HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-02-07, Page 1The CitizenVolume 24 No. 6 Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008 $1.25 ($1.19 + 6c GST)Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Inside this week
Pg. 7
Pg. 8
Pg. 11
Pg. 16
Pg. 18
Giving the kids a
little boost
Lightning takes
tourney title
Some financial
advice
Auburn has new
correspondent
MP, author sign new
book in Blyth
Last week’s weather wasn’t
particularly nice to anyone in Huron
County, but it was definitely worse
to some.
It was Dalton Hamilton who got a
4 a.m. good morning on Jan. 30
when a large tree at the side of the
Hamiltons’ Newry Road property
uprooted and broke through his
bedroom window. (See photos on
page 6)
Hamilton says he was too scared
to turn on the lights to see what had
happened and ran out to find the rest
of his family.
According to Tammy Hamilton’s
youngest son, “the house was
wiggling”.
The impact from the tree shook the
whole house and the sound of the
impact was enough to make Tammy
think that a transport truck had run
off the road and crashed into their
property, located east of Brussels.
After a thorough search of the
house, an outdoor spotlight search
revealed the cause for panic.
One of the trees on the property,
slightly slanted toward the house to
begin with, had uprooted and landed
on the roof of the house, with some
of its lower branches piercing
Dalton’s window.
With some help from their
neighbours, the Hamiltons planned
to have the tree removed later in the
week so they could fully assess the
damage done to their roof and the
side of their house.
The Hamiltons had to wait out the
weather to get the tree off their
house, as intense winds continued
for the rest of Jan. 30, quickly
followed by a province-wide winter
storm on Friday.
Last Wednesday was truly one for
the record books, as the Hamiltons
found out, with winds reaching 100
km/h and a windchill dipping into
the low 20s.
Driving conditions were an
obvious concern during this stretch
with snowfall and wind making it
tough for motorists to make their
way around the county.
There were several road closures,
but few directly impacting the
area. Hwy. 6 was closed between
Hepworth and Durham; Hwy. 10
was closed between Chatsworth
and Markdale; Hwy. 21 was
closed between Springmount
and Kincardine and Hwy. 26 was
closed between Owen Sound and
Meaford.
Blyth fire chief Paul Josling was
called out to a downed power line
early Wednesday morning as well.
While the fire department didn’t
have to do any work with the power
line, they had to block off the site
while Hydro One worked to mend
the problem.
Hydro One was busy last week
with Jan. 30 resulting in nearly
25,000 homes being without power
for several hours across the
province. Of those customers, 2,700
were in the Walkerton area, 291 were
in Listowel and 207 of them were in
the Clinton area.
With just one day off, the weather
returned with a vengeance on Friday,
dumping between 10 and 15 cm of
snow throughout the county.
The storm moved northeast
through the United States with lower
areas like London receiving a fair
portion of snow and Kitchener and
Toronto getting between 20 and 25
cm of the white stuff.
On Friday, while no roads were
closed due to extensive snow
removal overnight, MTO officials
warned of icy conditions and
reduced visibility on many county
roads.
Now in its fourth year, the North
Huron Snowarama is set to run on
Feb. 16 and its organizers are hoping
that its trend of making money for
Easter Seals continues.
According to event chair, Adrian
Salverda, North Huron Snowarama
has raised more money than the
previous year every year, and he
hopes this year is no different.
The event raised $7,200 for Easter
Seals in 2006, and raised the bar to
$11,820 in 2007. Salverda hopes to
see more than that come through the
gates later this month.
With 41 children in Huron County
who face disabilities every day, one
thing Salverda stresses is that money
raised in Huron County goes to
benefit children who need it in Huron
County.
This is important to Salverda, who
has always tried to keep this event a
family one.
“The one thing that I’ve always
stressed in the years that I’ve done
Snowarama is that I like to keep it a
family event,” he said. “Now it’s
funny because it’s on this new long
weekend for Family Day.”
Salverda has a special place in his
heart for Easter Seals, which has
been helping him for the last 12
years. His daughter, Marita, was born
with a brain stem ailment.
Salverda and his wife, Dorothy,
have required many pieces of
expensive equipment in the day-to-
day care of Marita, for many of
which there is no government
funding. This is where Easter Seals
came into their lives.
“Once Marita was born, Easter
Seals helped us and kept helping us
Kicking it up
Marlayna Kolkman finds the fun in winter with a sledding outing in Blyth on Sunday. After a lot
of bluster through the week, with lots of fresh snow, Old Man Winter settled down on the
weekend giving kids the chance to take to the hills and enjoy it. By Tuesday, it was a taste of
things to come with temperatures rising well above freezing. (Vicky Bremner photo)
A tragic house fire claimed the
life of a 46-year-old woman, Jan.
29.
Tamara Hermseton died as a result
of smoke inhalation, OPP said.
Grey firefighters responded to the
blaze at the corner of St. Michael’s
Road and Gillis Line in Huron East,
shortly after 9:30 p.m. Chief Calvin
Semple said the fire was primarily in
the front half of the house. Alerted
to the possibility of someone being
inside, Semple said they entered
immediately and discovered
Hermeston on the floor.
Semple said some pets also died
in the fire.
Hermeston, who was not the
property owner, lived alone. OPP
did not suspect foul play. The
Ontario Fire Marshal’s office was
investigating.
The cause of the fire and an
estimate of damage had not been
disclosed at press time. Child awakes to ‘wiggling’ house
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Stormy weather last Wednesday
delayed the delivery of The Citizen
to some subscribers for the first time
in many years.
In order to ensure that readers get
prompt delivery of their copy of The
Citizen our staff drives nearly 200
km every week to various local post
offices each Wednesday. Because of
the dangerous driving conditions,
this was not possible last week.
We apologize for the
inconvenience for readers.
Woman
dies
in fire
Stormy
weather
stalls
delivery
Hit the
trails
for kids
Continued on page 3
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen