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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-04-16, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2009.Editorials Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie GroppAdvertising, 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 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 April 15, 1965 Mrs. J. Lowe was installed as the president of Majestic Women’s Institute. Other officers were: Mrs. Jim Smith, Mrs. William Evans, Mrs. John Speir and Mrs. C. Hemingway. A group of Brussels skaters, trained by Faye MacDonald passed their tests. They were: Barbara Bryans, Gail McWhirter, Bonnie Pletch, Mary Gibson, Dorothy Elliott, Joyce Huether, Anne Lowe, Sylvia Hoover, Penny Lowe and Linda Lowe. Over 175 parents attended the open house at Brussels Public School. Morris Twp. council accepted the tender of Mowbray Construction Company Ltd, Wingham for the construction of Stone School bridge in the amount of $65,499.50. Archie Mann’s Orchestra was playing at the Brussels Legion for a dance sponsored by the Legion’s dart club. Appearing at the Lyceum Theatre in Wingham was Those Callaways, starring Brian Keith, Vera Miles, Brandon De Wilde and Walter Brennan. “Once you’ve seen them, you’ll never forget them — the family that turned a town upside down and everybody loved it.” The weekend began at Brownie’s Drive-in in Clinton with a double feature, The Thrill of it All, starring Doris Day, James Garner and Arlene Francis and Woman of Straw with Gina Lollabrigida and Sean Connery. April 10, 1974 The long-lost village of Alma was about to reappear The village, located in the southern part of Hullett Twp., east of Clinton on Hwy. 4, came under discussion in a special meeting of township council. Attending the meeting was a man who owned the land on which Alma sat. It was agreed that council would open up Edward and Byers streets in the village for a distance of 170 feet and issue a building permit to the landowner to build a house on the lot in the village. The Belgrave Men’s Choir was rehearsing, under the directorship of Rev. John Roberts for an upcoming concert. The new president of Blyth Women’s Institute was Mrs. John Hesselwood. Other officers were: Mrs. Keith Webster, Mrs. William Carter, Mrs. Luella McGowan, Mrs. Harold Badley, Mrs. D. Philp, Mrs. Howatt, Mrs. Snell and Mrs. Richmond. Hot cross buns were on sale for 49 cents a dozen at Snell’s Grocery Store. A two-pound plum pudding was selling for $1.29. BJ Fabric had 60-inch wide polyester crimp on sale for $2.89 a yard, while 60-inch wide 100 per cent polyester suiting was $5.29 a yard. Area theatres were showing: Jesus Christ Superstar at the Lyceum in Wingham, Little Big Man, A Man Called Horse and Big Jake all at the Mustang Drive-in in Goderich and Soylent Green, Slither and Kansas City Bomber at Brownie’s Drive-in in Clinton. April 9, 1986 Residents of Brussels could pay an additional five per cent of the cost of the Morris Twp. waste disposal site if a suggestion made at a joint session of Morris and Brussels councils was accepted by the latter. A resolution had been drawn up years before but it had never been signed. Morris felt it was time for a new agreement. Cost sharing had been 55/45, but Morris felt Brussels should cover an additional five per cent. The site caretaker felt that the village’s volume of waste going to the dump had increased since the original agreement. Controversy over the building of a new swimming pool for Brussels wasn’t over as discussion at council heated up over the original agreement. Ontario treasurer Bob Nixon was guest speaker for the Huron- Middlesex provincial Liberal Association. Ralph Scott was elected as the new president of the East Wawanosh Federation of Agriculture. The Blyth Festival Singers received $669 from the Ministry of Citizenship and Culture. April 10, 1996 Grey Twp. was gearing up for its 140th anniversary. The board of governors at Wingham and District Hospital gave approval in principle to a proposal that would see 12 of the 25 chronic- care beds converted to a rehabilitation unit. Helen Dobson was the new president of the Brussels Legion Ladies’ Auxiliary. Others on the executive were: Lillian Moses, Liz Sholdice, Debbie Cann, Alice Brothers, Isobel Alcock, Doreen Rutledge, Verna Tunney, Mabel Willis, Carol Thornton, Jean Little and Anne Elliott. Andy Lubbers was named president of the Blyth Lions. Also on the executive were: Brent Scrimgeour, Steve Howson, Ken Stewart, Lloyd Sippel, Darryl Chalmers, Alex Blair, Dave Cartwright, Darren Richmond, Dan Taylor, Brian Garnett, Don Stewart, Steve Hallahan and Gord Jenkins. Tony and Fran McQuail’s Meeting Place Farm near Lucknow was the site of a workhorse workshop, which demonstrated the old-world method of farming. 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 A pension reality check People who work long years for a company take it for granted that they will be able to ease their retirement years with the pensions due to them. Last week’s news that the pensions of Canadian auto workers are in danger from the failure of the big car companies caused a chill for those in, or nearing, retirement. Auto workers will have a hard time generating much sympathy from those who are responsible for their own retirement savings who have seen the value of their mutual fund investments drop by 30-40 per cent in the past year. Earlier, when Paul Martin was finance minister, the federal government realized the Canada Pension Fund would not be able to support babyboomers in their retirement at the existing rate of contribution and greatly reformed the fund’s financing. Pension plans for some workers have depended on extraordinary growth in investments. Think about it: many people who can retire at 55 have worked just over 30 years, contributing a small portion of their earnings to their pension fund. They may live for another 30 or more years receiving pensions calculated at a substantial percentage of what they earned in their highest-earning years just before they retired. We’re asking a lot of our pension system to deliver these kinds of results. When times are hard, as they are now, we may be asking the impossible. — KR Recession obscures problems The current economic situation tends to obscure underlying changes in our world, including the fact that we may have already reached “peak oil”, the time when we’ll be using more oil than we are discovering. A recent study by the investment firm Goldman Sachs showed that large European oil companies like BP and Royal Dutch Shell saw their oil production decline by four per cent in the boom years between 2004 and 2008, even as they invested more money than ever in finding new oil deposits. Even conservative commentators point out this may be a sign that “peak oil” is approaching, if not already reached. With crude oil prices at one-third what they were before the world economic crisis, few people are thinking about running out of oil. A recent story on a local television station suggested it might be a good year for boaters on Lake Huron because oil prices are much lower. Meanwhile critics of alternative energy projects point out they are uneconomical given the price of petroleum-based energy. But industry observers point out that with the current low petroleum prices, companies have even less money to invest in exploration. When the recession ends and demand returns, without new discoveries, the high petroleum prices of last year could look like a bargain. — KR & EDITOR’S NOTE: — Newspapers are always looking for ways to help their readers understand how to properly prepare a letter to the editor. The following appeared in a recent edition of the Rocky Mountain House (AB) Mountaineer. One of the best read parts of any newspaper is the letter to the editor column and there are usually more than enough to make issues lively and interesting. Rules of writing letters are quite simple. Stick to these and we will be quite happy to print them, if not one week, then the next. • Address your writing to the editor.With "Open letters" to someone else, we always get the feeling of snooping in someone else's mail. • "Thank yous". Please use our card of thanks column in the classified section, or have your group budget for display advertising space, rather than using a letter to the editor. Letters are the place to express opinions and carry on debates. • Bad taste.This is a family newspaper. People can make their points without vulgar language. • Libelous material.To bad mouth someone in public is slander, to do so in print is libel. If we allowed someone's character to be unduly attacked, we are just as subject to a libel suit as the author of the letter. • Illegible and incoherent letters. Our typesetters are renowned for their ability to read bad handwriting. However, the most ideal situation is to have the letter typed and double spaced. Some letters ramble and make no sense, no matter how nimble our mental gymnastics. If we can't make heads or tails out of the letter, we won't make our readers try. If we can edit the letter to make it clear, we will. • Length.This is not the place for a textbook of personal opinion. We suggest that most people can get their point across in fewer than 750 words. Keep it short and to the point. It is in the best interest of the writer for the letter to be interesting and understandable to other readers. • Prose and poetry.We are a newspaper and not a literary magazine. There are places for short stories and poetry. The only time we will publish such material is if the item is, in itself, newsworthy. Winning a competition with a poem or story is a good reason. On occasion we will invite such material as we do annually for our Christmas edition. • Anonymous letters.If the writer doesn't believe the letter is worth signing, we can't believe it is worth reading. The opinion is more valid if the writer is willing to stand behind it. If a person does not want his name to appear, he must make a strong case to us in person. • Unsubstantiated facts.If you want to quote "facts" in the letter, tell us where they come from so readers can check on them. • End of Debate.After we feel all sides of a debate have been thoroughly aired and letters on the subject become repetitive, we will put an end to it. • Local Interest.Any topic is fair play, but letters should be of interest to the people of our community. EDITORIAL POLICIES