Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-09-05, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2013.Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Acting Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny ScottAdvertising Sales: Lori Patterson & Sue Brindley The CitizenP.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; $130.00/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 September 7, 1961 Knox Presbyterian Church in Cranbrook was celebrating its 96th anniversary on Sept. 10. The special ceremony would feature guest speaker Rev. Lockhart Royal of Goderich. Eighteen young people enrolled in Kindergarten classes at Brussels Public School. Total attendance for the school for the year was reported to be 165, one more student than had enrolled the year previous. A “Queens” contest was to be held in this year’s centennial celebration of the Brussels Fall Fair. There would be a $10 prize for Miss Gay Nineties, the lady dressed to best represent the 1800s; $10 to be presented to the lady with the best formal gown, Miss 1961 and $10 to the local student dressed in her “prettiest frock” who would be crowned the School Queen. September 7, 1988 The Blyth and Brussels communities were among a host of Ontario towns that were hoping to intrigue British investors who were looking to invest over $30 million somewhere in the province. Cheryl Regele, a 20-year-old Winthrop-area woman was crowned Queen of the Furrow at the annual Huron County Plowing Match, which was held near Brussels. Regele received her crown from Audrey Bos of RR3, Auburn, who was previously the match’s queen of the furrow. Paul Josling received the chief’s helmet for the Blyth Fire Department from former chief Irvin Bowes, who was stepping down after serving for 40 years in the position. In return, Josling presented Bowes with a gold helmet to mark his long service record with the fire department. The Citizen also featured a look back at the history of the Blyth Fire Department, reporting that in 1948, a firefighter’s wages were $12 per year. The Blyth Supermarket held its grand opening celebration and was wished all the best by other village businesses. Thousands of people were expected to flock to Blyth for the annual reunion of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association. It was reported that in the previous year over 12,000 people had attended the reunion despite the wet and unpleasant weather. September 7, 2006 A Goderich family was quite a bit richer after a visit to the Blyth General Store. John Davis, a 62- year-old man from Goderich checked his Lotto 6/49 ticket that he bought in Blyth and found that he had won over $9 million. Davis said that he and his family had been playing various lottery tickets for over six years. Kali Alcorn, Alyssa Gowing and Catrina Josling were all vying for the title of Ambassador of the Brussels Fall Fair. Plans were beginning to take shape for the Brussels Homecoming in 2007, celebrating the 135th anniversary of the village. Lois van Vliet and Phyllis Mitchell were awarded as Citizens of the Year for the Blyth and Brussels areas respectively. The photography of Blyth resident Jerry McDonnell was set to be displayed at the Goderich Co-op Gallery throughout the month of September. September 6, 2012 After beginning the tender process for the renovation and expansion of the Brussels Library, Huron East Council turned down a tender councillors deemed to be far too high and out of their price range. While he wasn’t specific about the tenders, Mayor Bernie MacLellan said that the high end of architect John Rutledge’s price range was just under $1 million and the tender was between 20 and 25 per cent higher than that. “I think we put this tender out at the wrong time,” MacLellan told councillors. The refusal to accept the tender opened up further discussion of the future of the library project, including Councillor Bill Siemon, who said he didn’t want to see a new entrance built, despite concerns with accessibility. Huron East Council voted to support a bylaw that would drop the number of councillors on Huron County Council to 15. The vote was going on at all of Huron County’s lower tier councils. Councillors acknowledged that the bylaw wasn’t perfect, but that it was a step in the right direction. Londesborough-area athlete Lexi Aitken returned from the Legion National Youth Track and Field Championship in Prince Edward Island with four gold medals and one bronze. Aitken also set a new record in the under-16 girls 200- metre hurdles. Brent Kipfer, who had spent a number of years as the head of the Brussels Mennonite Fellowship, was on the move as he took a position at Maple View Mennonite Church, just northwest of Wellesley. The Blyth Festival’s Young Company completed production of its show The Farm 2012. Members of The Farm Show cast from 1972, including its director Paul Thompson, were on hand to watch the show’s final production. 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 A new start in a new school For school children and teachers, September is one of those rare times when you can actually mark a new start. For students from the northern part of Huron County who attend the shiny new Maitland River Elementary School there’s even more of a sense of a new beginning. While parents and grandparents in Belgrave, Blyth and Brussels may still harbour grievances over the loss of their community schools, the kids have moved on and no doubt there are gains for them in the new school that’s described in a story on pg. 12 of this edition of The Citizen. The new school reflects the latest in educational theories and technology to help teachers communicate with students, such as special sound systems. It offers an outdoor classroom and plenty of green space. It has many features to help it be environmentally friendly. Perhaps the most inviting aspect is the emphasis on letting daylight into the classrooms through windows and skylights. There was a time in the last century, believe it or not, when the latest in educational theory was that windows were a distraction that kept children from properly focussing on their “job” of learning. Thankfully current thinking recognizes the human need for connection with the outdoors and technological advancements make it possible to be energy efficient at the same time as having lots of access to sunlight. Those community schools that were closed had 50 years of memories in them. The Maitland River Elementary School is just beginning to collect memories. Here’s hoping that 50 years from now the memories are as happy as the old schools’ memories were. –KR Who are they hurting? It’s hard not to think that the Parti Québecois is thrilled by the backlash throughout the rest of Canada about proposals from its government to ban people who work in government facilities from wearing any kind of apparel, such as a Sikh turban, Muslim hijab, Jewish yarmulke or – so as not to be called racist – Christian crucifix. The separatist government is always searching for those issues that will convince Quebecers that they must vote to leave Canada if they want to live by their own values. It has been pointed out many times that the still-not-revealed Quebec “charter of values” goes against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A future decision by the Supreme Court of Canada nullifying the Quebec law might be just the ammunition it needs to convince a significant number of Quebec voters. Already last week, Daniel Paille leader of the Bloc Québecois, the separatist party at the federal level, demanded that federal leaders like NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, both Quebec MPs, butt out of an issue that should be left to Quebecers. There’s no doubt the issue appeals to many people of a certain mindset in Quebec. Polls indeed show the measures have the support of a majority of Quebecers. Recent Quebec writers of letters to the editor of one national English language daily newspaper ranged from bewilderment about what the fuss was about to indignation that those outside should interfere in Quebec’s affairs to one who suggested that Quebec is really enlightened and the policy in the rest of Canada is conservative. Quebec’s suggested policies mirror those adopted in other French- language countries like France itself. Quebec society is also distinct from the rest of Canada in that it was a society dominated by the Roman Catholic Church for most of the last century. Its rebellion has swung the pendulum so far that religion is to be banished from public view. But the question that should be asked is what harm do people do if the person serving you at a government office, or in a hospital, wears some sort of religious symbol, other than offending you? It would be like people who are against smoking wanting a law that prevented them from ever having to witness someone puffing on a cigarette. Religious fundamentalism is wrong, but so are secular believers who are so militant they interfere with the harmless rights of others to dress as they please. –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.