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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2007-08-30, Page 1The CitizenVolume 23 No. 34 Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007 $1.25 ($1.18 + 7c GST)Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Inside this week Pg. 2 Pg. 8 Pg. 11 Pg. 25 Pg. 35 Brussels has a princess PeeWees begin quarter finals Summer sports section begins Local county’s Furrow Queen ‘My One and Only’ at Avon Theatre Plowing on It was the 80th Huron County Plowing Match on Friday, held this year at Bob and Carol Leeming and family’s in Tuckersmith, Huron East. While rain threatened throughout the day it held off until near the close of the day contributing to a successful event. Plowing in the antique class were, left, George Townsend of Londesborough and Richard Elliott of Strathroy. Elliott went on to win. Townsend, who has coached for 20 years said this was his first time plowing at the match. He finished fifth. (Bonnie Gropp photo) The 80th annual Huron County Plowing Match was a great success, with many locals taking home top honours. There were two good days of plowing at the host farm of Bob and Carol Leeming and family in Tuckersmith, just outside Seaforth. Approximately 75 plowed with horses and tractors. On Junior Day, Thursday,Aug. 23, Kabrina Bishop of Brussels was crowned Plow Princess for Huron County. Brandon McGavin of the Walton area received the Ross Gordon Trophy for best crown, as well as the TD. Canada Trust Award for top junior plowperson. T.D. Trust also donated money to each junior competitor. Jacob McGavin, of the Walton area, was the recipient of the McGavin Family Award for highest points in the junior class. The Warden Award and the MGM Townsend Tire Award went to Jacob McGavin and Brian McGavin. The Don Dodds Award for out-of- county top points went to Richard Elliott, who also won the antique plowing class. He is from Middlesex County. In the antique display Ken Carochan of Seaforth won the most original restored with the most original award going to Dave Turner of Varna. On Friday, the main day, Paul Dodds was Senior Champ with Brian McGavin, Reserve. Brandon McGavin was Junior Champ with Jacob McGavin being Reserve. The ValLea Farms Award for the youngest plowperson went to Jacob McGavin. Margaret Vincent of the Belgrave area, and the daughter of North Huron reeve Neil Vincent was crowned Queen of the Furrow. Amber Jeffery was runner-up. A special event for the anniversary year was the return of former Queens of the Furrow. A total of 22 out of 38 were present for the 2007 match. In horse plowing, Catherine McRobbie of Mount Forest won the walking plow class with John DeKrooner of Dublin winning the sulky class. The Paul Bettles Memorial Class had 13 of the scholarship winners return to plow out of a possible 17. George Townsend of Londesborough said, “This was an amazing class with some very excellent plowing. Some of these young people haven’t plowed competitively for many years.” Paul Dodds was the winner with Ken Bettles of Clinton in second place. Over $42,000 has been won by Huron County young people to further their education. This class was sponsored by Firestone Farm Tires. A series of straw bale arsons in Huron County during the early morning of Aug. 25, between approximately midnight and 8 a.m. kept local firefighters, including departments in both Blyth and Brussels, and the Huron OPP busy. OPP and the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office are investigating several fires set to straw bales located near to the road in the central and eastern portion of the County. The monetary loss from the fires has not yet been confirmed but is expected to exceed $200,000. No one has been injured in these events. Property owners in the area are being urged to keep a heighten- ed level of awareness for any suspicious vehicles or persons in the area and to report this information to police. If you have any information in regards to this or any criminal activity please contact Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or the Huron OPP at 1-888-310- 1122. McGavins take top honours at 80th Huron Plowing Match Arsonists target straw bales After executing under a tight deadline, Huron County’s application for a piece of the province’s commitment to expanding broadband internet has been approved to the tune of up to $850,000. The original agreement states that the province will front one third of the money committed to the project, with the remaining two thirds being fronted by local groups. Up to $1 million was available to each successful applicant. With the $850,000 being contributed by the McGuinty government, that means the Huron County project should be in the neighbourhood of $2.5 million. Huron County’s next move is to now solicit for tenders, choose from the proposals and select the winning bidder or bidders and then work closely with them on the project. Choosing who to work with comes with another tight deadline, Oct. 5. To complete the detailed planning, the county has about one month, but Huron’s consultant Brock Vodden of Blyth is not worried, saying it will get done. Then, once the bidder has been chosen, work on the project must begin immediately, no later than Oct. 15. “There’s a good chance that some areas will have high speed access by Christmas 2007. A lot of it will depend on the weather,” Vodden said. “There will be some places where networks will be built up right away, but then there will be areas that pose more of a problem for us.” However, Vodden says he expects that problem areas will be few and far between, as this whole process has been thought through very thoroughly. “I’m fairly certain that by the end of the process, very close to 100 per cent of Huron County will be serviced with broadband internet,” he said. “There may be some terrain problems, forested areas where we might have trouble finding a line of sight, but I think those will be very minimal.” Vodden and the rest of the county won’t be acting alone either. The province has provided them with a technical advisor. They’ll also be provided with a template for the project, so they won’t be starting from scratch. Once the successful bidder has A blood donor clinic in Brussels today (Thursday), along with others that have been held in the area are in honour of a little girl from Hanover. Emma Kingston, 14 months, was a healthy active toddler until she was stricken with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), an autoimmune disease or abnormal immune reaction that mounts an attack toward one ore more normal organ systems. It is typically a reaction to a viral infection. While ITP in children can often go into remission easily, a small per centage suffer a cranial hemorrhage. Such was the case with Emma, who underwent to surgery to relieve pressure and swelling. Realizing that their daughter is one of the main users of the blood bank, her parents Wyatt, who works at Wescast in Wingham, and Kerrie are hoping that people will come out to donate blood at the clinics. The clinic in Brussels, sponsored by St. John Ambulance, is being held at the arena from 5p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 30. Give blood Thursday The lazy, hazy days of summer are drawing to an end. While officially fall is still weeks away, this weekend is the final long weekend of the summer months. People throughout the area will be enjoying the Labour Day weekend, but the staff at The Citizen will be on duty on the holiday Monday. The Brussels office will be closed. However, items for inclusion in next week’s paper, can be slipped under the door anytime before noon, Sept. 3. The Blyth office will be open, but the deadline for advertising and editorial copy will be moved ahead to noon. Office open Monday County gets broad- band approval By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Continued on page 3