HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1995-10-04, Page 7In the beginning: a community buys in
October marks the 10th anniversary of the found-
ing of The Citizen. During the month Publisher Keith
Roulston will recall some of the memorable moments
in the paper's history.
By the summer of 1985 Brussels and Blyth had
been without newspapers for nearly three years. The
Brussels Post and The Blyth Standard, the first with
more than a century of history, the latter nearing the
century mark, had been swallowed up in a
merger of two newspaper chains. People
began to realize how important a newspa-
per was to their community.
Sheila Richards, worried about her
community of Brussels, approached me
about what could be done. I'd already
been thinking of a newspaper to serve the
two communities (changing economics
made it very difficult for a newspaper to
survive in either village by itself). With
no money, and with our experience at the
Blyth Festival where people felt a sense of community
ownership, we set out to raise financing for a commu-
nity-owned newspaper. Local residents were quick to
support the idea, investing from $100 to $3,000 in the
venture. In fact we ended up with too many investors,
more than 80 when Ontario securities laws say you
can't have more than 50.
Most people invested with the thought of providing
a badly-needed community service more than the idea
of a high return — a good thing since there have been
more years they haven't made money than there have
been years when they received a dividend_
When the idea of a community-owned newspaper
caught the fancy of the media, we got our 15 seconds
of fame with stories in newspapers as distant as Ari-
zona and radio interviews as far away as Alberta.
Unfortunately the stories were also carried in the two
largest Toronto newspapers bringing us
to the attention of the Ontario Securities
Commission which said we were violat-
ing the law. Two years of negotiations
and a considerable legal bill finally
resolved the matter.
By then The Citizen was a huge suc-
cess. The circulation of the two previous
papers had been about 1,000 copies each.
Since there would have been some over-
lap in circulation in the rural areas, and
since farm population had continued to
drop, we felt a circulation of 1,500 copies would be a
good goal. After sending the newspaper free to all
homes in North Huron for 10 weeks, we switched to
paid circulation and quickly reached the 1,500 target.
Through aggressive promotion, our circulation contin-
ued to grow until it reached a high point of 2,300
copies, both subscribers and newsstand purchasers.
Circulation dipped a couple of years ago but today is
growing at a total of 2,154.
1985-1995
Serving the community
Owned by the community
Food Markets
Assorted Varieties Frozen
750 g/1 kg Bag
Frozen Grade A
YOUNG TURKEYS
Regular
or
Pulp Free
Frozen
355 ml Tin
3-8 kg
(7-171b)
Avg.
3.06 kg
Frozen Grade A
Young Turkeys
Over 8 kg (17 lb)
3284
1.49 lb.
33% Salt Reduced or
Whole, Half or Mini 5.71 kg
COKE, SPRITE
OR CANADA DRY
Assorted Varieties
24 a 355 ml
fins
Unit Price
7.2/100 ml
750 ml Bottle
+ Deposit
Unit Price
9.2/100 ml
Boneless
Outside Round
STEAK ROAST
Cut From Canada A/AA/AAA
Grades Beef Hip
(Eye Removed) 5.49 kg
in616...KNECHTEL
YOUR loCalSTORE WITH
BIG SAVINGS
Scrimgeour's Food Market
Blyth 523-4551
Savings based on our regular retails. We reserve the right to limit quantities to normal
family requirements. Values effective: Mob., Oct. 2 to Sun., Oct. 8.
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1995. PAGE 7.
Decorative lights, no or go?
Blyth seeks input on rail plan
By Bonnie Gropp
The decision on continuing the
decorative street lighting project
has been put on hold once again.
At the last meeting of Blyth
council, it was decided to look into
whether or not concrete poles could
be obtained for the same price as
the aluminum poles used in the
downtown core.
Clerk John Stewart informed
council at the Oct. 2 meeting that
he had contacted the supplier and
was told that the price for the 12
lights needed to complete the area
from Bell's Variety to the bridge
could be purchased at the same cost
as the original ones had been.
Also, he said, the cement pole is
approximately the same price, but it
would need to be dug into the
ground.
Stewart told council that he had
spoken as well with someone from
the infrastructure office. They told
him that the program has been
extended and several municipalities
had made applications to defer pro-
jects until 1996, 1997, or 1998.
Originally, the Blyth projects were
to be completed by March of 1996
or the funding would be gone.
"To date all deferrals have been
accepted. No new ones have been
approved, however," Stewart said.
While council haggled for a time
over how much government fund-
ing there had been for the first
phase of the work, Don Scrim-
geour, representing the Blyth Busi-
ness Association cut to the chase.
"Irregardless of the cost of the ini-
tial stage, what we're dealing with
is the cost of phase two, which has
been approved."
Reeve Mason Bailey said he was
relieved to hear that a concrete pole
was available due to concern
expressed over the durability of the
aluminum ones.
He added, however, that council
has a responsibility to the taxpayers
to make the best use of the money.
Councillor Robbie Lawrie agreed
saying that he would like to know
what the costs would be for instal-
lation. Reeve Bailey suggested that
perhaps costs could be cut if village
employees could do some of the
work
Stewart asked Scrimgeour if he
felt it was necessary that the project
be completed this year or could it
be deferred.
"I think the feeling was that we
would like it done, mainly because
if it wasn't done until the end of
March it wasn't going to happen. If
we can defer it that may change
things," Scrimgeour said.
Council instructed Stewart to
investigate costs of installation to
bring to the next meeting.
By Bonnie Gropp
Blyth council has scheduled Oct.
11 as the day to meet with the pub-
lic to discuss the proposed Blyth
Brook Community Greenway pro-
ject.
The project, which will see
improvement to railway lands
along the side of the Blyth Brook,
from the arch to the westerly limits.
Some of the improvements will be
a walking trail and environmental
enhancement through planting.
The proposed trail would run
from the fairgrounds to the brook,
where it would follow the lands
east of Hwy 4 to the arch, ultimate-
ly linking it to Drummond St.
The possibility of restoring the
historic arch will also be consid-
ered.
Clerk-Treasurer John Stewart had
attended a meeting in Milverton on
Sept. 26. He told council at their
regular meeting on Monday night
that a verbal agreement had been
given to the village to assume the
head lease for the old CPR property
with the exception of places where
lease agreements were already.in
place and in the area for which
Howson Mills have applied.
The committee, he said, prefers
that the village lease the land then
sub-lease it to others, such as the
snowmobile club, in order to mini-
mize the number of representatives
with which they have to deal.
Council decided that they would
like to meet with affected landown-
ers prior to holding a public meet-
ing. The time has been set to meet
with them for 7 p.m. Oct. 11 in the
Blyth Library. The public meeting
will follow at 8 p.m.
Deer causes
accident
Wildlife and automobiles cannot
share the highway.
That was the experience of Car-
man Ives, 46, of RR4 Brussels on
Sept. 25, when she was travelling
east on County Road 25 towards
Auburn.
Ives was 4 km west of Sideroad
33/34, East Wawanosh Twp., when
she swerved to avoid striking a deer
crossing the road.
The 83 Pontiac entered the ditch
and hit a fence.
Ives sustained major injuries and
was transported to Seaforth Hospi-
tal.
Discussing the art
Bev Walker, right, of RR3 Blyth, discusses the medium
used to create floral designs by her husband, Ron, with
fellow artist, Hollis Manske of Goderich. Manske was
taking part in the annual studio tour presented each fall by
the Huron Society of Artists.