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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2007-04-12, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2007.Editorials Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie GroppAdvertising, Ken Warwick & Kelly Quesenberry 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 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 ($30.19 + $1.81 G.S.T.) in Canada; $92.00/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 April 12, 1950 Scotland was planning a grand gathering of Scottish clans to take place in Edinburgh as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations of 1951. It was being anticipated as one of the biggest events in Scottish history, lasting several days and attracting native Scots from all around the world. The 19-year-old Prince of Baudouin, son of King Leopold III, was to be crowned the King of Belgium at the suggestion of former premier Paul-Henri Spaak. Spaak, the leader of the powerful Socialist Party, was urging King Leopold to turn the throne over to the prince, in an attempt to restore unity and order to the country. April 12, 1961 Blyth Fire Department acted quickly to salvage a home in East Wawanosh Twp. when an electrical fire threatened to burn it to the ground. A bucket brigade, formed by several neighbours was instrumental in saving the home, keeping the flames under control until firefighters arrived. With the exception of a portion of the roof which had suffered smouldered shingles and sheeting, the home was successfully salvaged. What damage there was, neighbours generously volunteered to help out in any way they could, to repair. A chilling photo was featured of a pair of badly-charred bedframes in a smoldering pile of ashes where a house had once stood. The home had been that of Raymond Floyd of Excelsiour Springs, Montana. The most heartbreaking part of the story was that Mr. Floyd’s seven young children ranging from two to 11 years all tragically perished in the blaze. The parents had driven into town to do a few quick errands, leaving the children alone at home. April 12, 1972 Worry was rising rapidly among members of the Huron County Board of Education about the future quality of education for area schools. Many members felt that the Huron County Board was being penalized for not spending enough in the past for extra programs and updated facilities. To make things worse, a grant ceiling had been placed on the Huron County board as well as the surrounding counties. While other school boards had maintained and spent funds regularly on keeping the facilities and curriculums of their schools up to date, Huron had lagged behind, and now it seemed that they would pay for it. April 13, 1988 A Brussels man remained in critical condition in University Hospital in London after suffering serious injuries in a car crash near Listowel. The man sustained serious neck and back injuries after his car collided with a vehicle driven by a Cameron woman. After a few days spent in hospital, the man was said to be in fair condition and hoped to make a good recovery. The Huron County Pioneer Museum in Goderich was to be the recipient of a government grant totalling over $1.1 million. Museum staff and county councillors had been working for 29 months to insure the passing of the grant under the Canada-Ontario Cul- tural Development Subsidiary Agreement. The grant money was to go into the second stage in the museum’s ongoing construction. This was to include renovations of the original museum building, the 1856 Central School in Goderich which was bought by the county to house the collection of artifacts belonging to J.H. Neil as its first curator. The funds would also enable the purchase and installation of storage and other equipment in the museum. Glenn Coultes was honoured at the annual Belgrave Hockey banquet for his 20 years of dedicated coaching in the area. April 10, 1991 Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Mike Harris was to attend the Huron PC party meeting to be held at the Blyth Community Centre as a guest speaker. Though Harris had long campaigned in the area, this would mark the first time he would be visiting the riding on an extended non-elective occasion. Local PC party member, Steve Sparling, expressed the feelings of many members in the riding: “This is pretty significant and we are looking forward a great deal to his visit.” A meeting was being planned in order to allow worried farmers across the area to speak their concerns. Many farmers were particularly concerned about the proposed Environmental Bill of Rights, giving the Huron County Federation of Agriculture reason to sponsor a meeting to be held at Blyth Public School. The meeting would feature Dona Stewardson, an executive of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture as well as advising environment minister Ruth Greer to speak on the issue. The largest concern with the Environmental Bill of Rights was that it would give environmental groups such as Greenpeace a large say in the farming practices of the future. This was viewed by many farmers as an invasion of privacy and reason to lay unnecessary charges. Playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich was Sleeping with the Enemy, starring Julia Roberts. THE EDITOR, In the late 1990s, the Belgrave Kinsmen purchased the old hotel, and decided to build a walking park. This would greatly enhance the corner and rid the community of a derelict building. Two members of the community volunteered to help with the project. George Cull and Lorne Campbell were both qualified for the job because of their fondness of landscaping and plant life. Sadly, Mr. Cull passed away before the park was officially opened. His contribution is remembered on a stone marking the perennial beds in his honour. This summer we lost our other park creator, Lorne Campbell. The park committee would like to apologize to the community for the condition of the park this past summer. We knew Lorne and his wife did a lot of work on the park, but not how much, until he was unable to do it. The Lorne Campbell annual flower garden will be created in memory of Mr. Campbell. The committee acknowledge Dave and Patty of Pai-da Landscaping for putting the park back in good condition on such short notice. Yours truly, Paul McKee, Ken Hopper and Murry Vincent, Park Committee THE EDITOR, The following volunteers will be canvassing Blyth for the cancer campaign — Donna Govier, June Patterson, Mary Lou Stewart, Jean Plaetzer, Myrtle Badley, Carol Casey and Ann Hulzebos. With your generous contribution cancer can be beaten. Mary Lou Stewart 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 Nothing for something Anyone who has used the Canadian medical system, (more and more of us these days with an aging population), shares one thing in common no matter what the treatment we receive: we have no idea how much the service we received cost. Unless we make use of upgrades to our service like private rooms, there’s no bill to be paid when we leave the doctor’s office or the hospital, no matter what it may have cost the Canadian medical system and, by extension, the Canadian taxpayer. On the other hand, we see the taxes we pay. Every time we get a pay cheque and see the deduction for income tax, every time we buy something and see the GST added to the cost, we’re apt to grumble. We see the cost, but we don’t see the service, and therefore we’re likely to see government only as taking from us without giving us something in return. Government gets no credit for the good things it provides — like our free health care. Compare that to the reality of the system south of the border. A few years ago a U.S. medical drama, graphically showed the cost of medical service. Every time a pill was prescribed, every time an x-ray was ordered, the cameras showed the computer in the hospital’s billing office adding another few dollars, or few hundreds of dollars, to the bill that eventually totalled thousands. A Canadian would never know what the total was. One of the failures of government is the disconnection between what we pay in various forms of taxes and what we receive for those payments. We drive on roads without having to pay tolls. We send our children to elementary and public schools without having to pay tuition. We never see the cost of the police who protect us locally or the armed forces that protect us internationally. Because it often seems we get nothing for the very real something we see being taken from us, it’s easy to fall prey to those who seek our votes by promising to let us keep more of our own money. We don’t see, until it’s too late, that what we can lose is very real. — KR Keeping perspective When news broke Sunday that six Canadian soldiers had been killed when their armoured vehicle drove over a hidden Taliban bomb, the tendency of some media was to immediately trot out the skeptics who questioned why Canadians were in Afghanistan at all. Some perspective was added by the other big news story of the day, however. The celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the rededication of the soaring monument on the site, brought stories of 3,600 soldiers who died in a single day at that battle. Should Canadians be in Afghanistan? There is probably more justification for Canadians to be helping to bring peace to the far-off war- torn land that once hosted terrorists who attacked North America than there was for Canadians to be at Vimy, where they served the needs of their colonial masters in England, but Canada had little to gain or lose, except its young men. The restored Vimy Memorial does not celebrate the victory but mourns the terrible loss while holding out hope for the better aspects of humanity: hope, peace, justice and charity. These are the very gifts our most recent dead are trying to deliver to the Afghan people. — KR & Letters to the editor