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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-06-23, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 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 19, 1974 The Blyth Union Cemetery board found itself in serious financial trouble and local municipal councils were called to the cemetery’s aid. Larry Walsh, Blyth clerk- treasurer said fees collected from sale of lots and the income from the perpetual care fund had not been sufficient in recent years and as a result, costs for the cemetery couldn’t be kept up. A full financial statement for the cemetery was included in the June 19 issue of The Blyth Standard. 15-year-old Blyth residents Leslie Cook and Robbie Burkholder undertook a wheelbarrow trip to raise money for the Blyth Arena, which netted the project over $900. The pair began raising funds by going door to door and asking for pledges and they were not getting a great response, so they felt they had to change their game plan. The boys raised the money over the course of a two-day trip where one rode in a wheelbarrow while the other pushed. The boys alternated positions throughout the trip from Blyth to London. Over the course of the trip, the pair were asked in for dinner in Exeter and were also asked not to speed by OPP officers at the Lucan detachment. An election for the riding of Huron-Middlesex had just begun with an all-candidates meeting being organized by the Huron County Federation of Agriculture. The meeting would be held in Clinton at Central Huron Secondary School. Students throughout the Huron County Board of Education were in for a change for the 1974/1975 school year when the board had decided it would introduce the metric system to students. In September, it would be mandatory for the metric system to be used in all activities involving measurement with primary grade students, but teachers were encouraged to start using it as soon as possible. June 18, 1986 The opening of the new Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Pool was celebrated with a parade. The parade was kicked off by the Brussels Legion Pipe Band and also included fire trucks, clowns and many children who decorated their bicycles for the parade. The Blyth Festival opened its 12th season with a gala dinner on June 13 and then a performance of the season’s first production, Another Season’s Promise. Blyth Village Council was informed that its Ontario Home Renewal Program was nearly out of money. The program was initially set up by the province, which had decided not to provide more money, even if there were more requests. The bulk of the funding was taken by a homeowner requesting $3,000 to replace a furnace, leaving just $847.67 left in the account for the program’s first year. In the next year, an additional $1,150 was added to the village’s account. The Blyth Lions Club welcomed a pair of new members to the ranks, including Paul Kerr and Graham Jackson. The Belgrave Arena was in need of roof repairs that would cost in excess of $31,000. There would, however, be a government grant that would pay half of those costs. A Wingham pro-life group’s membership reached over 500 people at its June 2 meeting. Wingham Voice For Life was in the process of sponsoring a fundraising garage sale and during the planning stages began closing in on 500 members. June 17, 2004 Former Stratford Festival Artistic Director John Neville was the guest speaker for the gala dinner kicking off the 30th season of the Blyth Festival. Neville played the title role in Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and he also had a recurring role on The X Files. The Festival season kicked off with the massive production The Outdoor Donnellys. Local businessman Steven Sparling was named the Citizen of the Year for the Blyth area, while Jeff and Cathy Cardiff were named the Brussels and area Citizens of the Year. Sparling’s nomination came largely due to his involvement in the Blyth Idea Group and his efforts in creating new soccer fields for Blyth. The Cardiffs were given the Citizen of the Year honour due to their extensive work in the field of agriculture. Working with the Brussels Agricultural Society, the Cardiffs organized a beef supper just after the BSE crisis hit. This was only a glimpse of their extensive work in the community. NHL draft hopeful Justin Peters spent the afternoon in front of Scrimgeour’s signing autographs at a barbecue that was charged with raising money for the Emergency Services Training Centre. The event raised well over $1,200. At the same time, the centre also received a donation of $1,000 from the Blyth Christian Reformed Church. Local athlete Kerissa VanAmersfoort won first place at the discus toss event at OFSAA in Etobicoke, also taking home fifth place honours from the shot put event. 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 They’re out of touch There are so many people out of touch with reality in the postal strike/lockout that drags on as this is written, that it’s hard to find any “good guys”. Topping the list of those out of touch, of course, are the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) leaders and members who live in their own “reality” despite the fact their industry is changing drastically. Volume of mail going through Canada Post is declining, yet to make the system work the company must still deliver to every household in Canada. Declining revenue and standards that must be maintained: something has to give. Yet CUPW still asked for an 11 per cent pay increase. Canada Post, on the other hand, asked for concessions such as the fact that new workers would start at a lower rate of pay and would have to wait until 60 to get a full pension instead of at 55. Since the company has a huge pension deficiency, the generous pensions obviously can’t continue. On the other hand, Canada Post is so isolated from the needs of its customers, maybe the union has a point. Take the “genius” somewhere at head office in Gatineau who decided that even though small, non-CUPW post offices such as Blyth and Brussels would remain open, they wouldn’t be able to accept and deliver local mail, such as community newspapers. When Newspapers Canada, the association representing community newspapers across Canada, asked Canada Post to change this policy, the company refused, citing safety and security concerns. While safety of workers is a motherhood issue, it’s hard to see how workers would be endangered delivering their local newspaper. And then there’s Jack Layton and the NDP and his pledge to do whatever it takes to delay passage of back-to-work legislation. Since his surprising rise in the May 2 election to being the leader of the official opposition, Layton likes to see himself as Prime Minister in waiting. This vow to delay the legislation, however, shows that he still sees his constituency as the labour movement, not Canadians in general. Millions of people are being hurt by this strike but he turns his back on them to support a few thousand well-paid workers and an out-of-touch union. Ordinary Canadians and small businesses that depend on Canada Post services are left feeling helpless that their lives are being harmed by a whole bunch of people who just don’t get it.— KR The good, the bad and the ugly Last week’s riot in Vancouver following the loss by their beloved Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup final, has demonstrated the good the bad and the ugly of human nature. First, of course, came the ugly, as an undetermined number of fans, male and female, went wild, burning cars, smashing windows and looting stores. Such is the euphoria of a mob, especially one fuelled by mood-altering substances, that these people even proudly boasted on camera what they had stolen or destroyed. Amid all the chaos there was the good, as a few ordinary citizens stood up to the mob, trying to protect cars from being destroyed and, in one case, setting up a human chain to protect a store from being looted. The good continued the next day when many citizens, ashamed of what had happened, went to Vancouver’s downtown to help clean up the mess they didn’t make. Good people left messages of hope on plywood covering the smashed windows. People went to work trying to identify rioters captured in photos and video. But then the good began to go too far and become the bad. The internet and social media facilitated another kind of mob – of vigilantes taking justice into their own hands. The parents of one of the young men identified as taking part in the riot were threatened and had to move from their home in fear for their safety. One can only marvel at the bravery of the few who showed the best of humanity, standing up to the mob. One can only cringe at those who hide behind the mob, whether on the street or online, to do things they wouldn’t do as individuals on their own. — 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.