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The Citizen, 2008-09-11, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2008.EditorialsOpinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie GroppAdvertising, Ken Warwick & Lori Patterson The CitizenP.O. Box 429,BLYTH, Ont.N0M 1H0Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152,BRUSSELS, Ont.N0G 1H0Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.comWebsite 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/year in other foreign countries.Advertising is accepted on thecondition that in the event of a typographical error,only that portion of the advertisement will becredited.Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth.PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141PAP REGISTRATION NO. 09244RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com Letter to the editor Sept 12, 1962 Over 5,000 visitors attended the Thresher Reunion in Blyth. Fine weather and countless attractions drew the large crowds, and organizers considered this year’s event a big success. Just as those festivities died down, Blyth began preparation for its very own fall fair occurring the following week. Included among the events were much judging, exhibitions, and a parade. A severe brushfire destroyed the main street of the movie set at Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch, near Los Angeles. Among the ruins were the buildings formerly used for the television series Wyatt Earp, as well as Gunsmoke. Strangely, a mission building was the only one to escape damage, as it seemed the fire hopped right over it completely. A replica of France’s Grotto of Lourdes was constructed successfully, and now was featured in the largest outdoor shrine in the U.S. The massive structure stood inside Our Lady of the Snows in Illinois, and gave visitors a taste of foreign tradition in their own area. A stunning photo was featured depicting South Koreans following in a line with baskets of dirt on their heads. The men and women were hauling this dirt for a soil reclamation project along the Yellow Sea coast near Chang Hung, South Korea. In this area, machinery was scarce, and the attempts at soil improvement was an effort to gain new farm lands in order to feed their growing population. A much anticipated reunion of screen stars Shirley MacLaine and James Garner would result in the making of a brand new, sure-to-be-a- hit film. Working together in Munich, Germany on the picture The Great Escape would mark the first time the pair had shared the screen since The Children’s Hour. Their onscreen chemistry had left audiences waiting for another collaboration. Also starring in The Great Escape was established action star Charles Bronson. Sept 15, 1976 Belgrave was stuck facing a possible $40,000 price tag on needed repairs to the community centre and arena. In order to bring the building up to Ontario Ministry of Labour specifications, com- mittees were set up and discussions held about how to pay for such repairs, and how best to carry them out. Council hoped that the majority of the costs could be covered by grants, but the remaining total would have to be raised in the coming weeks. The Blyth arena fund had already broken the $90,000 mark, and continued to climb thanks to strong support from the entire community. The Thresher Reunion in Blyth saw record crowds of 12,000 people, despite wet grounds and a lot of rain. Sep 9, 1981 A 60-year-old Fordwich man was charged with attempted murder after a night-time incident which occurred on Lot 22, Conc. 9 of Morris Twp. The man was arrested and remanded in custody for a court appearance, and no bail had been set or granted as of yet. The victim, a Blyth resident, was admitted to Wingham and District Hospital, and was treated with bullet wounds to the hip and shoulder. Thankfully, he remained in good condition. No other details had been released. Playing at Brownie’s Drive-In Theatre in Clinton was Bill Murray in Stripes. Also playing was Neil Simon’s Seems Like Old Times, starring Goldie Hawn and Saturday Night Live alumni Chevy Chase. Playing at the Mustang Drive-In were John Travolta and Nancy Allen in Blowout, as well as “the greatest Hollywood martial arts movie ever made!”: Kill Or Be Killed. Sept 13, 1995 Huron County council agreed to look at alternatives for waste removal, other than the current landfill system. The decision to consider such a discussion came after pushes from concerned citizens of Ashfield and area, some of their own council members, and as well by the Progressive Conservative provincial government’s decision to allow incineration of garbage. No permanent conclusion had been made by council on any forthcoming changes to the current system, but the consideration of such alternatives was considered a step in the right direction. New staff was welcomed to Blyth Public School. Teachers arriving for their first year at Blyth included: June Thomas, Grade 2; Linda Nakamura, French; Cindy McKee, Grade 4/5; Lori Jewitt, Grade 3/4; Nancy Pickell, Grade 1; and Jackie Banter, teacher’s assistant. Brussels village council and the Ministry of Environment and Energy were trying to figure out how so much storm water was getting into the sanitary sewage system of Brussels. Most assumed that the severe rainstorm had put extreme pressure on the water pumps in the 14-year-old water plant, and officials at the plant said that they had been moments away from a major breakdown. In the meantime, efforts were being made to clean up damage already done until a solution could be found. THE EDITOR, I got my 13th piece of pre-election propaganda from the Harper cabal today in my mailbox. All summer they’ve been misusing the Member of Parliament mail-out privileges to send out one-age attacks – mostly on Stephan Dion. Given that Dion has been supporting Harper on every one of the last 43 non- confidence motions it is a bit ironic they are attacking him. But I guess that is the way Harper hopes to win a phony majority government. What really got my back up today was the most recent one that reads “Not on your Dime”. Inside is an attack on services for prisoners and the statement “The Conservative Government wants to abolish excessive prison perks.” Besides wondering whether this would apply to Conrad Black or just the poor and powerless I thought it was a bit rich coming from the folks who’ve been abusing Parliamentary perks all summer. The Member of Parliament mail-out privileges are there to allow MPs to send regular mail to their constituents and to solicit responses. The Harper mailouts have come from Harper and a number of other Conservative MPs – but none of them are MPs for my constituency. This is not a constituent service. It is simply political propaganda. It is designed to do two things, one – deliver a negative message about the opposition and two – troll for Conservative supporters. Each mailout has a “mail back” portion where you can check which of the four party leaders you think is doing the best job. You can be sure that those who check Harper are having their names and addresses forwarded to the Conservative Political Machine and those who check Dion, Layton or May go in the trash. But what really galls me is Harper is doing it on “my dime”, or “my dollar” or “my thousands of dollars”. These are being sent across a riding with about 45,000 households. It costs around 10 cents to print and 10 cents to mail. This means that the taxpayer is forking out $9,000 each time one of these shows up in my mailbox. There have been at least 15 because I remember several that I tossed in the recycling before I started collecting them. That is over $135,000 of partisan political pre-election attack advertising and supporter identification done with taxpayers’ money. I suspect other taxpayers find this offensive too. I hope that Elections Canada will investigate this abuse of the Member of Parliament mail-out privileges. It is an effort to sneak around the election expenses act. Tony McQuail. 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 Shows bring people together Whether it’s the Huron Pioneer Thresher Reunion, the Belgrave, Blyth, Brussels School Fair, the upcoming Brussels Fall Fair or next week’s mammoth International Plowing Match in nearby Teeswater, the hidden benefit of putting on a show is the community-building that takes place. Bringing people together to work on a common cause not only benefits what people directly start out to do, such as operate a fair, but also builds friendships and partnerships that might not otherwise have taken place and may lead to other things that will benefit the community. In some cases, such as the local fairs, the direct community is tied together by the effort to put on the fair. In a case like the IPM, a county is mobilized to make the big show happen and friendships will be developed that may last for years. For the Thresher Reunion the scope is even wider, with people from all over southwestern Ontario joining workers from closer to Blyth to put on the show. Blyth has been a huge beneficiary of these efforts, gaining a unique camping facility that in turn draws other events like the Barn Dance Reunion and Bluewater Kennel Club dog show. So our communities owe a special vote of thanks to all the volunteers involved in these shows. We might think just enjoying ourselves at one of these events is rewarding, but the value of the volunteers’efforts goes much, much further. Thanks, folks. — KR Are we grown-up enough? The coming federal election will test just how grown-up Canadians are. One of the tests of the maturity of a young person is if they have taken the responsibility to clean their room. For voters, it will be if we are mature enough to realize we must clean up our world. As the evidence of global warming accumulates (the dramatic shrinking of Arctic icefields this summer is startling) we have four parties that offer policies that are committed to taking action to halt the damage. One party says, in effect, that clean up is too expensive right now so let’s leave it to our children and grandchildren to pay the economic price in 2050 while we continue to live a comfortable life that promotes climate change. Ironically, it is the very politicians who claim to stand for taking personal responsibility who want to shirk responsibility for cleaning up the mess we’re making with the environment. But will Canadians call them on it, and vote for responsible programs or will they buy into the fear that we can’t afford to change and pretend the problem will just go away? We are all being tested on our moral fortitude. — KR &