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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-01-17, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2008.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 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 $32.00/year ($30.48 + $1.52 G.S.T.) in Canada;$101.00/year in U.S.A.and $175.00/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 Jan. 17, 1962 Rev. D. J. Lane of Clinton and minister of the Blyth Presbyterian Church gave a talk to the Blyth Lions Club. As guest speaker at a meeting of the Lions, Rev. Lane chose to speak on the topic of Communism, and its threat to the nations of the world. Continual snowfall and gusting winds was making it difficult for people of the area to carry on their daily routines. Snowstorms had quickly covered everything in sight with a thick layer of snow, including the roads. School buses and rural mail carriers were often snowed in. A mail truck from London had to be towed out of ditch just north of the village, and immediately headed back home. Local churches were observing the annual Week of Prayer for the Canadian Council of Churches. A large number of the community came out for worship despite the stormy weather. In the help wanted section of the paper it was advertised the need for new police recruits. The Metropolitan Toronto Police were looking for recruits and cadets to apply. Those applying to be recruits had to be between the ages of 21 and 35, at least 5’9”, 160 lbs. and have a minimum Grade 10 secondary school education. Couture fashion designer Alberto Mosconi, of Rome, found a new way to advertise his designs. He had hired real-life models to wear his clothes and pose in department store windows alongside plastic mannequins as a publicity stunt for his new line of garments. Jan. 14, 1981 More heavy snowstorms and fierce winds were causing hazardous road conditions in the area. Four different accidents had occurred within a week in the Blyth area, keeping the local OPP on their toes. Fortunately there were no injuries in any of the accidents and overall damage costs were low. Blyth council was surprised to receive a bill for a shed which was over double its projected value. The council had approved a plan presented by the site superintendent, to move an existing shed to the sanitation site just south of Blyth since it was in need of one. Council had agreed on a cost of $500 for the shed, plus another $500 for repairs and the moving. A month later, the site supervisor had returned to council with a bill for $2,584, way over the predicted budget for the project. Investigation into the issue were being held, and an explanation was being readily awaited from those involved. Blyth councillors voted themselves a 10 per cent increase in wages, despite arguments from newest council member Bill Manning. The motion to retain the former salary rate, as Blyth firemen had done, was strongly defeated, and council proceeded to go forward with the proposed raise. The argument was that if they waited to raise wages, they would no longer easily be able to compete with other town councils of their size. Wages for councillors and reeves from around the area varied anywhere from $900 to $1300 for a year of service. The last increase in wages for the Blyth council in particular was in 1979. Jan. 10, 1990 Brussels councillors had made the decision to sell the local tennis court in favour of an apartment development. Councillors agreed that they would sell the Elizabeth Street tennis court so long as the price is right. In that regard, the council would only agree to sell if the price would allow them to afford to rebuild the court at the Brussels, Morris, and Grey Community Centre. Reeve Gordon Workman confirmed that council already had an offer from a developer who wanted to build on the site, but no final decisions in the matter had been made. Huron County Board of Education chair Joan Van den Broeck described the plans of the education system for the following decade as a “blueprint for change”. Van den Broeck explained that the province was planning to restructure the province’s education system and teacher training programs instead of past investment areas. She also mentioned that although the decrease in the province's drop out rate was impressive, it was still at an unacceptable level, and actions would be taken in an effort to decrease them further. January 10, 1995 The F.E. Madill track team came away from a prestigious event with impressive results. The team travelled to Copps Coliseum in Hamilton for the Spectator Games, and beat out over 120 schools for the title of top point-earners. This victory for the Wingham-area team represented the first time in the event’s 10 -year history that a team from outside the Metropolitan Toronto-Hamilton area had captured the title. Playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich was Michael Douglas and Demi Moore in Disclosure. Also playing, at the Lyceum Theatre in Wingham was Dumb and Dumber, starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. The Blyth Festival was presenting Billy Bishop Goes to War, the saga of Canada’s own legendary pilot. THE EDITOR, From April 3 - 12, students and staff from South Huron District High School in Exeter embarked on a pilgrimage to Europe to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the rededication of the memorial. Students travelled from England, to France, and into Belgium. They paid homage to the young men of Huron County’s 161st Battalion in the First World War and the men from South Huron in the Second World War. The response from students and parents was overwhelming. Students came home with memories and a deeper, more profound understanding of the sacrifices made by Huron County’s young men. Many parents wished they could have had such an experience. From Sunday, June 28 - Tuesday, July 8 we will be hosting a trip to France, Belgium, and the Netherlands entitled Huron Remembers. We will visit Paris, Versailles, Caen, Dieppe, Peronne, Courcelette, Ypres, Antwerp, and Amsterdam. We will be at military cemeteries such as Beny-Sur-Mer, Bretteville-Sur-Laize, St. Julien, Beaumont-Hamel, Regina Trench, Courcelette, Etaples, and Groesbeek. As well, museums and a diamond factory will be on the itinerary. Men from the Exeter, Seaforth, Brussels, and Blyth areas are buried in Europe and this is one way to pay respect for their ultimate sacrifice. If you are interested in Canada’s military history and our own county’s involvement in war, please join us on this battlefields tour. A general information meeting will be held on Monday, Jan. 21 in the downstairs of the Seaforth Legion at 7 p.m. and on Wednesday, Jan. 23 in the library at SHDHS in Exeter at 7 p.m. If you are unable to attend a meeting and are interested in knowing more,please contact Dave MacLeod at macleods@cabletv.on.ca or Tracy McLennan at huronremembers@golden.net or call the school at 519-235-0880. Sincerely, Tracy (Bosman) McLennan and Dave MacLeod 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 Unintended consequences The world is such a complicated place that a decision that can seem like a good one can have unfortunate, unintended consequences. Several years ago rural mail carriers felt they were not being treated fairly by Canada Post and said they should be considered employees, not contractors. They won the case. Their union then complained that delivering to some rural mailboxes could be dangerous (there have been several accidents and two fatalities in recent years). Canada Post began examining the safety of mailboxes of many rural residents in the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario. So far, of 47,000 mailboxes checked for safety, Canada Post has told 14,000 owners (30 per cent) that their mailboxes are unsafe. In some cases they have been given an alternate location but in others, they have been told they can either get their mail from a community mail box or go to town to get the mail. As well as safety concerns, some carriers have also worried about repetitive-strain injuries from leaning out of vehicle windows to put mail into mailboxes. Canada Post expects to spend $475-$640 million over the next five years to assess rural delivery, according to The Globe and Mail. Under Brian Mulroney’s government, Canada Post seemed on a mission to close rural post offices and concentrate rural mail delivery in community mailboxes. It would seem that the unintended consequences of the unionization of rural mail carriers may be to play right into the hands of those who would build a new case for reducing rural services. The cost of this assessment is large enough to make a good argument for cost cutting. Canada Post can also use worker safety as an argument for the need to move to group mailboxes in centralized locations. The complaints of the rural mail carriers may have given Canada Post a new way to skin this cat. — KR Saving our way to poverty Among the announcements from the Detroit auto show was good news for consumers — two Chinese automakers intend to start selling vehicles in North America at 20 per cent less than North American prices. This, advocates would argue, is what free trade is all about. If someone, anywhere in the world, can produce a product cheaper consumers will benefit. But consumers benefit only as long as they have jobs. The Canadian auto industry, including local parts suppliers like Wescast, provide good, high-priced jobs. But with North American auto companies already struggling, the last thing needed is more cheap competition. If autoworkers lose their jobs, they may find it hard to buy a car at all. We seem to be working our way through business sectors in closing plants down to send jobs to places with lower wages. So far the economy has managed to stay buoyant as we found other good jobs to replace them, but how long can that growth go on when there’s no real creation of wealth from agriculture, forestry, mining and manufacturing? — KR & Letter to the editor