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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-04-30, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 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 Letter to the editor April 29, 1965 It was spring and thoughts of love were in the air. The front page of The Brussels Post carried a number of stories on weddings and bridal showers. Janet Batkin and David McCutcheon were married. Showers were held for Marlene Jacklin, Carol Bryans and Batkin. The boys of the Brussels Midget hockey team and the coach and manager Murray Huether and Carl Gowing, respectively, enjoyed a banquet at the New American Hotel. The ladies’ division of the East Huron Agricultural Society made plans for Hydro Show Time. The Brussels Boy Scouts were holding a paper drive. Specials at Machan Hardware included: extra-heavy barb wire, $9.75; heavy barb wire, $8.75 and Eveready fencer batteries, $3.95. A new Westinghouse range was selling at Oldfield Hardware for $199. It was Grand Opening time in Brussels. An advertisement stated: “Brussels stores will remain open Saturday nights until 10 p.m. until further notice. You are invited to shop in Brussels.” Showing at the Lyceum Theatre in Wingham was Santa Fe Passage, starring John Payne. At Brownie’s Drive-In in Clinton it was Jerry Lewis, Jill St. John and Agnes Moorhead in Who’s Minding the Store. April 24, 1974 A front page picture in The Standard showed a piglet with five legs, born on a farm east of Londesborough. It was from a litter of 13. The Village of Blyth showed an operating deficit of more than $4,000 for 1973 according to figures contained in the auditor’s report. The construction of a new water reservoir, which had not been included in the budget, was attributed as the reason. Thirty-two-foot ladders were on sale for $45.88 at United Co- operatives of Ontario’s Belgrave branch. Construction was beginning on a new addition to the Belgrave Co-op. The special of the week at Larry’s Radio and TV Sales and Service was a 26-inch Electrohome colour television for $569.95. At Stewart’s Red and White Food Market a dozen oranges could be purchased for 99 cents. A three- pound bag of Mac apples cost 69 cents. A dozen pairs of work socks could be purchased at Bainton’s in Blyth for $14. Paul Newman appeared in The Mackintosh Man, the feature at Brownie’s Drive-in. On the same bill was The Thief Who Came to Dinner, starring Ryan O’Neil, Jacqueline Bisset and Warren Oates. April 23, 1986 Fire destroyed a Walton-area barn and nearly spread to nearby buildings before Blyth firefighters were able to get the blaze under control. A passerby noticed flames coming out of the side of the barn on County Road 25 around midnight. He woke the family and firefighters were called. East Wawanosh students did well at the county-wide science fair. Off to the nationals were Tom Cull, Heather Campbell and Ben Barnes. Rev. Patricia Nuhn welcomed everyone to her first service in St. John’s Anglican Church, at Trinity in Blyth and at St. Mark’s Church in Auburn. Barb Grube was named Ethel Women’s Institute president. Others on the executive were: first vice- president, Joan Smith; secretary- treasurer, Pat Keffer; District director, Margaret McMahon; alternate, Doris Jacklin, directors, Pam McLellan, Helen Alexander, Thelma Keffer; auditors, Jean Fraser, Isabel Pearson; flower convenor, Sharron Dobson. Marg Anderson was president of the Londesborough Women’s Institute. First vice-president was Marjorie Anderson, second vice- president was Alice Buchanan, who was also secretary-treasurer. Auburn Lions welcomed three new members: Keith Lapp, John Bos and Frank Slater. The staff for Brussels pool’s first season was: Karen Phillips, Karla King, Bonnie Evans, Cindy Evans, Sharon Scott and Kim Fritz. April 24, 1996 Cuts hurt kids was the code phrase for F.E. Madill students who took part in what was to have been a province-wide walkout of secondary school students. At issue was the inequities of the provincial cuts to education that negatively impacted rural schools which already spend at lower levels than many urban ones. Mel McCutcheon was the recipient of the Grand Decoration of Chivalry, from the Patriarchs Militant of the Independent Order of Oddfellows. Two former Blyth Bulldogs, Jason Rutledge and Ryan Chamney were members of the All-Ontario champions, the Exeter Hawks. Walton Public School students and staff were trying to raise $5,000 to purchase classroom computers. The board would provide support after that value was raised. The final numbers were in and taxpayers were not hit as hard by education increases as anticipated. The taxes per $100,000 assessment would be $1,002.60 annually. THE EDITOR, I write this letter today with a heavy heart. I have watched the accommodation review process unfold from the sidelines with a fair amount of cynicism. Cynicism because even though I have heard that the staff of the Avon District School Board did not have a predetermined outcome for this process, I found it hard to believe that they did not have some outcome formulated. For them to tell the parents that they were open to any suggestions was disingenuous at best. The Central East North Huron ARC was mandated to review the available information and to seek public input in order to formulate recommendations for the board. Many hours were spent by the dedicated members of the Accommodation Review Committee as well as many people in the communities that will be affected by the review. It quickly became clear to many that just closing one or two schools was only a Band-Aid solution that would not really address the systemic problems of decreased enrollment, ageing infrastructure and schools that lack many resources that other larger urban schools enjoy. Yes, it is true that closing one or two schools may improve some aspects in the short term, but it is still only short term thinking that will lead us back to the same spot of having to go through this convoluted process again in five or more years. Once the committee realized this, they took it upon themselves to come up with a solution which required some real “out of the box thinking” and I congratulate all of them as well as anybody else who helped them with putting together their recommendations. Their solution showed leadership and foresight, the kind of leadership and foresight that we all aspire to instill in our children whatever their age. The CENH-ARC has been bold in its recommendations because they believe that the status quo is not good enough for our children and I would agree with them completely. If it is possible to build a state-of- the-art school that will allow us to turn our young people into future leaders who will say “status quo is not good enough in my community, my province or my country” we will have made the ultimate contribution to our societies the payment of which can not be calculated in mere dollars and cents. The AMDSB staff seems to be happy to settle with the same old 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 community ripped apart The battle has been joined between staff of the Avon Maitland District School Board and parents of the accommodation review committee (ARC) over whose vision for the elementary school education in the central part of northern Huron will be adopted. There is one loser already identified: the community of Blyth. No matter whether it is the board administration plan or the ARC plan, Blyth seems destined to lose its school as collateral damage in an accommodation review that was really about Turnberry Central’s low enrollment and, as it has become apparent, about boosting the population of F. E. Madill Secondary School by putting some Grade 7 and 8 students in the building. Blyth’s enrollment was not part of the problem. Under the board administration’s plan, however, Blyth will be sacrificed because it’s the school in the middle that can be divided among the other schools. Parents in Blyth were willing to sacrifice their school for the dream of a “centre of excellence” school that would replace all the schools under review, but they won’t get that if the staff has its way. Through that support for one large school, however, they have inadvertently undermined any argument that could have been made for Blyth continuing to have its school. And so a school that was once part of bringing a community together, will be dismembered like pulling the wings off a butterfly, with some students going to Hullett Central, some to East Wawanosh Public. Students who once walked to school will now take a bus, and possibly spend their school day in a portable classroom. Is the problem that Blyth has no political clout any more as a village that no longer officially exists? It’s hard to imagine the board even considering a plan that would have had a similar effect in Wingham: say closing the Wingham Public School and shifting students to Turnberry or East Wawanosh. One thing is clear: a school where once parents and neighbours came together to celebrate the accomplishments of the community’s young people at Christmas concerts, public speaking contests and graduation ceremonies, is now seen simply as a building, not an integral part of a community. — KR Let’s not panic Canadians who take the time to think can only have sympathy for Mexico at the centre of the swine flu panic. We, of all people, should know better than to panic about travelling to any part of the huge country because some areas are suffering from the disease outbreak. Remember how unfair we thought it was when people were afraid to travel to Vancouver or Halifax because of the SARS outbreak in Toronto? Let’s try to retain some common sense. — KR & Continued on page 6