HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-09-12, Page 1Perfect weather boosts Thresher attendance
figures are available, many obser
vers say that it was a record crowd
in attendance this year.
Lillian Riehl of the Legion Ladies
Auxiliary estimates that close to
900 people enjoyed the home-
cooked meals offered over two days
by the Auxiliary ladies. The Blyth
firemen, who cooked breakfast on
Saturday and Sunday morning at
the Fire Hall fed about 825. No
representative from the Lions Club
could be reached at press time to
find out the attendance at their
Sunday dinners.
Sunny skies and comfortable
temperatures made it a perfect
three days for the 29th annual
Thresher Reunion in Blyth this past
weekend. Although no attendance
Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel,
l.ondesborough, Walton and surrounding townships.
VOL 6 NO. 37 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1990.50 CENTS
Joe Hallahan, who looks after
camping for the three day event
said the number of campers is
growing every year. Last year there
were 286 campers and this year
Mr. Hallahan reports the number
has increased to 345.
“Every year they come earlier to
get a good spot,’’ said Mr. Halla
han. “This year we laid out some of
the sites on Friday before the show
and by Tuesday evening we had
about 60 trailers in.’’
The sound of fiddle music started
Tuesday night among the campers
and continued until Sunday at
midnight.
Mr. Hallahan said that in park
ing trailers on the grounds you get
to meet a lot of interesting and nice
peole. There were campers from
Ontario, Michigan and Flordia.
Mr. Hallahan said that the
committee likes to add more ser
vices every year to make the
Continued on page 13
'Klopp wins Huron for NDP in huge upset
Liberals drop to third
fjk
Winning smile
Paul Klopp, newly-elected MPPfor Huron chats with Grey Township Councillor Dale Newman at the
victory partyof theNDPin HolmesvilleThursday night. Mr. Klopp vaulted from third place In 1987 to
first place in 1990 as the Liberal vote in Huron collapsed as it did across the province. The Liberals fell
to third place in Huron.
Huronview delay may delay road
Construction of a street exten
sion to serve the Huronview North
project at Brussels is unlikely to
begin before spring unless prompt
approval is given to Huronview
plans by the Ontario Ministry of
Community and Social Services.
Brussels village councillors
heard at their September 4 meet
ing, from Nigel Bellchamber, clerk
administrator for Huron County
and Bob Corrigan, from the engi
neering firm B. M. Ross and
Associates which is planning the
extension of Elizabeth Street for
the village.
Mr. Corrigan said plans for the
street still have to be sent to the
Ministry of the Environment for
approval which usually takes about
six weeks. With tenders called
after that it means street construc
tion could still begin this fall but
Mr. Cochrane said the village could
probably get a better deal on the
work in the spring when conditions
would be better. The price of things
like pipe aren’t likely to increase
and contractors can bid cheaper in
the spring when they’re not worr
ied about carrying on work under
adverse weather conditions. But
the village and the engineers are at
the mercy of the county and what
they want if work on the project
was to start this fall.
Mr. Bellchamber said the county
had hoped for an announcement of
Continued on page 12
In a stunning upset Huron
county voters Thursday elected
Paul Klopp as the first member of
the NDP ever to be Member of
Provincial Parliament for the coun
ty-
Mr. Klopp, a Zurich area farmer,
municipal councillor and past presi
dent of the Huron County Federa
tion of Agriculture rode a province
wide trend that saw the Liberals led
by David Peterson obliterated,
losing 58 seats, including Mr.
Peterson’s.
With the retirement of Jack
Riddell, long-time Liberal member
for the riding, the Huron election
was expected to be close but most
saw the fight between the Liberal
candidate Jim Fitzgerald and Ken
Campbell for the Progressive Con
servatives.
Mr. Klopp tallied a total of
10,000 votes to win the election, 34
per cent of the total of 29,070 votes
cast (up from 26,665 last election).
It was a huge jump from the 3,841
(14.4 per cent) he took in the 1987
election against Mr. Riddell.
Mr. Campbell improved the Con
servative vote tally to 9,066 for
second place and 31 per cent of the
vote. In 1987 Nico Peters had
gained only 6,725 for the Conserva
tives or 25.2 per cent.
Mr. Fitzgerald suffered the fate
of dozens of Liberal candidates
across the province dropping to
third place, collecting 6,653 votes
or 23 per cent of the total. In 1987
Mr. Riddell had rung up 60 per
cent of the vote in garnering 16,099
votes, a plurality of 9,374 over Mr.
Peters, the nearest rival.
Two other candidates made in
roads into the vote for the first
time this election. Tom Clark of the
Family Coalition Party got 2,931
votes, 10 per cent of the votes cast.
Allan Dettweiler of the Libertar
ian party gained 400 votes or two
per cent of the total.
Speaking at a victory party at the
White Carnation in Holmesville,
Mr. Klopp said he had his first
indication that he might be able to
win the election when he stopped in
Belgrave about two weeks into the
campaign to speak with a retired
couple. The man said he shouldn’t
waste his time trying to convince
him because he already planned to
vote NDP. The NDP deserved a
chance, the man said. It was a
statement he heard repeated dur
ing the campaign.
Mr. Klopp’s support came
strongest from rural townships
where he won every township but
Hullett, Stanley and Mckillop, Mr.
Campbell’s home township. Over
all Mr. Klopp polled 5,569 in the 16
townships compared to 4,550 for
Mr. Campbell.
Mr. Campbell won heaviest in
the towns and villages carrying
Wingham (by two votes), Blyth,
Brussels, Bayfield, Seaforth, and
Exeter. Mr. Klopp won Goderich
by more than 400 votes, Zurich and
Hensail. Mr. Fitzgerald won his
home town of Clinton by nearly 100
over Mr. Campbell with Mr. Klopp
third.
Mr. Klopp said his first priority
as MPP would be to fight for a
reduced interest rate for farmers.
As one of the few members of the
NDP caucus with agricultural ex
perience some people are mention
ing Mr. Klopp as a possible
candidate for the position of agri
culture minister.
Meanwhile, with the resignation
of David Peterson as Liberal Party
leader the names of possible suc
cessors are being mentioned, one
of the most prominent being Bruce
M.P.P. and Morris township native
Murray Elston.
Belgrave
school fair
today
The 70th annual Belgrave, Blyth
and Brussels school fair takes place
today (Wednesday) at the Belgrave
fairgrounds.
The fair, the only school fair left
in the province, will kick off with a
parade of school children at 1 p.m.
The fair features exhibitions by
elementary school children in
everything from school work to
vegetables and flowers to farm
stock and field crops.