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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-06-17, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 1987. What a little dreaming can do Friday night brings the opening of the 13th season of the Blyth Festival and by all appearances the Festival will show even more growth than the past 12 seasons. Who would have thunk it back in 1975 that the little festival would even survive, let alone become one of the most influential theatres in Canada, right behind the Stratford and Shaw Festivals. The reasons for the success are many. First of all there are the right people coming along at the right time to get the place going and keep it going. There are the hundreds of dedicated professionals who have worked so hard to keep the quality first rate (or a notch higher). There are the hard-working members of the board of directors drawn from around Huron county raising the money and doing all the little jobs that make holding the Festival possible. And there is the openness of the community, not just Blyth but all of northern Huron, in providing places for actors to stay, serving country suppers, opening houses for bed and breakfast. Yetallthiscouldn’t have happened if people, perhaps young and foolish at the time, didn ’ t take time to dream and work hard iomakethedre am come true. Imagination isthe greatest resource we have. We may not have the population base of a city, we may not have big industry, but we can think big, on a national scale. Without a good idea no worthy project was ever undertaken. The lesson the Blyth Festival teaches us is that a good idea, supported by hard work, talent, andabitofluck, canbea success, not just in our own community but across the country. Peterson's halo fading? Those provincial Liberals like Huron-Middlesex M. P.P. Jack Riddell who were pressing for a spring election call before the shine wore off the halo of Premier David Peterson may be seeing their worst fears come true. The Premier has not been looking nearly as heroic lately as big and little things tarnish his shining image. There are big things like his support for the “Meech Lake accord” that will bring constitutional reform but at a high cost to the country. The Premier, apparently, was doubtful about some of the provisions when the Prime Minister and the premiers met in Ottawa to okay the final draft but didn’t want to be the man who threw a moneywrench in the works. Maybe, if he had been the courageous leader we’d like to see, he might have. While the premiers stand united on the issue, while the opposition leaders in Ottawa utter not a squeak, letters to the editor in newspapers and conversations over coffee in the local resta urant indicate most people are not happy with the deal. Oh the public opinion polls says people are glad to see Quebec sign the constitution but people generally aren’t happy seeing the power of the federal government divided up among the provinces. By saying “me too’ ’, Premier Peterson had given Opposition Leader Larry Grossman his first real election issue. Grossman, at least, is willing to ask some questions about the high price of this agreement. He has, for the first time, shown some real leadership. Peterson, on the other hand seems to have joined those opportunistic Liberals who sluff off criticism by their own former leader Pierre Trudeau by saying he’s part of the bad old days. There may be many people who may regret some of the Trudeau style but support the ideals he fought for who may not be happy to see the Premier change his stripes so easily. Worrisome too, is the continuing tendency of the government to put its foot in it in dubious fundraising schemes. Earlier it was the plan to sell the chance to talk to the premier at special meetings for large donations. This week it was the Toronto fund-raiser for our own member Murray Elston, Minister of Health to which health professionals are invited at $200 a head. It may all be as innocent as Mr. Elston says it is but perception is what matters in politics and the perception for many people is not good. Integrity has been one of the big selling points of the Peterson government. Integrity, and the perception of integrity, should be protected or the nightmares of people who worried about slipping popularity may come true. Wo/t/i the exercise The attempt of the Huron County Planning and Development epartment to involve local towns and villages in the Mabel’s Grill together, just themselves, face to face. So why do they need all those extra people.” Tim had it all figured out. By the looks of the pictures from the Venice Summit, he said, there must be about 1,000 reporters. Then there were another 50 or 60 people as advisors and security people for the other six summit leaders and the other 3,940 people were security men for Ronald Reagan. WEDNESDAY: Billie Bean was doing a little crowing this morning about the way the Toronto Blue Jays have gone into Toronto and knocked the socks off the Yankees. Hank advised him not to laugh too hard yet and Billie said he knew it was a long season yet and anything could happen. But Hank said he wasn’t talking about that. If the Blue Jays kept embarrassing the Yankees, American demands in the free trade talks might get even tougher: like they’ll let the Blue J ay s continue to come into the U.S. and take home money and victories if we trade them Alberta. Yeh, Tim said, or Perrin Beatty might have to buy 24 nuclear submarines so he can protect Canadian sovereignty in Toronto harbour against American subs. THURSDAY: Hank was saying it sure is starting to get hot and it sure was a pain having to make a special trip to the beer store when he could be getting a cold one in the grocery Continued on page 13 Opportunity Tours” that would bring foreign investors into the area could be worth the investment even if not one of the investors settles in the county. The real worth of the plan could be in getting people in each community to sit down, take a look at the assets of the community, take a look at the services that are needed, and draw up an opportunities list. That’s the kind of inventory-taking and shopping-list making is done all the time by the management of large shopping centresbut virtually never by small towns. Small towns just sort of hope all the pieces will fall into place by themselves and they seldom do. Perhaps this program will spur our communities to get involved in trying to fill the needs of the community, if not from foreign investment then from people looking to get out of the cities to start businesses or from entrepreneurs from within our own communities. If so it’s money well spent. There are people who will tell you that the important decisions in town are made down at the town hall. People in the know, however know that the real debates, the real wisdom reside down at Mabel s Grill where the greatest minds in the town [if not in the country] gatherfor morning coffee break, otherwise known as the Round Table Debating and Fili­ bustering Society. Since not just everyone can partake of these deliberations we will report the activities from time to time. MONDAY: Well, said Julia Flint, “there goes one more reason to get married.” She was talking about the case of a Scarborough woman who got married to a truck driver, then saw the cost of her insurance double because of his driving record. “Yeh,” said Tim O’Grady, rubbing his hands a little at the prospect, “but there’s one more reason to get divorced.” He was talking about the woman’s threat to get divorced from the man if the insurance company didn’t bring down the insurance rate (some­ what embarrassed, they did.) “Obviously,” Hank Stokes said, “it may still be true that two can live as cheaply as one as long as they don’t drive.” TUESDAY: Ward Black was say­ ing this morning that it was nice to hear that Toronto was going to host thenexteconomicsummitbut it was a little surprising to hear that all the people coming would take up 4,000-5,000 hotel rooms. “I thought the purpose of this whole exercise was to let the leaders get [Published by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. ] Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Published weekly in Brussels, Ontario P.O. Box 152 P.O. Box429, Brussels, Ont. Blyth, Ont. N0G1H0 N0M1H0 887-9114 523-4792 Subscription price: $15.00; $35.00 foreign. Advertising and news deadline: Monday 2p.m. in Brussels; 4p.m. in Blyth Editor and Publisher: Keith Roulston Advertising Manager: Janice Gibson Production and Office Manager: Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968