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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-09-25, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2008. Editorials Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising, Ken Warwick & Lori Patterson The Citizen P.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 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 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 Letter to the editor Sept. 26, 1962 With a provincial by-election for Huron-Bruce fast approaching, candidates began their campaign tours, with several stops in the area. Progressive Conservative candidate and current Premier John Robarts would be visiting Blyth as well as several area communities to talk about campaign promises and rural concerns. Minister of Municipal Affairs Hon. Fred M. Cass would also be attending some of the stops made by Premier Robarts. Also preparing to set off on the campaign trail was John J. Wintermeyer, Liberal leader, to be accompanied by Murray Gaunt Liberal candidate for Huron-Bruce. The Liberal tour would be making more than 50 stops across the counties, speaking on issues of interest in each particular area. A store owned by Mr. and Mrs. Gordon R. Taylor was thought to be threatened by fire when owners were greatly alarmed by a smoke-filled basement. It was discovered, when the Auburn and Blyth fire brigades arrived, that smoke was escaping from the furnace kept downstairs, and a fog nozzle was used in the cellar door to draw the heavy smoke from the building to the outside. More than 200 people were gathered outside the store in a matter of minutes after the alarm was sounded. The store itself had been undergoing several modernization renovations, and owners feared all progress might be lost. Thankfully, disaster was averted, without any major damages to the building. A number of area war veterans attended a 1st Battallion First World War reunion, held in London. Some of the vets had not seen each other in 44 years since their release from service. Sept. 29, 1976 Huron County council turned down a proposal to have Huron County establish an annual grant of up to $1,000 on a matched dollar- for-dollar basis, as an incentive to municipalities to form and operate co-operative area recreation boards. Council did not support the theory of forming such area boards just to facilitate “better co-operation between municipalities to encourage better utilization of the facilities and services.” An uncontrollable fire demolished a barn owned by Mr. and Mrs. Carl Nesbitt of Hullett Twp. Blyth firefighters were called to the scene, and by the time they arrived, the fire had already ripped through the levels of the large triple size barn and was raging beyond control. More than 400 pigs were lost in the blaze as well as 320 capons, 4,000 bales of hay, and 4,000 bales of straw. The hay and straw helped fuel the fire to its extreme magnitude. A new baler and a considerable amount of other equipment were destroyed beyond salvage. No estimate on total damages had yet been determined, and no cause of the fire had been confirmed. Losses were partially covered by insurance, and the family planned on rebuilding the structure. The Blyth Lions Club agreed unanimously to donate $15,000 to the New Blyth and District Community Centre over a three year period. This generous contribution pushed total funding for the project to over $115,000. Sept. 24, 1981 The weekly newspaper in Zurich, which had formerly had the county’s smallest newspaper circulation, was closed for good. The final issue of The Zurich Citizen’s News was published and delivered to its 600 loyal subscribers. These readers would now be issued a weekly issue of the Exeter Times-Advocate. Reasons for closing were cited as declining circulation and decreased support, leading to overall year-end losses. The Blyth Figure Skating Club and the Blyth Minor Sports committee were proud to announce that Don Jackson, famous figure skater, would be a special guest performer at the “Sports-a-rama”. Don Jackson, Canadian figure skater, became the first person in history in 1962 to land a Triple Lutz jump in international competition. Playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich was Eye of the Needle: “To love a stranger is easy. To kill a lover is not.” Also playing at the Mustang Drive-In Theatre was Cheech & Chong’s Up In Smoke, as well as Student Bodies: “13.5 Murders + 1423 Laughs = The Laugh Count Begins.” Sept. 27, 1995 Brussels firefighters responded to a call at the Maitland Valley Conservation Park. The brigade arrived to find an outhouse completely up in flames. Fire chief Murray McArter said that the blaze was of a suspicious nature and police were called in to investigate. Damage to the building, which had already been rebuilt once after being set ablaze the previous Halloween, was estimated at $4,800. Wingham OPP stated that they believed mischievious youth to be to blame for the incident, who had used bottle bombs to start the blaze, although the investigation still continued. In spite of a downfall of rain, the Brussels Fall Fair was a success. Attendance was up for both the exhibits and the vendors. THE EDITOR, The members of the Belgrave Community Centre board would like to thank Barb Black for the many years of dedicated service as our secretary-treasurer. After 13 years of managing the day-to-day business of the community centre, Barb will be retiring effective Oct. 20. Board members, users of the centre and the Belgrave community owe Barb a great deal of appreciation for the endless hours she has spent in this mostly volunteer position. Thanks Barb for a job well done! At this time the community centre board has been unable to fill Barb’s position. It is of great importance to the operation of the community centre to have this vacancy filled. It will be almost impossible to continue the necessary financial and administrative management required to oeprate the Belgrave Community Centre effectively without a secretary-treasurer. This position is a volunteer position with a small stipend. Any energetic individual who has an interest in a job with a very positive impact on both social and recreational activities in the community should apply for the position immediately. Please contact any of the members of the Belgrave Community Centre board for more information. Paul Gowing, Chair, Belgrave Community Centre Board 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 Half full or half empty? Statistics show that the rate of most crimes has dropped, yet if you’re a victim of crime, optimistic statistics are of little comfort. That’s why many will support the promise made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper this week to get tough on youth crime. Harper and his supporters will tell you the current young offender legislation, that puts the emphasis on rehabilitation instead of consequences, isn’t working. Others will point to the fact that crime rates are down and that there’s a lot more youth crime in the U.S., where sentences are tougher, than there is in Canada. No matter which side of the argument you’re on you will be right sometimes, and wrong sometimes. The truth is that either approach is not going to work with every young offender. Some, who have their sentences reduced under the current legislation, will go on to reoffend, giving living proof to those who say the system doesn’t work. If Harper gets his way, however, no doubt some of the people who spend more time in jail will adopt a criminal culture that they’ll carry with them when they leave prison. It seems ironic that one of the measures Harper announced was that offenders 14 and over could face life in prison for being found guilty of murder, the same as adults. This summer, thousands of people flocked to the Blyth Festival for Innocence Lost, the story of 14-year-old Steven Truscott who had been tried as an adult and found guilty of the 1959 murder of 12-year-old Lynn Harper near Clinton. In 1959, an adult sentence for murder brought the death penalty. It was the idea of a 14-year-old boy being sentenced to death that first brought national attention to the Truscott case. Public pressure led to the death sentence being converted, to him spending only 10 years in jail, and only recently being declared a victim of a miscarriage of justice and given a large financial settlement from the government. That harsh death sentence helped swing the public in favour of a different system for treating young offenders. Nearly 50 years later, for some, at least, it seems to make sense to turn back time. — KR Will lessons be learned? That the U.S. government has stepped in to prop up Wall Street’s collapsing financial institutions is probably a good thing in the long run for ordinary people around the world who would have been hurt by a recession triggered by the foolishness and greed of high-paid bankers. But the huge infusion of taxpayers’money certainly raises questions. For one thing, there has been no more stout defender of unbridled capitalism than the government of George W. Bush. Now that same government is saving the financial bacon of many of the people who caused this problem by their greed. Many will get to keep their indecent profits, and their jobs and won’t go to jail. Meanwhile the little people who lost their homes will have to adjust to having even less. The crisis should destroy, for once and for all, the myth that somehow a country’s business leaders are the smartest and wisest people who should be trusted to run the country, unfettered by government regulation. Mr. Bush’s predecessor Ronald Reagan had abolished many regulations that had dated back to the disaster of the Great Depression, believing that business leaders knew more than government regulators. But in a country that believes in checks and balances against the power of government, surely it must also be recognized that checks and balances against the greed of business leaders is also needed. Human nature is that no one should be given uncontrolled power. — KR &