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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-05-15, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2008. Looking Back Through the Years May 16, 1962 There was a great turnout for a special festival held in Belgrave. The two-day, 19 school Belgrave Music Festival included many different activities. The main event was, of course, the classes of competition happening on both days, and with excellent competitor participation. Prizes were handed out, and a great time was had by all. Canadians were being introduced to the futuristic ‘monorail’, transportation of tomorrow. It was described as ‘something straight of science fiction’, and was a feature of Seattle’s World of Tomorrow fair. The monorail to be shown at the fair stretched 1.2 miles from downtown Seattle to the fairgrounds, and cost the city $4 million to construct. It was expected to shuttle 10,000 people an hour to and from the grounds. More contraptions ‘straight out of science fiction’ also included a newly constructed satellite. Space co-operation between American scientists had resulted in Great Britain’s first satellite. Named the UK-1 in Britain, and known as the ‘NASA S-51’ in the U.S., the satellite weighed in at 132 lbs. It would be launched into a 200 to 600-mile orbit from Cape Canaveral, in Florida by American technologists. While the satellite was launched, scientists would be on hand to investigate the layers of electrically charged particles which surround the earth. Residents of Jamestown, Virginia were celebrating the 350th anniversary of the founding of their community. The event celebrated John Rolfe’s founding of the town, and the planting of the first tobacco crop which would save it in 1612. Catherine Barnes was named Miss Pocahontas for the celebration, as she was a direct descendant of Rolfe and his native bride. Susan Pol broke the world records for women’s parachute jumping. She jumped from 19,800 feet, beating the former record held by a Czechoslovakian woman, and by nearly 6,000 feet. Unfortunately, a recording device didn’t work, so she would have to make the jump again if she wanted to make the record official. May 19, 1971 The Blyth Horticultural Society was encouraging residents to help beautify the village. They would be holding a bake sale, and always accepted donations of plants to help brighten window boxes and the various hanging plants and flower beds. New members were always welcomed to their small but hard- working team. The longstanding upholstery business in Blyth was switching ownership. Arthur Clark sold his business to Russell Cook of Blyth. Cook and his son would continue to run the business, and would operate in the same location, but there were hopes of soon moving it to a more central Blyth location. May 20, 1981 A representative from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office gave a demonstration in safety in Blyth. Ken Jones from Ontario Fire Marshal’s office taught a course in extrication in emergency situations to several area firefighters. A truck with $160,000 worth of equipment, including compressors, rams, cutters, and spreaders was used, as it usually was in 99 per cent of all nation-wide training. Blyth would soon be equipping a truck with an air chisel system and air over hydraulic spreader for use in emergencies. The air power was silent, and considered less disturbing to victims. A West Wawanosh farmer won his bid to farm as he sees fit after a court battle with the Ministry of Natural Resources. He was acquitted of a seldom-laid charge under the federal fisheries act of doing work that would result in “the harmful alteration, disruption, or destruction of a fish habitat.” If he had been found guilty, he would have faced a fine of up to $5,000 or up to two years in jail. Judge William Cochrane ruled that the Ministry had failed to prove that a fish habitat even existed in the tributary of the Maitland River, the area of question regarding the charges. Mr. Moss had had a 225 metre long stretch of creek that ran through his property straightened out in order to help in his beaver infestation problem. An unknown fisherman had called the actions in, and Mr. Moss was charged. Playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich was Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People. Also playing was Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones ‘running from the past, and backing into love’ in Back Roads. Playing at the Mustang Drive-In Theatre was a horror marathon, including The Howling, and My Bloody Valentine: ‘There’s more than one way to lose your heart ...’ May 10, 1995 Don and Lenore Scrimgeour of Scrimgeour’s Food Market in Blyth, presented a cheque for over $600 in Blyth Public School. The money was raised through a save-a-tape program and would go towards new computer software for the school. F.E. Madill track and field competitor Cory Bragg won big at the Huron-Perth track meet, coming home with four first-place ribbons. He tied with two other for the title of Midget champion. THE EDITOR, In Huron County almost 10 per cent of the population over 65 has Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. With that number expected to quadruple over the next 20 years, it is vital to maintain and grow programs for families and individuals of people afflicated with this disease. The Alzheimer Society of Huron County currently runs five support groups for caregivers. We also deliver education in long-term care homes, hospitals, day centres, clubs and organizations throughout the county. In order to keep our programs free of charge we depend on our fundraising events. It is impossible for the Society to run these events without the generosity of the people of Huron County. We are in the process of scheduling our annual tag days and are in need of volunteers for Exeter, Goderich, Seaforth, Wingham, Brussels, Blyth, Bayfield and Grand Bend. If you would like to join our list of wonderful volunteers and be part of the team that is bringing “Help for Today and Hope for Tomorrow”, please call 519-482-1482 or 1-800- 561-5012. Find out how you can help out so that the Society can continue the work that is desperately needed. Thank you Karla Crocker, Office Manager/Volunteer Co- ordinator Alzheimer Society of Huron County THE EDITOR, A message to all cottage owners: this Victoria Day weekend, while you restock the cottage shelves and open the windows to the coming summer, firefighters across cottage country urge you to do a fire safety check up as well. Remember these four tips: 1) Change all smoke alarm batteries and install one alarm on each level and outside sleeping areas. 2) If your alarms are more than 10 years old, replace them. 3) If your cottage has a fireplace, or gas or propane appliances, install at least one carbon monoxide alarm. 4) Choose fire extinguishers for kitchen areas and garages, and conform to watercraft regulations. Enjoy a fire-safe summer. Don Warden, Executive Director, Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs Pointing fingers is easy In politics and the media the need for nice simple black-and-white issues is confounded by events like the closing of the General Motors transmission plant announced Monday, and the resulting loss of 1,400 high-paid jobs as a result. NDP leader Howard Hampton immediately pointed out that the Ontario government has given $235 million in taxpayer money to GM for investments in other plants without getting guarantees of no job cuts. On the surface that’s an argument that makes sense. Why allow a company to put taxpayers’ money in one pocket, then let them save money for the other pocket by laying off taxpayers? But as Premier Dalton McGuinty pointed out, Ontario is competing for auto plant investment with U.S. states that would give the money without such strings attached. If we had insisted that no jobs could be cut anywhere in Ontario, even in old, outdated plants, would even more jobs have been lost by other plants moving to more agreeable jurisdictions? In the search for people to blame, government and big business are easy targets. But a big part of the problem in the loss of these jobs is that individual Canadians are choosing to buy imported cars, then wondering why the companies they chose not to buy from are laying off workers. As consumers, we want the right to the cheapest goods from anywhere in the world, yet we also want high-paying jobs. The more things we insist should be less expensive, the more jobs we drive out of the country, meaning high-priced jobs are lost. Only those willing to work for less here will keep their jobs. Even U.S. autoworkers have been taking cuts in pay to keep working. Consumer have benefitted from lower prices for imported goods because of the rapid rise of the value of the Canadian dollar. That rise, however, has devastated Ontario’s manufacturing sector (and beef and pork producers) that depends on exports. It’s easy to rail against a company or government but the economy is intricate, and we all play a part in jobs coming or going. — KR Where are national rights? The aftermath of the cyclone in Burma (or Myanmar) poses a dreadful conundrum for world leaders. When do the rights of a people trump the rights of a sovereign government? What does the international community do when a corrupt government is so intent on protecting itself, that it won’t allow outside aid workers to help its own people? In a globalized world the boundaries to trade in goods and transferring of money have been disappearing, yet people are somehow left out. In the long run, we are all citizens of the world, not just an individual country. We need new rules to recognize this reality. — KR Letters 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. 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