility to help out
and assist the people of Brussels,” he
said. “We were open on Saturday so
we could do that.”
While the store couldn’t advertisethe fact that they were open, he saidthat word got around and they had
people in the store. He said the day’s
sales weren’t as high as normal, but
the important thing was they were
open.
While being open wasn’t easy,
Bell said that the employees did a
great deal to help keep things going.
“The staff did a wonderful job
going the extra lengths needed to
help us be there for the community,”
he said.
In Blyth, Don Scrimgeour, owner
of Scrimgeour’s Food Market, had a
similar decision to make.
“We ended up getting a generator,”
he explained. “It came to the point
where we had to make a decision.The information we got fromOntario Hydro was saying that we
might not have power until Saturday
at 6 p.m. and we ended up getting a
generator.”
Scrimgeour explained that this
was the first time he needed a
generator for the store and that they
“bit the bullet” and rented one.
“We rented one from Sommers
Generator in Tavistock,” he said.
“It’s looking like the cost will be
about $3,000 to $4,000 with the
rental, delivery and the cost to have
the electrician hook it up.”
Scrimgeour said that the store
likely lost $500 in merchandise
before the generator was hooked up
and that having the generator saved alot more, but there were also somelosses beyond that.
“We were open for business
shortly after 4 p.m. on Friday,” he
said. “But people didn’t know we
were open so there weren’t a lot of
people coming in. It was a tough day
in the grocery business.”
Scrimgeour said that, as tough as
the day was, he was happy when the
power came back on.
“We were delighted it came on as
quick as it did,” he said. “Our hats go
off to the [Hydro One employees]
for getting the system up as
quick as they did. We were pretty
lucky in Blyth to have it on so
soon.”
While the power outage that saw
tens of thousands of people without
power over the weekend and into
Monday was certainly not
convenient for anyone, it turned out
to be more than a minor nuisance to
the organizers of the annual
Women’s Day Out event in Blyth.
One of those organizers, Joann
MacDonald, explained that due to
the amount of preparation done
ahead of time, the United Church
Women of the Blyth United Church,
who put on and benefit from the
Women’s Day Out, were forced to
cancel the annual event.
“It can’t be rescheduled, we just
can’t do it,” she said. “We would
have to buy all the food all over
again and that’s just not doable.”
MacDonald took time out from
calling those who had already paid
for their tickets to arrange a refund
to say that people have been very
understanding of the cancellation.
“We feel bad, but people have
been really nice about the
cancellation,” she said. “They have
been calling and have been very
good to us. Now I’m in the process
of giving the money back for the
tickets that were already be
purchased.”
MacDonald explained that,
without the event, the cost of the
food that was already purchased
and, in many cases, prepared by
volunteers, would have to be
absorbed by the UCW.
Not everything was a loss,
however, as Blyth United Church
Reverend Gary Clark explained.
“There was a lot of cooking that
had gone on during [Friday] because
we didn’t know until about 3 p.m. or
so that we were going to cancel
because Memorial Hall was not
going to let us hold the function
there due to the power outage,” he
said. “We started to scramble to try
and figure out how to store the food
for an extra day or two to
reschedule, but some quick thinking
by two of the lead people, Sharon
Bromley and Myrtle Badley, led us
to a conclusion of cancelling the
event and changing course to offer a
free-will lunch.”
The lunch, which was held at the
Blyth United Church after their
service on Sunday, welcomed over
150 people and, with donations,
Clark hopes the UCW won’t have to
absorb as much of the cost.
A lot of that, however, has to do
with whether they will be charged
the rental fee.
“We’re not sure how that will
work out,” Clark said. “That will
make a big difference in the end.”
While the power outage closed
down Memorial Hall, where
Women’s Day Out was supposed to
be held, Clark explained that Blyth
United Church was still open.
“We had a funeral on Friday, and
it was supposed to be at [Falconer
Funeral Homes] but the parlour has
no windows, so what we did is we
moved the funeral to Blyth United
Church,” he said. “There’s lots of
natural light there, we can worship
without electricity.”
The United Church, however, had
most of its tables and chairs at the
Memorial Hall for the event, so they
had to move the reception to another
church.
“We dealt with the power outage
in a creative way and we also leaned
on each other and on another
congregation,” he said. “The power
outage didn’t stop us.”
Continued from page 23
at with more scrutiny.
“Most of our farmers and
residents seem to have their own
generators, but some don’t,” he said.
“They need to know that we offer
service for running sump-pumps and
for keeping their water fresh.”
He said that helping people out
made up the bulk of their work over
the weekend and that he’s glad that
the situation is resolved for most, if
not all, of the area.
Firefighters in Wingham found
themselves called out to cordon off
fallen trees and power lines and fires
caused by the storm, but most of it
was just a matter of containing the
damage and protecting people,
according to North Huron Fire Chief
Keith Hodgkinson.
“We were out looking after
downed power lines in Morris-
Turnberry and the Wingham area,”
he said. “We dispatched to a couple
different spots with burning trees
and tree branches and there’s
nothing you can really do. We just
keep people away until Westario or
Hydro One gets there and makes the
area safe again.”
He also said that North Huron’s
senior staff were preparing to
have a warming centre set up in
Blyth, however the power
came back on before it was
necessary.
Bedard reported that several calls
were fielded by the Seaforth fire
hall, but he wasn’t sure how many of
them, if any, were related to the
storm or power outage.
By Denny ScottThe Citizen
By Denny Scott
The Citizen