The Citizen, 2012-10-04, Page 24PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2012.Local families return from world plowing match
Three area couples returned from
the World Plowing Match held in the
country of Croatia. Bob and Rene
Richmond, Neil and Marie McGavin
and Fred and Teuni Smith spent 10days travelling the area and seeingsites and attending the match. Theyflew from Toronto with KLMAirlines to Zagreb and then went to
Ljubjana in Slovenia. They spent the
first six days touring cities such as
Postojnska jama in the Plitvice
Lakes area and saw a beautiful
waterfall in the very mountainous
area. They stayed at Zadar on their
way to the region of Split where they
enjoyed a day cruise with lunch.
They swam in the Adriatic Sea and
the waters were blue and clear. The
most southern city of Dubrovnik was
lovely and they enjoyed the tours ofthe surroundings with local producttasting. The area is popular for itsolive oil production. The group thenstayed at Biograd na maru and
attended the Plowing Match. They
had enjoyed very hot weather for the
first six days and then for the
opening day of the match, they had
rain. The weather had been the same
in Croatia as in Canada, suffering
from a drought most of the summer.
The opening was held in a 300-foot
tent which was very, very full. The
Prime Minister and the Minister of
Agriculture opened the match. There
were 34 countries represented at thematch with the Canadians doingwell. The Match was from Sept. 12-15. At most displays, visitors weretreated to breads and cheeses, olive
oil, wines and beer. They had a
wonderful time and returned to
Canada the day after the match
finished.
Croatia is becoming a very
popular tourist destination and has
great weather, good roads, fancy
hotels and the people are very
friendly. Welcome home folks!
What goes around comes around
and it has come around to Karen
Braecker. Karen awoke one morninglast week to find signs posted in herfront yard announcing her specialday, her 50th birthday. The bushes and trees in the front
yard were decorated with pristine
white lingerie and toiletries.
Welcome to the world of 50 year
olds.
We understand that Joyce Jacklin
is a patient in London Hospital and
we hope she is improving in her
health issues. Margery Huether is a
patient in Seaforth Hospital and
Edith Wey has been released from
hospital and is home.
Two local couples share wedding date of Sept. 22
What a good week of weather, as
field after field of crop were taken
off: soybeans, white beans, hay, high
moisture corn and silage and even
dry corn. There are some really good
looking fields of hay out there, better
than the second cut was, according
to one farmer. Winter wheat is being
planted and other fields are being
worked to sit for the winter. There
was even a pretty good frost about
mid week last week.
The farmers are working hard to
harvest the year’s crop, and in turn
provide food for many. There are
many out there that are not as
fortunate and struggle to provide
food for their families. The food
banks are in desperate need to
restock their shelves. Thanksgiving
is coming and if you can, please
donate to the food bank, so others
may also enjoy a Happy
Thanksgiving.
Leslie and Yvonne Knight have
returned from a fantastic western
vacation during the month of
September. They went west via the
Canadian route and went to the coast
of B.C. and Vancouver. From there
they took a bus tour to Vancouver
Island and Victoria. The tour
included a visit to Butchart Gardens.
On their travels, Leslie and Yvonne
visited with family members from
10 different families living on farms
or in towns or cities across the west.
Leslie reports that most of the crops
are off and that it was a much better
year for farming in the west.
Friends of Isabelle Craig will be
pleased to know she is now residing
at Huronlea. Drop in for a visit any
time, Isabelle always likes to chat
with her old friends.
There were a couple of weddings
on the cold damp weekend of the
Sept. 22. Crystal McLellan became
the wife of David Prentice in a
ceremony at the Catholic Church in
Wingham. Crystal is the daughter of
Max and Barb McLellan and David
the son of Larry and Anne Prentice
of Wroxeter. The bride was attended
by her bridesmaids attired in deep
purple gowns and the men were
dashing in black suits. The dinner
and reception were held at the
Brussels, Morris and Grey
Community Centre and the crowd
enjoyed the music of a swing band.
They also had a slideshow and
French fries and poutine bar for the
late lunch.
The couple is honeymooning in
Jamaica and will reside in Hamilton.
Congratulations to Crystal and
David.
Also wed on the Sept. 22 were
Dianne Miners and Neil Warwick.
They were wed in a late afternoon
ceremony near the beach in
Goderich. The reception was held in
a tent at their home near Bluevale.
There was wonderful music,
delicious food and a very large
crowd of family, friends and
neighbours to celebrate the occasion.
Congratulations to Dianne and
Neil.
By Jo-Ann
McDonald
Call
887-6570
PEOPLE AROUNDWALTON
Communitree erected by Horticultural society
Have you seen it? The tree at the
gazebo downtown. The Brussels
Horticultural have decorated it as
part of the Huron Arts and Heritage
Network promoting a program
called “Communitrees”. It is an
event which is taking place during
Culture Days, Sept. 29 and 30.
Members of the Horticulture group
decorated the tree and entered it into
the competition. You can go on line
and view the entries and vote for the
Viewer’s Choice Award. Support the
Brussels group by going to
www.communitrees.ca between
Sept. 29 and Oct. 6 and cast your
vote for Brussels.
The shed at our place was
decorated this past week with roof
steel. A full day’s work on Thursday
and the roof is done. The Stevenson
house on Moncrieff Road is coming
along nicely with the siding going
on. The Baan shed is almost fully
enclosed and the McGavin shed is
up and has the roof trusses on. Good
weather sees good progress.
Celebrating their 30th wedding
anniversary last weekend were Allan
and Shirley Baker. A party was held
at the home of their son, Tom and
was attended by many family,
friends and neighbours.
Congratulations to the Bakers.
Congratulations to Tim Wharton
and Krystal Kraemer on their
marriage last weekend. Tim is the
son of Steve and Julie Wharton,
Belgrave, and Krystal the daughter
of Gordon and Dianne Kraemer of
Wingham. The wedding was held in
Wingham and Aunt Michelle Blake
was the organist. The dinner and
reception was at the Knights of
Columbus Hall. The wedding was in
classic colours of red, black and
white and was very lovely. Wedding
photos were taken in the rustic area
behind the groom’s parents’ home.
The newlyweds are residing in
Belgrave. Congratulations to Tim
and Krystal.
The congregation of Duff’s United
Church had the pleasure of a guest
minister for service. It was pulpit
exchange week and Duff’s enjoyed
the service of Rev. Sharon Lohnes
from Fordwich United Church.
Marie McGavin introduced her and
delivered the scripture readings. A
social time followed the service with
a special treat of Deity Bos
providing delicious mini crème
puffs.
We end the birthdays in the month
of September with Lorren Poland,
Barb Durrell, Roger Tipple and Gary
Williamson celebrating birthdays.
October starts with W. Doug
Mitchell, Cindy Carter, MaryAnn
Grobbink, Annette McCutcheon,
Helen Craig, Gerry Rijkhoff,
Campbell Wey, Christopher Blake,
Chantelle denDekker and Melva
Fraser. Happy birthday to all.
Continued from page 1
representatives.
In the same breath, however,
Falconer said he wants to see the
ward system gone, saying the
municipality could move to a two-
ward system, electing people from
the north and from the south.
Councillor Bill Siemon spoke
against the abolition of the ward
system, saying that if he, as a
McKillop councillor, were to be
called about an issue in Grey, he
wouldn’t know where to start.
“The people in Molesworth know
[Councillor] Alvin [McLellan],
they sure don’t know me,” Siemon
said.
McLellan was also against a shift
in representation, saying that if
council was to be cut in half, as
Marshall was suggesting, the
workload would double, making a
Huron East councillor an impossible
position for anyone holding a full-
time job.
“It just doesn’t make sense,”
McLellan said. “Regular folk like
myself wouldn’t be able to run.”
McLellan also said that other
aspects of representation like
attending church suppers and local
fundraisers weren’t being considered
in a regular councillor’s workload.
Marshall said he wasn’t as
concerned with the ward system as
he was with the number of
councillors. He said the ward system
could remain, but that each ward
would have one representative, as
opposed to two.
“The numbers would be less,”
Marshall said, “and they would be
well informed.”
Councillor Andy Flowers
disagreed, saying that he spends
plenty of time preparing for
meetings and reading material
before meetings.
He said if council was cut in half,
it would also eliminate councillors’
opportunities to volunteer in their
communities.
Siemon listed many of the
province’s big cities, such as
Toronto, Kitchener and London,
saying they have all retained the
ward system in order to ensure that
all areas of the city are represented at
the council table.
Councillor David Blaney said the
perception of a move to fewer
councillors is something that
proponents for a smaller council
need to remember.
“You have to remember the
perception of this. This is politics,”
Blaney said. “There are ties with
history in the area and history is one
of the few things we have to sell
folks.”
Blaney also expressed his
disappointment in the issue of
council composition returning for the
third time in three years, asking when
will it be settled once and for all?
“Are we just waiting for those
saying no to just get tired?” Blaney
asked. “It appears this council has
already said no.”
Marshall acknowledged that he
was one of the councillors who
voted against the reduction in
numbers at the council table in the
February, 2011 vote, but had since
changed his mind.
In a chart provided to council by
Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)
Brad Knight, council costs per
elector were provided and
Councillor Larry McGrath said that
as long as Huron East’s costs
weren’t out of hand, he was
comfortable with the size of council.
Huron East Council’s cost per
elector was reported as $19.42 in
2011. Huron East was not the
cheapest of Huron County’s nine
municipalities (Central Huron was at
$11.94 per elector) but Huron East
was in the middle, but with the
highest number of councillors.
Huron East was behind three other
councils, Goderich ($19.49 per
elector), North Huron ($22.48 per
elector) and Morris-Turnberry
($33.65 per elector).
Mayor Bernie MacLellan,
however, said the debate wasn’t
really about cost, just about getting
better representation around the
council table.
However, MacLellan did say that
preparation time wasn’t as labour-
intensive as people might think. He
said he reviewed the week’s meeting
package in about an hour and he said
he had a good hold on what was
being discussed that week.
MacLellan said he would be
concerned if councillors seemed
unprepared for council meetings,
but historically that hasn’t been the
case.
MacLellan then suggested that the
representation at committee levels
could be examined if Marshall felt
there needed to be further council
involvement in committees of
council.
Deputy-Mayor Joe Steffler said
the public should also be involved,
and that council should make a
recommendation, but then a public
meeting should be held to gauge the
public’s thoughts.
No formal decision was made, but
staff was instructed to prepare a
report and present it to council at the
Oct. 2 meeting on the potential
restructuring of the committee
system.
Blaney wants to end three-year composition debate
Carnochan death
weighs on community
Many families around Walton
were saddened with the news of the
death of Matt Carnochan of
Seaforth. He suffered an accident
while riding an ATV near his home
early last week. He was a young man
with many friends around the
Walton area. He is the son of Brad
and Sharon Carnochan. Our
sympathies are extended to the
Carnochan family and the Finlayson
families.
Another young man of the area
was also involved in an ATV
accident last week.
Luke McCutcheon was out riding
his ATV and collided with a deer. He
was found unconscious and rushed
to Wingham Hospital. He was
transferred to London, Sick Kids,
where he was treated. Luke suffered
a broken collarbone and a severe
concussion.
He will be awhile recovering
and will have to take it easy for
awhile.
NEWS
FROM WALTON