The Citizen, 1995-09-13, Page 1itizen
610 +4o GST 650 Wednesday, Sept. 13, 1995 Vol. 11 No 36
Chugging, steaming and whistling
Blyth Fairgrounds were filled with the sights, sounds and smells of a bygone era this past
weekend when the 34th Thresher Reunion and Hobby Show came to town. Along with the
traditional displays of antique threshers, classic tractors, cars and trucks, grandmother's
household items and the long-forgotten skills of belt setting and cross-cut sawing, visitors to
the festival were greeted with music, linedancing, craft exhibits and an abundance of food
which would satisfy any hungry customer. This Maplewood steam engine was just one of
several which were on parade during the weekend.
8-year-old
joins Terry Fox
team
See page 6
Photos highlight
34th annual
Thresher Reunion
See pages 8, 9
Belgrave, Blyth,
Brussels School
Fair turns 75
See page 14
Brussels, Belgrave
parishes welcome
new pastor
See page 23
34th Reunion,
a big success
By Janice Becker
What consumes 300 pounds of
bacon, 240 pounds of sausages, 200
pounds of pancake batter, 40 gal-
lons of milk, 21 gallons of pure
maple syrup and tops it off with 60
gallons of orange juice?
The hungry crowds which gath-
ered at the Blyth and District Fire
Department's pancake breakfast
held over the weekend as part of
the 34th Thresher Reunion and
Hobby Show.
Though attendance was down
slightly from last year, approxi-
mately 1,200 people stood in line
for the succulent meal, which was
served Saturday and Sunday morn-
ing.
The firefighters' food was not the
only offering enjoyed by the 13,000
visitors to Blyth for the event.
"Every food booth did very well
and the Legion Ladies Auxiliary
meals, served in the evenings were
always sold out," says Reunion
Secretary Marian Hallahan.
"The Blyth Lions Club, who
were prepared to serve 300 meals,
managed to feed 312 customers."
A crowd favourite, the nightly
corn roast, disposed of 150 dozen
cobs of corn.
Pushed by the Concerned Citi-
zens of Ashfield and Area and by
some of their own councillors and
spurred on by the Progressive Con-
servative provincial government's
decision to allow incineration of
garbage, Huron County council
Thursday agreed to look at alterna-
tives other than a proposed landfill
site in Ashfield Twp.
Council was acting on a recom-
mendation of the waste manage-
ment sub-committee of the
planning and development commit-
tee from a special meeting held
Sept. 6. The committee had met
with a representative of Ashfield
Twp. council and with members of
the Concerned Citizens. The groups
asked for a study of alternatives to
the landfill site and for a peer
review (by another consultant) of
the work done by Gore & Storrie
Ltd., the consultants acting for the
county in the waste management
master plan. Council agreed to the
study but postponed a decision on
whether to conduct a peer review
until after the Ashfield site official-
ly becomes a "preferred" site. That
won't come until the Stage 2D
report of the master plan study is
submitted in December.
Until the Ashfield site officially
becomes a preferred site it would
be wasteful to conduct a peer study,
said Jack Coleman, reeve of Stan-
ley Twp. and chair of the planning
and development committee. Ash-
field council had brought Rick
Todd of M.M. Dillon consulting
firm to the meeting. He estimated a
As well as great food which was
available, a record number of
crafters exhibited their wares on the
arena floor while the overflow
booths were placed around the
arena ball diamond.
An extra aisle had to be set up in
the arena to provide space for the
64 craftspeople, still forcing seven
vendors to set up outside.
The camping facilities, an
increasingly popular part of the
Thresher Reunion, upped the num-
bers by 100, bringing the number
of lots filled to 720.
"We had a group of 30 (trailers)
come together in this year and there
has already been talk that two more
groups of a similar size, are plan-
ning a visit to the Thresher Reunion
next year," says Hallahan.
Other events which were tremen-
dously successful include the dance
featuring Tiffins Orchestra, the var-
ious music shows and competitions
as well as the horse-drawn carriage
rides.
"Everyone was very satisfied
with the weekend and they had a
really good time," Hallahan says.
"The weather plays a major role in
the (success of) the Threshers and
everyone was happy this weekend."
cost of $27,500 to conduct the peer
study of Gore & Storrie's work.
Gore & Storrie suggested they
would need $15,900 to provide the
information M. M. Dillon would
require for the study. However,
once the Stage 2D report is issued
some of Gore & Storrie's cost
would be reduced.
But with word that the provincial
government would no longer rule
out use of incineration, several
councillors were more receptive to
ask for a study of alternatives.
While a report by Gore & Storrie
to the Sept. 6 meeting concluded
Huron is still unlikely to have
enough garbage to support an
incinerator without bringing in out-
side garbage, Mason Bailey, reeve
of Blyth, pointed to an article in
The Toronto Star of Sept. 2. In it
small incinerators built by Eco
Waste Solution were described as
being able to handle the waste of a
community of only 1,000 people
with the cost starting at only
$250,000. Such a system is current-
ly in use at the Canadian Forces
Base at Alert near the north pole.
"It would be quite feasible for
about four municipalities to handle
their own garbage at home," Bailey
said. He urged council to look at
such alternatives because "regard-
less of how much money we spend
(in studying the Ashfield site) the
people just don't want it. The tech-
nology that's coming on stream
means we may not need landfill
Continued on page 10
County council to look
at waste alternatives