Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-03-08, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 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: info@northhuron.on.ca March 18, 1965 The March meeting of the Majestic Women’s Institute was held at the Brussels Library on March 10 where members heard an address on the history of Huron County. Mr. N. Wale of Gorrie spoke about the expansion of the Huron County Museum in Goderich and how its collection of items had grown from approximately 100 items to 7,000. Wale also told the group that Lake Huron was first discovered by Champlain in 1615 and that East and West Wawanosh, Howick, Morris and Grey were not initially part of Huron County, but part of Queen’s Bush. Wales told the group of a thriving Village of Brussels where the county’s first fire engines were built. The village was also home to several other manufactoring businesses. The North Huron Junior Farmers took top honours in the Huron County debate competition, which was being held in conjunction with the seed fair. The second annual revue of the Brussels Figure Skating Club was held in front of a near-capacity crowd at the Brussels Arena. The revue, entitled “Around the World” was presented under the direction of club professional Mrs. Graeme McDonald. It featured 70 local skaters between the ages of five and 17 from Brussels, Walton and Ethel, as well as guest skaters Christine Price, Judy Estey, Mary Sills and Danny Carey. Draw winners from that night were Keith Grenke, who took home a 50 lb. bag of white sugar, Dick Stephenson, who won a bushel of apples and Anne Blake who won a box of chocolates. March 11, 1987 Huron County was facing a very serious budget situation with a potential budget increase of 11.75 per cent being proposed. Huron County brought in its executive committee asking for budget cutting direction in hopes of trimming the increase and therefore cutting down the inevitable increase to the tax levy. The biggest single increase listed in the budget was $400,000 to be placed in a reserve for the proposed Huronview expansion Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Food, Jack Riddell was chosen as the Liberal candidates for the new provincial riding of Huron. Over 200 supporters came out to the Clinton meeting to vote for him and wish him well. March 9, 1994 The upcoming season of shows at the 1994 Blyth Festival promised to bring laughs to the audiences with Artistic Director Janet Amos’ choices for the year. The season included a remount of He Won’t Come In From The Barn starring writer/actor Ted Johns, the story of Aylmer Clarke, the frustrated Huron County farmer who retreats from the everyday world and stays in his barn. The play was first produced by Johns and other actors at Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille in the 1970s. In 1977 Johns changed the script slightly and brought it to the Blyth Festival. It was a show that included Johns on stage alongside live cows, pigs and chickens. The play was seen on the Blyth Festival stage once again in 1981. The Huron County Board of Education was in the early stages of wrestling with its budget. Director Paul Carroll said that “the trustees will have to have faith and trust in each other to let the little things go.” In the preliminary stages, it was proposed that the ratepayers in Huron County would see a 10.13 per cent increase to the mill rate in 1994. Carroll said that cuts to the budget would cost a lot of board employees their jobs, as the budget was made up of 80 per cent salaries. March 8, 2007 Over 80,000 Hydro One customers were left without power, 25,000 of those were in Huron, Perth, Bruce and Grey Counties. These power outages came after days of heavy flurries and high winds were experienced through much of southwestern Ontario in early March. A website for the 2007 Brussels Homecoming event set for the weekend of July 27-29 was live online. While the website was far from perfect, designer Jim Prior said, it was on the internet and it was ready to be improved. Prior said the menu for the website hadn’t even been designed, but that with a bit of luck, it would be completely designed and ready for traffic by the end of the week. Huron County Federation of Agriculture President Stephen Thompson led the charge at the federation’s annual Members of Parliament dinner, speaking out on several issues affecting area farmers. Thompson, among others, was particularly concerned with the actions of Assistant Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Jim Wheeler. Thompson named a study by the ministry stating that competing grain farmers in Michigan would receive no subsidy from the U.S. Loan Deficiency Payments program, when in actuality, farmers would receive 43 per cent of their subsidies from the program. 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 Taking important steps Both Blyth and Brussels took important steps toward the future last week with projects geared toward reinvigorating their communities. In Brussels on Saturday, 20 University of Waterloo students visited with local residents and collected information for a project by Dr. Robert Shipley. Five of the students are looking at the possibility of creating a walking trail through the village. The remainder are researching the history and heritage potential of various properties in the village. Thursday night in Blyth, a larger-than-expected crowd showed up at Memorial Hall’s Bainton Gallery to see the unveiling of plans to overhaul the streetscape of downtown Blyth. Along with the efforts of some private property owners to revamp storefronts with a classic, heritage theme, the plans are designed to give Blyth a fresh, vibrant appeal to residents, visitors and those just passing through. Today, more than ever, these kinds of initiatives are required in our villages. It’s going to take extra effort to keep our downtowns relevant in an era when the prevailing forces are away from the small businesses that served the community when our main streets were built, and toward large, regional shopping centres. It won’t be easy to reinvent each of our small communities but those who are fighting to carry out the task should be thanked and supported. — KR Facing hard reality Economist Don Drummond may have tried shock therapy for Ontario residents in his Drummond Report on how to get more done while cutting Ontario’s massive debt, but obvously he didn’t impress some people of the seriousness of the problem. Last week the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario said it would not participate in talks with the province after the government announced it would ask teachers to agree to a two-year salary freeze. During that salary freeze the government also wants to look at the current pay grid which sees teachers paid more based on experience and professional qualifications. The province also wants to end the practice of teachers being able to bank unused sick days and take them when they retire, allowing them to have up to a half-year’s salary. Originally created as an incentive for teachers not to call in sick, the payments are a huge liability for the province, thought to be at least $2 billion. Some of the government’s proposals reflect ideas in the Drummond Report but not included are his recommendations to increase class sizes and end all-day kindergarten. “To say we were insulted is an understatement,” said Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario president Sam Hammond in a memo to members obtained by the media. Meanwhile Ken Coran, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, called the government proposal “an unprecedented attack on members’ rights” that’s “clearly unacceptable.” Here’s hoping this is just an opening bargaining position, designed to make membership of the teachers union think their leadership is standing up to the government. The fact is, as Drummond pointed out, Ontario is headed toward the kind of trouble some European countries find themselves in if we don’t make serious changes. The two largest areas of provincial government expense are education and health care. The largest costs in those services are the salaries of those who work in those sectors. Education and health care are also areas that the McGuinty government has been very generous to during its nine years in office. Teachers were very grateful that this government ended the sense of attack they felt under the Mike Harris government. Doctors, another group the government has signalled it will ask for restraint, have also done well. Ontario faces a new reality in which what we should do will have to take second place to what we can do. Perhaps few people today can remember how John F. Kennedy inspired a generation with the challenge he issued in his 1960 inaugural address: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” We’re going to need that spirit now. — 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.