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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-05-29, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2008. Looking Back Through the Years May 30, 1962 Agriculture Minister Alvin Hamilton gave a speech to a group of Huron farmers gathered in Wingham, urging them to support the Progressive Conservatives’ newly appointed program to stimulate export of surplus products and to build up the beef cattle industry. He said the government’s selling approach to the surplus problem was the only alternative to the quota and control policies advocated by the Liberal and New Democratic parties. Export sales, he said, could “take the pressure off the surpluses on our domestic market.” He also said that he felt there was a large market for Canadian farm goods in other areas of the world, offering tremendous sales potential. In other political news, Liberal leader Lester B. Pearson was making an official visit in Blyth while on his election campaign trail. He would be at the local Blyth Public School, and would be meeting with schoolchildren and any local people who wished to attend. “Rumble strips” were being hailed as lifesavers on the road. Newly-paved surfaces were now being equipped with squares of small stones glued to the surface of the road. They alerted drivers of changing road conditions with an increased sound and different “feel” of the road beneath the wheels. Following the installation of such “strips”, accidents decreased by half. A home in Pittsburgh was completely destroyed after being struck by an airforce jet. The house was split in half and set ablaze after a Michigan Air National Guard F 84 jet crashed into it after experiencing engine trouble. The pilot escaped safely, but two women in the house were injured. May 27, 1981 The committee for the building fund of the Blyth and Community Memorial Hall were holding a very special Celebrity Sweepstakes. Among the items up for grabs were: autographed books by Pierre Burton, Barbara Frumm and Darryl Sittler; a pair of Karin Kain’s ballet slippers; a shoe worn by Charlie Farquharson; a tie, which was presented to Harold Ballard by the Maple Leaf Gardens organization and a silver hockey charm owned by Alan Eagleson, legal wizard of the hockey industry. Personal letters had been sent to various Canadian household names for donations, and the response was resounding. Draws would be going on all summer-long during the Festival Theatre’s regular season. In an attempt to keep the public aware of the role they play and the help they can offer, the Huron County Health Unit was offering seminars and speakers to take place at meetings of any kind. For example, Klaus Seeger, health inspector, spoke to the students of Hullett Central Public School about the dangers and warning signs of rabies. Seeger had long been doing the school circuit, showing slide shows to elementary school students about rabies, how it is transmitted, what dangers there are regarding it, and how to get help. Seeger also offered informative talks about food preparation and handling, and kitchen safety. All this went to prove that Huron’s health unit had always made it a point to make themselves available to the public. The Canadian CPGA championships were being held at the Westmount Golf and Country Club in Kitchener. PGA champions and other professional players would be competing against defending champion Arnold Palmer for the $115,500 prize. May 24, 1995 Tragedy struck in North Huron when a vintage aircraft, flown by a Goderich man, crashed in a nose- dive in Colborne Twp. The two occupants of the 1943 Tiger Moth, one being the owner of the craft, were killed instantly upon impact. The passenger was a 16-year-old Goderich teen. Cause of the incident was still unknown, but the Department of Transportation continued their investigation. Vandals struck in Blyth, tipping a water fountain which had stood in front of the Memorial Hall. There was also a light cover removed, as well as political and sale signs knocked down. The fountain had been in poor shape and the night of the incident also happened to be the Central Huron Secondary School formal, where many youths were present, roaming the streets on foot and in vehicles. The total costs of the damages was $500, but no suspects were held. The K-W Philharmonic Choir would be performing at the Salzburg Cathedral, and at the prestigious choral music festival in Schwabisch Gmund Germany. It would be the choir’s first foreign tour in its 73 year history. The invitation to perform at the festival came after organizers listened to a recording of the choir’s 1993 performance of Bach’s St. John Passion. A concert featuring local talent was held in Belgrave as a fundraiser for the upcoming 75th anniversary of the Belgrave, Blyth, and Brussels School Fair. Playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich was the political thriller, Crimson Tide, starring Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington. THE EDITOR, We wanted to let the residents of Brussels know that the Brussels Christian Youth Group will be going door-to-door collecting non-perishable food items for the North Huron Community Foodshare on Thursday, June 5 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. This is the fourth time doing this drive and our goal is to help fill the foodshare shelves before the summer months hit. If we happen to miss you, you can drop off your non-perishable food at the Brussels Foodland collection box or any one of the churches in Brussels. Cash donations can be mailed to the North Huron Community Foodshare, Box 354, Wingham, ON N0G 2W0. On behalf of the Brussels Christian Youth Group we thank you in advance for your assistance and support. Lori Pipe and John Schwartzentruber THE EDITOR, The Wingham and Area chamber of commerce is bringing back the rib and chicken dinner, along with the rib-off competition. They are looking for teams to participate. All a business or service club has to do is supply their own barbecue, five to six racks of ribs, and an ability to have fun. There is no entry fee and the winner will be awarded the coveted Flying Pig, and more importantly, bragging rights for the year! Teams are judged on the taste of the ribs prepared, appearance of the ribs, team spirit and costumes. The event will take place in conjunction with the Musical Muskrat Festival, June 13 from 5-7 p.m. at Riverside Park. Along with the dinner and rib-off there will be ball games, as well as a beer garden. We encourage people to put a team together and come out and enjoy the fun during the Festival Bruce Vincent, Rib-Off Competition Chair Don’t abandon local solutions Just because an idea is old, doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. Just because something is new, doesn’t mean it’s better. Those thoughts should be in the minds of decision-makers whenever they decide it’s time to get rid of time-tested solutions to local problems. Fire area boards are the latest organizations to be questioned in the era of amalgamated municipalities. The boards have been in effect since municipal fire departments acquired the ability to fight fires in areas where there were no fire hydrants. Thanks to the acquisition of, first, portable pumps to pump water from local ponds or streams and later water-carrying tanker trucks, people living in the rural townships were suddenly able to be given much more protection from fire. Since rural townships were helping pay the bills of the departments in the neighbouring town or village, they were given a say in the running of that department through a fire area board. The boards were one of many locally-created solutions to local, rural problems. There were also area recreation committees to run arenas and other committees that gave a wider scope of democratic control to local bodies. They brought communities together. Now voices are calling for area fire boards to be disbanded, replaced with agreements to purchase fire protection service from neighbouring municipalities. Because these are rural solutions to rural problems, they often aren’t understood by the increasingly influential provincial bureaucracy that seems to have its finger in just about every local pie. These thinkers often feel it’s in the best interests of rural people to throw out their own unique way of doing things and adapt an urban model. We always need to be re-examining what we are doing to see that it is the best way of doing it, but we need to do it with an open mind, not prejudging that just because everybody else isn’t doing the same thing, what we’re doing must be wrong. This is particularly important in rural areas because the mindset of many urban based decision-makers seems to be that everything outside the cities is backward and needs to be brought up to urban standards. Without being stubbornly backward, we need to respect the wisdom of those who came before us who created unique solutions to the issues that faced them. Ironically, in a global world, the evolutionary discoveries of Charles Darwin are often cited as justification for support for “winners” and allowing “losers” to fail. But Darwin’s theories were that evolution occurred because those species that adapted best to local conditions would thrive while those that did not adapt would perish. The theory wasn’t that the best solutions for, say, creatures in Africa, were also the best for North America. We have seen the fallacy of embracing urban thinking, and rejecting our own solutions, in the imposition of municipal amalgamation. These have not produced the savings promised, have increased empire building and reduced the participation of people in democracy because there are fewer people involved in governing and other citizens feel more distanced from their local government. Before we buy the advice that our rural way of doing things is outdated, we need to thoroughly examine the change proposed to make sure it really is progress. — 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. 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. 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