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The Citizen, 2018-09-06, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 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 September 3, 1958 The 4-H Seaforth and Brussels Beef and Calf Clubs held their final meeting of the year on Aug. 27. The final Brussels meeting was held at the home of William Turnbull, during which four yearlings were judged and placed by club members. Ken Wilbee’s Orchestra was set to perform at Parkview Gardens in Listowel at a special show sponsored by the Listowel Branch of the Canadian Legion. The next Huron County Library book exchange was scheduled for Brussels on Sept. 12. September 6, 1978 Perhaps it was a case of divine intervention, but Rev. Ken Innes of Brussels was the victor of the Huron County Plowing Match, which was held in McKillop Township the previous Saturday. The Presbyterian minister was crowned overall Senior Champion at the match thanks to skills he attributed to growing up on his father’s Stratford-area farm. In another shining moment for Brussels, another resident, Donald Perrie, was the year’s reserve champion. Bevan Shapton of RR1, Exeter was the Junior Champion, followed by a teenage Brian McGavin of Walton, who was the reserve champion. Huron Plowmen’s Association President Bill Leeming of Walton said the 1978 match attracted nearly 100 entries, which was a record for the event. Rena Kolkman, the secretary at Blyth Public School, said that the school’s enrolment was down in 1978 by nearly 20 students. Many of those vacancies were being felt in the Kindergarten class, which had decreased in size to 13 children compared to 23 the previous year. Enrolment at Hullett Central School was reported to be slightly more stable, with 312 students coming to the school in 1978, slightly higher than the 1977 enrolment of 306 students. September 4, 1991 There was no rest for volunteers from the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association as they worked on Labour Day to prepare the Blyth campground for their 30th annual reunion, set to begin welcoming campers the following day, with the action beginning on Wednesday with a CKNX Barn Dance. The reconstruction of Highway 4 between Belgrave and Blyth was set to begin later in the month according to an official with the Ministry of Transportation. This would be the first of a three-phase plan to rebuild the stretch of highway from Wingham to Blyth that had been in need of repairs for several years. Blyth Village Council was set to get more street construction than it bargained for after tenders for the Morris Street reconstruction came in lower than anticipated. George Radford Construction Limited submitted the lowest of the four tenders, projecting that the rebuilding of the south end of Morris Street from Blyth Road to Hamilton Street would cost just under $90,000. Bruce Potter of B.M. Ross Associates, the village’s consulting engineer, said that tenders were coming in at between 60 and 80 per cent of what they were the previous year. As a result, he suggested that council find another project in the village to fund with the savings. September 4, 2008 The residents of Huronlea Home for the Aged in Brussels were treated to a special historical presentation when Jessica Mann of the North Huron Museum brought her “Hats of Yesteryear” presentation to the home and its residents. John Rutledge, a Goderich-based architect and Brussels native, was tapped to lead a special historical walking tour of Seaforth for The Golf Channel ahead of the first-ever Seaforth Country Classic golf tournament. Rutledge said that one of his main goals with the tour would be to educate the masses on the three individual communities that comprise Seaforth: Egmondville, Harpurhey and Seaforth. Amy Cronin of the Brussels area was vocal in her opposition to a move by the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board, speaking to representatives regarding a personnel move in Wingham. Cronin, the chair of the Sacred Heart Elementary School parent council, said that the board’s decision to move Principal Jackie Simpson to a school in Goderich would hurt the community. “Our community is lacking in many areas and the revolving door of principals is hindering our advancement,” she told the board. Simpson was scheduled to be replaced by the newly-hired Greg McLean with Simpson due to take on principal duties at St. Marys Elementary School in Goderich. Fifteen female vocalists who lent their talents to a special album entitled Noted were set to perform their final concert together on Sept. 6 at the Livery Theatre in Goderich. The Goderich show concluded a summer-long touring schedule that made its way throughout southwestern Ontario. 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 It’s time to start studying With Labour Day past and the municipal election fast approaching, it’s time for voters to start readying themselves for the Oct. 22 vote. Sadly, participation is lower in municipal voting than in elections for any other level of government. Perhaps that’s because the personalities and issues in federal and provincial elections thrust themselves at voters through relentless advertising and news stories. Coverage of municipal politics is not so aggressive. Although community newspapers such as The Citizen spend a lot of time and space covering issues, many people just don’t pay much attention. For too many voters municipal government is just a handy straw-man, ready to be pummeled when things don’t go the way they want, but ignored the rest of the time. People feel little responsibility to participate in local government at all except to (grudgingly) pay their taxes and complain that “those fool councillors” have got it wrong again. But once every four years the responsibility is thrown on the voters to do their homework on both the issues and the candidates, and then go out and vote for those they feel will provide the best opportunity for wise leadership. It means keeping up with news of your municipality in this, or other, news outlets, then going out and voting. For a time prior to the closing of nominations this year, there was fear that enough candidates weren’t going to step forward to seek election. In the end, an impressive slate of candidates offered to serve their communities. Now the voters owe these brave candidates the respect of listening to them and finding out what they think about issues and how they would serve the best interests of the municipality. – KR Why local control counts There must be relief in Churchill, Manitoba these days after it was revealed last week that a deal has been struck to buy the Hudson Bay Railway and put it back in service. With no highways to the town of 900 on the shore of Hudson Bay, townsfolk depended on the railway for food and other supplies. But flooding in the spring of 2017 washed away the embankment in many places under the 1,000-kilometre rail line. When the American owners of the railway claimed they’d been losing money for years and couldn’t afford to repair the line, residents of Churchill saw their cost of living soar as supplies had to be flown in. But the deal, in which a partnership of local communities and large national companies bought the railway, also includes the Port of Churchill, once busy shipping wheat and other products on the shortest route from the prairies to Europe. In recent years, however, the port has been little used, meaning there was less traffic on the rail line. Obviously the new partners are planning to revitalize the port, which would seem natural given the greater potential for shipping, due to the melting of the sea ice that previously blocked many passages. That’s not the sort of visionary thinking that a foreign-owned short- track railway company would have undertaken. For decades prior to the closing of many branch-lines, railways ceased to see themselves as partners in the community and instead were in the game only as long as there was money to be made. By the time CP Rail applied to abandon the Goderich-to-Guelph line in 1988, for instance, the railways had convin- ced the authorities holding the abandonment hearings that the onus should not be on the companies to prove why they should be allowed to quit, but rather on local communities to prove that the line make money. So now, with local control again, Churchill has a new opportunity to build both a successful railway and a successful community. Here’s hoping the optimism of community leaders is rewarded. – KR Cheap? Or generous? There are two ways of looking at the decision of the U.S. government to cancel the $300 million donation it has given yearly to help fund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). On one hand you can see it as another petty act of U.S. President Donald Trump. On the other, you can admire the generosity of previous U.S. governments. In 2016, the U.S. government donated $355 million to UNRWA for its work providing health care, education and social services to Palestinian refugees living in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordon, Syria and Lebanon. That was 30 per cent of the agency’s entire budget! All the other nations in the world combined, including rich oil states of the Middle East, provided the remainder. Some observers feel Trump, as is his habit, is trying to punish the Palestinian Authority, strong-arming its leaders into taking part in a new peace process with Israel. Many isolationist Americans probably celebrate the end of this “waste” of their tax dollars. But previous governments saw this as an investment, knowing that hungry, uneducated, hopeless young Palestinians were likely to become the terrorists of the future. That’s too long-term for Trump’s mind-set. – KR &