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The Citizen, 2009-12-24, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2009.EditorialsOpinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie GroppAdvertising, Ken Warwick & Lori Patterson The CitizenP.O. Box 429,BLYTH, Ont.N0M 1H0Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152,BRUSSELS, Ont.N0G 1H0Phone 887-9114 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.comWebsite www.northhuron.on.ca Looking Back Through the Years CCNA Member 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 thecondition that in the event of a typographical error,only that portion of the advertisement will becredited.Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth.PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141PAP REGISTRATION NO. 09244RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com Dec. 23, 1965 George Cousins of Cousins Dairy was awarded fourth prize for all Ontario for butter manufactured in the previous 12 months. This was the fourth award the dairy had received that year. Winners of the Brussels Christmas decoration competition were, in order, homes: Doris McDonald, Mr. and Mrs. Ray Bronson and Mr. and Mrs. Ross McCall, and stores: Doris McDonald, Baeker’s Butcher Shop and McCutcheon Grocery. Cranbrook Women’s Institute was holding a holiday concert with “music, skits and an adult play” as well as “the bigger and better babies contest.” Sandra Dee, Bobby Darin and Donald O’Conner starred in That Funny Feeling, playing at The Lyceum Theatre in Wingham. Brussels businesses supported a full-page ad in The Brussels Post, celebrating the true meaning of Christmas. McCutcheon Motors had great deals on used cars. Among them were: 1965 Impala, $3,495; 1964 Oldsmobile Super 88, fully equipped, $2,950; 1963 Ford Falcon station wagon, $1,395; 1960 Dodge, $895. Weekend specials at Willis’s included 10 canned pops for 79 cents, a 28-oz. tin of mincemeat for 45 cents and 14 ounces of fresh tomatoes for 29 cents. Dec. 23, 1974 As of The Standard’s press date, there was still no sign of a missing Blyth man. The 77-year-old was delivering a carload of turkeys to Pine River. He stopped there but never arrived back home. Blyth firefighters and volunteers spent the day searching for him or his car. George Humphrey was appointed road superintendent of West Wawanosh. Playing the role of shepherds at the Blyth Public School’s re- enactment of the Christmas story were Grades 1 and 2 students: Patrick Hulley, Robbie McDougall, Johnny Lourenco, Jeffrey Roetcisoender, Richard Snell, Teddy Drake, Jeffrey Sippel, Ken Whitmore and Tom Bailey. Others taking part, included Todd Van Vliet, Scott Machan, Donald Good, Susan McClinchey, Sharon Campbell, Todd MacDonald, Michael Glousher, Cathy DeBoer, Lisa MacDonald, Cathy Falconer, Darren Richmond and Susie Walsh. The choir of angels was comprised of Sonja Johnston, Darlene Holmes, Lisa Logue, Lynn MacDonald, Lori Logue, Pauline Webster, Nancy Snell, Sharon Brown, Sandra Daer and Christa Walden. Just off the press in time for Christmas was the new history of Auburn, published by the Women’s Institute. Dec. 23, 1981 Youngsters who sold the most tickets for the Lite up Blyth contest were Graham Glousher, Karen Foran, Jennifer Allen, Deanna McDougall and Stephen Souch. Robin Lyons was the new minister for the Brussels and Blyth Anglican Churches. He and his wife Jennifer moved into Brussels, “a very warm and supportive community. Several area experimental theatres received grants from the Ontario Arts Council. From the region, recipients were Gallery Stratford, Stratford Summer Music, Blyth Centre for the Arts and Kincardine Performing Arts. An organization meeting of the Central Huron 4-H Snowmobile Club was held. The club was open to young people between the ages of 12 and 10. Dec. 23, 1986 Blyth village councillors were seeking input into future improvements for Highway 4. They requested a meeting with the Ministry of Transportation and Communication officials. Blyth had joined Morris, East Wawanosh and Wingham councils in asking for reconstruction of the road between Blyth and Wingham. Blyth Public School was the winner for the fifth time in the Ministry of Natural Resources essay contest. Receiving their trophies in Toronto, from MNR Minister Vincent Kerrio were students: Tabitha Montgomery, Dave Hessels, Lisa Bromley, Kelly Cook and Tammi Medd. Melanie Knox of Hullett school was a third-place winner. Bill and Velma Stephenson retired after more than 50 years in business. Melville Guild elected its officers: past president, Kathleen Semple; president, Jean Bewley; vice-president, Margaret Work; secretary, Elunid McNair; assistant secretary, Isabel Adams; treasurer, Jeanne Ireland; pianist, Mary Douma; press reporter, Isobel Gibson, sunshine committee, Helen Elliott and Wilma Hemingway. Fred Meier of RR4, Brussels was named vice-president of Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Ltd. Star Trek IV was playing at the Park theatre in Goderich, while Crocodile Dundee was the feature at Wingham’s Lyceum Theatre. Rice’s Store had it Christmas sale. Deals were offered on insulated shirts, $15; insulated coveralls, $50 and men’s flannel shirts, three for $25 or $10 each. 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 Good work ARC members Those fighting to save Brussels Public School owe a debt of gratitude to their Accommodation Review Committee representatives Charlie Hoy and Jim Prior for their diligence in discovering errors in the data being used by the Avon Maitland District School Board to justify closing the school. The men received an apology last week for an error made by AMDSB officials in calculating the cost of operating the school. Trustees, in deciding to include Brussels in the accommodation review, had been given figures that showed it to be one of the most expensive schools to operate. In the new figures, Hoy said, Brussels has “now gone to one of the most economical schools.” Whether it will make a difference in saving a school AMDSB officials seem determined to close remains to be seen. Certainly it weakens an al- ready weak case for closing a school and incurring not only the expense of accommodating the students in a new school in Wingham but the ongoing expense of bussing students at a time of increasing fuel costs. And if the school board proves unwilling to listen to reason, perhaps it’s time Huron residents demand the same kind of inquiry into the lack of board accountability that Grey-Bruce residents demanded from the Bluewater District School Board. — KR A lump of coal for the kids Thanks to the failure of adults at last week’s Copenhagen climate summit to take responsibility for their wasteful lifestyle, all children in the world will be getting a lump of coal in their stockings this Christmas – even those who don’t celebrate Christmas. Leaders such as our own Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Environment Minister Jim Prentice were too interested in protecting the current lifestyle of themselves and their contemporaries to think about the life they’re bequeathing to their children and grandchildren through their lack of action. In fact Harper has only committed to real attempts to reverse climate change in 2050. A child born in 2010 will turn 40 that year. By then Harper and Prentice and most of the leaders at Copenhagen will likely be gone. They see only the potential for short- term pain over the next couple of decades. Climate change skeptics and foot-draggers like Harper often point out the potential cost to the economy of efforts to slow the emission of greenhouse gases. “What if the scientists are wrong?” they ask. Perhaps they should ask themselves more often “What if the scientists are right?” It’s children who will pay the price, not the middle-aged. It’s the time of year when parents want to give their kids the best of everything. The best gift is a future world our children and grandchildren can live in. Unfortunately world leaders weren’t thinking about the children as they gathered just before Christmas. Too bad. — 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