The Citizen, 2012-09-06, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2012.92nd Belgrave school fair a go despite closuresFormerly named the Belgrave,Blyth, Brussels School Fair, the
92nd Elementary School Fair has
been a social tradition in this area for
decades. The annual event offers our
students an opportunity to showcase
their talents and compete in many
different activities and submit
exhibits in school work, crafts,
baking, farm crops and vegetables,
showcasing livestock as well as
participating in community interest
activities.
A group of volunteers has come
forward to form the new executive:
Steve Hallahan is president;
Margaret Vincent, vice-president;
Erin Gaunt, secretary and Rob
Gordon, treasurer.
Laura VanCamp, Anne Procter
Stainton and Margaret Vincent have
been busy recruiting volunteers,
gathering corporate sponsors,
advertising and donations. MaitlandRiver Elementary School Principal
Alice McDowell has been the
lifeline to the staff and students and
there are many, many others in the
community who volunteer and help
with everything from setup of the
arena to judging.
The 92nd annual Elementary
School Fair will be held Sept. 12 at
the Belgrave arena and ball
diamond.
On the day of the fair students in
Grades 1-6 will attend school and
will be bused to Belgrave. Students
in JK, SK 7 and 8 are eligible to
participate but will require
transportation and supervision by a
parent or guardian. As in the past the
students will parade with their class,
however the parade route will be
changed to ensure the safety of the
increased number of students. The
parade will now begin at the southend of Jordan St. travelling north to
the ball diamond.
The opening ceremonies will be
held at the ball diamond and will
include student representatives,
school officials, local politicians and
fair board representatives. Once the
opening ceremonies are finished and
the fair is officially opened the
students who enter the bike
decorating class will make a lap
around the field. The arena will then
be open for students to get their
scavenger hunt list and for students
and community to view entriessubmitted by the students. The
livestock showing will begin in the
outdoor ring, the food booth will be
available and a number of
community-minded displays will be
open for all to view.
There has been a Facebook page
set up and can be viewed at
“Elementary School Fair (formerly
Belgrave, Blyth, Brussels School
Fair)” or at
www.facebook.com/#!/groups/3512
32464931010/ There you can find a
copy of the annual fair book that
eligible students should havereceived in June as well as a
schedule, pictures and general
information about the fair.
Please feel free to take a copy of
the annual fair book and any tags
you may need for your child’s
entries.
If you have any questions please
contact a fair board member or post
your question on the Facebook page
and we will get back to you.
Contact Steve Hallahan at 519-
523-4494 for more information.
Back to school
Students flooded into Hullett Central Public School on Tuesday morning as class was back in
for several area schools. With the closure of Blyth, Brussels and East Wawanosh Public
Schools, area students are now attending Hullett Central Public School, North Woods
Elementary School (formerly Grey Central Public School) or the two campuses of Maitland
River Elementary School (formerly Wingham and Turnberry Central Public Schools).
(Denny Scott photo)
RMO needed in HE
Jenna Allain from the Ausable
Bayfield Conservation Authority
(ABCA) recently informed Huron
East Council that Huron East is one
of nine municipalities in the
watershed that will need a Risk
Management Officer (RMO).
Allain said there are eight sites in
Huron East that will need to be
monitored, as well as homes around
the sites. The sites are the three
municipal well systems, two wells
in Seaforth, two wells in Brussels,
one in Brucefield and one portion of
an area near Molesworth in the Grey
Ward.
Allain said that under new
provincial regulations,
municipalities must conform to the
regulations and they will soon have
to have an RMO in place. She did
say, however, that the ABCA is
offering to fill the position for the
municipality. It is, however,
council’s decision to make if they
want to use to the ABCA or go
another route.
If the municipality wanted to train
its own RMO, Allain said, the
person would be required to take an
eight-day course, which is offered
twice annually. The course is
currently only offered in Toronto
and is free of charge.
Allain also informed councillors
that if they wished not to employ the
ABCA in the position and hire
someone else, several municipalities
could share one RMO if they so
desire.
Councillor David Blaney, who is
council’s representative on the
ABCA, said that representatives
tried to have the regulations changed
so the province would compensate
municipalities for the cost, however,
during every leg of the negotiation
process, clauses pertaining to
compensation were all removed
from the agreement by the province.
Mayor Bernie MacLellan,
however, said that the cost would
simply be viewed as another
maintenance cost that would be
treated as user-pay.
“It makes the most sense,”
MacLellan said. “The people using
the well should be paying for the
well.”
Allain told councillors that two
information sessions will be held in
Huron County in September for
municipal councillors and staff
members only to help them
understand the issues and the new
regulations.
The first workshop will be held on
Sept. 13 in Wingham at the North
Huron Wescast Community
Complex from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
and the second will be held in
Clinton at the My United
Community Hall at the Central
Huron Community Complex on
Sept. 25 from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Board working to stop bullying
The Huron Perth Catholic District
School Board is working hard to
implement provincial legislation
relating to bullying
Superintendent of Education Dan
Parr said Bill 13, passed in June,
applies to all schools and school
boards and amends the Education
Act to prevent bullying. The
intended purpose of the bill is to not
only reprimand school yard bullies,
but helps school staff spot and
correct inappropriate behaviours
before they escalate. Bullying can
take many forms, including verbal
taunts and physical violence. Cyber
bullying is becoming more common,
with an ever increasing use of
technology by youth in the province.
“Bill 13 defines the reporting and
communication that needs to be
done by principals with regards to
bullying,” Parr said. “We are now
working to implement the legal
requirements, the most important of
which is respecting differences.”
However, implementing Bill 13
has not come easy for many Catholic
boards. “Some people may have
concerns that the legislation is being
implemented in our schools in a
specifically Catholic way but with
the help of our partners, the Catholic
Trustees and other provincial
Catholic organizations, we are
working to ensure that the legislation
is implemented in such a way that it
is true to the legislation and that it is
also true to Catholic teachings,” said
Parr.
Amy Cronin, board of trustees
vice-chair, said, “We want to ensure
there is a Catholic perspective on
Bill 13 and the Respecting
Differences document that has been
put forth by the Ontario Catholic
School Trustees Association and our
bishop complements Bill 13 and
elevates some of the concerns about
not having a Catholic perspective.
“This legislation and our
implementation of it is making sure
that all students have a safe learning
environment. It doesn’t matter what
their gender is, what their sexual
orientation is, every student deserves
a safe education in our school
board,” she said. “We want to make
sure that while we are implementing
what the government requires with
Bill 13 that we are also integrating
Catholic teachings at the same time:
that we respect and love every
student in our board equally.”
Cronin said that the board also
recognizes that there will be a lot of
questions surrounding the
implementation of Bill 13.
“There was so much information
coming out at the end of the last
school year and parents were not
really familiar with the bill. Much of
the information that was going
around was hearsay and not accurate
information,” she said. “We need to
have an effective way to
communicate to parents, and even
our teachers, about what our board,
specifically, is doing.”
Parr said that the Diocese of
London is providing training to the
school leaders in October. He added
that the Ministry of Education and
the Catholic Trustees Association
have already offered “Q and A”
forums and the HPCDSB will do the
same on their own website in the
near future to localize the
information.
“I think this is important so
parents know what we are doing and
how we are handling it,” said Cronin.
Parr said information will also go
out in the annual directors
newsletter.
“These two strategies have worked
well in the past. They provide a
concise way to offer parents a user
friendly way to get information,” he
said.
By Hilary Long
Special to The Citizen
Huron East Mayor Bernie
MacLellan and members of the
municipal staff were given a
specific timeline as to the closing of
the E.D. Smith plant in Seaforth and
the two parties agreed to help one
another out.
MacLellan said that Economic
Development Officer Jan Hawley
will soon begin to advertise the
property to potential businesses and
that Huron East would work with
Tree House Foods to sell the
property, as it would benefit both
parties.
MacLellan told council at the
Aug. 28 meeting that his call with
Thomas O’Neill, CAO of Tree
House Foods and Tom Michalek,
Seaforth plant manager, went well
and he was told that the move to
Pennsylvania had nothing to do with
Seaforth itself.
“It had nothing to do with the
quality of workers in Seaforth, or
the conditions here,” MacLellan
said. “It was basically a contractual
obligation from the company’s
largest customer. That was the
reason.”
Chief Administrative Officer Brad
Knight said MacLellan “handled the
call very well” and respected the
company’s right to make a decision
that was in the best interest of the
business.
MacLellan said he was told that
between 10 and 15 employees
would be laid off in October of this
year and that the bulk of the
employees would be leaving
between February and March of
2013 (between 70 and 80
employees). He was told the balance
of the employees would be let go by
the end of June, 2013.
The entire timeline, MacLellan
was told, is flexible, as the company
has to ensure that demand is met, so
if there is a higher demand,
employees may stay on longer. He
said employees could be at the plant
as late as the first quarter of
2014, but that would be a
“longshot”.
Hawley begins
shopping plant
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Find a job or advertise
a job on the
Jobs In Huron section
of our website at
www.northhuron.on.ca