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The Citizen, 2009-08-13, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 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 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 Letter to the editor Aug. 12, 1962 Red Cross swimming instructions graduates were: Joyce Huether, Mary Gibson, Paul Blake, Nancy Pearson, Gail McWhirter, Beverley McCall, Linda Wilson, Cathy Blake, Starr Fischer, Daphne McWhirter, Faye Blake, Sharon Willis, Connie Coutts, Don Mann, Moira Rooney, Bill Shortreed, Maureen Sullivan, Julie Hanna, Kim Sullivan, Ross Somers, Glen Dolmage, Kim Grenke and Nancy Knight. Playing at the Lyceum Theatre, Wingham was Mary Poppins, starring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Glynnis Johns and Ed Wynn. Brownie’s Drive-in in Clinton was offering A Shot in the Dark, starring Peter Sellers with Elke Sommers and George Sanders. Specials at Willis’s included an 18-ounce bottle of Hunt’s ketchup for 29 cents, a pound of pink salmon for 67 cents and two bricks of ice cream for 49 cents. Aug. 14, 1974 Marsha McNall and Donna Hunking were two of six girls who spent the summer beautifying Blyth Union Cemetery. They were part of an Opportunities For Youth program that saw them map out plots in the cemetery and generally spruce it up with gardening and painting tasks. Huron County council rejected the report of the Health Planning Task Force of Ontario which recommended sweeping changes in health care services. The concern was that if the recommendations were implemented it would bring loss of autonomy and confusion with existing health care service. A special meeting of council was being held to hear details for the proposal to renovate Memorial Hall in Blyth. The meeting involved members of council, the engineer, and contractor who made the bid. The offer for the project was $30,000 plus the rental of a crane for and estimated cost of $31,500. If health unit and Ontario Liquor Licensing board officials had their way there would be no food or drink served at Blyth Community Centre without major renovations. The arena floorspace would hold some 900 people, meaning larger washroom facilities were necessary. Plans were unveiled for a new addition to the Old Mill. Ethel Dewer, county librarian from 1970 retired. Both Brussels and Listowel, according to a report by the Ministry of the Environment were polluting the waters of the middle Maitland River with “untreated municipal- industrial wastes”, entering the river through “uncontrolled municipal and industrial sewers.” The Saturday matinee at the Park Theatre in Goderich was Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. For one night only on Sunday it was Sex Farm plus Sensuous Emmanuelle. Playing at Brownie’s were The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Where the Lilies Bloom. At the drive-in in Goderich it was a double bill, The Sting with Robert Redford and Paul Newman and Walter Matthau in Charley Varrick. Clare Vincent resigned as Hullett ditch commissioner. Aug. 6, 1986 Ruth Sauve was honoured on her retirement as deputy clerk-treasurer of Brussels, a job she’d been doing since 1975. Present for the occasion was reeve Hank TenPas. Walton Brewers won the consolation championship at the Brussels Invitational Softball Tournament. Accepting the trophy were Roger Humphries and Calvin Annis. After its first two months of operation saw the new pool in Brussels so popular there were at times, lineups to get in. The Brussels Lions Club set a goal to have the pool paid off by September. A fundraising drive was started with $31,000 needed to cover it. Despite a last minute glitch, Morris Twp. was gaining a new industry. A problem had arisen with the plan for R. Harkness Victorian Millwork to locate in the old Morris Twp. shed and hall, but the issue was resolved. Brussels, on the other hand, lost out on having a new explosives factory come to town. Poor yields and quality plagued Huron County crop farmers. Blithe Spirit Tea Room opened in Blyth. Gerry and the Flashbacks were playing for a 50’s dance at Brussels. The Optimist-sponsored event was a fundraiser for community betterment. Tickets were $6 per person. Aug. 14, 1996 They came in droves to Blyth’s Homecoming. Brussels Playschool graduates were Evan Ducharme, Bradley Quesenberry, Justin Pipe, Paige Keffer, Annamieka Kerkhof, Thomas Johnston, Jamie Mitchell, Ben Gowing, Denise Thalen, Keisha Jamieson, Ryan Smith, Kelsey Carter and Alyssa Oldridge. Playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich and the Capitol Theatre in Listowel was Phenomenon, starring John Travolta. At the Lyceum Theatre in Wingham it was family entertainment with the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Out on video was From Dusk till Dawn, Getting Away with Murder, White Squall and Aladdin and The Prince of Thieves. THE EDITOR, I have been working at the North Huron Museum for just less than three months now and have learned a lot of surprising things: doctors used to design their own surgery kits, a Wingham jeweller managed to save a soldiers life in World War I without leaving Wingham and Tommy Hunter used to play at the Royal T. But the most shocking so far is that I have had more visitors from Alberta than Carling Terrace. During sidewalk sales in Wingham, the Museum was open for free. Out of the 79 people who filled out our survey (we estimate that 150 people made the trip upstairs), 36 people had not been to visit the North Huron or Barn Dance Museums before and the majority of those had area phone numbers. Why do we visit museums while travelling but when presented the opportunity to visit one that highlights our own community, where we might find our ancestors hanging on the wall, we pass by? One visitor last week came out saying he drove through Wingham every day, but learned more about it in the previous 45 minutes than he ever imagined. Trust me. There is more to this municipality than what you see and hear today. Don’t let the summer slip by without a visit. Sophie Jefferson Museum Summer Student THE EDITOR, On behalf of Canadian Blood Services and patients in need, thank you for supporting our mission, to provide blood and blood products for patients in need. The Blyth Blood Donor Clinic was a great success! We collected 82 units of blood. Considering that each donation can potentially help or save the lives of up to three people, approximately 246 patients may have been touched by these generous donations. I would like to take this opportunity to extend a special thanks to Mr. R. John Elliott for all his hard work and dedication. A special thanks goes to Greg McClinchey for his letter to the editor encouraging area donors to donate as well as his interview in the article written by Bonnie Gropp of The Citizen named, Blyth gets blood donor clinic. I would like to thank the Blyth and Hullett Masonic Lodge in cooperation with the Blyth Fire Department for having sponsored the blood donor clinic. Your contributions makes life possible. Best regards, Marisa Gatfield Community Development Co-ordinator, Canadian Blood Services 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 Jobs situation could be worse For many years this area has enjoyed a lower unemployment rate than the rest of the country. Not anymore. Stats Canada last week reported that unemployment in the region reached 8.7 per cent in July. A year ago the rate was just 3.7 per cent. Local unemployment was higher than the national rate at 8.6 per cent. It’s not hard to see why the local unemployment rate has soared in the past year. Closures of Campbell’s Soup in Listowel, Volvo on Goderich and one of two Wescast plants in Wingham have, in themselves, added more than 1,000 to local lists of the unemployed, let alone layoffs by smaller companies. The situation could get much worse if provincial and federal governments don’t find a way to create conditions for our farm sector to be profitable. Many pork producers, dealing with reduced exports because of a strong Canadian dollar, punitive U.S. labeling laws and the effect of the so-called “swine flu”, are teetering on the brink of having to abandon their farms. Battered by mostly bad times since the BSE crisis in 2003, beef producers aren’t much better off. And crop prices which promised profits for cash crop farmers a year ago, have plummeted. Tragic as it is when a farm family has to sell out, the negative impact on jobs goes much further. Without farmers buying their products, feed mills, farm supply companies and professionals like accountants and various consultants cut jobs. Those who make a living from the products of farms, from truckers to millers, stand to lose jobs. There are a lot more people who depend on the farm economy than just farmers. It’s essential that both the federal and provincial governments take action, and quickly, to help farmers stay in business, and preserve the jobs of those who work in the farm-related industries. — KR Dumb, dumb, dumb All of us have done dumb things in our lives and been glad if no one was around to see them. It takes a special degree of dumbness, however, to take a video of your stupid act and post it on the internet. Twice in the past week Canadians have been guilty of doubling up their idiocy. First a Quebec father let his seven-year-old son drive a car on a road – with the rest of the family not wearing seat belts – then took a video and posted it on YouTube. Then three mindless Saskatchewan hunters taped themselves shooting ducks on a pond, including those still unable to fly. With video cameras everywhere these days, they’ve made it possible to catch incidents like RCMP officers tasering Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski. But when people video their own stupidity and put it on YouTube, you have to figure they have poor judgement in doing some- thing stupid, and worse in thinking it’s something to brag about. — KR &