Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-06-16, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2011.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 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 887-9114 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com 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 $34.00/year ($32.38 + $1.62 G.S.T.) in Canada; $115.00/year in U.S.A. and $175/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: norhuron@scsinternet.com June 12, 1974 The Blyth Lions Club hosted 14 young people from Texas as part of the Lions Club Exchange. The group included 10 teenage boys and four teenage girls between the ages of 14 and 21. The youths came to Blyth thanks to nine different Lions Clubs in Texas. The group was scheduled to be in Blyth for six weeks. Taxes in East Wawanosh Town- ship were set to increase by three mills. Residents of Auburn, how- ever, were going to get a five-mill tax break. Auburn residents got their tax break due to a special levy that was set to be removed in 1974. Rick Snell, a Grade 12 student at Central Huron Secondary School was going door to door selling subscriptions for The Blyth Standard and The Village Squire magazine. Snell was best known locally for his dramatic abilities, as he had performed in a number of local plays. Maloney Brothers Limited was granted a 30-day contract extension for a project dealing with a storm sewer in Belgrave. An Auburn resident and elected spokesperson for the village spoke to West Wawanosh Township Council about concerns he had over dogs running at large around the village. Dan Cameron said that two vicious dogs, specifically, had been bothering residents in and around Auburn. After some discussion, council decided that it would speak to Blyth Village Council about its dog bylaw and look into adopting a similar bylaw for Auburn and all of West Wawanosh. The Blyth United Church Women met in the church parlour and spoke of a seniors’ pot luck dinner that would be held on June 23. June 11, 1986 Despite the financial crisis facing the Huron County Health Unit, those at the Brussels Health Unit office were told they had nothing to worry about. The Citizen reported that rumours about the future of the office had been flying, but they were not to be believed. The future of the office was safe, according to Harry Cieslar, Medical Officer of Health. William Joseph Riehl, a long- serving postmaster in Blyth passed away in Clinton Hospital. The Blyth Legion member was 69 years old. After the resignation of Councillor David Boynton, Brussels Village Council decided to leave the vacancy open for the time being. According to Clerk-Treasurer Hugh Hanly, Bruce Hahn and Neil McDonald had written to council expressing their interest in the position. The filling of the position, however, would be left to a later date. A delayed decision by Huron County Council as to whether or not $250,000 should be set aside annually for the next three years in order to renovate Huronview resulted in the loss of provincial funding that had previously been available. Huronview Administrator Wayne Lester informed council at its June 5 meeting that funding was no longer available. The funding had been originally announced in 1985 when the Provincial Government reserved $75 million to help finance municipal renovation projects on homes for the aged. West Wawanosh Township Council authorized $1,500 to be granted to the Auburn Memorial Hall Board in order to assist with necessary changes that the hall might need. July 9, 2003 The Blyth Idea Group announced that Lynne Ternosky of Lynmar Consulting Canada had been hired by the group to conduct research into options for Blyth’s main street and various sources of funding to assist with the revitalization of the village. In addition, the group’s chair, Steven Sparling said, the group is also investigating a comprehensive signing scheme that would easily identify all important features within the village. The hiring was made possible by a $3,000 grant from the Huron Business Development Corporation. The Huron County Health Unit formed a group to deal with the threat of West Nile Virus. The advisory committee was comprised of six of Huron County’s nine municipalities along with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. Blyth and Brussels were on a shortlist of communities in Huron County that were to be the priority for an upcoming groundwater management study. The study was presented to Huron County Council at its July meeting with the other communities being Clinton, Benmiller, Seaforth, Wingham and Hensall. Grant Sparling was honoured with the Ontario Propane Association’s first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award. Sparling’s business began at the back of a hardware store in Blyth, but just over 50 years later, the company had grown substantially and Sparling was being presented with the association’s highest honour. Huron County’s tree bylaw was set to have one more round of consultation before being officially considered by council. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Marking a remarkable legacy The celebration of Belgrave Women’s Institute’s 100th anniversary last week recalls the many contributions that branch has brought to its community, and the leading role Women’s Institutes (WIs) have taken in shaping our communities, our province, our country, indeed, our world. Since its founding in 1911, the Belgrave WI helped get street lights for the village, contributed to the building of the Belgrave Community Centre, supported the Belgrave School Fair, kept up a hall used by many in the community for many years, and contributed to the community in many other ways. Until recent years, nearly every hamlet, village and town in Ontario, if not Canada, had a WI. Each contributed to its own community in its own way, giving us many of the things we came to take for granted in our communities. For many years the WIs were places of both social and educational importance in rural communities. Women who were normally busy on the farm or in the family home looking after children, had a day a month when they got together with their neighbours and developed friendships, breaking down the isolation. The monthly meetings were also a place where they learned more about the rest of the world and close-to-home subjects like improving the nutrition of the meals for their families. The combined power of small WI groups in small hamlets and villages helped influence governments to bring in things like pasteurization of milk and other campaigns for the public good. What’s more, the organization begun by Adelaide Hunter Hoodless with one WI at Stoney Creek in 1897 spread around the world to help women and communities elsewhere. The movie Calendar Girls, is based on a true story about members of a WI in northern England who decided to raise funds for a local hospital by posing discreetly nude for a calendar. The WI isn’t as powerful a force as it once was. Younger, working women haven’t made it one of their priorities to join. Branches have been dropping by the wayside for lack of members. Still the work done by WIs in general, and the Belgrave WI in particular on its 100th anniversary, is a remarkable legacy for our rural communities.— KR She will be missed Though there is much elsewhere in this newspaper this week about the passing of Brussels resident Sheila Richards, it would be improper not to mark the loss of someone so essential to The Citizen with an editorial comment. Quite frankly, you would not be reading The Citizen today if it had not been for Sheila Richards. In the summer of 1985 she had become concerned about the effects not having a local newspaper was having on Brussels. She approached the current publisher with her concerns and, since Blyth was suffering the same problem, they decided to start a community-owned newspaper to serve both communities. Sheila, an experienced fundraiser from her days with the Girl Guides of Canada, Hamilton YWCA and Blyth Festival, went to work selling shares and was so successful in persuading people to invest that the company ended up with more shareholders than allowed under regulations of the Ontario Securities Commission. Having done the early hard work, she stepped back and let the employees run the paper but she served on the board of directors for nearly the entire first 25 years of the company’s existence. In that position, she regularly reinforced the original mandate of The Citizen which was to serve the community. She might not have made a very good board member in a profit-oriented company like those that were taking a bigger and bigger ownership of Ontario’s community newspapers, but she was always more worried about the company’s employees and what was needed to serve readers in the northern Huron area than in maximizing profits for shareholders. It was the hallmark of her life as she lived it: putting the community first whether it was for the Girl Guides, the YWCA, her church or Blyth Festival. She will be missed. — 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.