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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2007-11-22, Page 1The CitizenVolume 23 No. 46 Thursday, Nov. 22, 2007 $1.25 ($1.18 + 7c GST)Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Inside this week Pg. 6 Pg. 8 Pg. 13 Pg. 23 Pg. 27 Schenk on campaign trail Brussels ladies win tournament Woman to carry Torch in Bejing Society hosts symposium Singers ring in the festive season The Huron County Christmas Bureau is set to go again this year, as volunteers have been working since July to bring a happy holiday to over 1,000 needy children across the county. Local drop-off points for food, new clothing and new toys have been set up at Memorial Hall in Blyth and at the CIBC in Brussels. There are additional locations throughout the county in Clinton, Goderich, Wingham, Seaforth and Exeter. Donations are also welcome and any funds donated to the Bureau are used to purchase food certificates and clothing in sizes where donations are lacking. Any shopping that the Bureau does will be done from local businesses. All donations must have a direct benefit to children. This program has been working since 1967. Local churches come together with the local children’s aid society to ensure that every cupboard in the county is stocked with food and under every tree lie presents for the area’s children. In order to be eligible for aid, the only stipulation is that the family lives in Huron County and that the person registering the children is the custodial parent. Any economically-disadvantaged family in Huron with children 16 or younger can request assistance. Confidentiality and the integrity of the service is foremost. Confidential appointments are made at the Bureau closest to where the family lives. Parents choose the gifts and clothes for their children from donated and purchased items. Organizers have noted that 10-14- year-olds are often overlooked as it is easier to buy for younger children. They ask people to keep these youngsters in mind when shopping. For more information contact the Huron-Perth Children’s Aid Society at (519) 524-7356 or toll free at 1- 800-265-5198. Bureaus open for business Snow much fun The gentle dropping of snow in the area late last week helped set the tone as folks got into the Christmas spirit at the Blyth merchants’ Lighting of the Lights on Friday night. Mieka McClinchey was clearly fascinated with the new development. (Vicky Bremner photo) Parents of students at East Wawanosh Public School, concerned about the possible long-term repercussions of a twinning of the school with Blyth Public School, have been offered reassurances that it’s only a temporary measure. The twinning of the schools, the result of a series of cascading job changes among principals and vice principals in the Avon Maitland District School Board, was outlined to trustees at a regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 13. “I attended the school council meeting when this was announced, and they’re not happy at all,” reported North Huron trustee Colleen Schenk. “They look at it at as an accommodation issue – that their (school) is going to be closed. I assured them that’s not the case, and that this is a short-term measure.” The twinning of the schools, which became effective Nov. 5, sees Blyth principal Jane Morton take on additional duties as top administrator at East Wawanosh. Morton will spend most of her time at Blyth, however, so Wendy Armstrong- Gibson has been moved from her vice principal position at Clinton Public School to take over the VP role at East Wawanosh. “Jane is the principal but, in fact, Wendy will oversee the day-to-day operations of the school,” explained human resources superintendent Jim Sheppard. “I have spoken with both Jane and Wendy and they are both very comfortable with this arrangement. I am very confident it will be effective.” The changes stem from the appointment on Oct. 15 of Seaforth Public School principal Kim Black to the board’s administrative offices, in a newly-created position funded by the Education Ministry’s Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat. Black’s official title is “system principal for elementary school effectiveness,” and her work involves training principals and teachers about up-to- date methods for boosting student success. “The Secretariat has given us money for a person to work with elementary schools on their school improvement plans,” explained education director Geoff Williams. “What (Black) will be doing is helping principals and teachers look at what’s happening in the classrooms now, and what changes might be possible.” Black’s expertise in this area was developed over the past three years, when Seaforth Public School was singled out for participation in a specially-funded “Turnaround School” program. The program – which was credited with helping improve the school’s standardized test results – brought Ministry personnel into the school to observe and advise both Black and the school’s teachers. In the weeks following her appointment, Black did double duty as principal until the recent staffing changes were initiated. Replacing Black is Cheryl Peach, who was brought in from her position as principal of Wingham Public School. Peach’s post was then taken by East Wawanosh principal Frank Stretton, necessitating the twinning with Blyth. According to Williams, the board won’t know until next year whether funding will be renewed for Black’s “school effectiveness” position. If it isn’t, Black will be brought back into the principal pool. Either way, he stressed, a full-time principal will be named for East Wawanosh Public School for 2008-09. Armstrong-Gibson’s relocation from Clinton led to another series of changes. Kerry Carlyle has moved from the vice principal position at Huron Centennial Public School to Armstrong-Gibson’s former role in Clinton. And teacher Charlene Stein takes on the role of acting vice principal at Huron Centennial. As the Christmas season approaches, local businesses are forced to sink or swim when it comes to Christmas shopping, leading to longer hours, sales and promotions. But how do the local outfits stack up? How are they competing with nearby city centres like London and Kitchener? How are they competing with on-line shopping websites? Is the high Canadian dollar affecting business? Jim Niesen, Huron Business Development Corporation’s business manager thinks that local businesses need to look within before pointing the finger at a number of outside factors. “First of all, a big reason why a lot of people go out of the area to shop is because our local businesses, by the way they operate force them to do that, and there’s two reasons why I say that. First of all, if you go through any of the area’s downtowns after 5 p.m., there aren’t too many stores open. Well, if people are working 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and stores are only open during those hours and people want to do their shopping, when are they going to do it? So, basically, with our business practices, we’re forcing people to go to London or Kitchener, where they know that the stores are open until 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. every day of the week,” Niesen said. The other side of it, said Niesen is that very recent studies demonstrate that 65-70 per cent of consumers have shown a preference for shopping on-line. “Now, that’s a very deceptive term, because on-line shopping implies that they’re buying on-line, and that’s not exactly the truth. On- line shopping means that people prefer to get their information on- line, become knowledgeable about what they want to buy before they go out and buy it and their preference is actually to buy from a bricks and mortar store. So there’s a lot of misunderstanding in the information about how shoppers use the internet.” Niesen said he remembers when the HBDC was offering local businesses to split their costs down the middle to establish a website and very few took them up on their offer. He said that once the true meaning Trustee eases parents’ concerns By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen Local shopping not easy says business manager By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Continued on page 7