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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-07-15, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2010.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; $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 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com July 28, 1948 The Blyth Lions grossed over $1,400 from the club’s fourth annual Summer Frolic, despite the fact that it had to be postponed from its original date of Friday, July 23 to Monday, July 26. After the rain came on Friday night, the event was moved to a night that proved to have clear skies and warm weather, which was ideal for the event. Despite rain on Sunday night and Monday morning, by the time softball teams from Blyth and Londesborough took to the field on Monday night, the field was dry and ready for action. Blyth went on to win the game by a score of 14-7 with Ben Riley pitching the entire game for Londesborough. In regular league action, however, the Blyth Lions lost two away games to Wingham and Clinton by scores of 13-1 and 9-8 respectively. Blyth’s Lloyd Turvey was the top driver at the Port Elgin horse races on the weekend. Turvey placed first seven times, second once and third once in the nine races that were run over the weekend at the raceway. Turvey was set to race next at the Bruce County Old Boys Reunion. The Blyth Lions Boys and Girls Band was set to play a concert in Goderich at The Courthouse Square bandstand. July 18, 1968 Belgrave’s James Michie, a well- known area farmer was killed in a car crash when he was thrown from his truck. He sustained severe head and chest injuries as a result of the crash. The former Morris Township farmer was leaving his son’s home when his car was hit from behind by Christopher Catcher, Ontario Provincial Police said. Catcher and his sons were treated for minor injuries and then released from hospital. Michie’s service was held at Knox United Church before he was laid to rest at Brussels Cemetery. Three young ladies, members of 4-H clubs from the United States were visiting with local 4-H members. The girls had travelled from Maryland, Texas and Virginia as part of the U.S. 4-H Caravan to Ontario. July 18, 1990 The Walton post office was slated for closure on August 4 after three officials from Canada Post’s London office met with local residents to explain what the future held for postal service in the area after postmaster Marjorie Humphries retired. At the time, it was still up in the air as to whether the post office would be replaced with community mailboxes or a retail postal outlet. After a public meeting was held at the East Wawanosh Township shed, it was decided that township council would likely proceed with the building of a new office in Belgrave. This decision came despite the fact that over 50 angry East Wawanosh ratepayers in attendance objected to the decision to build the 1,728 square foot building, which was slated to include a 400 square foot council chambers. Work continued at the Brussels Industrial Park, which was slated to be completed by July 31. Two sets of buildings were already planned for the site. The George Radford Memorial Ball Diamond was close to being designated for use, for young teams at least, after an exhaustive renovation process. Use for all teams, however, was targeted for the first week of August, just in time for the annual slo-pitch tournament, said Dave Pattison of the Blyth Men’s Slo-pitch Tournament Committee. July 17, 2008 A blood donor clinic was set to be held in Brussels on July 31. Appointment bookings had been low throughout the summer, officials from Canadian Blood Services said, and the target for southern Ontario was 9,700 units of blood. George and Pat Langlois celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a special family dinner in Brussels, celebrating their July 12, 1958 wedding. After an intense electrical storm had blown through the area, Holmesville-area farmer Bert Van Maar discovered five crop circles in his wheat fields. The circles, which measured between 30 and 14 feet wide, just appeared, Van Maar said. Huron East council decided to move forward with the tendering process for the construction of a new branch of the Huron County Library in Brussels. Council voted by a narrow margin, six votes for and five votes against to begin the tendering process, despite the fact that the municipality had not yet received final plans for the design, but they were, said clerk-administrator Jack McLachlan, very close to being complete. In addition to the tendering process receiving the go-ahead, the Brussels Library Fundraising Committee had been hard at work, raising $60,000, over half of its target amount, since the creation of the committee in April. Blyth firefighters were on the scene of a barn blaze on Hullett- McKillop Road until the late evening hours of July 8. The initial call came at 10 p.m. with reports the a pig barn on the property had caught fire. 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 Nice try but . . . There was disappointment in some quarters of Blyth last week when North Huron council approved a zoning change necessary for the construction of the new elementary school in Wingham that will serve northern Huron. While the change still faces an Ontario Municipal Board challenge from a private citizen, the political path to preventing the school from being built and thereby saving the Blyth and East Wawanosh Public Schools seems to be over. Trying to get North Huron to block the zoning change was like one of those last second “Hail Mary” passes in a football game where there’s hope defeat can be turned into victory in one play. The odds were against it from the start. For one thing, the whole Township of North Huron isn’t hurt by the school situation, only the southern part of the municipality. Wingham will still have a school, only bigger and better. Students north of Belgrave who formerly were bussed to East Wawanosh will now take a bus in the other direction, some farther, but some shorter. The losers are those in Belgrave, southern East Wawanosh ward and Blyth, where students won’t have a home-area school anymore and will have to travel by bus to get to school. But were the majority of North Huron councillors going to back an attempt to save Blyth’s school by blocking a zoning change? Not likely – especially when it would have left the municipality with the possibility of spending thousands defending the action at an Ontario Municipal Board because the decision was made for other than planning reasons. The options left to save Blyth’s school are few. There could be a mass community uprising against the Avon Maitland District School Board but a year after the decision that seems unlikely to happen. Blyth’s goose was cooked when the community ceded leadership of the issue to the parents and representatives on the Accommodation Review Committee and they jumped on the bigger-is-better bandwagon supporting a super school. Once the community seemed to abandon its own school, how can Blyth convince the board its school is important. While saving Blyth’s school is still the preferred goal, it’s more likely that energy would be more effectively spent making sure as many local students as possible attend the Hullett Central Public School in Londesborough, which is still part of the larger Blyth community. Efforts also need to be mobilized to look for an alternative use for the school when it closes that will bring the biggest benefit to the community. The community failed to act when it should have to save its school. Now’s the time to mobilize to make the best with what’s left. — KR Too good to be true? Sometimes, it seems, a government program can be too successful. Last week the Ontario Power Authority announced it was withdrawing its standard offer of 80.2 cents per kilowatt hour for small scale, ground- based solar electrical generating systems, reducing the rate to 58.8 cents. Perhaps the government was frightened by the solar panels that were popping up like mushrooms all over rural Ontario. In fact, flooded with 16,000 applications, the Ontario Power Authority was so backlogged, than the majority of the installed solar panels are sitting unused, unavailable to help power the high demand for electricity during summer heat waves. The government must have been getting jumpy about what the many suppliers of expensive electricity was going to do to the province’s electrical bill. The government seems to be like the person who asks a price to sell something, and when the buyer immediately agrees, figures they must have set the price too low. Only in this case it’s the opposite – for the government, the popularity of the program seems to indicate they offered too much. (It’s important to note, though, the old price still applies to roof-mounted solar panels.) While it’s fair for all electrical users that a sustainable price is paid to generators, reneging on the original price seems to throw into doubt the government’s vision of generating jobs through encouraging the manufacturing of solar panels. — 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.