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The Citizen, 2010-03-18, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2010.Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Reporters: Shawn Loughlin, 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; $105.00/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 PAP REGISTRATION NO. 09244 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com March 18, 1948 Glenn Kechnie was involved in a motor vehicle accident while travelling north on Hwy. 4 due to extreme fog conditions. Kechnie had reached a point just south of Brucefield when he rear-ended a truck that was being driven by Ben Johnston of Auburn. “The truck was not damaged, but the front of Mr. Kechnie’s car took quite a banging up,” The Blyth Standard wrote. Fire chief Herbert Dexter said the new fire siren in Blyth would be sounded every Saturday at noon, starting on March 20. He said the alarm would also be tested in the event of a sleet storm. The alarm was operated by the telephone exchange. The siren would sound when the operator on duty would push a switch button, which in turn sounded off the alarm. The newly-organized Young People’s Class of the Blyth United Church held its first meeting at leader Charles Johnson’s home. March 21, 1968 The Brussels Figure Skating Club held its annual Ice Revue, which was entitled “Toyland.” The event was well attended, even with the extreme fog conditions throughout the village that night. Fifty-four local skaters participated in the Revue, which was overseen by Faye McDonald, the club professional. Murray Gaunt, Huron-Bruce MPP reported that Queen’s Park would have a record deficit for the time of $252 million, despite large tax increases on cigarettes, gasoline and licence costs. The record deficit was up $90 million from the previous year. The Brussels Skating Carnival was set to be held at the Brussels Arena on March 29. Awards would be given out in categories such as best comic clown, best comic costume, best national costume, most original cartoon costume, most graceful couple and largest family on or off of skates. A skit entitled The Final Verdict was presented, illustrating the work of the Walton United Church Women and the members of Duff’s United Church. March 14, 1990 After three years in business, Grey Owl enterprises, a giftware packaging company in Brussels closed its doors and held an auction to sell of all of its equipment. Huron County council proposed a budget increase of just under five per cent. The budget called for expenditures of over $23 million and an actual increase in spending of 7.1 per cent. Huron County planned to put $1 million away for the Huronview project and increases were granted to the budgets of the social services and Huron County Museum departments. Harvey Garniss gave up his rural mail carrier route in 1990 after 32 years of delivering mail. The Maitland Valley Conser- vation Authority detailed its budget for 1990 that came in just over $2.4 million. Twelve per cent of that amount was set to be made up of general tax levies, which was a proposed six per cent increase from 1989. Students throughout Huron, Perth, Bruce and Grey Counties spent Earth Day planting over 23,000 trees throughout the area, which had been donated by the Maitland Valley, Ausable-Bayfield and Grey-Sauble Conservation Authorities. Ivan Eddy of Blyth placed first in the singles competition in Brussels for the district dart tournament, where teams from as far away as Meaford and Stratford were competing. Grey Township council posted a small surplus for 1989, stating that the township came out of the year $6,000 into the black. March 15, 2000 Three collisions occurred in a matter of days along County Road 12 resulting in several cars being demolished and drivers being taken to local hospitals to be treated for injuries sustained in the crashes. The maple syrup crop for St. Augustine’s Susanne and Bill Robinson had been severely slowed due to the exceptionally warm weather in March. Brooklyn Wheeler of Brussels received a Silver A Award, which is the second-highest academic award presented by the Culver Academy. The award honours students earning a minimum semester grade point average of 3.2. The Brussels Country Inn offered a “Men’s Nite Out” featuring erotic female feature dancers for $10 in advance or $12 at the door. Lisa Love was in the process of opening the Olde Village Bistro in Blyth, offering residents a new choice for dining out. In a court decision, the closure of several schools in Seaforth was approved. A group of Seaforth school supporters had sought a prohibition order to stop the Avon Maitland District School Board from closing the schools until a full judicial hearing could be held in May. The court, however, found that the school board could close the schools as it had originally intended. Erin Brockovich, which earned Julia Roberts an Oscar was playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich. 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 Inspiring story, sad ending The life story of OPP Constable Vu Pham is one of those inspiring tales that confirm Canada’s reputation as a place for new starts. Unfortunately, Canada cannot guarantee a happy ending. There is so much evidence of the best of human nature in the story. A family in Vietnam, worried about their child’s safety in the uncertainty following the Communist takeover, sends a young boy to Canada. There he is taken in by the welcoming arms of a community (in this case Elmira). He’s adopted by a minister’s family, and despite the pressures of being “a preacher’s kid” grows into a fine young man who joins the Ontario Provincial Police. He marries, and he and his wife have three boys. He’s apparently a fine example of a father, involved in his kids’ lives whether they are playing sports or going hunting with him. He’s involved in his community and active in his church. This is exactly the kind of story we like to think about when we see our Canada as a welcoming land of opportunity. But even lands of opportunity aren’t perfect. Another man, a man who by all accounts has also done many good things in his life, loses his mental stability. Unfortunately the inspiring cop meets the man who has lost his mental balance and in one swift moment, both lives are lost. The sad irony is that without the tragedy, most of us would never have known the story of Vu Pham’s success in life. The one thing we can take from the tragedy is to use his life as an inspiration to do the best we can with our own lives. — KR Feeding the future The Ontario government’s speech from the throne shows some imaginative thinking about future economic opportunities. Too bad the government doesn’t see producing food as one of those opportunities. The government has identified technologies to produce clean water as an area that will see tremendous worldwide growth in the coming years. It wants Ontario to be a world leader in this movement, just as it has set out to make Ontario a leader in green energy technology. Premier Dalton McGuinty sees these fields as producing thousands of jobs in the coming decades, replacing some of the industries that have been lost. Though the Premier doesn’t say it, one of the industries that’s declining seems to be agriculture. Aside from those parts of agriculture that enjoy supply management, nearly all sectors are suffering. Young people see no future in following their parents into producing food. With people unwilling to pay the cost of production for food, innovative farmers are putting their hope in producing energy crops. And yet forecasts are that the worldwide need for food will continue to grow. Such need should bring opportunities, but our governments, federally and provincially, don’t seem prepared to pay the cost to help us continue to have food producers. — KR Not so easy The federal government is promising to fix the federal deficit in large part by cutting the costs of government, and Canadians apparently like the idea. A recent poll showed there were 10 times as many people wanting to solve the deficit by cutting government employees’ wages as compared to raising taxes. The idea of cutting government employee costs is a kind of magical solution. If only it were so easy. But let’s remember that these people actually do work on our behalf. Recently the U.S. government warned it would not accept processed meats from Canada if there weren’t government food inspectors on duty in Canadian plants at all times. In an attempt to cut costs,Agriculture and Agrifood Canada had reduced the inspections to once a week for meat for Canadian consumers. And in 2008, 22 Canadians died because of eating meat infected with listeriosis. So what price will we pay to save on taxes? — 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.