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The Citizen, 2008-04-24, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2008. Looking Back Through the Years April 25, 1962 An early morning house fire left an Auburn family homeless. Mr. and Mrs. John Sprung and their four children had to evacuate their home after a fire had appeared in the kitchen. By the time firefighters arrived, hopes of salvaging the house were abandoned and all efforts were focused on saving the surrounding buildings. Loss was estimated at $9,000, and was partially covered by insurance. In response to the family’s loss, the community all pitched in to make sure that every comfort was provided for them. The home itself, on the 4th concession of East Wawanosh was 100 years old. No exact cause of the blaze had been determined. Teachers on strike in New York caused some dangerous situations. Thousands of schoolchildren created a riot in their own auditorium, with students starting violent fistfights with each other. Other reports of such behaviour as well as vandalism were reported throughout the city. and the police were called to many different schools in an attempt to control the situation. April 22, 1981 The Minister of Natural Resources gave approval for the implementation of a flood warning system to be installed in Huron County. The project would see the installation of the system within the watersheds of the Maitland and Lucknow Rivers. Minister James Auld noted that such a warning system would improve the Authority’s ability to monitor river flows and predict flood threats earlier with greater accuracy. The system would consist of such devices as snow courses, staff gauges, streamflow gauging meter, data logger units and a mini- computer and portable terminal to evaluate the data collected. It would all be installed within five years, and cost about $109,200. A provincial grant had already been offered to offset the bill substantially. Residents were asked by the Blyth Horticultural Society if they knew anything about the whereabouts of some very important historical records. Requested for a historical display to be assembled for an upcoming meeting, the search was on for the minute books and other records of the Society’s meetings dating back to its formation in 1922. Any other items of historical interest related to the Horticultural Society were also welcomed with gratitude. April 18, 1990 A grass fire in Auburn proved to be an exhausting job for Blyth firefighters. They battled the fire, on a farm just off the Base Line south of County Road 15, for hours, working to keep the flames from reaching a nearby cedar bush. Fire chief Paul Josling noted that the task was made even more difficult because the firetrucks were not able to reach the site, and until they could, firefighters had to beat out the blaze with shovels. A concerned neighbour helped out by plowing fire-breaks around the area to try and keep the blaze under control. There were no injuries, but over 35 acres of grass were torched in the incident. Work finally began on the site of the controversial George Radford Memorial Ball Diamond. Conflicts regarding costs had put a halt to construction for months, but finally an agreement had been met, and work could begin. Wet weather further delayed the start of the project. When all issues were finally settled, workers had to rush to finish their jobs so grass could be planted in time for the summer. The Brussels Crusaders were congratulated on becoming Grand Champions at the 1989-90 Western Ontario Athletic Association tournament. Coached by Gary Dauphin and trained by Joe White, members of the team were: Mike Smith, Kevin Deitner, Trevor Pocaluyko, Jeff McGavin, Brian TenPas, Dave Stephenson, Ron Smith, Dave Montgomery, Paul Montgomery, Bill Haines, Brian Campbell, Rob Cardiff, Paul Robinson, Ken Cousins, Joe White, Dave Harding, Mike Watson, Jeff Espensen, Kevin McArter, Tim Fritz, Ken Higgins, Jamie Robinson, Mark Harding and Troy Pocaluyko. Executives for the team were Joe and Debbie Seili, Pete Exel, Doug Montgomery, and Annette Stephenson. April 12, 1995 A Howick Twp. resident got more than he bargained for after they stopped to inspect an abandoned cooler on the side of the road. Discovered on Sideroad 25 the cooler, contained 96 sticks of dynamite and 75 electronic detonators, badly deteriorated. An Ontario Provincial Police explosives disposal unit from Barrie arrived, exploding the detonators and burning the dynamite in a controlled manner at the scene. Investigation continued. Playing at the Park Theatre was Dolores Claiborne, which starred Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and was described as “Spellbinding and gripping!” Also playing, held back for a second week, was Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump. THE EDITOR, The Lucknow Reunion 2008 committee extends greetings to all former Lucknow residents. During 2008, the village of Lucknow will be celebrating its 150th birthday. We kicked off the birthday party with a New Year's Eve dance and will continue the celebrations July 24 to July 27. The committees have been working for the last year to make Lucknow’s 150th birthday a grand celebration. There will be activities for all ages. Dances, school and band reunions, shows, a mammoth parade, beer gardens, golf tournament plus many other activities. We invite all former Lucknowites to come back home and help us celebrate – please consider this your invitation to come back to town – even if you aren’t a Lucknowite, come help us celebrate. It promises to be a great time. For more information go to the reunion website at www.lucknowreunion2008.ca or call 519-528-3108. We hope to see you in Lucknow on July 24 to July 27. Betty Anne Stapleton and Judy Sanderson, Lucknow Reunion 2008 Invitations/Registration Committee. Don’t panic For people living in a region that depends so heavily on the production of food the current near-hysterical coverage of “soaring food prices” in the urban media should be of concern, whether you make your living from food production or not. The problem is that with the national media, perception becomes political reality, pushing governments to take action. Currently riots brought on by rising food prices in some Third World countries are justifying panicky calls for something to be done about the high cost of food. For people in poor countries where the cost of rice or wheat takes a huge part of their daily income, these rising prices are indeed terrifying. The solution, however, is not to keep food producers in poverty in order to help the poor. Our national, urban-centric media is so ill informed about the production of their food that they rush to simple conclusions that aren’t based in fact. It has been fashionable, for instance, to blame the current situation on subsidies for ethanol production that has created an alternative market for the grain. Moral outrage has been expressed that food land should be used for fuel production while people are starving. Yet the reality is that the most recent survey of planting intentions in the U.S. shows that farmers are turning away from corn to plant soybeans which they see as more profitable. Except for a relatively small amount of soybeans used for biodiesel production, most soybeans are used for human or animal food. The price of one of the world’s major food crops, rice, is now up 77 per cent since October but rice is not used as a biofuel. Meanwhile here in Canada, thanks to the rising Canadian dollar lessening the price of imported foods, our cost of food has actually declined. Our memory-challenged media also does not recall that it was only two years ago crop prices were so poor that farmers were demonstrating for help to keep them in business. As well, little attention is paid to the current plight of pork and beef farmers hit by devastatingly low prices. While short-term action is needed for the hungry of the Third World, in the long run, profitable prices will mean more food is grown to feed the hungry. The real challenge will be finding ways to get that food to the people who need it. — KR These people are scary Having seen two years of Stephen Harper’s minority government, it’s frightening to think what they might do if they had a majority. One of the most concerning personality traits of the advisors around the Prime Minister is the desire to bully people. Unhappy with a complaint by Elections Canada of dubious financial maneuvering to exceed election funding limits, the party sued the impartial agency. Earlier Harper sued Stéphane Dion for comments he made about payments to former MPP Chuck Cadman. Then there was the firing of the head of the atomic regulator and ongoing fights with the ethics commissioner. As well, there is the viciousness of the tactics with which the government has tried to destroy the Canadian Wheat Board. Are these people we would want to give even more power to? — KR Letter to the editor 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 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 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 & We don’t understand life any better at forty than at twenty, but we know it and admit it. —Jules Renard Final Thought