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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-01-05, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2012.Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Acting Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny ScottAdvertising Sales: Ken Warwick & Lori Patterson The CitizenP.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 887-9114 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com 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; $115.00/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: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com January 7, 1965 The Brussels Midgets put their hockey skills on display beating the Stoneschool boys team by a score of 6-2. Terry Johnston tallied a hattrick with Larry Duncan, Neil Gowing and John Rock all scoring goals of their own. The Brussels team was set to play Ripley next. The last time the team had met Brussels took the contest by a score of 8-7. The driver of a Waterloo Co-op transport truck had a narrow escape from serious injury or worse on Jan. 6 when the morning’s CN train travelling through Brussels struck the tail end of his vehicle as it crossed the tracks. Local residents reported being awoken around 7 a.m. by the sound of the impact. The driver said he saw the train coming without enough time to stop, so he accelerated in an attempt to cross the tracks before the train did. While the driver escaped without injury, the collision tore the guard rail off of the side of the diesel engine of the train and the dual wheels and rear end of the truck were twisted due to the impact. The Brussels Horticultural Society expressed its thanks to the residents of Brussels for decorating their homes for the Christmas season. Members of the Horticultural Society said the effort of the Brussels citizens made driving through the village a pleasure. January 7, 1987 A local basketball player was chosen to represent Ontario at the Canada Winter Games in Nova Scotia in February. Ron Vercruyssen of RR2, Blyth was informed that he had been selected for the team on Dec. 24, which made the 18-year-old boy’s holiday one to remember. Vercruyssen, who stood 6’10” as a Grade 13 student at Seaforth District High School, made the team as the result of a three-day camp at the University of Waterloo from Dec. 22-24. Vercruyssen was one of only 12 young men selected for the team. Margaret Van Nes of Ethel was the winner of a Christmas draw organized by the businessmen of Brussels where she had to guess the collective weight of the 32 participating businessmen. Van Nes guessed the correct weight dead-on at 5,830 pounds. The second place guess was just fractions off, at 5,829.5 pounds. She had yet to decide which trip package she would be taking as her prize. Her options were an all- expenses-paid trip to Nashville, Tennessee, or Las Vegas, Nevada. Bob Szusz of Londesborough was elected to fill the Hullett Township Council seat left vacant after the resignation of Councillor Vic Stackhouse in late 1986. Szusz defeated eight other candidates to win the position. January 5, 1994 Insurance costs for the Village of Brussels were set to increase by just one per cent in 1994. Blyth firefighters responded to a serious car fire in East Wawanosh Township at 10:45 a.m. of Jan. 1, when OPP officer Mike Scott went to start his 1982 Volvo and it exploded. Blyth Fire Chief Paul Josling said there was no indication as to the cause of the fire, but the vehicle was completely destroyed. The Huron County Christmas Bureau reported that it was able to help as many as 1,000 area children through its program and the generosity of local residents. Despite the heavy snow of the winter, very few car collisions had been reported to the Huron County OPP. Sgt. Greg King said that from Christmas Eve until January, only seven collisions were reported throughout the detachment and only two of those incidents resulted in injuries. Blyth and Brussels Village Councils had plans to discuss the potential expansion of their sewer plants. Over the course of the meeting, however, it was clear that many councillors were not enthusiastic about the concept. Studies that had been conducted estimated the cost of such a venture in excess of $300,000 for each community. January 4, 2007 Over 325 people were in Brussels for a New Year’s Levee that was held at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre to help kick off the year’s 135th Homecoming celebration. Future costs for water and sewage services were said to be going up in Huron East. The proposed rate increase for Brussels would be over 41 per cent of the rate at the time, bringing it up to a monthly charge of $29.10. North Huron Council debated recreation costs once again in an attempt to devise a system where the township could cover recreation costs while at the same time being fair to its residents. A new grader was delivered to Morris-Turnberry and councillors took time to inspect it prior to their Dec. 19 meeting. Huron East Council approved several amendments to its 2006 budget, including a provincial government allocation to help fund road and bridge construction. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Big year ahead As 2012 begins, the communities of Blyth and Brussels face one of those times that change the future for good or bad. By September, both communities will be without a school for the first time since the first settlers carved their homes out of the bush. It will be a terrible loss. But with every loss there is an opportunity. The school buildings in each community represent possibilities, if used creatively, to add something to the community. Look what happened in Walton where the village school was converted to a daycare and a small business centre. Right now the future is up in the air. People are even uncertain about how the Avon Maitland District School Board will dispose of the buildings or their financial expectation. Having shrugged off the role that schools play in the economic health of these communities, the school board at least owes it to them to do everything possible to try to help the communities make the most of these assets that they built themselves. Then the question becomes how to make something happen. It’s easiest if an entrepreneur steps forward with the money and vision to make the most of a possibility like this. That doesn’t always happen in small towns where there are limits both on the number of people with the resources to do things and the potential return on their investment. The other secret that these villages have turned to their advantage throughout our history has been the community entrepreneurial spirit where people come together to make things happen. Whatever the solution, it’s time to start looking ahead and planning for the aftermath of the school closing. Our communities’ futures depend on it. — KR Timely second thoughts Hope for changes to the provincial government’s Green Energy Act rest with the two-year review of the legislation currently underway. According to The Globe and Mail, one of the 2,900 submissions is particularly interesting: from George Smitherman who was energy minister when the act was pushed through. Smitherman, who quit provincial politics for an unsuccessful run for mayor of Toronto, suggests some control should be given back to local municipalities in the siting of wind projects, one of the major complaints about the act. Smaller wind farms would still need no municipal approval but developers of wind farms larger than 50 megawatts would need municipal support before they could proceed. Smitherman also suggests that wind farm developers should seek local partners in these developments so that local communities feel they have some ownership of projects. Part of the problem with the wind farms is that only those landowners leasing land gain anything from their coming to an area and everybody else has to live with the headaches. It’s an interesting proposal from the guy who started all this. Hopefully this and other suggestions in the 2,900 submissions will lead to improvements in the act. — KR On the other hand . . . The lockout of 400 workers at London’s Electro-Motive plant is drawing national headlines because Caterpillar Inc., owner of the company, wants workers to take a pay cut of more than 50 per cent. Anyone who works for a salary or wages sympathizes with the idea of a 50 per cent pay cut. On the other hand, the workers were making $35 an hour – on a 40-hour week that’s more than $70,000 a year! There’s a suspicion Caterpillar wants to move the plant to its facility in Muncie, Indiana. Workers there already earn the lower wage the company is offering London workers. How can a company be blamed for seeking the most economic workforce even if the plant must move from Canada. But on the other hand, the company is already profitable and was quite willing to take tax breaks from the Canadian government. In the hard realities of today’s business world, sometimes it’s hard to determine right and wrong. — 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.