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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1995-10-18, Page 8Raring to go The Blyth Figure Skating Club rnembers were ready to hit the ice last Friday as the season began once again. Anne Vincent gives Lisa Carter a hand lacing her skates for her lesson. W. Wawanosh meets in closed session Getting the message out about Main St. 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. One of the reasons The Citizen was founded back in October 1985 was because of the worry about the future of our main streets in Blyth and Brussels. Main street is the heart and soul of a community. There are important parts of the commu- nity all over town, on quiet corners where churches stand majestically or in busy areas were arenas and ball parks hum with activity, but none of these reflect the community to itself and the outside world as much as main street. Think of it your- self, when you drive through the province, don't you tend to judge a com- munity by the appearance of main street? If the buildings arc well kept, if there has been an attempt to beautify the area, if the stores look prosperous and the street is busy, we tend to think that this is a community with something going for it. If, however, things look rundown and the streets are empty of people and traffic, we figure this is a ghost town in the making. Because of this, the main street merchant is more than just an ordinary citizen. When I was growing up, I tended to think the merchants on my town's main street were rich. I know better now., While some may be prosperous, I know that many merchants earn less than many truck drivers, people who work at the salt mine, nurses or teachers. While the local citizenry should perhaps not shed tears that main street business owners aren't as rich as I once imagined, they should be concerned that they remain prosperous enough to keep the stores open and well kept. There are many forces playing on the main street of communities these days. Often a town's citizens are their own worst enemy when they feel they just have to have the price or selection a big store has in the city, or increasingly, in a nearby larger town. They still like to have the local store for an emergency but they make their big purchases in the cities. Someday they may not have that local store when the emergency arises. But to have an equal chance to com- pete with the big stores, local business must have an economical way to get its message out about what they haVe to offer. The Citizen was founded with that in mind. Before The Citizen, if a local business wanted to advertise it had to pay a higher cost in a newspaper that gave only partial coverage in the local community. Since advertising cost is based on the cir- culation of the newspaper, it meant to get a few hun- dred shoppers in the village an advertiser had to pay for thousands of non-shoppers in another community. The return on investment was not very good. The local business community hasn't always seen the logic in The Citizen's goals. Some merchants choose other ways to promote, some unfortunately don't promote at all. While we wish everyone would support their local community-owned newspaper, our main concern is that our main streets are healthy, busy places that present a good face to our own citizens and to the outside world. We all play a part in that. We all need to work to keep main street lively. community community Serving the Owned by the PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1995. County Council briefs Council clears rumours The Huron County Board of Education Volunteer Tutors Needed Would you like to help someone improve his/her reading, writing or math skills? There is someone in your community who needs you. For more information call Darlene Williams at 482-5428 ext. 353 or 1-800-265-1778 Part of our lifelong learning initiative. R. Brown Chair P. Carroll Director An information session for women and their partners on: • early detection • treatment • support services Tuesday, October 24, 1995 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Huronlea Turnberry Street, Brussels Sponsored by: Wingham and District Hospital London Regional Cancer Centre Canadian Cancer Society Ontario Breast Screening Program, London Screening Centre for Women Huronlea, Home for the Aged, County of Huron Everyone welcome! For further information, please call 357-3210 and ask for N. Brown or W. Woodley Huron County councillors made it known, at the Oct. 5 meeting of council, that they want more details of the expenditures on the Huron County courthouse renovations. "There are a lot of rumours on the street and I want to know the facts," said Bill Vanstone, reeve of Colborne. "We need to know more about what is going on," echoed Exeter Reeve Bill Mickle. "It is important to get the information before we have to make a decision." "I haven't been personally com- fortable with it (the way informa- tion is reported to council on the project)" said Tom Cunningham, reeve of Hullett. "I don't want a bad surprise at the end. I don't think we've been doing our homework." Bill Clifford, reeve of Goderich said that Sandra Lawson, co-ordi- nator of the court house project and Claus Breede, co-ordinator of the renovation of the old Huronview building, had been reporting this information to the Administration, Finance and Personnel committee but perhaps the committee had been remiss in not making these reports available to the full council. Councillors were concerned to learn that the contingency fund for the courthouse project had been used up in unexpected expenses. Lawson said there had been sur- prises uncovered in the demolition of the interior of the building which required additional expense. Clifford explained the tight bud- Lodge Continued from page 2 Mae Ebel; Right Supporter of Vice Grand, Sister Sarah Stephenson; Left Supporter of Vice Grand, Sister Lois McCutcheon. Sister Ruth Campbell rendered two lovely solos. A tabloid, "Walk with the Butterfly" was presented. Sister Linda Jacklin was presented with her 25 year jewel. Brother Bill Young, District Deputy Grand Master of Huron District No. 8, informed the lodge about the open installation that will be held on Nov. 9 at B. M. & G. arena. Everyone welcome. gets for each of the projects were operating on a contingency of bare- ly more than one per cent of the total budget. The court house pro- ject will be very close to budget, he promised. "Sandra deserves a lot of credit for the work she has been doing to keep it on budget." *** Negotiations are continuing with Perth County to see if the two counties can combine administra- tion of the health units, Clifford told council. Meanwhile, because the London- Middlesex Health Unit felt it could- n't continue to provide services of a Medical Officer of Health at the current time, the Huron County Board of Health has appointed Dr. James McGregor of Wingham as acting MOH. The London-Middlesex Board of Health said it would be willing to discuss amalgamation with Huron but preferred to wait until Huron's negotiations with Perth are com- pleted, Clifford said. The next meeting between Huron and Perth is Oct. 27. * * * The appraisals of the timber value in the Morris Tract county forest have been completed and will be dealt with in a closed ses- sion of the Agriculture and Pubic Works committee, Norm Fairies, reeve of Howick, told council. The appraisals were called for after The Friends of the Morris Tract opposed a plan by the county to selectively log the hardwood for- est. The Friends said the area was environmentally sensitive and log- ging would damage the under- growth, and thinning of the tree cover might damage rare plant species by letting in to much light. The county ordered both an appraisal of the timber value and art audit of the environmental value of the property. -Since the appraisals were ordered, a July wind storm felled or damaged about 400 trees in the tract and the county ordered the trails in the area closed because of the danger to hikers from trees leaning across the trails. *** Visitors at the Huron County Museum may have a chance in November to see the only Victoria Cross ever won by a Huron County resident. Claus Breede, director and cura- tor of the museum, told council, the Clinton Branch of the Royal Cana- dian Legion (which owns the medal) has agreed to let the medal, won by H. Miner, be displayed at the museum. Also on display will be Miner's Croix de Guerre, award- ed by the French government. A special closed session of West Wawanosh council was held on Sept. 19 to discuss the pending law suit by Beverley Grierson, regard- ing access to her property. Prior to the closed meeting, council authorized the township to borrow $900,000 until the comple- tion of the Dungannon Drainage Works. Council agreed that Bill Robin- son would rehabilitate the eastern section of the St. Augustine Pit according to the directions from the Ministry of Natural Resources. He will invoice his costs to the township in 1996 for a claim for a refund from the Rehabilitation Security on deposit for the pit. The regular council meeting, held on Oct. 3, dealt with two issues concerning trees. - Bill Robinson was given a letter of approval for the cutting of trees on Sideroad 15/16, Conc. 9, adja- cent to his land to allow the instal- lation of electric power to the pump on the property. Provided the service is still offered, council will order 100 trees from the Maitland Valley Conser- vation Authority for the spring. The trees will be sold to residents wish- ing to plant them along roadside property adjacent to their own. Updating the work on Dungan- non drains, council was told the tile should be in place in two weeks and the cleanup should be finished by the end of the month. A bylaw to change the zoning of Part Lot 24, Conc. 6 from AG I (General Agriculture) to ER1-1 (Extraction Resources-Special Zone), was passed. Business Computer Services in London will be hired by the town- ship to prepare the municipal tax notices for 1996. Road accounts and general accounts, in the amounts of $8,583.85 and $331,135.59, were approved for payment.