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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-07-12, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 12, 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 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; $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 July 15, 1987 Harri Holthuysen of Walton was lucky to be alive after a truck tire he was inflating blew up in his face at McCutcheon Motors. Holthuysen was knocked unconscious as a result of the incident and the impact caused some internal bruising to his chest as a result of the compressed air. Jack McCutcheon, owner of McCutcheon Motors, said he expected Holthuysen back later that week, as Holthuysen was recovering from his injuries at University Hospital in London after undergoing minor surgery. While the Brussels Homecoming Committee was still busy tallying up official results, organizers said the event was the most successful in Brussels since the 1972 centennial celebration. Between July 2-5, over 1,000 signed the Homecoming register at the hospitality centre and between 700 and 800 people attended the fish fry held by the Bluewater Shrine Club. Organizers said the event was a huge success, but that they were already looking ahead to the 125th anniversary of “Ontario’s Prettiest Village”. Harvey Stewart, a Hullett Township councillor from RR1, Clinton, resigned from his council seat. This was the second time in six months this had happened with Hullett Township Council. Stewart said he resigned from his seat out of frustration. He also said that decisions being made by council were getting harder to defend to taxpayers in the area. One of the main areas Stewart said he was frustrated with was the treatment of Auburn, saying that the village wasn’t getting its fair share of improvements from the township. Specifically, he cited $1,500 in sidewalk repairs proposed for the former police village that were denied, only for council to turn around and spend $108,000 on road repairs in Londesborough. Gordon Workman was named the new reeve for the Village of Brussels after the sudden resignation of former Reeve Hank TenPas. After Tenpas’s resignation, Workman resigned his position as councillor and was named to step up by his fellow councillors. After Workman’s move, council was then looking for a replacement on council, who would serve the rest of the term until the fall of 1988 when the next election would take place. July 13, 1994 The Brussels Bulls Junior C hockey team held a slo-pitch tournament as part of the village’s Big Bargain Bash weekend and organizer Doug McArter called the event a success. Sixteen teams participated in the three-day tournament and the Brussels Relics took on the Walton Old Boys in the “B” final and won the game by a score of 6-2. The Brussels Lions Club held its annual duck race. The race is usually part of the annual FunFest, but with the demise of the event in 1994, the race would still go on alongside a slo-pitch tournament, a dance and the Big Bargain Bash in the village’s downtown core. Dr. Maarten Bokhout, Huron County’s medical officer of health wrote a letter to Huron County Council expressing his displeasure with council’s move to reject an offer to pay for enforcement of anti- smoking legislation. Motions were made to turn back a $25,000 grant that would have paid for an additional half-time public health inspector to inspect an additional 300 premises in order to comply with provincial Bill 119. Huron County took its first steps towards establishing a 911 emergency telephone service. The first step was establishing a working committee to investigate the feasibility of implementing a county-wide 911 service. The service would cost each telephone owner 32 cents per month, but there would be additional costs for call answering and dispatching. July 12, 2007 Deb Sholdice of Clinton was named general manager of the Blyth Festival after Jane Gardner left after 10 seasons with the Festival to pursue a position with the Carousel Players in St. Catharines. Brussels Homecoming Committee member Don McNeil was spreading the word of the upcoming event by driving his “rat rod” around promoting the event at the end of the month. A 1930 Model A Roadster truck, the “rat rod” was adorned with paint advertising the event and then subsequent car show that would be taking place that weekend. The Huron County Plowing Match turned 80 years old and would be held at Bob and Carol Leeming’s farm in Huron East in just over a month. Queen Milli of Galt opened at the Blyth Festival. Gary Kirkham’s play told the story of Millicent Milroy and her meeting with Prince Edward VIII. Based on a true story, the play starred Darren Keay, Ingrid Haas and Rebecca Auerbach. Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix was playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich, as well as the reboot of the popular children’s franchise Transformers. 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 Good fortune, good work This week, for the second week in a row, Blyth will welcome hundreds of campers to the campground attached to the fairground. This boost to the local economy comes partly from good work and forward thinking, but also from the kind of fortunate circumstance that’s often at least partly behind growth. Blyth wouldn’t have hosted the Bluewater Kennel Club Dog Show last week, or the huge, week-long Campvention gathering this week, if it hadn’t been for some members of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association many years ago. Those members, faced with a long overnight trek to their homes elsewhere in Ontario between days of the Thresher Reunion, wanted to stay overnight at the grounds. A few camping sites were created. More people wanted to stay so more camp spaces were laid out. As demand grew, more land was purchased. The combination of those campsites, plus the arena and the buildings offered by the Thresher Reunion, attracted the Bluewater Kennel Club, over 30 years ago, to choose the grounds as home to its annual show. But credit is also deserved by municipal councils, first the Village of Blyth and later the Township of North Huron, for recognizing the potential the campground held for economic development. When the possibility of attracting Campvention first arose years ago, the municipality agreed to upgrade the facilities at the large campground. Now the campground is a favourite location for Campvention whenever it’s Ontario’s turn to host this international event. “They were impressed by just how perfect they felt the facilities were when they first visited in 2006,” North Huron Township Community Development Co-ordinator Connie Goodall said. The campground is also a favoured location to the Fire Fighters Association of Ontario convention which returns to Blyth regularly. Often, municipalities have grand plans for improving their economy. Sometimes it can be a case of recognizing the potential of something that already exists, and building on it. — KR Caught between extremes Last week unions representing public high school and elementary teachers, French teachers, and support staff defiantly announced they will hold strike votes allowing them to strike come September. They were reacting angrily to a deal between the provincial government and the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association which will freeze wages for two years, see teachers take three unpaid days and curb some perks. The unions claimed it is unworkable for their members, unfair to teachers and detrimental to students. The previous week, Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak released a policy paper that endorsed right-to-work laws for Ontario. The paper proposes to get rid of the “Rand Formula”, which says that when the majority of workers have voted to have a union, all workers in that workplace must pay union dues. This law goes all the way back to 1946. Hudak is proposing, then, the same kind of laws that have been adopted in many U.S. states to effectively handcuff unions. Anyone who doesn’t want to pay union dues can refuse, leaving the union with no money to fight. These seem to be the extremes to which we are moving these days. Public sector unions on one hand, refuse to see the financial crisis in which the deficit-ridden provincial government finds itself, partly because the Liberal government has been very generous to teachers, doctors and others who are paid from the public purse. Sure, there may be a deficit, they say, but solve it by cutting elsewhere. We won’t be part of the solution. On the other side is a growing anti-union movement which blames unions for everything from government deficits to the loss of jobs in the industrial sector. We need moderation from both sides to prevent bitter labour warfare. Unions have raised the lifestyles of workers, but refusing to face economic realities may lead to loss of those unions, and lifestyles. — 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.