Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1995-03-29, Page 4A head of cattle Photo by Bonnie Gropp C itizen eNA The North Huron GNA P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, Publisher, Keith Roulston BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. Editor, Bonnie Gropp NOM 1H0 NOG 1H0 Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 Sales Representatives, FAX 523.9140 FAX 887-9021 Jeannette McNeil and Julie Mitchell VIENIFIECI C1SICULATION The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $23.00/year ($21.50 plus $1.50 G.S.T.) for local; $33.00/year ($30.85 plus $2.15 G.S.T.) for local letter carrier in Goderich, Hanover, Listowel, etc. and out-of-area (40 miles from Brussels); $62.00/year tor U.S.A. and Foreign. 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: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth. We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright. Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 Looking Back Through the Years From the files of the Blyth Stan- dard, Brussels Post and the North Huron Citizen 55 YEARS AGO MAR. 27, 1940 Lewis Elston Cardiff won the North Huron riding in the federal election, running as a National Government candidate. R.J. Deachman, member of the federal government for North Huron was defeated. Mr. Deachman had held the post since 1935. A snowstorm which began on Thursday and lasted until Monday blocked Hwy. 4 from Blyth to Clin- ton. Even the snowplow sent down from Wingham turned around before it reached Blyth. Train travel was also hindered as the London to Wingham train ran into difficulties near Blyth. Once the tracks were cleared, they proceeded to Wingham and returned to Blyth in only four hours. Mrs. Jean Turvcy of Blyth won second place in a Purity Flour con- test. The entrants were asked to write, in 25 words or less, why Purity Flour was best for all their baking. Good quality paint could be bought for 59 cents per quart or 69 cents for enamel. Pure maple syrup was priced at S1.60 per gallon. A reconditioned solid oak dining room set with six leather-scat chairs, buffet and extension cost $12.50 while upholstered chester- field chairs could be had for $1.95. 6 YEARS AGO MARCH 29, 1989 The Extended Services Office of the OPP was opened on the lower level of the Brussels Library. An addition, planned for the Blyth Memorial Hall, would allow the inclusion of a new expanded library space. Jason Elliott of Blyth Public School earned first place in the school's Science Fair, with an exhibit called The Crash. Students at Central Huron Sec- ondary School protested the trans- Letters THE EDITOR, I am writing to challenge the Huron County Board of Education to give a public accounting in this paper and other community newspapers of this county as to why students in Huron were given a two-week spring break while other school board jurisdictions such as Grcy and Bruce made do with one week? I ask this especially in light of the fact that there have been at least fer of popular principal Joe Wooden, by placing a sign on the front lawn of the school and writing letters to the school board. Local theatres featured Fletch Lives and Beaches. 1 YEAR AGO MARCH 30, 1994 The Ark in Brussels received a grant of $72,000 from the Ministry of Health, to allow them to hire staff and become self-sufficient. The residents of Brussels made it clear to council that a new fire hall is needed, but the municipal office should stay downtown. Community dining in Brussels marked its first anniversary. five fewer instructional days so far in 1994-95 due to bus cancellations. I would further like to know in what way this two-week break is deemed to be beneficial to our children's education. Randy Banks Walton, Ontario. THE EDITOR, In 1909 the Ontario Department of Agriculture organized the beginning of the first school fairs in Ontario with three schools taking part. By 1919 there were 357 school fairs across the province with about 92,600 children taking part. The following year on Oct. 5, 1920 schools from East Wawanosh Continued on page 5 PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 1995. Local ownership still best The announcement, last week, of the closure of the Zehrs store in Wingham is another reminder that in small towns, local ownership is _still the best: for the customer, and for the community. There's often excitement in small towns when a major chain chooses to locate there. There's a sense of recognition, that in having this province- wide or national company move in, the town has somehow made the big time. Shoppers often flock there, ignoring the local merchants who have served them faithfully for years, because they feel that at last they are able to shop in the same stores as people in the cities. For everyone there is a sense that we've arrived! Wingham area residents had that sense for a whilewith the arrival of Zehrs and the location in the same mall of a national drug store chain. Now both stores are gone. There's no doubt the closure of those two stores made good business sense. The accountants on their computers at chain headquarters had undoubtedly analyzed profits and costs and gross margins and decided that the stores no longer made sense. It was just good business to close them and move on. Many locally owned businesses may not make as much business sense. If they could make the same cool-headed economic study of their businesses, many local merchants might close up their doors too. But for them, it's their only job and they have a commitment to living in the community. They know staff personally and know the effect it will have on families if they close. Even when things are tough, they tend to fight on, for the benefit of themselves, their staff members and their community. It isn't as easy for them to walk away as it is for people in a corporate headquarters nicely isolated from the human effects of the decision. It may not be as glamourous to have George Brown's supermarket as a nationally-advertised chain, or Joan Green's dress shop compared to some Dylex chain store, but the local guy will be there when the chains are gone — if, that is, the chains didn't knock the local merchant out of the competition. Now we're starting a new round of big-time hysteria with the announcement that Zehrs is expanding in Goderich and Listowel and Wal-mart is to arrive in both towns. No doubt on opening day for those stores there will have to be traffic cops to direct the traffic of excited shoppers who can hardly wait to be part of the big time. Where will they be, however, if the number crunchers at chain headquarters decide, five years from now, that the operation no longer makes sense? Faraway pastures always look greener but it may be more profitable in the long run to depend on the one close to home. — KR The short arm of the law Canada and Spain arc at it again — battling over the remaining turbot stocks on the Grand Banks. Canada says the fish must be protected. Spain, saying nothing about whether its fishermen are using illegal nets and catching small fish, claims Canada has no right to extend its laws beyond the 200-mile limit. And Spain is no doubt right. Canada is as wrong to use our gunboats to drive the Spanish out of the Grand Banks areas just outside the 200- mile limit as the U.S. has been to protect its "national interests" by invading Grenada, Panama and countless other Latin American countries over the years. On the other hand, Spain is hiding behind this technicality to continue illegal and immoral acts. The Spanish fishing fleet is doing what most international businesses have sought to do under the "global economy" — they want to operate outside the jurisdiction of any government that can tell them how they must behave. Governments no longer have the power to dictate that companies observe environmental and labour rights regulations because the companies can move operations to China or India where such regulations arc almost non-existent. The Spanish can get away with illegal fishing because there are no international police to stop them. Global companies can quietly sub- contract to entrepreneurs in Third World countries who employ child labour or pollute local lakes and rivers because there is no one who can enforce laws. Spanish fishermen can only get away with it so long. If they empty the Grand Banks fishery they'll move on, just as international exploiters will move on after they pollute the environment. There arc only so many places to move, however. Eventually the price will be paid. But by then, only the had guys will have profited. — KR E ditorial