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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, November 29, 2012
Volume 28 No. 47
AWARDS - Pg. 13, 24Sparling, Boltonhonoured with medals BOOKS - Pg. 26 Local couple’s daughterhits it big with new bookSPORTS- Pg. 8Brussels’ Sebastian comesup big in ArgentinaPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Santa Claus Parade returns
to Brussels this Saturday
McGavin honoured with Hall of Fame induction
Morris-Turnberry
approves restructuring
Remembering
Gordon McGavin’s son Neil, left – pointing to a picture of Gordon on the wall of the museum,
and two grandsons Brian, centre, and Jeff were on hand at the Huron County Museum on Nov.
25 to observe the opening of a special exhibit dedicated to members of the Ontario Agricultural
Hall of Fame from Huron County like Gordon. The exhibit is a permanent fixture in the
museum. (Denny Scott photo)
After months of discussion and a
public meeting, Morris-Turnberry
councillors passed two bylaws
changing the municipal structure at
their Nov. 20 meeting with hardly a
comment.
One of the bylaws will abolish the
ward system beginning with the
2014 municipal election.
Established with the amalgamation
of Morris and Turnberry Townships
in 2000, the ward system meant that
residents of each of the former
townships elected three councillors
from their own ward. Some
ratepayers, as well as some
councillors, argued this meant that
councillors were making decisions
for both wards when only electors of
one ward had the chance to vote for
As he does every year, Santa Claus
will be taking a break from the
North Pole and spending an evening
in Brussels on Saturday, Dec. 1.
The parade will begin, making its
way through the village’s traditional
parade route, at 5 p.m., starting and
then ending at the Brussels, Morris
and Grey Community Centre.
As always, the parade will be
followed by plenty of activities,
including a chance to visit with
Santa himself at the community
centre.
Organizer Deb Seili said the goal
for the parade this year, and every
year, is to offer plenty of family fun
that isn’t going to hit the community
in its pocketbook.
“We want everybody to be happy
and healthy without spending a lot
of money,” Seili said in an interview
with The Citizen. “It’s a family event
for families large and small, young
and old. There’s something for
everyone.”
While Santa Claus will be the
undisputed star of the evening, Seili
said, the parade has always been
something that gets the community
excited.
This year organizers are hoping
for a good turnout, and the co-
operation of the weather, but she
knows they won’t be able to top the
community’s last parade.
“Every year it’s gotten bigger and
better,” Seili said of the annual
parade. “The Homecoming parade
nearly met itself at the arena, so we
likely can’t top that, but we’re
hoping to get close.”
The Brussels parade has
traditionally been held the day after
the Santa Claus parade in Seaforth, a
tradition the fellow Huron East
communities are keeping with this
year.
“It really helps both Seaforth and
Brussels out,” she said.
Seili says that once the parade is
over, there will be free skating at the
Brussels, Morris and Grey
Community Centre and visits with
Santa. Seili is encouraging parents
to bring their cameras. There is also
a colouring contest and a turkey
draw happening that night.
Seili says trucks from the Brussels
Fire Department will lead the way
and they will be followed by the
Brussels Legion Pipe Band.
“We’re just hoping to give people
a time to relax and start the
Christmas season off with some
good spirit,” Seili said.
Two local families had the
opportunity to see their names
immortalized in the Huron County
museum as part of the erection of the
Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame
wall.
Gordon McGavin (1905-1976) of
Walton and Russel Bolton (1901-
1986) were two of the 12 individuals
from Huron County recognized
locally by having framed replicas of
their exhibits in the Hall of Fame in
Country Heritage Park in Milton,
Ontario placed in the Huron County
Museum in Goderich.
Each replica was handed to the
individual, their family or a
representative during a special
ceremony on Nov. 25 who then hung
it on a wall in the agriculturally-
themed zone in the museum.
The wall, which is a permanent
fixture in the museum, is a result of
nearly a year’s work among the Hall
of Fame, the Huron County
Federation of Agriculture (HCFA)
and the museum according to
Museum Curator Patricia Hamilton
and HCFA President Carol Leeming.
Hamilton explained that the idea is
one that the Hall of Fame has been
trying to encourage throughout the
province and that Neil McGavin, the
son of Gordon McGavin, saw one in
Wellington County at their museum.
Neil, along with Leeming and the
museum worked to create the wall
which was unveiled after the
presentations of the replicas were
made on Sunday.
Leeming explained that there are a
handful of other locations
throughout the province that have
opened up, including one in Perth
County, and that the Hall of Fame
hopes that these sites will encourage
people to become more involved in
their communities and get inductees
to be better known in their home
areas.
Working with the museum was a
great opportunity, according to
Leeming.
“The museum is a great location
with the agricultural exhibits they
already have,” Leeming said. “It’s a
good place to exhibit local people in
agriculture and they are a good
partner.”
Since the location is open to the
public and has a mandate to host
local historical information,
Leeming said that the museum is
ideal for the project and that the
HCFA and museum look forward to
continuing working there.
“They made us feel very
welcomed and I think they really
appreciated the ability to partner
with us and the Hall of Fame,” she
said.
While both Bolton and McGavin
were heavily involved in agriculture
in their lives, Bolton as a pedigreed
seed grower and 10-time winner of
the World Hay championship at the
Royal Agricultural Winter Fair and
McGavin for the company that is
carried on by his family to this day,
as well as the other accolades the two
collected, being part of the Hall of
Fame doesn’t require the kind of
hands-on agricultural work that one
might expect.
“They aren’t all farmers,”
Hamilton said. “People are on the
wall that have done things to
complement agriculture if they
weren’t involved in agriculture
themselves.”
One such individual who was
named to the wall for his
contributions to local agriculture and
not for working the land itself, was
Wilford “Doc” Cruikshank.
Cruickshank, according to his
biography at the museum, believed
that people in a rural setting deserved
the same benefits that those in urban
centres received. He “loved” the
agricultural industry.
To help achieve his goal,
Cruickshank established CKNX in
Wingham which became known as
the “Ontario Farm Station” due to its
programming and free broadcast
time given to rural organizations.
Both Leeming and Hamilton said
they looked forward to expanding
the wall as new additions to the Hall
of Fame are made and believe that
the exhibit should be of keen interest
to locals and visitors alike.
For more information about the
exhibit, visit the Huron County
Museum at 110 North Street in
Goderich, online at
www.huroncounty.ca/museum or
call them at 519-524-2682.
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Keith Roulston
The Citizen
Continued on page 17