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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-02-19, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2009. Editorials Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising, Ken Warwick & Lori Patterson The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 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 Feb. 18, 1965 A letter mailed in Blyth on Dec. 29, finally reached Jack Wheeler in Brussels the first week in February after a lengthy journey. The letter arrived first in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 17, then was redirected. Apparently, this had happened several times in the past. A coroner’s jury inquiring into the Oct. 21 death of Ephraim Parish of Brussels ruled that slushy road conditions caused Parish’s car to collide with a truck driven by George Melvin Jacklin of Brussels. The crash occurred on County Rd. 16, just east of Brussels. Four witnesses testified, and the jury made no recommendations. Coroner Dr. W.A. Crawford of Wingham, presided. Members of the jury were foreman George McCutcheon, Gordon Stephenson, Ronald Huether, Ivan Campbell and Gordon Exel, all of Brussels. Connie Francis, Susan Oliver and guest stars Johnny Carson, Danny Thomas, George Hamilton and Paula Prentiss starred in Looking for Love, which was playing at the Lyceum Theatre in Wingham. R.B. Cousins was elected chairman of the Wingham And District Hospital board. The Pinbusters took a very bad loss dropping both games of bowling to the Untouchables, to fall behind another 208 pins. Individual prizes went to Karen Coleman, George Cousins, Ruth Huether, Marlene Jacklin, Albert TenPas and Willis Knight. A winter clearance sale at Smith’s Rexall saw wallpaper selling for 75 cents a bundle. Feb. 13, 1974 A smelly school problem was getting aired by school board officials and the medical officer of health. A roll of snowfence sectioned off an area of land, about 50 feet by 20 feet at Blyth Public School, to keep children from playing in water seeping up through the ground from the sewage system. The MOH issued an order that the board seal the present septic system and that plans to replace it be shown to the department within 60 days. Bill Pullen was elected president of the Morris Federation of Agriculture. Fresh chicken legs or breasts were selling for 79 cents a pound at Blyth Meat Market. A 16-oz box of Bluewater fish and chips was on sale for 75 cents. A two-pound box of Schneider’s beef patties was selling for $2.15 while Schneider’s bacon was $1.09 a pound. Feb. 12, 1986 Huron County council took a first step toward the dissolution of the Huron County library board. Legislation would make the county the new board with a committee of council responsible for the library operation. Chief librarian William Partridge issued a statement saying he would “continue to remain an employee of the County of Huron.” Blyth Legion honoured four members: Russ Wilson, only surviving First World War veteran and Tom Thomson, Clare Vincent and Bill Riehl, lifetime memberships in honour of service. Kevin Wheeler and his partner Michelle Menzies competed at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships. In fourth after the compulsory program, the pair gave a superb four-minute program to finish in third. Former Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Bill White was in Blyth to coach local youngsters under the Fundamentals in Action program. The oldest resident in Walton was celebrating his birthday. Nelson Reid was turning 90. Feb. 14, 1996 When county council approved cost savings, small libraries in Auburn, Bluevale, Centralia, Cranbrook, Gorrie and Walton were warned they may close. In Grey, the residents of Cranbrook banded together to support their local library. Students at Central Huron Secondary School video- conferenced with Minister of Education John Snobelen. Twenty-one-month-old Krista McKay of Brussels had some expert help for her first time on the ice skating rink. While visiting her aunt, Linda TenPas in Victoria, B.C, Krista got help from former Olympian silver medalist Karen Magnussen. TenPas was was one of two instructors selected by Magnussen to help with her Top Notch Skating School in Burnaby B.C. When the playground equipment had to be removed due to safety regulations, the staff and students at Blyth Public School came up with the idea of an outdoor skating rink. With a little help from the fire department, a smooth skating surface was created. While other people were in watching Friends, a group of young people in Brussels were out doing some good work. Co-ordinated by The Ark, the kids went through town gathering food to donate to COPE (Co-operative Opportunities Providing Education). The program, run out of Central Huron Secondary School was for 16-24- year-olds who were back in school. COPE helps them with the grocery bill through donations. THE EDITOR, As someone who has come into this accommodation review process totally uninformed on the procedure, I have had to do a great deal of work to actually find out what is involved. It has opened my eyes and I am truly grateful for that. I am also trying to understand everyone’s different opinions and look at them with an open mind. The one thing that is crucial to this process is that the children and their education remain the first focus. On that I have a few comments. When I started kindergarten I went to a school of approximately 500 children. In my opinion it’s not the number of people who are attending the building that such young children go to but, it is in fact the ‘change in life and daily routine’ being intimidation, fear or whatever any child experiences that first day of school that has the most effect. We as parents have the responsibility to be there to tell them they will be okay reassuring and supporting them in this next chapter of their life. Whatever the population of the school, be it 500 or 150, children still are going to have concerns on the first day of school. This, I feel, is the same when the next chapter of a child’s life comes in – going to high school. I am sure that I had the same questions, concerns, fears as any other student had, regardless of the number of children that attended the elementary school we were now comfortable with. It was more the fear of the unknown. This again causes children to gain the support of the people who we look up to, to reassure us that we will be okay, and it’s just the next chapter we all have to face. Graduate high school and yet again we have numerous opportunities, choices, to make and are told we have to decide what, who or where we want to go in life. This is again an intimidating decision that children are faced with but really just the next chapter. Throughout discussions that have arisen, I have seen the opportunities for students in Ontario vary on where you live. Is this right? One example, and please consider that board regulations have changed since I was in elementary school but, nevertheless, we at Brookville Public School had a shop class that we could use daily. We had many projects that we did, made things out of wood, stained glass things, etc. We had a great gym with gymnastics equipment, cross-country skis, etc. and we had a home economics class 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 Problem – and opportunity When the Canadian jobless rate came in a couple of weeks ago with more than three times as many jobs lost as expected, it became obvious that our country cannot escape the economic chaos that is devastating the rest of the world. We will have the short-term pain. It remains to be seen if we can find long-term gain from the hardship. Our society has been addicted to consumerism, to a gotta-have-more, bigger-is-better lifestyle that is unsustainable in the long term if the world is to remain habitable. As China and India try to emulate our North American and European lifestyle, with our colossal waste of energy, it becomes obvious that there isn’t enough fossil fuel to support a few more billions of super-consumers, and if there were, our planet couldn’t absorb the pollutants created. Ironically, we now face the kind of economic disaster that Prime Minister Stephen Harper frightened voters into thinking might come from the Green Shift policy promoted by Stéphane Dion in last fall’s election. Dion unsuccessfully tried to convince voters that building a new green economy could actually create jobs, not destroy them. Now U.S. President Barack Obama has targeted sustainable energy production as one of the keys of his plan to create new jobs through his stimulus package. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is also pledging a new energy system using more sustainable production methods. All this is good and it is one part of the equation, but the other part is more restraint and discipline on the part of ordinary consumers. We’ve been obsessively accumulating possessions, to the point of living on the edge, in debt so badly that a crisis like this can bring us financial ruin. There’s no doubt now that this crisis is going to hurt a lot of people. Still, it brings the possibility for us to change our attitudes, both individually and as a society, toward a more sustainable lifestyle. — KR Let’s grow up! The visit of super-star U.S. President Barack Obama to Ottawa this week, once again demonstrates the pathetic insecurity that Canadians, including our media, have toward our neighbour to the south. When it was announced that Obama would make Canada destination for his first international visit there was a tone of pride in media reports that we were going to get our very own brush with Obamamania. When it became obvious the visit would last only six hours, there was almost a sense of alarm that perhaps it was a token acknowledgement. In most countries a presidential visit is just that, not some measure of our importance or reason to worry we don’t really matter enough. In another eight years we will celebrate 150 years since Canada was founded. Surely it’s time for us to stop being as insecure as a teenager seeking approval of a bigger brother. — KR & Continued on page 6