The Citizen, 2012-07-19, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 19, 2012. PAGE 7.
THE EDITOR,
The best of Blyth was on display
again this past weekend. Results of
the years of sustained hard work,
diligence, forward-thinking and, in
some cases, stubbornness by often
unsung volunteers that makes so
much local activity possible.
As I drove into the village, I
passed the soccer fields, where a
record number of kids were
participating in a year-end
tournament. The soccer fields are the
result of a small group of volunteers,
who years ago, saw a need for
additional fields in the community.
People who believed in this project,
youth sports and went about finding
the necessary funds, material, labour
and community partnerships to make
it happen.
Queen Street was preparing for
Blyth’s first Buskerfest, an
ambitious effort to create a daytime
summer event in downtown. The
event, like so many others, was the
result of a small group of volunteers,
who formed the Blyth Business
Improvement Area, people
committed to differentiating Blyth
on the basis of economic
opportunity, people like the
founding executive of the BBIA and
volunteer event staff.
The campground was full of RVs,
special event tents and Campvention
activity. The campground and
related buildings are evidence of
years of vision and determined
leadership by the Huron Pioneer
Thresher and Hobby Association.
Integral to the facility, the arena and
community centre are symbolic of
volunteers and a community that
rejected the infamous advice from a
former recreation director who said,
“Blyth does not need an arena.”
Across Gypsy Lane, Lion’s Park was
the Campvention youth activity
venue. Evidence of generations of
volunteerism were all around.
A sign in front of the Christian
Reformed Church invited children to
attend Vacation Bible School, a
collaborative effort among Blyth’s
churches and community volunteers
to continue a trusted summer
program that has been in existence
for as long as most of us can
remember. There was a Saturday
matinee at the Blyth Festival, located
in the most visited war memorial in
Huron County, Memorial Hall.
Theatre-goers were mingling in the
street with those attending
Buskerfest, the Campventioneers
and the generally curious. Memorial
Hall was rescued from a state of
disrepair, and possible demolition,
by courageous community leaders.
Thirty-seven years later, ongoing
operations at Memorial Hall and the
Blyth Festival count on the time,
energy and goodwill of countless
volunteers, including members of
the Blyth Legion and Auxiliary.
Someone once said that, “Blyth
punches above its weight class,” and
week after week, we are surrounded
by evidence. On Saturday morning,
the combination of sights and sounds
were powerful. I could feel the
energy and could see the pride of
community. And I know I was not
the only one who felt this way. The
weekend served as another reminder
of what motivated people may
accomplish.
There is lots of work to go around.
There is a strategic leadership role
for municipal council and local
stakeholders, including volunteers
and business leaders. But much like
we should not expect governments to
create jobs, none of us should expect
government to create and manage
events, either. We need each level of
government to recognize the
economic potential of rural
communities, like Blyth – and to
help create a favourable environment
in which the people can get things
done.
Make no mistake, there is an
economic revolution going on.
There will be urban, suburban, ex-
urban, rural and northern strategies.
There will be winners, whiners and
losers. We know some people are
afraid of new ideas, and they
predictably resist change for no
apparent reason. But take a look
around. If we are to honour the
decades of hard work, diligence,
forward-thinking, and in some cases,
stubbornness by volunteers that
makes so much local activity
possible – and if we are to leverage
the many strengths in our
community – then I suggest we must
continue to subscribe to the timeless
words of Thomas Payne, Father of
the American Revolution: “You may
lead, follow, or get out of the way.”
Steven Sparling.
THE EDITOR,
We are holding a bottle drive as a
fundraiser for a volunteer trip that
we are going on to the country of
Nicaragua. This trip has been
organized through a club at our
high school, F. E. Madill Secondary
School. Our club is called
“Mustangs Making A Difference”.
We are a social activist group.
As a club we have been focusing
on poverty locally and
internationally. Over the past year
we have been raising money to
support building a school in
Nicaragua.
We successfully raised the total
amount of money needed to build a
school. Now each member of our
group must raise their own money to
travel overseas to engage in meeting
the local people, learning the
language, experiencing the culture
and seeing the Nicaraguan
countryside in addition to our
building efforts. To build the school
we will be working with Free The
Children and Me to We
ambassadors. We plan to travel to
Nicaragua in July 2013.
The bottle drive will be held in
Brussels on Monday, July 30. We
ask that all town residents willing to
donate to this cause to place any
empties on their front lawns or other
visible spot for pickup. We will be
going from door to door for pickup
from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. All empties
are accepted.
If anyone living outside the town
of Brussels would like to donate or
have questions they can call 519-
887-6936 to arrange for pickup
times.
If anyone is having an event or
gathering after our bottle drive and is
wanting to contribute to our cause –
please call, we’d love to hear from
you. We would also like to extend a
big thank you to everyone in
advance who helps support our
fundraiser.
Sincerely,
Meagan Dolmage/Lanie Smith.
While Central Huron Council
decides who its deputy-mayor will
be by ballot and at large, Councillor
Brian Barnim has a problem with
how other municipalities appoint
their deputies.
At the July 9 meeting of council,
Barnim said he was glad to see that
Huron County Council had decided
to revert back to appointing mayors
and deputy-mayors to council, as
opposed to leaving it up to each
individual lower-tier council.
“I’m glad to see the county take
that position,” Barnim said. “ACW
(Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh) and
North Huron all appoint their
deputies and I think that’s very
unfair to the electors. The people of
ACW don’t know who will represent
them at county council.”
Barnim said not electing a deputy-
mayor at large (meaning the entire
municipality votes for the position,
rather than voters of just a specific
ward) isn’t the right way to operate.
In ACW, for example, someone
elected in one of the municipality’s
three wards is promoted to the
deputy position after the election,
meaning that voters from just one of
the wards voted for the
representative who will eventually
be sitting at the Huron County
Council table for the entire
municipality.
“As a municipality I don’t think
it’s right that [voters] don’t know
who’s going to be their deputy,”
Barnim said.
Mayor Jim Ginn reminded Barnim
that it’s up to each municipality to
set up how its council works.
“It’s their council; it’s up to them
how they set it up,” Ginn said. “We
could change ours and do what ACW
does. I don’t believe it’s the right
way, but we could do the same
thing.”
Ginn said the vote on Huron
County Council composition will
need a triple majority vote from
throughout the county, so it would be
coming to Central Huron for a vote
shortly.
Weekend showcased ‘best’ of Blyth says Sparling
Barnim takes issuewith deputies notelected at large
Street performers
Blyth held its first annual Buskerfest on Saturday and 50 different performers were said to have
been there to ply their trade on Blyth’s main street as it was closed for nearly six hours. Leaving
Tracks were one of the many acts, performing in front of The Citizen’s former office on Queen
Street. (Jim Brown photo)
Bottle drive raises
funds for mission trip
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