HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-01-08, Page 7Apparently the Londesborough
Community Hall was double booked
the second Friday of January.
Consequently, the card party hosted
by the Londesborough Happy Gang
Seniors will be held on Friday, Jan.
16.
During December, many villagers
were disappointed to hear that one of
the young mothers of the village,
Angela Cullen, has been diagnosed
with cancer. A leave of absence from
work and months of treatment for
Ange will be a financial drain on the
resources of this young family. How
to help in some small way is a
question being pondered by many of
their friends and acquaintances.
Some of us plan to hold a used
book sale from Saturday, Feb. 21
through Saturday, Feb. 28. The idea
will only fly if the rest of you do
some housecleaning and bring us
books.
We will accept magazines and
periodicals as well as books.
Everyone has one, or more books
they could donate for someone else
to enjoy. Perhaps you have a jigsaw
puzzle that will help another fill a
long winter weekend.
I found some of these in the back
of a closet while packing away
Christmas decorations.
Donations will be accepted at
Radford’s Garage after the first of
February. So tell a friend, call a
relative and encourage them to fill a
box. Then be sure to drop by and
purchase new books, etc to enjoy.
The Clinton Lions Club has a new
fund raising project. They are asking
you to donate your empty pop cans
and returnable beer bottles and
liquor bottles to their club.
If you are interested in helping
out, bags are available at the post
office in Londesborough. For more
info contact a Clinton Lions
member; it was Carl Merner who left
the bags in the village.
Next Thursday, Jan. 15, the
AMDSB will hold its third of their
mandated public meetings regarding
the accommodation review for the
five schools in this area. I have
attended the first two meetings and
quite frankly, I’m confused.
Each of the schools in question
have prepared reports outlining the
merits of their particular school in
hopes of convincing the board not to
close their school. The board has
stated one or more of the five
schools will be closed.
However there seems to be an air
of apathy around the whole process.
Some people question whether the
board has already decided on the
action they will take and are just
going through the process as
mandated. They claim they need
public input in order to make an
informed decision regarding the
area. But all too often in the past, it
has seemed that boards disregard
public comments. Communities tend
to feel, "Why bother?"
On the other hand, when a
community struggles hard to save
their school, they can take comfort in
their efforts and feel no regrets when
the decision comes down. There
have been smaller numbers of
people in attendance than I expected.
You need to know that if your school
is closed and you wish to be part of
a protest then, unless you have
attended meetings you can not take
part.
This is the reason you sign in at
each meeting. There are still two
meetings; perhaps you should clear
your calendar for at least one of
them.
Scenarios for the schools in the
area were to be presented for
consideration. Only the presentation
by Turnberry Central School could
be considered that. The delegations
from each school were told to think
“outside the box”. Turnberry
certainly did.
However one of the reasons for
looking at accommodation in this
area was fiscal. And no monies are
likely to be available for a new state
of the art school in a rural area of
declining enrollment.
I was expecting the board to
present scenarios for consideration
by everyone involved as they have
all the information and stats. Not
everyone can translate the data they
could find on the board website into
some reasonable configuration.
Everyone agrees the board has the
future education of the children of
the area uppermost during these
negotiations. Why is it not
reasonable to suggest the board
show some scenarios in black and
white? Why not, for example,
demonstrate how closing schools A
and B would work by – showing
where the pupils in question would
be accommodated; revealing how
much money would consequently be
saved; and how, and at what cost, the
accommodating schools would be
retrofitted?
Length of bus rides need to be
revealed now for no one will accept
having a three-year-old pupil on the
bus for two hours a day.
Properly handled the schools
being closed might be more
accepting. The school communities
in this area have stated they are most
concerned about the impact on the
communities and their pupils. If
schools in this area have to be closed
for fiscal reasons, the one scenario
not acceptable is the moving of
senior elementary pupils to area high
schools.
Young people these days grow up
way too fast as it is without putting
them in a situation they may not be
mature enough to handle.
Am I being naive again in hoping
that more will come from the next
two meetings of ARC? My/our
school is one of the five in the review
and I am taking the situation
personally. Shouldn’t you?
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2009. PAGE 7.
Unattended cooking is the number
one cause of home fires.
Pay close attention
when you’re cooking
and stay in the kitchen.
Unattended cooking is the number
one cause of home fires.
Pay close attention
when you’re cooking
and stay in the kitchen.
In Christ’s time, shepherds wereconsidered by many as the lowest insociety, poor in worldly goods.However the shepherds met bychurchgoers on Christmas Eve atLondesborough United Churchwere rich in their walk with JehovahGod.
For days, while tending their
sheep, they had watched the
procession of folks travelling to
Bethlehem for the census. The
previous night the five of them had
pondered the words of the prophets
concerning the Messiah. Conditions
in Israel were hard and many
awaited the coming of the promised
king.
Their discussions convinced them
that the Messiah would not bring an
earthly kingdom but His reign
would be over men’s hearts instead.
On Christmas Eve those
shepherds, played by Mikayla Allen,Shelby Radford, Tyler Mitchell,Brent Drost, and Corey Pollard,received news from the angel,Gabriel, that the Messiah had come. The news came first to thoseconsidered the lowest in society to
emphasize the news is for all of
mankind, rich or poor. The
shepherds were joined on the
hillside, the dais at the front of the
church, by a bevy of pretty young
angels, the youngest girls of the
Sunday school.
The shepherds left their sheep and
found the stable of Jesus’ birth.
The family were represented by
Mike and Pam Radford and son,
Colton.
Rev. Pat Cook narrated the story
with the help of scripture readers
from the youth groups, Emily Allen,
Zachary and Shawn Drost, Jacquiand Amanda Mitchell, and CaitlynPollard. Verses of Christmas carolswere sung by the congregation toillustrate the events of that night solong ago.Hark, the Herald Angels Sing andMary Had a Baby were anthems
offered by the senior choir to further
the story. Marjorie Duizer and Barb
Bosman sang O Holy Night.
Alex and Gloria Westerhout lit the
final candle, the Christ candle, in the
Advent wreath.
It was interesting and thought
provoking to see the story from the
shepherd’s perspective.
As the shepherds left the stable,
the scriptures say, they were
changed men. They told the story to
whomever they met, spreading the
good news of salvation.
Rev. Cook ended the service by
asking, “Are you spreading thenews?”Originally scheduled to be held onDec. 19 and then again on Dec. 21,the Blue Christmas Serviceeventually took place on Monday,Dec. 29. This quiet service isdesigned to help folks who have
experienced a loss, find peace in
what can be a very difficult time of
year.
The service was very tastefully
conducted by Rev. Cook. It offered
reassurance and comfort to persons
who had lost a family member,
experienced a relationship
breakdown, suffered a job or
financial loss or a personal hurt.
Summaries of the year’s
happenings for church groups to be
included in the annual report 2008
are due in the church office by Jan.
11.
NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT
MUNICIPALITY OF HURON EAST
MUNICIPAL CLASS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
FOR PROPOSED BRIDGE REPLACEMENT
THE PROJECT:
The Municipality of Huron East is planning to replace the existing bridge which spans the Walton Municipal
Drain along Division Line. The bridge is located approximately 0.05km north of the Canada Company Road,
and west of the community of Walton (as shown on the accompanying key plan). Recent engineering
inspections of the structure have identified advanced deterioration within the bridge deck and other bridge
components. The repair of the bridge is not considered practical at this time, given the extent of structural
deterioration evident during the inspection process.
The Municipality is proposing to replace the existing single lane parapet beam bridge with a box culvert
designed to accommodate two lanes of traffic. It is anticipated that the structure would be replaced during
the 2009 construction season. The affected section of Division Line would be closed during the construction
period and traffic would be diverted around the project site on existing local roads.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL SCREENING PROCESS:
The planning for this project is following the environmental screening process set out for Schedule B
activities under the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA) document. The purpose of the
screening process is to identify any potential environmental impacts associated with the project and to plan
for appropriate mitigation of any impacts. The process includes consultation with the public, stakeholders
and government review agencies. This notice is being issued to advise of the start of study investigations.
There will be additional opportunities for public input and involvement as the study progresses.
PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT:
The consultation program for this Class EA includes
several opportunities for public involvement. For the
initial phase of the program, public input into the
planning and design of this project will be received
until January 30, 2009. Additional opportunities for
comment will be provided as the process proceeds.
Any comments collected in conjunction with this Class
EA will be maintained on file for use during the project
and may be included in project documentation. With
the exception of personal information, all comments
will become part of the public record.
For further information on this project, or to review the Class EA process, please contact the consulting
engineers: B.M. Ross and Associates, 62 North Street, Goderich, Ontario, N7A 2T4. Telephone (519) 524-
2641. Fax (519) 524-4403. Attention: Mike Corby, Planner (e-mail: mcorby@bmross.net).
This Notice issued December 24, 2009 Barry Mills, Public Works Manager
Municipality of Huron East
NEWS
FROM LONDESBORO
By BRENDA
RADFORD
Call
523-4296
PEOPLE AROUND
LONDESBORO
Shepherds, theme of United service
Stick With the Classifieds.
If you’re shopping for something special, keep looking
in the Classifieds. Every week, you’ll find a great selection of
listings for everything from apartments for rent to
things to buy and see.
The Citizen