HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-08-16, Page 1CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, August 16, 2012
Volume 28 No. 32
DEDICATION - Pg. 10County Road 12 officiallydedicated by OPP FESTIVAL - Pg. 19 Season wraps up with‘The Devil We Know’SPORTS - Pg. 8Brussels Tigers win a pairin fastball league actionPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Ontario Fire Marshal wants resolution
Give her the crown
Meagan Dolmage, right, was crowned as Ambassador of the Brussels Fall Fair on Saturday night at the Brussels Legion. Last
year’s Ambassador Hannah McCutcheon, left, did the honours. The 17-year-old Dolmage was sponsored by Huron Feeding
Systems and she’s the daughter of Steve and Diana from just outside of Brussels. Meagan beat out fellow competitors Tori
Kellington and Tilynn Ducharme for the crown. (Vicky Bremner photo)
Festival
bounces
back
slowly
While North Huron Township
Council and Morris-Turnberry
Township Council seem to be at an
impasse as far as fire service is
concerned, with North Huron not
finding value in Morris-Turnberry’s
suggested fire protection service
plans and Morris-Turnberry saying
no to all of North Huron’s projects,
the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office
feels the situation needs to be
worked out.
“We received an e-mail from the
Ontario Fire Marshal,” North Huron
Chief Administrative Officer Gary
Long stated. “They believe we
should get together as two councils
and talk about what a joint fire
service would look like in reality.
There are models and agreements
we could look at to see if this could
work.”
The recommendation from the
Fire Marshal was that, before any
decisions are made, Morris-
Turnberry and North Huron should
meet with the Fire Marshal and look
at all the options.
While the idea wasn’t shot down
as a bad one, several councillors felt
that there were other issues that
would need to be dealt with first.
“If we meet with the Fire
Marshal’s office, they won’t deal
with finances,” Councillor Bernie
Bailey said. “I see a glimmer of
hope and a chance for negotiation in
the most recent communications
from Morris-Turnberry, but without
discussing finances, which is the
primary stumbling block here, the
meeting may not work.”
Bailey was referring to
documentation that outlined
discussions Morris-Turnberry
wished to have with North Huron
regarding assessment changes.
Reeve Neil Vincent stated that
they can’t really change anything
like assessment-based costing with
one customer like Morris-Turnberry
and not have to do the same with
other customers like Central Huron
Blyth Festival General Manager
Deb Sholdice addressed North
Huron Township Council on Aug. 7
to brief them on the current
successes and upcoming challenges
for the theatre group in the future.
Council recently invited other
municipalities to see the Festival,
which preceeded the annual bonanza
weekend which started on Friday,
Aug. 10.
“We want to thank you for your
support,” Sholdice said. “Not only
your support with the co-op
marketing programs but with
council coming on Thursday night
and helping us to kick off Bonanza
weekend.
“It’s really great that you
recognize what we do and we’re
very appreciative of that support,”
she said.
Sholdice said that the season has
thus far been loved by audience and
critics. Their season opener, Dear
Johnny Deere, has been classified as
a hit in their books as there are
already talks of a remount and co-
production with other theatres.
“The playwright has had
numerous inquiries about using the
play,” she said. “It will likely be
produced elsewhere in Canada in the
next 12 to 18 months.”
The Young Company is beginning
its preparations for their 40th
anniversary reimagining of The
Farm Show, according to Sholdice,
and the job of bringing the play back
is a big one.
Being headed by Severn
Thompson, the daughter of the
show’s original director Paul
Thompson, Sholdice said that this
play was important because it led to
the creation of the Festival.
“The Farm Show, and what Paul
Thompson did with it in 1972,
turned out to be the seeds that led to
the Blyth Festival,” she said.
“Sixteen young people will be
visiting farms to find out how
farming has changed in the 40 years
since the original show. It’s going to
be really interesting to see what
they’re finding.”
The Festival, as well as many
different theatre companies
according to Sholdice, are seeing
increases in their attendance and
revenue since the 2008 recession,
but it’s being done in small steps.
“We’re really pleased that we’re
up 10 per cent over last year,” she
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 20
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Huron East to lose 180 jobs
Nearly 200 jobs will be lost in
Seaforth and the surrounding area
when the E.D. Smith salad dressing
plant closes in the fall of 2013.
Announced late last week in the
Chicago-based TreeHouse Foods
company’s second quarter report,
the facility will close alongside a
soup plant in Mendota, Illinois.
The plant is scheduled to cease
production in the spring of 2013 and
officially close later that year in the
fall.
The plant officially employs 180
people and is one of the biggest
employers in the Municipality of
Huron East.
In a statement e-mailed to
members of the media on Aug. 9,
Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson
said she was saddened to hear the
news of the closure.
“I was saddened to hear yesterday
of the impending closure of
TreeHouse Foods in Seaforth. As [it
is] a significant employer in Huron
East, I am troubled to see more and
more jobs leave our community,”
Thompson said. “Yet another plant
closure in Ontario, and specifically
in Huron County, is further proof
that the Ontario Liberal government
is not providing [the] right
environment for businesses to
sustain themselves in our province.
The 180 jobs that will be lost will be
devastating to the community.”
E.D. Smith was established
Continued on page 13Continued on page 6