HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-10-20, Page 23THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2011. PAGE 23. Murray encourages ‘getting monkeys off backs’On Sunday, Oct. 16 Rev. TomMurray’s message was entitled,“Getting the monkeys off ourbacks!” Jesus brought us analternative to the humanized
existence of our being. Jesus
brought us the image of
God, and put it in our face
and within our reach. Jesus
showed us the other way, the real
way, the real truth and the real life.
After the worship service all young
people attending Grade 8 through
High School were invited to join
Rev. Tom Murray and Kathy
Douglas (Our Huron-Perth
Presbytery’s Youth Minister) for
pizza and pop and a casual
discussion.
On Sunday mornings from 9:15 to
10:30 a.m. until Nov. 13 you are
welcome to attend a session
“Following Jesus: Steps to a
Passionate Faith: Part 1 –Rediscovering Jesus – session 1-4.”The winners for the shoot partyheld on Friday, Oct. 14 in theBelgrave Community Centre were:
high pink card, Bev Hayden; second
high pink card, Judy Hahn; pink
card most shoots, Jane Grasby; high
white card, Mary McIntosh;
second high white card, Ken
Spears; most shoots white card,
Ross Taylor.
The next shoot party is Friday,
Oct. 28 at 1:30 p.m. Everyone is
welcome.
The community extends sincere
sympathy to Heather and Tyler
Stewart, Mason, Alana and
Brya in the loss of a dear
mother and grandmother,
Sharon Campbell of Huronlea,
Brussels.
The community congratulates
Shawn Cottrill of BDO as the onlynewly accredited Certified GeneralAccountant in Ontario to receive theT.H. Frankling Medal foroutstanding academic achievement.Best wishes and congratulationsare extended from the community to Doreen and Bill Taylor on their 50th wedding anniversary Oct. 11.
NEWS
FROM BELGRAVE
Mind the little things
The Belgrave Community Club
meeting began with a potluck lunch
with an attendance of 24. The
president, Muriel Coultes, read
“Don’t forget the little things.” The
minutes of the previous meeting
were read by Nancy Jardin and
Muriel gave the treasurer’s report.
Jim Hunter volunteered to fill the
treasurer’s position. The Sept. and
Oct. birthdays were acknowledged.
Shoot card parties will be held on
Oct. 14 and Oct. 28.
A collection amounting to $53.40
was taken for the Alzheimer’s
Coffee Break. It was decided to have
a potluck meal in December instead
of a catered turkey dinner. The
Seniors Fall Rally was held in the
Blyth Memorial Hall on Oct. 6 with
the Belgrave club providing
entertainment.
Ron Taylor, representing the
Community Centre Board stated that
the Fire Inspector for North Huron
had inspected the building and
found that a number of safety issues
need to be addressed. These
requirements must be met if the
building is to continue to be used by
the public.
Kay Roberts introduced Tom
Willis, who showed samples of his
fine craftmanship, making various
wooden toy vehicles, using
purchased plans. He had on display,
cards, tractors, trailers, bulldozer
and loader. He has even made
Santa’s reindeer and sleigh.
Bill Coultes was the door prize
winner and thanked Mr. Willis for
his display and information. The
meeting closed by singing God Save
The Queen.
By Linda
Campbell
Call
357-2188
PEOPLE AROUND
BELGRAVE
Writer wants to hold local
MPPs to campaign promises
THE EDITOR,
Now that our provincial election is
history, let’s hope that the those
elected actually begin the process of
governing and fulfilling the
promises which new government
often brings.
While the Premier states that he
has a majority-minority to govern,
so too do the other two parties, who
have been given a minority-majority
to govern as well. The latter on the
promise of change for the better.
Majority government in the past
had brought us to a ruling mentality,
rather than one of governing. Now
that all three political parties have
been elected to govern in this
minority, it will be enlightening to
see just how interested they all are in
actually governing.
With this in mind, those of us who
actually voted (this area was the best
in the province), must insist that pre-
election promises made, are post-
election promises kept. One which
stands out is related to education
policy which was “to ensure that the
funding formula meets the needs of
single-school communities,” and “to
stop the waste and excesses that rob
resources from the classroom”
(Sunshine List anyone?). There are
several area schools and
communities which fall into this
“promise matrix”.
One of the few successes the Avon
Maitland District School Board
(AMDSB) school-closure debate
has done is to foster and help create
a province-wide network of
taxpayers, parents, concerned
community residents and activists
across the province. The focus of
these groups is to challenge the
province-wide Covenant(s) of the
Accommodation Review Committee
(ARC), as supported by the
AMDSB, and other like-minded
bureaucracies.
Here’s a summation excerpt from
a meeting which took place on Sept.
28 in the hamlet of Moonstone
(north of Barrie), which could just as
easily have taken place in Huron
County. The scenario was a motion
put forth to annul the proceedings of
the ARC process: “If some Simcoe
County District School Board
Trustees were managers in the
private sector, they would not be
employed for long,” was a comment
made by an observer at the meeting.
The observed proof of this fact was
demonstrated in that same board
meeting where a motion to rescind
the North Simcoe Planning Area
ARC was quashed. The account of
the meeting indicated that some
trustees obviously didn’t understand
on what they were voting, and which
became clear “when one trustee did
not know whether to stand or sit at
the call of the vote.”
One wonders how many other
trustees on other ARCs have been
put in the same position – school
board staff indicated the way to vote,
without the trustees' consideration of
its validity.
It’s a common breakdown in
strategy, particularly when those
who are expected to support a
position aren’t involved in the
development of that position on
which they are obliged to support in
the first place. They end up being
confused and perhaps even feeling
coerced. I wonder how many other
‘confused’ trustees there are out
there?
With the school in Moonstone,
Ontario already providing the
obvious “Value to the Student,” a
key pillar of the ARC guidelines,
given its EQAO scores with respect
to other schools in the area, one
wonders what other motivation
exists within these bureaucracies to
make the decisions they are
empowered, but not accountable, to
make.
I think it’s finally time to have our
new-minted minority government
review and change the
accountability requirements of
school boards and its trustees.
One wonders whether these sorts
of tactics, the behind-closed-door
decisions and closed-vote e-mails,
being foisted on communities and
schools in this region aren’t part of a
broader agenda. Is it really about
education and community, or is it
simply about building new schools?
If what’s happening here is an
extension of a provincial-federal
infrastructure stimulus agreement,
and not about improving learning
and teaching, then someone needs to
explain – starting with those
responsible and who must be held
accountable.
Maybe today is the day to call
Lisa...
Greg Sarachman, Blyth.
404 Queen St., Blyth
519-523-4792
541 Turnberry St., Brussels
519-887-9114
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See histories and historic
photographs on the
Huron History section
of our website
www.northhuron.on.ca
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