The Citizen, 2012-01-26, Page 1CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, January 26, 2012
Volume 28 No. 4
HOCKEY - Pg. 15Locals play Russians insledge hockey game CONCERT - Pg. 23 Tommy Hunter returnson farewell tourDOCTOR- Pg. 6New doctor to beginpractice in WinghamPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Couple home
after Italian
cruise tragedy
Canadian Pickers return to Huron County
In a hole? Dig your way out!
Chandler Bromley, centre, didn’t find a single problem he couldn’t solve with a shovel while he
and his classmates dug out a tunnel at Blyth Public School during recess last week. The
students don’t have any such problems this week, however, as rain and warmer temperatures
this week have wiped out last week’s snow. Accompanying Bromley are Ryan Cowan, left, and
Heidi Badley, right. (Denny Scott photo)
History Channel’s Canadian
Pickers were in Huron County once
again visiting Ken Anderson of
Anderson Salvage west of Winthrop.
The Pickers were last in Huron
County in 2010 when they visited
Tim Saunders of Blyth. In fact, it
was Saunders who dropped
Anderson’s name to the Pickers,
telling them that if they were ever in
the area again, Anderson’s shop may
be worth a visit.
It turned out that it was.
The Pickers (Scott and Sheldon)
made several buys from Anderson
when they visited him on Father’s
Day, 2011.
Anderson kept the visit quiet for
months, but the episode in which
Scott and Sheldon visited Anderson
Salvage aired last week on
television. Since then, Anderson has
heard from more than his fair share
of people.
“I’ve had a lot of phone calls,” he
said in an interview with The
Citizen. “People who’ve dealt with
me in the past were calling me on
every commercial break, people
from North Bay, people from all
over.”
Since the episode aired it’s rare for
Anderson to not be stopped in the
street to discuss the experience
either. He said he was surprised to
find out how many people actually
watch the show.
When the television crew came to
Anderson’s shop, they didn’t give
him much notice, calling at 11 a.m.
asking if they could pay him a visit
and showing up two hours later at 1
p.m. The Pickers and their crew then
stayed until 8:30 p.m. that night,
taking footage for nearly the entire
time.
Anderson said he was surprised
that they would take eight hours of
footage and trim it down to the 15-
minute segment that was shown on
television.
During that time he was also
shown behind the curtain of a
television production, saying that
much of what happened that day had
to be done twice to preserve the
magic of television.
“A lot of it is staged for T.V.,”
Anderson said, “but you kind of
expect it.”
Anderson, who watches Canadian
Pickers all the time, said that while
filming, essentially something
would happen, and then it would
take place a second time in order to
be filmed under optimal conditions.
For example, Anderson said, the
crew drove into Anderson’s
driveway, introduced themselves and
began the process, but in order to
film the entrance, they then drove
back out onto the road and “arrived”
a second time. This also went on
when the Pickers made a find.
They would find an item they were
interested in and then they would re-
stage the find.
Anderson said he was proud to be
part of a few firsts for the Canadian
Pickers, being such a big fan.
“They had never bought an old gas
pump, so I sold them a gas pump and
Huron East Council has decided
to continue with the ongoing appeal
of last year’s ruling on Huron
County Council composition.
After a closed session on Jan. 17,
Huron East Council passed a motion
stating that “Huron East continue to
be a party to the appeal of Justice
Gorman’s decision regarding Huron
County Council composition with
the appeal set for Jan. 31.”
No further discussion took place
in public session.
Council had originally pledged
$5,000 to the appeal, saying the
municipality would participate in
the process until it reached the
actual appeal stage.
With that final stage to take place
on Jan. 31, Huron East Council felt
it necessary to continue with the
appeal process.
Clerk-Administrator Brad Knight
said that while exact figures couldn’t
be nailed down, he expects that
Huron East’s total contribution to
the appeal will remain around that
original $5,000 mark.
He said the stay not being granted
by Appeal Court Justice Karen M.
Weiler on Jan. 6 in Toronto and the
appeal being set for Jan. 31 likely
affected council’s decision.
Knight said council felt it had to
continue and see how the decision
turns out on Jan. 31.
After a brush with disaster, Alan
and Laurie Willits of RR1,
Wingham, have returned home safe
and sound.
After the cruise ship they were
aboard ran aground just off of Giglio
Island in Italy on Jan. 13, the pair
considers themselves lucky to be
alive and was even able to salvage a
decent vacation out of the
experience.
“We ended up having four really
good days in Italy,” said Alan in an
interview with The Citizen on
Monday night. “It worked out well,
it was an excellent holiday.”
What happened between the pair’s
Jan. 11 arrival in Rome and their
Saturday evening return, however,
was far from the normal vacation
fare.
With 16 people confirmed dead
and over 15 people yet to be
accounted for, the tragedy of the
Costa Concordia has been well
documented by hundreds of media
outlets, but the pair counts
themselves among the lucky ones
and Laurie says they really have
Alan’s quick thinking and instinct to
thank.
“It was Alan’s instinct and his
understanding of mechanical and
technical things that made him say
‘this is not good’,” Laurie told The
Citizen. “I even fell into the trap.
They told us to head back inside and
I started going. I mean, ‘what the
hell?’ but all kinds of people would
have been obedient and went.”
Shortly after the ship ran aground,
ripping it open, Alan and Laurie
were waiting with their life jackets
on for a life boat. Once they were in
a boat, Laurie says they were on the
shore within 10 minutes. Because of
Alan’s quick thinking, however, the
pair was on one of the first half-
dozen life boats (holding
approximately 80 people each) to
leave the ship.
“I’m a mechanical person. I fix
things and I know how ships are
built,” Alan said. “I know a ship
doesn’t vibrate like that unless
you’ve hit something.”
The pair was at a magic show just
hours after initially boarding the ship
and surrendering their passports
(standard practice for an Italian
cruise). It was when they were
watching the show that they felt the
ship make an unnatural maneuver,
followed by the aforementioned
vibration. It was at that time, Laurie
says, that the lights flickered off and
the magic show came to an abrupt
end.
Because of Alan and Laurie’s
quick escape and their position on
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 12
Huron East continues appeal
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 15