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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-07-26, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 26, 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 29, 1987 Four area recreation facilities are among the 80 in southwestern Ontario to receive Capital Conservation Program grants for upgrades or remedial work over the course of the year. The Blyth and District Community Centre would receive over $25,000, while the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre would receive just over $8,000. The Village of Lucknow would receive over $27,000 and the Howick Community Centre would receive $2,000. The Blyth grant would go towards the handicapped lift and enclosure which had been planned for the community centre. The money would be added to the $28,000 that had already been raised for the project throughout the community. The Brussels grant would go toward the installation of sewers to the community centre, a project which was being sponsored by the Brussels, Morris and Grey Recreation Board. Gordon Workman cemented his status as the reeve of the Village of Brussels on July 22, signing his oath of office at his first official meeting as reeve. Workman became reeve earlier in the month when former reeve Hank TenPas abruptly resigned from the position. Ruth Sauve, retired deputy-clerk- treasurer for the Village of Brussels would be back in Brussels council chambers, but this time as a councillor. Sauve won by the luck of the draw. The draw was held when Workman stepped up from his councillor position to fill the vacant reeve seat. Two applications were made for the position, one from Sauve and the other from Gertie Kellington. July 27, 1994 A Walton-area farmer lost four per cent of his crop after “learning the hard way” about a new product he was using. High moisture levels, followed by intense heat created problems for Don Dalton with a new herbicide, Ultim, when farmers were left with only a few days in June to apply the product. Ultim was designed to be applied before corn had reached the six-leaf stage to avoid the possibility of it absorbing toxic levels of the substance. As a result of the abnormal weather, Dalton said four per cent of his 100-acre corn crop was damaged or killed. The Taste of Country Food Fair in Blyth was deemed a success with over 1,000 people attending the day’s events. Nearly 30 exhibitors were on hand displaying their wares. Proceeds from the event went to the Blyth Festival. Two men who were found guilty of assault and robbery stemming from an incident at the Bobkat Royal T Gas and Variety store in Wingham were sentenced to one year, less a day, each after the Jan. 21 incident. Police said the men beat the shop’s owner with a baseball bat during the robbery, while wearing snowmobile suits and masks to hide their identities. Provincial Liberal Leader Lyn McLeod was in Blyth for a barbecue where over 100 people were in attendance. The barbecue was hosted by the Huron Liberal Association. Kara Pepper and Amber Ruttan were busy preparing for a provincial qualifying baseball tournament as part of the Seaforth Novice II girls fastball team. The team was not part of a regular league, but played exhibition games and tournaments as members of the Provincial Women’s Softball Association. July 26, 2007 The countdown was on and it was just one more day until the Homecoming celebration began for the Village of Brussels’ 135th anniversary. Arson was suspected in a fire that occurred on Brandon Road near Ethel sometime between July 18 and 19. Grey firefighters responded to a call shortly after 3:30 a.m. on July 19 where a shed had burned down, destroying a tractor and mixer wagon, which had recently been backed into the shed. After putting the fire out, Grey Fire Chief Calvin Semple said, he was called back to the property by a member of the family who had discovered that fires were attempted to be started at other parts of the barn, but the fires were not successful. Semple estimated the damage from the fire could have been as high as $200,000. North Huron Council voted to allow Sunday gun hunting in the municipality. The same vote had come to council years earlier and it had been turned down by the council of the day. The Blyth Corner Café opened for business. The restaurant was opened by longtime friends Linda Pease and Tracy Cook. Alyssa Gowing, the 2007 Brussels Fall Fair Ambassador, was busy preparing for her trip to the CNE for the annual provincial ambassador competition. Local girls Brianne Wheeler and Lynn Boyer won gold as members of the Palmerston Marlins 91 baseball team. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Have a great party! Celebrations like this weekend’s Brussels Homecoming are rewarding in so many ways that it’s difficult to calculate them all. First of all, it’s just an opportunity to have a good time. In these times when there’s so much bad news in the world, the need to set it all aside and have a good party for a few days should never be undervalued. When people from a community party together there’s even more value because old friendships are renewed and new ones made. An historic event like Brussels’ 140th anniversary also makes people look back at the extraordinary people and events that have shaped the community. People need to be intrigued by those who have gone before and pay tribute to their efforts, from the people who built early schools and churches, to those in more recent times responsible for facilities like the arena, swimming pool and ball park, to the entrepreneurs who created the businesses that gave people jobs and kept them living in Brussels. Looking back at how we got here gives perspective on what we have, and can inspire use to continue to build the community and solve the problems we face today. Community building has already been accomplished in the efforts of those behind this week’s celebration. There’s nothing like working together to create an event like this to bring people together and let people really get to know their neighbours. Events like this can often lead to other efforts to benefit the community, such as the 1967 Centennial celebrations that were key to the development of the Brussels, Morris and Grey Medical Dental Centre. Finally, events like this often lead to a bottom-line gain, with money being raised which will help fund community projects. So have a great time this weekend and take the added pleasure in the fact that while you’re having so much fun, you’re also benefitting your community in other ways as well.— KR High-jacking the issue When a tragedy occurs like the shooting at a Toronto barbecue last week, or the massacre at a Denver-area movie theatre last Friday, you can bet groups will seize on it to promote their own agendas. So on one hand, last week’s Toronto shooting has brought a call from community activists for more programs to help young people in disadvantaged neighourhoods. On the other hand, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford called these “hug a thug” programs and instead prescribed more police and tougher jail sentences plus tax cuts to encourage business growth to create jobs supposedly to keep potential young shooters busy. Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney returned to his favourite theme about people getting into the country who shouldn’t be, declaring that “foreign gangsters should be deported without delay,” even though we don’t know if there was anything ‘foreign’ about the shooter. On the other side, anti-gun activists used the event to call for a ban on hand guns. This group has apparently won over Premier Dalton McGuinty who at first responded by calling for calm reflection from both sides rather than precipitous action, but later backed a ban on hand guns. Unlike the U.S., the majority of Canadians probably don’t have an issue with the banning of hand guns. There’s just one problem: banning hand guns probably wouldn’t have prevented this, or any of the other rash of shootings in Toronto. This isn’t a case, like south of the border, where some kid could go to a gun shop, buy a gun and use it in a crime. Nearly all the hand guns used in these gang-related shootings have been smuggled into Canada illegally. To prevent future shootings we must keep these illegal guns from getting into Canada in the first place. Meanwhile in the U.S. the usual argument that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” has been used by National Rifle Association supporters to head off calls for gun controls, not just on hand guns, but on military-style weapons. Some people even said if everyone in that movie theatre had a weapon the killer wouldn’t have done as much harm. The Colorado killer carried an assault-rifle and other weapons yet there’s less talk in official quarters there about controlling these military weapons than there is here in Ontario about banning hand guns. — 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.