HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-07-16, Page 1There’s a race for Huron County
warden as Central Huron councillor
Bert Dykstra announced his
intention at the July 6 meeting to
run.
Dykstra has served on county
council since 2000 and said in an
interview following his
announcement, that lessened
responsibilities were part of the
reason he decided to take this shot.
“I’ve been busy on the farm, but
things are settling down now with
people here to take on some extra so
the timing is right.”
Part of that timing has to do with
2010 being an election year. “You
never know what the result might
be.”
Saying he enjoys working with the
present council, Dykstra said the
idea of running for warden has been
in his mind from the start. “I think
it’s a real challenge, but an
honour too.”
Dykstra also expressed “great
respect” for his only opponent thus
far, Morris-Turnberry councillor
Dorothy Kelly.
He plans on visiting with his
county councillors to hear their
views. “They are a great bunch”.
Noting that as warden part of his
job would be as an ambassador for
Huron,
Dykstra also recognizes the work
ahead for all of council. “Budgets
are always a challenge. It’s
important for council to be
accountable and deliver services
efficiently, to keep rates to a level
that residents can accept.”
Stormy weather
Ethel and surrounding areas were hit on Saturday morning with a storm that took out trees and
power lines. What may have been a twister tore a path through to Listowel, knocking out hydro
there and uprooting many trees. (Photos courtesy of Valerie Gratto)
The work of putting together a
North Huron fire department, from
two fire area boards, is progressing
steadily with the hiring of the new
chief.
John Black will officially take
command of fire services in North
Huron Jan.1. “For now I’m fire chief
of a non-existent department,” said
Black.
Currently, he is gathering
information on the community and
its needs for fire service, as well as
handling the administrative and
organizational tasks required to join
the Wingham and Blyth fire area
boards. The change, he said, should
bring efficiencies to fire service in
the township and area.
“That is not to suggest that
anything was wrong with the service
out there. It’s not broken. There are
just some things that need to be
changed as an organization. There is
different legislation now then when
the boards formed.”
Black, with almost a quarter of a
century of experience as a volunteer
firefighter, left the position of
deputy-chief in Gravenhurst to take
the top job in North Huron. “This is
something I’ve been working
towards for a long time,” said Black
of his new full-time position. “I
wasn’t sending résumés just
anywhere. It was where I’d want to
move my family.”
Wife Cathy won’t be making the
move permanently, however, until
the couple’s two children, 18-year-
old Rachel and 16-year-old Brandon
have completed their secondary
school education.
“I like small town. And this is a
friendly area.”
And he has had some introduction
to the area prior to accepting the
chief’s job. Black has taught at the
Ontario Fire College and has been an
associate instructor with them for
seven years. He has taught across the
province, including an entry level
firefighters program at the
Emergency Services Training Centre
in Blyth.
He therefore, ran into many
familiar faces the week before
moving into his Wingham office
when North Huron administration
and council arranged an evening for
Black to meet the departments’
Central Huron reeve seeks warden’s chair
Heavy rain and extremely high
winds made for a “very interesting”
Saturday morning in Ethel.
While there is at least one resident
in Ethel reporting a funnel cloud,
which would signify a tornado,
Environment Canada could not
confirm it. Other reports, however,
liken the blast from Mother Nature
to white-out conditions during the
winter, with vision being reduced to
less than five feet.
Wendy Clark, who had five trees
uprooted on her property and half of
her shed destroyed said that while it
was raining quite hard for about 15
minutes around 7:30 a.m. on
Saturday, it got very intense for just
30 seconds and then it was over,
leaving damage all throughout Ethel.
“It was finished faster than it had
come,” she said. “It was just a
whitewash and then afterwards, we
didn’t want to go outside just in
case.”
Reports received by Environment
Canada from the London Ontario
Provincial Police (OPP)
Communication Centre, which
receives reports from officers while
out on the road, reported high winds
and possibly a tornado with damage
including downed hydro wires and
uprooted trees.
A second report, received at 8:30
a.m. reported a hay barn being lifted
and thrown approximately 100
metres into a nearby house. This
shed was later confirmed to be that
of Bill VanNes.
The second report stated extensive
wind damage in the area of Brandon
Line and Ethel Line in Grey Twp.
with the damage leading right into
Listowel, seeming to be in a straight
line.
“There were also extensive
complaints of downed trees, damage
to buildings and houses,” as well as
the report of the barn being thrown
100 metres, the OPP report went on
to describe.
Clark said that while a portion of
her shed was damaged, there was no
major damage on her property,
despite the fact that several trees
came down around her and her
husband’s vehicles.
Shortly following the storm, she
said, over 20 neighbours came over
to help with clean-up, finishing up at
approximately 9:30 p.m.
Alvin McLellan also witnessed the
storm, but said he couldn’t see a
funnel cloud either.
“How could you see anything?” he
said. “It was like a wall of water.
Looking out onto my back patio, I
could only see about four or five feet
out.”
While the rain battered
McLellan’s house and workshop, he
reported no property damage and no
uprooted trees.
Geoff Coulson, a warning
preparedness meteorologist with
Environment Canada said that he
had no confirmed reports of a
tornado sighting in Ethel, but
welcomes any pictures of damage or
information on the storm at
storm.ontario@ec.gc.ca
Work begins for new North Huron fire chief
CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, July 16, 2009
Volume 25 No. 28CAUSE- Pg. 8Relay for Life teams raise$3,000 in tournament THEATRE - Pg. 19 Mail Order Bride comesback to BlythACHIEVEMENT- Pg. 715 local students amongMadill Ontario ScholarsPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 PAP Registration No. 09244 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Mother Nature takes an ugly spin through Ethel
By Shawn Loughlin
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By Bonnie Gropp
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By Bonnie Gropp
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Continued on page 3