HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-03-01, Page 1Province gives $900,000 to Festival expansion
Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel,
Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships.
VOL. 6 NO. 9 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 1989. 45 CENTS
Pay out 79%
to stockyard
creditors
Cheques covering 84 per cent of
losses suffered by creditors for the
bankrupt Brussels Stockyards Limi
ted have been mailed to creditors.
In a letter accompanying the
cheques, Uwe Manski, a vice
president of Dunwoody Limited,
trustee in bankruptcy for the firm,
said that a further five per cent
reduction in the payout was deduc
ted to meet charges of-the federal
government under the bankruptcy
act.
At a meeting of creditors in
November Mr. Manski had said the
payout might be 77 per cent.
For farmers who lost money on
cattle sales with the collapse of
Brussels Stockyards Limited and
qualified for the Ontario Livestock
Financial Protection Plan’s 90 per
cent payout, it means they will
recover all but 2.1 cents of every
dollar lost. For those not covered
by the plan, including the western
cattlemen who triggered the inves
tigation that eventually led to the
closure of the Stockyard, and who
aren’t covered under the Ontario
government plan, it means a loss of
21 cents on the dollar.
Mr. Manski said in his letter that
the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture
and Food has filed a claim of
$409,176.24 against the estate of
the company seeking reimburse
ment for the money paid to
cattlemen. OMAF claimed to be a
secured creditor which meant it
would be paid in full but the Board
of Inspectors disallowed the claim
and made it an unsecured creditor,
leaving more money to be paid out
to other unsecured creditors.
OMAF, while it doesn’t agree with
the ruling has said it would go
along with it, Mr. Manski said.
Total receipts by the estate as of
February 3 had grown to
$1,108,937.67, the letter said. This
included $795,346.37 which was
recovered from Swiss Bank Cor
poration (Canada). It was this
money that triggered the bankrupt
cy when former Stockyard owner
Klaus Henschel disappeared fol
lowing the October 22 sale at the
yard. Cattlemen from Western
Canada who hadn’t been paid for
cattle ordered by the company
started asking questions. The cattle
in question had never been sold
Continued on page 25
Belgrave Girl Guides werejumping for joy to be enjoying winter fun at the W'awanosh Valley Nature Centre Thursday.
Actually the jumping was part of the familiarization with snowshoes taught by a Nature Centre employee as the Girl
Guides earned their snowshoeing badge.
Citizen of Year names sought
It’s the time of the year when
Citizen of the Year nominations for
the Brussels area and the Blyth
area are again being sought.
This will be the fourth annual
Citizen of the Year awards, design
ed to honour those who have an
outstanding contribution to their
community. Last year’s winners
were Jack Bryans in Brussels and
the late Winona McDougall in
Blyth.
Nominations for the awards will
be accepted until March 15 after
which time a panel of citizens from
each community will select the
1988 Citizen of the Year award. A
nomination form is included on
page 30 of this paper.
Two provincial cabinet ministers
were in Blyth Thursday to an
nounce the long-awaited $900,000
grant for the expansion of the Blyth
Festival activities.
Lily Oddie Munro, minister of
Culture and Communications join
ed Huron M.P.P. and Minister of
Agriculture at a press conference at
Blyth Memorial Hall Thursday
afternoon to announce the grant
toward the $1.8 million expansion
which will see an addition to the •
theatre building as well as renova
tion of nearby offices and the
completion of a large new complex
of shops now under construction on
Dinsley Street.
Last fall, on the day the federal
election was announced, the feder
al government announced it would
provide $450,000 toward the ex
pansion. It leaves a total of
$450,000 to be raised from private
sources.
Dr. Oddie Munro said the timing
of the announcement was espe
cially apt coming during Heritage
Week, noting that Memorial Hall
has been an important part of the
local heritage since its construction
in 1920. Even today, she said,
although the Hall is best known
throughout the rest of the country
as the home of the Blyth Festival, it
remains important to the local
community as a centre for activities
of the Lions Club, Royal Canadian
Legion, Women’s Institute, seniors
group and Horticultural Society.
The Blyth Festival, she said, is
renowned throughout the country,
yet its major influence has been on
the village of Blyth and the local
area.
In a press release Dr. Oddie
Munro said: “The expansion and
improvement of these facilities will
benefit every member and organi
zation in the community. Theatres
across the province will also be
assured that Blyth’s support ser
vices for the continued develop
ment of original Canadian writing
will be enhanced."
Later she admitted that all the
money will not be coming immedi
ately to the Festival. Of the
$900,000 grant, $765,000 will be
paid on April 1 the beginning of the
government’s new fiscal year and
the remaining $135,000 will be paid
on April 1, 1990.
For the Festival it is the comple
tion of a long campaign to convince
the government of the need for its
support. The Festival had applied
under the Facilities Improvement
Program (F1P) of the Ministry of
Culture and Communications
which would provide up to 50 per
cent funding but last July the
Festival was informed it had two
months to have half its 20 per cent
share from private sources in place,
plus have the federal funding
confirmed. The Festival raised in
excess of $236,000 from hundreds
of individual and corporate spon
sors to meet the deadline and then
managed to get the deadline ex
tended for confirmation of the
federal government’s share.
Mr. Riddell paid tribute to the
Festival’s efforts with the govern
ment when he said in his speech:
“I think Lily would agree with me
that there are few groups in
Ontario -- or Canada for that matter
-- that do a better and more
persistent job of soliciting fund
ing”
While government funding is
now in place, the Festival still has a
Continued on page 33