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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, October 27, 2011
Volume 27 No. 42
CAR CARE - Pg. 13Fall guide to safedriving and car care HCFA - Pg. 23 Federation of Agricultureholds annual meetingHISTORYBOOK- Pg. 6Controversy rages inMorris-TurnberryPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Fundraiser for local family coming to Belgrave
Amalgamation going
well says president
Boil, boil
Carol Wain opted for a non-traditional type of dress on Saturday night for the annual Blyth
Witches Walk at the Blyth Greenway Trail. Wain was working on a stew with some non-
conventional ingredients while puffing on a cigar. (Jim Brown photo)
A unique fundraiser will be held at
the Belgrave Community Centre on
Saturday to benefit two area children
born with Morquio Syndrome.
Luke and Zane Braun of
Whitechurch both attend area
schools like hundreds of other
children, but unlike other children,
they make weekly trips to Toronto to
receive treatment for their condition.
Fourteen-year-old Luke attends
F.E. Madill Secondary School,
while his 12-year-old brother Zane
attends Lucknow Central Public
School.
The boys are currently taking part
in a 27-week trial for enzyme
replacement treatment. During the
trial all of the family’s expenses,
such as hotel, meals, gas, vehicle
maintenance, etc., is being paid for
by the drug company, however that
will soon come to an end.
The company has agreed to
provide the drug to families taking
part in the study for another three
years. However, the treatment can
only be administered at Sick Kids
Hospital in Toronto, and travel
expenses will no longer be covered
by the company.
In addition, after those three years,
if the treatment has improved their
lives as many are hoping it
will, costs will skyrocket with
the treatment costing as much as
$100,000 per patient, in addition to
the aforementioned expenses.
It was after hearing this news that
friends of the Braun family and local
business owners banded together to
organize the Braun Family
‘Fun’Raiser, that will take place
between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. on
Sunday at the Belgrave Community
Centre.
The treatment aims to decrease the
amount of lysosomes that are
building up in Luke and Zane’s
joints, hearts, lungs, eyes, ears, etc.
If this can be accomplished, the
treatment could potentially extend
their lives and increase their quality
of life as well.
Despite the constant challenges
Luke and Zane face, it was with
thoughts of others that they chose to
take part in this trial.
“When they came to us, we said
yes because I thought we could help
so many other kids with Morquio
Syndrome,” Luke said in an
interview with The Citizen. “Maybe
we can find out what Morquio
Syndrome is and help people who
have it.”
Debbie, Luke and Zane’s mother,
says she and the boys sat down and
discussed whether they wanted to
take part in this trial or not. As
always, Luke said, decisions are
made democratically in the Braun
household.
“It was one of those make-you-cry
moments,” Debbie said when her
son told her he wanted to take part in
the study to help others, “because I
would do anything to have one more
The Village of Brussels was once
again hit by vandalism as three
separate calls of theft were reported
the morning on Oct. 19.
Nearly 10 OPP cruisers were
searching for a suspect between
Brussels and Walton, making for
quite a police presence in the area.
On Flora Street in Brussels a purse
containing a wallet and personal
items, including nearly $100 in cash
was stolen.
On Elizabeth Street a portable
DVD player was stolen and on
Turnberry Street a GPS was stolen.
The Huron County OPP is
reminding all residents to lock their
vehicles at all times and to keep all
valuables out of sight and removed
from the vehicle, if possible.
In the coming weeks, Huron OPP
officers will be conducting increased
patrols throughout Brussels in an
attempt to locate and charge the
culprits, police say.
Anyone with information
regarding the person or persons
responsible for this incident should
immediately contact the OPP at 1-
888-310-1122.
Should you wish to remain
anonymous, you may call
Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477
(TIPS) where you may be eligible to
receive a cash reward of up to
$2,000.
With most, if not all, of the local
hockey teams playing their first
game of the season by the upcoming
weekend, the Brussels Blyth Minor
Hockey Association (BBMHA)
amalgamation seems to be a success.
“It’s gone well I think,” President
John van Vliet of the BBMHA says
“Generally speaking, the teams are
doing okay. Nothing is perfect of
course, but things seem to be
working well.”
The BBMHA has just over 500
registrants this year, according to
van Vliet, slightly higher than the
two associations had last year.
“There are lots of kids playing,
and they’re all making new friends
with the teams being mixed,” he
said.
Logistically, there have been a few
hiccups to keeping the ice time split
50/50 between Blyth and Brussels
for any given team, but as much as
possible the association is keeping it
close.
“Sometimes there is more in
Brussels than in Blyth simply
because there is more ice time
available there,” he said. “We try to
keep every team except the
Juveniles playing equally in both
arenas and that is due to their
scheduling.”
The Juveniles play only in
Brussels because they want to play
on Friday nights and Saturdays,
according to van Vliet, since many
of them attend a college or
university and need to be back on
Sunday night.
The addition of a Juvenile squad is
just one of the big changes that has
happened so far.
With a Mite team, two Tyke
teams, three Novice teams, three
Atom teams, three Peewee teams,
three Bantam teams, two Midget
teams, one Juvenile team and five
girls teams (one Atom, two Peewee,
one Bantam and one Midget) the
association has three more teams
than they anticipated during
amalgamation last year.
Equipment has been split up fairly
evenly and the association has a
surplus of jerseys according to Van
Vliet.
“We aren’t matching the jerseys to
any particular team, but as often as
possible we try to have the home and
away jerseys match,” he said. “It’s
been fairly easy to do since we have
more than 200 jerseys we’re not
using.”
Tryouts were interesting
according to Van Vliet, who said
there were some surprises in team
composition and that the results
pleased most people.
“You’ll never please 100 per cent
of the people, but it’s been good so
far,” he said.
The association has been able to
address some things that the
previous two associations couldn’t,
or didn’t manage.
For example two clinics, one for
coaches and one for referees were
held locally to bring better training
and more interest to people involved
in running the sports.
Additionally, the association had
463 of its more-than-500 members
attend a London Knights game over
the weekend.
The Knights will also be coming
to Blyth sometime in November to
practice.
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Thieves, vandals hit Brussels
Continued on page 31
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen