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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-12-20, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 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 Ph. 519-523-4792 Fax 519-523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 519-887-9114 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 December 23, 1965 George Cousins of the Cousins Dairy in Brussels was awarded the fourth place prize for all of Ontario for butter manufactured in the previous 12 months. Winners for the Christmas decorating competition in Brussels were announced. Doris McDonald placed first in the home category, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Ray Bronson in second and Mr. and Mrs. Ross McCall in third. In the business category Doris McDonald also took home the top prize, followed by Baeker’s Butcher Shop in second and McCutcheon Grocery in third. December 16, 1987 A vicious storm helped to keep area firefighters busy as it contributed to two “disasters” in the community within two hours of one another. High winds, freezing rain and a winter lightning storm were the cause of a barn fire in Morris Township. The barn, owned by Ross Nichol, went up in flames as a result of the lightning and the wind only helped to fan the flames. The fire quickly destroyed the barn and along with it four cows. Minutes later firefighters from Blyth and Brussels were dispatched to help when a bus went off of County Road 12 south of Brussels injuring between 10 and 15 passengers. Students at Brussels Public School were in the midst of a Christmas donation campaign where they were collecting items for the Salvation Army in Wingham. The students were collecting clothing, mittens, toques, slippers, canned food and toys all to be donated to less fortunate families in the community. The Huron County Board of Education was selected to receive part of the $600,000 that had recently been announced by the Ontario Ministry of Education. The money was to contribute to a program aimed at helping reduce the dropout rate in Ontario schools. Huron MPP Jack Riddell said that the board was one of 12 selected for the funding out of the 75 applications received by the ministry. December 20, 2007 The Blyth Festival announced that it had recorded a surplus for the 2007 theatre season. The surplus totalled just under $6,500. Artistic Director Eric Coates told those congregated for the Festival’s annual general meeting that the surplus could be chalked up to a large donation and other unbudgeted income. Coates said that while ticket sales had dropped 18 per cent, Paul Ciufo’s Reverend Jonah was a success both critically and at the box office. Southern Ontario was rocked with yet another winter storm when over 30 centimetres of snow were dumped on the region. While conditions were dangerous in Huron County, the greatest accumulation of snow was seen in the Hamilton area. The weather, however, did claim one local life as 45-year-old Gail Hall lost control of her car. The car then left the road and struck a tree, resulting in fatal injuries to Hall. The three other passengers were all treated for minor injuries. Caitlin Scarrow, a Grade 4 student at Brussels Public School, dug deep into her pockets and donated nearly $25 in change to the Huron County Christmas Bureau. Scarrow had been collecting the money for months in hopes that she could help make someone’s Christmas “exciting”. David and Tamara Riach officially opened Davara Studio in Blyth. The Riachs opened the business in a renovated garage that they helped turn into a full-blown studio and workshop made to produce custom glass, clay and wood creations. December 22, 2011 Newly-elected chair of the Avon Maitland District School Board Jenny Versteeg forecasted that 2012 would be a challenging year for the school board. She said that several issues were looming for the board, including its long-term strategic plan. At the time the board was also in the midst of two accommodation reviews. One was being conducted in Central Huron involving Colborne Central and Holmesville Public Schools, while the other was playing out in Stratford. Huron County Council decided that planning fees would rise by an average of 14 per cent over the next five years. The increase was an attempt by the Huron County Planning Department to make planning fees more of a user-pay system, rather than having shortcomings be subsidized by the taxpayers. The Stratford Shakespeare Festival announced that it would be commissioning three new plays. Two of the plays being commissioned were to be written by Canadian playwrights (Jason Sherman and Hannah Moscovitch) and one would be an English translation by Linda Gaboriau of a new play by Michel Tremblay. A “Movember” fundraising campaign held at Central Huron Secondary School raised over $2,000 for Prostate Cancer Canada in just one hour. 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 Goodwill towards men Another Christmas, another year of seeing the angel’s greeting to the shepherds of “Peace on earth and goodwill towards men” as more of a wish than a declaration. This year the lack of peace and goodwill seems particularly poignant, following the death of 20 children and six innocent school staff at a Connecticut school last Friday. Children and Christmas seem to be tied so closely in our culture. Now, instead of parents of those 20 children planning how they can bring delight to the faces of their kids this Christmas, they’re dealing with the shock of a mass killing that has shattered not just their families, but their community and their country. Something had to be wrong mentally for a young man, normally quiet and apparently very intelligent, to have taken three weapons into a school and systematically killed very young children and the staff who tried to protect them. Sadly, we’ll never understand what was going on inside his mind. Similarly we’ll never understand the warped motivations of the many other mass shootings throughout the United States in the past year and years previous. There will always be sick people, in all societies, and often their mental troubles will remain invisible until a terrible explosion occurs. What sets the U.S. apart from most other societies, however, is the ready access to assault weapons for these sick individuals. Almost as disturbing as the horrible killings themselves is the mindset that insists that people have the right to own weapons that, as New York Mayor Michael Blomberg points out, are only useful in killing people. These are not the rifles and shotguns that were the focus of bitter debate in Canada as gun control advocates saw them as a threat to humans while farmers and hunters saw them as a tool to be used to protect livestock or as a recreational device. The weapons doing the damage in the U.S. are the kinds of automatic weapons designed to help soldiers be as efficient as possible in killing the enemy. Yet the defence of the right to own such weapons goes on. It is part of the psyche of a certain portion of the U.S. public, that people have to be prepared to defend themselves even against their own over-reaching government. For these people, the problem isn’t too many guns (there’s about one gun for every American) but too few. Although the National Rifle Association, the staunchest defender of the “right to bear arms”, has been quiet since the latest tragedy, one Republican politician pointed out that if teachers in the Connecticut school had automatic weapons, they could have killed the intruder before he killed the children. There’s not much goodwill toward your fellow man when you feel you need to be armed to the teeth in case he threatens you. Even if the death of those innocent children was finally the tipping point to see the banning of private ownership of assault weapons, the distrust and lack of goodwill toward their fellow men will continue to damage our neighbour’s society. –KR Remember the less fortunate Christmas is a time of excess in the typical Canadian home. We spend a lot of money on presents, decorations, even clothing to be fashionably dressed for the holiday. We eat too much and some of us drink too much. At the same time, those who run food banks tell us that more people than ever are using their services. The profile of users is changing, not just people on social assistance as was often the case in the past, but people who have jobs but can’t make ends meet, even with a paycheque. Much was made a year ago during the “Occupy Wall Street” movement about the growing gap between the one per cent who are the richest people and the rest of the population. It’s an easy target to point to the very rich and blame them for the poor. But there’s also a growing gap between those comfortably well off and the people struggling to keep up in an increasingly divided society. It’s much less comforting to realize that many of us who don’t think of ourselves are affluent, are on the “rich” side of the income divide. If you’re fortunate enough this Christmas to be one of those who doesn’t need assistance, take a moment to help out those who do need help. — 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.