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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1988-02-24, Page 13THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24. 1988. PAGE 13. New development expands shopping choice Elaine Scrimgeour’s dream of turning an historic Dinsley Street house in Blyth into a home for small shops is nearly complete as workmen put the finishing touches to the inside of the building. The new mini-mall, housing four stores, will open in mid April or early May. Brussels Auxiliary news Ladies plan dance BY ISABEL JANES P.R.O. The Ladies Auxiliary is once again sponsoring euchre every other Saturday night at 8 p.m. in the Legion hall. There are prizes and lunch is provided. The follow­ ing dates are scheduled for euchre - Feb. 27, March 5, March 19 and April 9. Come out and join the fun. Our monthly meeting was held on February 15 at 8 p.m. Our meeting night was changed at the January meeting from the second Monday to the third Monday of the month. The next meeting will be heldonMarch 15that8p.m. We would like to see more of our members at the next meeting. We received a donation request from the Heart and Stroke Founda­ tion. A motion was made and passed to donate $20 to the Foundation. Some of our members re-organ­ ized the kitchen cupboards. Thank you to those ladies. Your efforts are appreciated. Our Sunshine draw was held with Comrade Verna Tunney the winner of the crocheted doilie. A letter was received from our sponsored veteran, Vaughan De­ laney thanking us for remember­ ing him at Christmas. Our Auxili­ ary is hosting the Zone C-l Convention on May 1. Tickets will be sold prior to this with three cash prizes of $35, $25 and $15. There is to be a Seminar in Lucknow on March 24 at 8 p.m. concerning installations and nom­ inations. Anyone wishing to attend is welcome. It is open to all members. The Brussels Legion is sponsor- ng a dinner and dance on Saturday, March 13. Pigtails, ribs and sauerkraut will be served. Dinner is from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dance is from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Music is provided by Lively Lou and the tickets are $7 per person. Planning pull out won't save Exeter money The Town of Exeter may have stopped using the Huron County Planning Office but it will still be expected to pay for the service, County Council agreed at its February meeting. The recommendation came from the executive committee of council following receipt of a motion from Exeter reminding the county it would be using its own planning firm as of January 1 and asking that the planning part of its annual apportionment of the county be taken out of its 1988 appointment. The county’s solicitor however recommended the county not start separating out the cost of indivi­ dual services. The executive com­ mittee and county council both approved the recommendation with only dissenting votes from Exeter’s representatives. A new mini-mall to open in late April or early May will widen the variety of the shopping experience in Blyth. Elaine Scrimgeour. who has operated Remember When on Dinsley St. West for several years, has been working for more than a year renovating a historic house on Dinsley Street east to house three specialty shops. Two of the shops have already rented with the owners making plans for spring opening. Sherry Reavie will open a women’s wear shop, Dressing loom Only in the west part of the main Tloor of the renovated building just east of the Blyth Festival’s “garage”. In the other half of the downstairs Valerie Gauley of Goderich (the former Valerie Wasson of Blyth) will operate a lingerie shop called Blu-mers. The only part of the new development not yet rented is the spacious upstairs shop. Mrs. Scrimgeour envisions it as a shop selling specialty paper products but advertising will begin soon for someone interested in renting the space. The new development grew out of a long-time love affair Mrs. Scrimgeour has had with the porch on the old house. The porch goes across the entire front of the house and will be restored to its former glory by the time the shops open this spring. When the building was put up 1988 BRINGS TWO IMPORTANT CHANGES TO THE ONTARIO FARM TAX REBATE PROGRAM CHANGE NUMBER ONE: The Ontario Farm Tax Rebate program now makes two payments a year to farmers and farm property owners, compared to one annual payment previously. CHANGE NUMBER TWO: Those eligible for the program will receive two forms to complete —one in the spring and the second one in early fall. Each must be completed and returned to obtain each payment. Completing the first form will generate a payment of approximately 50% of the total 1988 rebate based on the previous year’s eligible tax levy. Completing the second form will result in a second payment for the balance of the property owners’ 1988 rebate and will be based on the owners’ actual 1988 eligible tax levy. for sale in the fall of 1986 the idea of turning it into shops came to Mrs. Scrimgeour’s mind. Travel through Pennsylvania and Ver­ mont showed her how old homes couldget new life as shops. The main street of Stowe, Vermont, particularly, is made up of reno­ vated houses. Since the Dinsley Streethouseisclosetothe main street shopping area and the theatre and has little front yard and littlebackyard, turning it into a shop seemed to make sense. She took possession of the buildingabout Christmas time, 1986 but there were hurdles to be overcome before shops could be opened. For one thing, the house was zoned residential and had to be rezoned as commercial. Even if that hurdle was crossed there might be a bigger problem because after more than 120 years, time had taken its toll on the building. The floors sagged badly and a major new beam had to be put in to support the building. If it couldn’t be done Mrs. Scrimgeour was resigned to using the building as storage for her own shop. But local contractor Paul Josling was able to makethe structural repairs and plans for converting the building began. The layout of the building made it ideal for conversion into three shops, Mrs. Scrimgeour says. A central hallway will provide access to the women’s wear shop down­ stairs and the staircase to the upstairs shop. A separate door ©Ministry of Agriculture and Food ONTARIO Jack Riddell, Minister David Peterson, Premier opens to the lingerie shop. There’s a backstairs that means that the staff from any of the shops can reach the upstairs common room and washroom facilities without having to go through any of the other shops. The building is one of the earliest remaining buildings from Blyth’s pioneer days. Records show the lot was bought from Patrick Moon, thought to be from Brussels, in 1861. The property, by this time with a house on it, was sold in 1864 for $544. The house was bought by the Hirons family in 1919 and it remained in the family until Inez Macdonald sold the house to Mrs. Scrimgeour and moved to British Columbia permanently to live with her daughter Margaret Mitchell. The building kept many trades­ men busy since as it was complete­ ly gutted, re-insulated, rewired and finished with new dry wall and carpeting. The old brass light fixtures were removed, cleaned, lacquered and re-installed. The old insulbrick siding was removed and new siding was added. Missing pieces of ginger­ bread were crafted and will be added to the porch in time for the opening. After a year and a half of planning the mini-mall is nearing completion and although Mrs. Scrimgeour has enjoyed the job of developing Blyth’s newest shop­ ping facility she sounds definitely glad the struggle is about over. WHAT STAYS THE SAME The Ontario Farm Tax Rebate program is designed to ease the tax burden faced by farmers. Farmers are not required to pre pay a portion of their municipal taxes to qualify for the rebate. 100% of municipal taxes on eligible farm land and outbuildings may be rebated No rebate will be paid for taxes levied on farm residences and one acre of land There will be no reassessment of farm properties unless changes to the property that would normally require reassessment are made. For more information about the Ontario Farm Tax Rebate program and the changes, contact: Farm Assistance Programs Branch 777 Bay Street, 12th floor Toronto, Ontario M5G 2E5 Or call collect (416) 585-6565