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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-01-14, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2010.EditorialsOpinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie GroppAdvertising, Ken Warwick & Lori Patterson The CitizenP.O. Box 429,BLYTH, Ont.N0M 1H0Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152,BRUSSELS, Ont.N0G 1H0Phone 887-9114 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.comWebsite 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;$105.00/year in U.S.A.and $175/year in other foreign countries.Advertising is accepted on thecondition that in the event of a typographical error,only that portion of the advertisement will becredited.Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth.PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141PAP REGISTRATION NO. 09244RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com OFA Commentary Jan. 14, 1948 A by-election was to be held in the South Huron provincial riding to fill the seat in the Ontario legislature left vacant by the death of PC MPP Dr. R. Hobbs Taylor. A business change in the community occurred when A.L. Kernick disposed of his grocery and locker storage business block to Moody Holland of Walton. Kernick had purchased the property from Archie S. Radford and under his guidance the business grew and prospered. The concrete building, formerly occupied and operated as a gas station by C.E. Morrison was removed from Blyth’s main street. East Wawanosh council held its inaugural meeting during which councillors accepted the resignation of clerk/treasurer R.R. Redmond. An ad promised “Grandmother knows what brings quick relief. Since her own childhood grandmother has known Dr. Chase’s Syrup of Linseed and Turpentine to be a dependable and quick relief for coughs, colds, bronchitis and similar ailments.” A bottle could be had for 35 cents, with the family size, “three times as much” costing 75 cents. Lye was selling at A.L. Kernick’s for eight cents a tin. Other specials included the 28-oz. tin of apple juice for 10 cents, a pound of mixed nuts for 23 cents and a half pound of tea for 45 cents. Playing at the Roxy Theatre in Clinton was Blondie’s Big Moment and Landrush. At the Capital Theatre in Goderich Dennis Morgan and Jane Wyman starred in Cheyenne while Shirley Temple and Franchot Tone appeared in Honeymoon, playing at Seaforth’s Regent Theatre. At the Lyceum Theatre in Wingham it was Paulette Goddard and Fred MacMurray in Suddenly It’s Spring. Jan. 11, 1968 Sixteen rinks competed in the Brussels Livestock Limited bonspiel. Winners of the first draw were Bill Stratychuk, Jack Bowman and Gerald Smith. The second draw was won by Mac Eadie, Doug Rathwell and Murray Schiell. The Brussels Legion installed new officers: president Ted Elliott, for a third term, first vice-president James Dellow, second vice- president Stuart Lowe, secretary- treasurer Ray Bronson and Sgt.-at- Arms James McNeil. The executive included Norman Jarvis, Jack Alcock, Bill McWhirter and Russ Hall. Chaplain was Rev. F.G. Braby. The Legion Ladies Auxiliary was: president Vera Hastings, first vice- president Mary Pennington, second vice-president Jean Lamont, treasurer Bertha Elliott, secretary Mary Lowe and executive Mrs. Frank Shaw, Daisy McLean, Mrs. Tunney and Mrs. Ted Elliott. Colour party was Mabel Willis and Sarah Stephenson. Police were continuing their search for a bandit who robbed the Bank of Montreal in Brucefield of $9,000 at gunpoint. Roadblocks in Brussels were maintained for several days. Subscribers were invited to renew their Brussels Post for only $2 a year. “Cheaper than you can mail a weekly letter”. Specials at Stephenson’s included: ketchup for 35 cents, Kraft peanut butter for 47 cents and two pounds of Sunshine frozen peas for 47 cents. Jan. 10, 1990 The first baby of the year at Clinton Public Hospital was a surprise package for Jim and Crystal Taylor or RR1, Auburn. Andrew Boyd Taylor hadn’t been expected until early February, but arrived Jan. 1 at 10:44 p.m. McKillop council sets its remuneration with the reeve receiving $1,825 per year and the deputy-reeve and councillors getting $1,525. Winners of Brussels EMA’s Christmas colouring contest were Leslie Pepper, five years and under; Anita Ahrens, nine-12 and Shannon Gibbons, six to eight. Drusilla Leitch led Fitness for Fun at Grey Central Public School on Tuesday nights. Tango and Cash, with Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell was on the playbill at Lyceum in Wingham. Jan. 12, 2000 Parents and concerned community members voiced their opinion on school closures when the Avon Maitland District School Board hosted a public meeting at Duff’s United Church in Walton. The board had announced that several schools in the district would be studied for closure, including all three Seaforth-area schools. John Wharton and his wife Agnes were handed the keys to a brand new Chevy pickup, the grand prize for the Blyth Bulldogs Minor Hockey League fundraising campaign. The raffle brought in $20,612 for the arena’s capital fund. Wingham and District Hospital’s board of governors presented Lynn Hoy with a certificate of appreciation for years of maintaining the helipad. Huron OPP reported a 45 per cent increase in car/deer crashes from the previous year. Tommy Hunter performed in Blyth. The new season for Blyth Festival was announced with the restaging of Death of a Hired Man leading things off. By Bette Jean Crews, President Ontario Federation of Agriculture As a farmer, what’s your number one issue? Travelling throughout Ontario, talking to farmers provides people like me, with an abundance of thoughts on what agriculture’s top 10 issues should be. Farm income is a sure bet to be at the top of such a list – regardless of what area of the province you are in or what commodity you produce. A farm is a business and what else is more important than the ability to earn a profit to sustain that business? Most of the issues the OFA tackles for its members relate to the ability to earn a profit. However, they start out looking a lot different in many cases. The OFA deals with issues such as predator controls, property taxes, environmental stewardship, clean water, etc. At the base of these issues, however, is the bottom line on individual farms and what OFA can do to protect or enhance the farm family’s income. Identifying the issues is just the first part of serving member needs. Once we know the issues, we have to work with commodity and other partners to develop possible solutions. This is when the real difficult work begins for OFA – getting the proposed solutions to the right people within governments, both elected and appointed, because that’s where proposals are turned into solutions. While increased financial returns is an obvious answer to farm income issues, OFA has also placed a major emphasis on retaining the income farmers receive. We have done this through improved tax legislation: savings of more than $5 million on land transfer taxes for starting farmers; property tax savings of about $368 million for farmers in general; savings of about $6 million for outlet drains. Through efforts of OFA and its national partner, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Ontario farmers have benefitted from about $585 million received from safety net programs. Farmers in Ontario have also received more than $7 million from the Environmental Farm Plan program. OFA continues to play a lead role as it works with Ontario commodity organizations to bring workable business risk management programs to fruition for farmers in the beef, pork and horticultural sectors. When this work eventually pays dividends, it will make farming in those sectors more predictable and enjoyable for the farm families involved. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Seizing new opportunities Ontario’s Green Energy Act holds the potential to turn rural Ontarians into energy producers, if we can find the resources to make it happen. Speaking at Grey-Bruce Farmers’ Week, Jake DeBruyn, an engineer with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ New Technology Integration department told farmers that under the new legislation, higher electricity rates (19.5 cents per kilowatt hour instead of the 11 cents you pay as a customer of Ontario Hydro) are making it economically feasible to use farm manure to create biogas to power electrical generators. Also attractive is the new 80-cent-per-kwh rate for small scale solar electric projects that can make a profitable, low- maintenance investment for landowners. The exciting thing about the Green Energy Act is its provisions to assist small-scale energy projects, not just those major wind-farm projects that have proved controversial. DeBruyn showed how a medium-sized dairy farm could turn a good profit from using its liquid manure, plus waste cooking oil from local restaurants. Germany has already proven this is no pie-in-the-sky idea because it has 4,000 small- scale biogas plants in operation. There’s an opportunity here for rural Ontario if we’re ready to grasp it. The difficulty is that our farmers, who are most likely to do this on their own, have been drained of their ability to invest by years of losses. Our hog barns, for instance, have large amounts of liquid manure – so much that many people see them as a hazard – that could safely fuel small biogas operations, but pork farmers are just trying to hang on. Smaller dairy farmers may also find it impossible to take advantage of the opportunity because they don’t have enough manure available. Perhaps rural communities need to rediscover old, co-operative ways of doing things to bring together financing and resources to make these green energy projects work. This is an opportunity to revitalize communities that can’t be missed. — KR People love rumours Small-town people are often portrayed as loving to gather and spread rumours, but they get a bad rap for what’s a common human trait. Take the immense popularity of the gossipy news book Game Change, with stories from the campaign leading up to the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Book stores in Washington couldn’t keep the book on their shelves as everybody wanted to know who said what. People like Nevada senator Harry Reid, Sarah Palin and former President Bill Clinton have all been embarrassed at comments they reportedly made. Gossip is not one of the attractive aspects of small towns but this book shows, wherever people are in small enough groups to know each other (as in Washington or Ottawa) there will be gossip. — KR & Continued on page 11