The Citizen, 2019-01-03, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 2019.
Continued from page 11
announced that after several years,
the Culture Days would be returning
to Huron County.
Though a national initiative,
Huron County had not taken part in
Culture Days for a number of years.
The Brussels Tigers were close to
completing one of the great seasons
in recent Huron County Fastball
League history, finishing the regular
fastball season with a dominant
record of 17-2, ending the season on
a 14-game winning streak.
The following week, the Tigers
would go through the league’s year-
end tournament undefeated, winning
their four games after receiving a
first-round bye.
Pastor Mark Royall resigned from
his position at Huron Chapel in
Auburn after just under seven years
in Huron County.
The Brussels Terry Fox Run raised
over $6,600, bringing the local run’s
nearly 25-year total to over
$160,000 raised for the Terry Fox
Foundation.
The Blyth Festival officially
closed the doors on its scheduled
2018 season with a matinee of Wing
Night at the Boot and an evening
production of 1837: The Farmers’
Revolt.
However, it was the final Wing
Night at the Boot show that drew
theatre goers’ attention, as Blyth
Festival Artistic Director Gil Garratt
filled in for actor Daniel Roberts on
the final show.
The Festival would go on to add a
number of productions of The New
Canadian Curling Club to the end of
the season, citing the show’s
through-the-roof demand, which
resulted in a sold-out run of
additional shows.
Two Festivals made headlines for
the right reasons at the end of
September. Festival of Wizardry
organizers estimated that over
10,000 people made their way
through the gates in Blyth for this
year’s festival, despite the forced
cancellation of the first day due to
wild weather.
Meanwhile, the Blyth Festival,
thanks in part to a remount of The
Pigeon King, an extended run of The
New Canadian Curling Club and a
solid season of shows, said that over
25,000 people watched a Festival
show this season.
The Festival’s attendance was an
improvement of over 8,000 patrons
over the previous year, which was
already trending upwards from years
past.
The Brussels Fall Fair marked a
successful return to Brussels after
hosting the fair at the International
Plowing Match in Walton the
previous year. Though the 2017
arrangement was an unprecedented
partnership with a respected
provincial entity, members of the
Brussels Agricultural Society said it
was good for the fair to return to its
roots in Brussels.
North Huron Council penned a
deal to sell the Emergency Services
Training Centre to Blyth Cowbell
Brewing Company for $3.5 million.
The deal was expected to close in
late November pending engineering
and environmental inspections.
Thanks to a positive showing at
the International Plowing Match in
Chatham-Kent, Blyth’s Lucas
Townsend was named the
competition’s Reserve Junior
Champion, meaning that he would
represent the province at the
Canadian Plowing Championship
when it was next held.
Doug Sholdice was named the
Brussels Citizen of the Year, thanks
to his years of work on the Brussels
Fire Department and numerous
other achievements in the
community in recent decades.
Sholdice was joined by
Londesborough’s Carl Nesbitt, who
won the award for Blyth and its
surrounding communities.
Nesbitt was nominated thanks to
his four decades of work with the
Londesborough and District Lions
Club and throughout the
Londesborough and Blyth
communities.
Blyth-based artist Kelly Stevenson
was chosen to produce the artwork
for the 2019 season of the Blyth
Festival.
The second Rural Talks to Rural
conference was held at Memorial
Hall in Blyth, bringing together
rural-based professionals and
academics from across the country.
North Huron would have a nearly
entirely new council for the coming
term, with Wingham’s Bernie Bailey
ousting incumbent Reeve Neil
Vincent for the municipality’s top
position.
Incumbent Huron East Mayor
Bernie MacLellan defeated
challenger Cailtin Gillis, while
Jamie Heffer was acclaimed in
Morris-Turnberry and Jim Ginn was
acclaimed in Central Huron.
The Brussels Agricultural Society
realized a profit of over $8,000 from
its harvest social, which would
infuse the 2019 Brussels Fall Fair
with funds to help it run.
The Citizen reported that
numerous businesses and volunteer
service clubs had been left out in the
cold in the wake of September’s
Festival of Wizardry in Blyth.
Through a Citizen investigation, it
was noted that over $40,000 was left
unpaid by the festival to at least
three local businesses and at least
two local service clubs.
At the first meeting of the newly-
installed North Huron Council,
Reeve Bernie Bailey advocated for
amalgamation between his
municipality and Morris-Turnberry.
His suggestion, however, was
quickly struck down the following
night as Morris-Turnberry Mayor
Jamie Heffer stressed the
importance of autonomy for the
future of his municipality.
After a public meeting regarding
the renovation and expansion of the
Brussels, Morris and Grey
Community Centre, committee
members informed residents that
potential work at the centre would
cost $4.5 million.
While there were some questions
about the plans, members of the
public were in favour of the project.
Huron-Bruce MPP and Minister
of Education Lisa Thompson was in
Clinton, alongside Minister of
Infrastructure Monte McNaughton
and Minister of Community Safety
and Correctional Services Sylvia
Jones to break ground on a new OPP
station in the north end of Clinton.
Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn
was re-elected as Huron County
Warden, defeating Bluewater
Deputy-Mayor Jim Fergusson.
Blyth Festival welcomes over 25,000 in 2018
A special year
Not only was Remembrance Day marked throughout Canada on Nov. 11, but this year was
the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I, so special ceremonies were
held across the country to mark that special anniversary, including the nation-wide Bells of
Peace initiative. (File photo)
Closing time
The Blyth Festival’s production of Wing Night at the Boot
closed with special guest Artistic Director Gil Garratt, front,
filling in for one of the actors. It was a move that kept his
fellow actors, like Georgina Beaty and Marion Day, back, on
their toes. (File photo)
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