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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-07-02, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 2, 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 July 1, 1965 Jack “The Ripper” McCutcheon finished second in the 20 lap feature at Delaware. The Brussels ladies softball team scored a 15-8 victory over Goderich in an unusual game. Brussels had only six players for the out-of-town match, instead of the required nine. Three were first-year players. How does a coach win a game with six players? His third baseman doubles as short stop and the centre fielder covered the entire field. The batters drove the pitcher out of the box and the second one was no more effective. However, because they did not have a full team, Brussels had to forfeit the game. The next week, they walloped Goderich at home 23-10. The official opening of the new hall by Brussels Branch 218 of the Royal Canadian Legion was held. A parade, led by the massed pipe and drum bank of Brussels, Goderich and Exeter, started from Victoria Park and proceeded through the main street. Agent 007 was back in action in Ian Fleming’s Goldfinger. Sean Connery starred as James Bond in this movie playing at Brownie’s Drive-in in Clinton. Richard Widmark, Carol Baker, Karl Malden and Sal Mineo, with guest stars Jimmy Stewart and Edward G. Robinson appeared in Cheyenne Autumn, playing at Wingham’s Lyceum Theatre. The Huron-Bruce Progressive Conservative Association elected its executive. President was Allister Hughes of RR3, Holyrood, and vice- president was Dr. Ted Shaunesay of Wingham. Local chairs were John Durnin, RR3, Auburn and George McCutcheon of Brussels. The centennial committee of Duff’s United Church was Rev. Donald, W.R. Sholdice, Jim McDonald, Mrs. Wesley Hackwell, Mrs. Nelson Reid and Mrs. Douglas Ennis. There was a bus trip to Wingham from Brussels every Friday for July and August. Reservations could be made by calling 148. June 26, 1974 The jousting between area farmers and Ontario Hydro over the Douglas Point-to-Seaforth power corridor ended and hand-to-hand combat appeared set to begin. It was almost two years since farmers first began organizing to fight the power line. Environment Minister William Newman revealed that the Ontario government had ordered expropriation of the needed land on the route of the corridor. Offers were to be made within 30 days for the strip of land which passed locally through the eastern part of Morris and Hullett Twps. Expropriation procedures would let farmers fight their case for better compensation in court. Agricultural Minister Eugene Whelan was a guest at a bacon breakfast in Clinton, attended by some 200 people. Ted Elliott of RR2, Blyth went to Dundalk for the open square dancing competition and came home a champion. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Bert Elliott won the boys 15 years and under step dancing contest. He received a trophy and $25 for his victory in what was his first competition. Incumbent Conservative Robert McKinley, Liberal John Lyndon and NDP Shirley Weary faced off in the Huron Federation of Agriculture all- candidates meeting. Beef producers were asking for a quota to limit the amount of U.S. beef and slaughter cattle allowed into the Canadian market. Hullett Central Public School students donated $27 raised from a car wash to the VanEgmond home. June 25, 1986 Concern was expressed at Wingham and District Hospital’s annual meeting about the closing of 16 hospital beds throughout the summer. A major addition to the Brussels shopping area arrived with the opening of the new 6,000 square foot EMA supermarket. A farewell party was held for Brussels Public School principal Ken Scott, who was moving to East Wawanosh after 19 years. A similar party was held at Grey for principal Jim Axtmann who was replaced Scott at Brussels. Bev Elliott and Marilyn Forbes opened Christmas and Country in Blyth. Grey firefighter Ross Stephenson was recognized for 30 years of service. Medical officer of health Dr. Harry Cieslar resigned citing irreconcilable differences with the board of health, the county’s clerk and the chairman of the board. June 26, 1996 Alice Scott of East Wawanosh was recognized for her contribution to the community with a Senior of the Year Award. Emily Cousins, a long-time teacher at Brussels Public School, retired. Belgrave Women’s Institute marked its 85th anniversary. Grey Twp. held a 140th anniversary celebration weekend. Walton WI celebrated its 40th anniversary. The Cable Guy, starring Jim Carey and Matthew Broderick was on the playbill for the Park Theatre in Goderich. THE EDITOR, Twenty-four hours has passed since the Avon Maitland District School Board trustees passed their staff recommendation to close all four schools in the Central East North Huron area. After watching Colleen Schenk, trustee for that area, on CKNX TV boasting about how they all saved F.E. Madill, I need to express my own opinion on the outcome of that decision. The public in this area need to know how the Hot Stove Group, (your community representatives on the review committee) were treated at the meeting held in the board office in Seaforth June 23. First of all, F.E. Madill was never one of the schools under review. We had also been assured that no decision had or would be made until then. Three speakers made presen- tations to the trustees, making one last appeal for their consideration of our proposal for a K-8 new school. Ernest Dow of Blyth started off with his Power Point presentation on the effects of the Blyth community if the school was to close. While making his presentation, chair Jenny Versteeg, Janet Baird Jackson, business superintendent, and director Chuck Reid huddled in the corner discussing something apparently more important than what Ernest had to say. Ms. Baird Jackson even had to leave the room to make photocopies. All throughout this process we have been told repeatedly that they have been listening to our concerns. They certainly were not listening to his presentation. Mark Beaven, presented the trustees with a symbolic cheque in the amount of $250,000 from the two affected townships, which was to assist with the financing of the K- 8 school. That money will now not likely be made available to them. I read a letter sent to the Hot Stove Group from two concerned F.E. Madill teachers, expressing their concern over the lack of space, rooms and facilities if the Grades 7- 8 were to be put in the high school. They explained how those facilities are so overbooked now. During the open discussion time for the trustees several statements were made that were a surprise to the over 20 group members in the room. Several questions were asked and the one in particular was asked by trustee Randy Wagler (South Huron) about how much extra it would cost to add enough room in their new school to house the Grade 7 and 8s and no real figures were presented. But Baird Jackson stated that they had already been in contact with the 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 Communities disenfranchised The communities of Blyth and Belgrave were changed forever last week when the trustees of the Avon Maitland District School Board, acting on advice of senior staff, passed a death sentence on the Blyth and East Wawanosh Public schools. The board voted to close the schools, along with Turnberry Central and Wingham Public, and build a new school for students from kindergarten to Grade 6 to accommodate all the students. Although four schools are being combined, make no mistake about it, Blyth and Belgrave are the losers. Politically, there’s no way Wingham students will be bused farther than the current Turnberry site on the edge of Wingham so effectively Turnberry will be replaced with a new school and it will be on the edge of Wingham. Everybody else takes the bus. Although some parents supported a new school for all students from kindergarten to Grade 8, they were vehemently opposed to the idea of the Grade 7 and 8 students being sent to F. E. Madill Secondary School. The school board went against those wishes and the senior elementary students will be going to the high school. Throughout this process the Avon-Maitland board’s accommodation review process has been proved a farce. The accommodation review was called for five elementary schools (Hullett Central was originally included) but the real purpose was obviously to solve the problem of declining enrollment at F. E. Madill. An honest accommodation review should have dealt with that issue openly, rather than sneak it in under the accommodation review of the elementary schools. The process was even more deceptive because all the while the parents and community representatives worked away on the accommodation review committee, unknown to them the board’s staff had already applied for provincial funding to build a new K-6 school to replace the existing schools. Adding to the frustration of the communities is the feeling of being disenfranchised in their own communities. How many of the trustees who voted unanimously to close the schools had any real knowledge of the schools and what they meant to the community? The rules have been stacked over the years by the provincial government making school boards bigger and more distant from the parents and taxpayers. The schools being closed were paid for by the local community. In the 1960s, the provincial government mandated that they had to be turned over to a county school board. Later, the Harris government amalgamated the Huron and Perth boards and reduced the number of trustees further and distanced them from the parents and communities, For trustees, it makes decisions like this easier because there’s no emotional ties to the communities involved. As for the communities, they’ve been mortally wounded – and all by remote control. — KR & Continued on page 7