The Citizen, 2007-12-20, Page 1TTTT hhhh eeee CCCC iiii tttt iiii zzzz eeee nnnn
Volume 23 No. 50 Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007 $1.25 ($1.18 + 7c GST)
Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Southern Ontario was rocked by another winter blast this past weekend.
More than 30 cms of snow were dumped in some areas particularly in the
Hamilton region.
An intense, wide low pressure band made its way up from Texas in the
early hours of Sunday and continued to cause problems throughout the day.
Some local highways were closed for most of Sunday.
In Huron, the weather claimed one fatality, a 45-year-old Mitchell woman.
OPP investigated the crash which occurred shortly after midnight, Dec. 16.
According to police a motor vehicle was travelling east on Hwy 8 when
the driver, Gail Hall, lost control, left the road and struck a tree. Hall suffered
fatal injuries, while three passengers were treated for minor injuries.
The road was closed for the investigation, then remained closed due to
poor weather conditions.
Police were reminding people throughout the day to stay off closed roads,
but also to not venture out at all if it was possible.
Things improved slightly, Monday morning, but not much as Environment
Canada had issued a snowsquall warning with frequent whiteout conditions
for Huron and Perth Counties.
Intense north to north-westerly squalls had developed to the lee of Lake
Huron and southern Georgian Bay. The main one extended from Kincardine
to Kitchener.
The squalls were expected to persist through Monday morning and into the
early afternoon before shifting to the east. Five to 10 cms of additional
snowfall was anticipated.
Winter storm hits
Despite disappointing overall
attendance, the Blyth Festival
managed a small surplus for its 2007
season.
The Festival’s annual meeting
Thursday night learned the $6,451
surplus was due to a major donation,
other unbudgeted income and tightly
controlled costs, even though ticket
sales dropped 18 per cent from the
previous season.
In his address to Festival
members, artistic director Eric Coates
said “Reflecting on the 2007 season, I
am enormously proud of the work
that we put on stage, and equally
confounded by a sudden drop in box
office sales.”
The play that did appeal at the box
office was Reverend Jonah by Grand
Bend playwright Paul Ciufo who
worked diligently, Coates said, “to
create an authentic Huron County
tone”. It was a play that created a
great deal of discussion at the same
time as it entertained, and one former
artistic director said it was the most
important play Blyth Festival had
ever done, Coates said.
General manager Deb Sholdice
traced her journey from board
president at the beginning of the year
to her current role, following the
resignation of Jane Gardner in the
spring. A search committee offered
the position to two qualified
candidates but when they turned
down the offer, the search was
reopened and Sholdice threw her hat
in the ring. She was selected because
of her business background,
knowledge of the community and
love of the Festival.
Her resignation as president
elevated Doug Elliott of Seaforth to
the presidency, two years ahead of
schedule, and “was there ever a steep
learning curve”, he told the meeting.
He noted that looking back through
the records this year was not the first
time there had been disappointing
box office results but “always Blyth
continued to survive, so I am
confident that those who share our
passion for the Blyth Centre for the
Arts will vote with their voices and
their cheque books to make 2008 the
best turn-around year ever.”
The Blyth Festival Orchestra
recorded a successful year, though
Maarten Bokhout reported in written
presentation that due to the
resignation of four-year conductor
Sean Kim, it would be seeking a new
director in the coming year.
Reporting for the Blyth Festival
Singers, president W i l h e l m i n a
Laurie said the choir had a successful
year with several concerts and hopes
to produce a CD of its music in the
coming year.
The Blyth Festival Art Gallery had
a new chairperson in 2007 with Vicki
McKague taking over from long-time
chair Ron Walker. As well as five
successful shows this year, the gallery
created a $100 award to one student
displaying work at the student art
show. This year the prize was won by
Claire Pella of the Goderich District
Collegiate Institute whose mixed-
media piece “Woman in Black” was
displayed throughout the Festival’s
season.
Elected to the board of directors
were Cass Bayley, Hensall; Doug
Elliott, Seaforth; Wendy Hoernig,
Benmiller; Wendy Hutton, Seaforth;
Jodi Kuran, Goderich; Alison Lobb,
Clinton; Trish Trentor, Wingham;
Marg Webster, Wingham; Bruce
Whitmore, Winthrop and Mary
Wolfe, Bayfield.
Elected president at the board
meeting following the annual meeting
was Elliott. Hoernig was named vice-
president with Lobb as interim
treasurer and Trentor as secretary.
Blyth Festival
records surplus
Christmas formal wear
East Wawanosh Public School wouldn’t send their students out on stage unless they looked good.
Teegan Daw played a classy candy cane sporting a bow tie in the school’s production of A Holiday
Moosical at their Christmas concert last week. The concert featured performances from all the
junior classes, including two plays and a vocal performance from the school’s kindergarten
contingent to get the students ready for the holidays. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
The devil is in the details says
Huron County Federation of
Agriculture Stephen Thompson in
the wake of the most recent funding
for farmers from the provincial
government.
While the funding is welcome,
Thompson says, there are
stipulations that may make it hard
for many farmers to take advantage
of the province’s generosity. He also
fears that the funding doesn’t
address the heart of the issue.
The announcement to help
strengthen competitiveness and
assist cattle, hog and horticulture
farmers to the tune of $150 million
came last week in the wake of weeks
of uncertainty and worry due to the
high Canadian dollar. The
announcement came from Minister
of Agriculture, Food and Rural
Affairs Leona Dombrowsky as part
of the 2007 Economic Outlook and
Fiscal Review and as a result of the
aforementioned commodity groups
experiencing major economic losses
as a result of the high Canadian
dollar.
Of the $150 million, $130 million
of it will go directly to farmers to
help them deal with the immediate
challenges they’re facing as a result
of the high Canadian dollar and the
remaining $20 million will fund
several initiatives aimed at creating a
more sustainable future.
Payments are scheduled to be
delivered to producers beginning in
February.
Thompson, while he welcomes the
funding, says that the single cheque
does little to address the real
problem.
The high Canadian dollar
contributed to dropping prices for
many farmers, specifically hog
farmers who were reporting losses
of between $35 and $50 per hog and
beef producers were reporting losses
worse than those during the BSE
crisis.
“I’d say the dollar is the acute
problem, the chronic problem is the
lack of equity with U.S. farmers on
the farm-fed grain issue. That’s been
the underlying issue, our farmers
have been at a competitive
disadvantage for a while now,”
Devil in details says Thompson
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 6