The Citizen, 2019-01-10, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019. PAGE 7.
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The Citizen
Blyth Corner Café closes, Part II switches to catering
Blyth’s main street has taken some
significant steps forward with
businesses moving and opening over
the last several years, however at the
start of 2019, the community’s
culinary offerings have been
reduced.
At the end of 2018, Blyth’s
restaurant stock shrunk by two with
the Blyth Corner Café closing its
doors and Part II Bistro’s Blyth
location switching to a catering-only
site.
Tracy Cook, owner of the Blyth
Corner Café, explained that one of
her staff members had to take some
time off for medical reasons and she
couldn’t afford another wage to
cover the extra hours.
“Basically, we had to do this,” she
said. “I can’t run it by myself and,
with the minimum wage increase
last year, it became hard to make
ends meet.”
She began considering closing in
late November, before closing the
shop permanently on Dec. 24.
The site has been for sale for some
time, and there has been some
interest, she said, and hopes that
there will be more now that it’s more
of a “blank slate” and not an
operational business.
Cook has been at the site for 13
and a half years, and is now looking
forward to a vacation, which she left
for earlier this week.
Peter Gusso of the Part II Bistro
explained that, with business at the
Blyth location lagging behind its
now one-year-old Goderich location,
he and his wife Sarah made the
difficult decision to focus on
catering out of the main-street
business.
“It came to a point where it was
getting very busy,” he said. “We had
two restaurants and a catering
business.”
He said that, with the increase of
the business in Goderich, with a
larger population base, it was a
better fit to keep it open and focus on
catering at the Blyth location. The
change is going to allow him to
focus more on family.
Blyth has been a good home for
the business, he said, especially
when the Blyth Festival season is in
full swing, but it’s “not as good as it
used to be.”
While the restaurant business may
not be what it once was in Blyth,
catering opportunities have gone the
other way, Gusso said.
“There are more and more
businesses opening up that need
catering,” he said, pointing to the
Four Winds Barn in Brussels and
Dark Horse Winery as recent
customers.
While the main street site may not
be the family’s restaurant any longer,
Gusso said it may find new life as a
commercial site.
“You never know what happens in
the future,” he said. “I would like
someone to come over and discuss
taking over the front of the business
for commercial or retail.”
He said he needs the kitchen and
basement for catering, but said that
he would consider sub-leasing what
was the dining portion of the store.
Because he still uses the site,
Gusso said that he wouldn’t be
looking for a year-long commitment,
saying if someone wanted to open
for the tourist season, it could work.
Gusso said he would also continue
with other community efforts he has
worked on, pointing to cooking
lessons he co-hosted at Greyhaven
Gardens and events like the Listowel
Curling Club’s ladies’ bonspiel he
recently catered.
People looking to contact Gusso
can still do so at the same number
(226-523-3663).Closing up shop
The Part II Bistro, left, and the Blyth Corner Café are no
longer open as commercial restaurants as of the end of
2018. Peter Gusso, owner of the Part II Bistro, explained
that, due to increased business with a new location in
Goderich and his regular catering business, there was little
time for family. He and his wife Sarah decided
NEWS
FROM BLYTH
to close the Blyth location, but retain the property for catering.
Tracy Cook explained to The Citizen that, due to staffing issues
and challenges like the recently-implemented minimum wage
increase, it was becoming more and more difficult to run her
business, leading to the decision to close the restaurant, which
has been listed for sale for some time. (Denny Scott photos)
Laundromat
Blyth Laundromat
191 Westmoreland St., Blyth
519-523-9687
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Christmas story myths dispelled
Greeting worshippers at Blyth
United Church on Sunday, Jan. 6,
was Marilyn Craig. Ushering were
Emily Phillips and John Stewart.
Susanna Lyman was guest organist
and Katie Dockstader, choir director.
Lavern Clark ran the Power Point.
Guest speaker Angie Lannin
welcomed everyone to church on
Epiphany Sunday. She drew
everyone’s attention to the
announcements printed in the
bulletin. Special mention was that
the ladies are needing help with the
food for the Blyth Broomball
Tournament on Jan. 11-13. Call
Sharon Bromley if you are able to
help.
Angie lit the Christ candle and
invited everyone to greet one
another. The first hymn “Arise, Your
Light is Come” was sung followed
by the call to worship and the prayer
of approach both repeated
responsively. The hymn “The First
Noel” was sung. The scripture
reading was from Ephesians 3: 1-12
and the Gospel reading was from
Matthew 2: 1-12. The choir sang the
anthem “Praise Him, He is Great”.
Angie’s message to the
congregation was, “The Light, for
All to See”. Christmas is over and
we are back to some degree of
normal. If the tree isn’t down by the
12 Days of Christmas, which end on
Jan. 5, we are late getting it put
away. In the old days of the
Christmas story, they didn’t have
Alexa or Siri to tell them where to
find Jesus.
The shepherds used the angels and
the wisemen or magi used the star in
the east to lead them to where
Jesus was. The Christmas story is
the most well-known story of all
time. Everyone can tell their version
of the Christmas story. They
remember the baby in the manger or
the shepherds or the wisemen
bringing gifts.
In many Christmas pageants put
on by the children, they remember
the baby Jesus in the manger. Angie
told the story of a little girl in a
pageant she had seen and the little
girl wanted the doll so she took it.
The little girl playing the part of
Mary grabbed the doll back and put
it back in the manger. The two girls
battled over the doll until a teacher
intervened.
The wisemen are not mentioned in
the Bible along with the Christmas
story as they came later on to see
Jesus. Jesus was about two years
old. The epiphany is the true
meaning of Christmas and is like a
light bulb coming on. God loves us
all and sent His Son to us. God
expects us to show others our love.
The hymn, “In Christ There Is No
East or West,” was sung. The
offering was received followed by
the offertory response “As With
Gladness Men of Old,” the offertory
prayer, the singing of “God Our
Protector, leading into the prayers
for the people and the singing of the
Lord’s Prayer.
The last hymn, “As With Gladness
Men of Old,” was followed by the
benediction and the singing of the
response “Go Now in Peace.”
By Marilyn
Craig
Call
523-9318
From Marilyn’s Desk
Happy birthday to Marion Young
who celebrates Jan. 11 and Grant
Sparling, Jan. 13.
Winners of the Dec. 17 euchre
were: first, Lillian Appleby, 80 and
and Larry Papernick, 77; second,
Laura May Chamney, 71 and Gord
Haggitt, 75; lone hands, Pauline
McMichael and Carol Lahey, four;
share the wealth, Marie Millian and
Pauline McMichael.
Euchre is played every two weeks.
The next euchre is Jan. 21 at the
Blyth Legion. Doors open at 12:30
p.m. with cards at 1 p.m.
Winners of the last shoot party of
the year were: first, Liz Balser;
second, Sharon Freeman; third, June
Thomas; most shoots, Mae Ritchie
and share the wealth, Sharon
Freeman and Helen Grubb. The next
Shoot party is Jan. 15 at Blyth
United Church. Doors open at 12:30
p.m. with cards beginning at 1 p.m.
Come out and join in on the fun and
fellowship.
Basler, Freeman win
first 2019 shoot party