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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-08-30, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018. Editorials Opinions President: Keith Roulston • Publisher: Deb Sholdice Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Brenda Nyveld • Heather Fraser The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Fax 519-523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.northhuron.on.ca Looking Back Through the Years CCNA Member Member of the Ontario Press Council The Citizen is published 50 times a year in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $38.00/year ($36.19 + $1.81 G.S.T.) in Canada; $160.00/year in U.S.A. and $205/year in other foreign countries. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Mon. 2 p.m. - Brussels; Mon. 4 p.m. - Blyth. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca August 27, 1958 The first flower show held by the Brussels Horticultural Society was said to be an outstanding success. The competition, which was open to members of the society, welcomed 270 entries. It was said that larger societies, with double the membership could only hope for half the entries. Jack Thynne, also known as The Kansas Farmer, was set to be the featured entertainment in Formosa in the weeks ahead, which would be followed by another performance at the Neustadt Fair on Saturday, Sept. 13. R.B. Cousins Ltd., the Brussels Creamery, was in search of milk bottles from throughout the village. Placing an advertisement in The Brussels Post, the company said it needed the bottles back and that it would pay five cents per bottle returned in good condition. August 30, 1978 The Blyth and Belgrave Minor Sports Associations had decided to jointly sponsor a special hockey school in the coming fall, just ahead of the new hockey season. Head instructors for the camp would travel from Kitchener, with their assistants being chosen among local coaches from Blyth and Belgrave. Margaret Shortreed of the Walton 4-H Club received her advanced honours at the 4-H Achievement Day held in Clinton. Shortreed was honoured for having completed 18 4-H homemaking courses. August 28, 1991 Though entries came in lower than expected, the Canadian Motosport Club’s provincial finals held near Walton were deemed a great success for the local raceway. Owner Chris Lee said that with 315 entries, he felt that the turnout was reasonable given the time of year. The Walton Women’s Institute marked its 35th anniversary with a special celebration complete with an anniversary cake. WI President Margaret McInroy welcomed a number of special guests and dignitaries to the special celebration. Nearly 70 players were in Brussels as the Brussels Junior C Bulls opened their camp for the season. With many hoping to earn spots on the squad, the try-outs were expected to be hard-fought in the coming weeks. Greg McClinchey, 15, of RR1, Londesborough just returned from a special scouting jamboree in Korea after being selected to represent Scouts Canada halfway across the world. August 28, 2008 A Toronto woman had been charged with careless driving after the vehicle she was driving failed to negotiate a turn in Auburn and slammed into Stickers Restaurant. The car, which was estimated to be travelling between 110 and 150 kilometres per hour by witnesses, then went airborne and slid into the restaurant while on its side, terrifying those inside the establishment at the time. Blyth’s Deb Stryker, who worked at the restaurant as a waitress at the time, said she heard the bang of the vehicle leaving the roadway and looked at the window, only to see it coming towards the restaurant at a high rate of speed. At that time, she said, she “ran like hell” to get out of its path. Another young witness, who saw the incident from his front porch, estimated that the vehicle went as high as 20 feet in the air before returning to earth and striking the restaurant. Volunteers in Seaforth and golf professionals across the country were in the midst of preparing for the first-ever Seaforth Country Classic at the Seaforth Golf and Country Club. The tournament would be the first-ever Huron County stop for the Canadian Professional Golf Tour. The Wawanosh Golden Girls, representing Huron County, emerged victorious at the annual Region 5 Go for the Gold 4-H competition. The competition was held in Londesborough and brought together teams from Huron, Bruce and Perth Counties and it was the team of Sophie Jefferson, Kristina Drennan, Maisy Jefferson and Ellen Jefferson who eventually claimed the gold medal. The Blyth Festival Young Company was hard at work on its new production, Teenage Home Invasions, which was set to hit the Festival stage on Sept. 9. The Belgrave Kinsmen were in Wingham to speak to North Huron Council in regards to the potential replacement of the Belgrave Community Centre floor. The service club first asked for permission to carry out the project, which was estimated to cost $85,000 and then asked for council’s support. While council couldn’t firmly commit any funds to the project at the time, they were supportive of the club’s vision for the centre for the coming years. Melissa Sparling of Varna was crowned Huron County Queen of the Furrow at the Huron County Plowing Match held near Walton, while Blyth’s Michele Studhalter took home the Princess crown. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Communities can make it work This past weekend demonstrated two examples of the contribution that community entrepreneurialism can make to our region while a third will take place next week when the 57th Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association Reunion takes place in Blyth. More than 50 years ago the community of Zurich came together for the first Zurich Bean Festival. Last Saturday the town was crowded again for the 53rd edition of the event which regularly overflows the town with visitors and raises money for community needs. As the climate for retail businesses has evolved, who can tell how important the Festival has been to the maintenance of activity in the village’s business core? Meanwhile the weekend marked the 10th Music in the Fields country music festival in Lucknow. The series of concerts has been a huge success since the Lucknow Kinsmen Club first came up with the idea and brought it to life. Music in the Fields has raised $1 million for community needs so far. Who can even calculate what the spinoff rewards have been for accommodation providers, restaurants and other businesses that serve the crowds flooding in? It’s certainly evident the impact the Thresher Reunion has had on Blyth. The Blyth Campground is the most visible result, the region’s largest campground which attracts other events like the Barn Dance Jamboree and Campout and other occasional large-scale camping events. As well, how much money has been funneled into local churches and other groups through providing meals at the reunion? Not every town and village can be fortunate and have local investors build something like Cowbell Brewing Co. with its 170 employees and 150,000 visitors in the first year. Events like the Bean Festival, Music in the Fields and the Thresher Reunion show there are ways communities can boost their economies without such windfalls. All it takes is an entrepreneurial community spirit, a great idea and a lots of work. – KR Never right-wing enough Last week Maxime Bernier, former Conservative cabinet minister, and unsuccessful leadership candidate, resigned from the party and announced plans to form a new right-of-centre, libertarian-oriented federal political party. Where have we heard that before? Just over 30 years ago a group of conservatives in western Canada, feeling abandoned by the Progressive Conservative Party they thought was too centrist and too concentrated on the east, formed the Reform Party of Canada. In the following years, until Reform reunited with the Progressive Conservatives under the new title Conservative Party of Canada, the two right-of-centre parties ran opposing candidates in each federal riding, splitting the conservative vote and handing the Liberals majority governments in 1993, 1997 and 2000 under Jean Chretien. Now Bernier wants to repeat that mistake by creating a new party to siphon off voters from the right wing of the Conservative Party. Whether Bernier has the skills and contacts to form a new party remains to be seen – he never seemed to be a barn-burner as a cabinet minister. But some elements of the conservative movement always seem to want something farther right than the Conservative Party wants to go as it tries to attract middle-of-the-road voters away from the Liberals. It was significant that in the marriage of the Reform and Progressive Conservative parties the “Progressive” part of the title was ditched. (The Progressive portion came from the union of the Conservatives with the remnants of the farmer-led Progressive Party in 1941.) The unwillingness to compromise among right-wingers in the Conservative Party means there’s always the temptation, now offered by Bernier, to break away and offer policies that simply aren’t supported by middle-of-the-road Canadians. And ironically, by splitting the conservative vote, they hand victory to the Liberals whose left wing, feeling there’s no need to compromise to attract voters, can push the kind of progressive legislation that infuriates right-wing conservatives. Here’s hoping Bernier fails with his bid for a new party. We need to bring people together, not further divide them. – KR An example for all The death of U.S. Senator John McCain last week took on more significance than the death of one good, honourable man, because it also seemed to signify the loss of the gracious integrity he exemplified. Senator McCain seemed the antithesis of the sort of politician who seems to get ahead these days – the prime example being U.S. President Donald Trump. In politics, he often voted for what he felt was right for the American people over what was best for his party. He admitted he made mistakes (how unfamiliar is that these days?). He sought to unite, not divide. Here’s hoping Senator McCain’s life will inspire others to emulate his values. Heaven knows there are more than enough people trying to imitate Trump. – KR &