HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1996-03-06, Page 6Diabetes
STOP the epidemic.
giCANADIAN ASSOCIATION
DIABETES CANADIENNE
ASSOCIATION DU DIABETE
1-800-BANTING NC
Firewood
Hard Maple or Ash
SLABWOOD
Limited Time Offer
- Call now -
$130./17 cu. yd. Truck Load
Delivered within 20 miles
Mileage charge Beyond That
Large Quantity Discounts When You Haul!!!
Craig Hardwoods Ltd.
Auburn, Ont. 519-526-7220
Helping hands
Joan Clark, past chairperson of the Blyth Group Committee presents John Battye,
representing the Blyth Legion Branch, left, and David Cartwright, representing Blyth Lions,
with appreciation awards at the annual Thinking Day banquet, Feb. 21. The presentation
was made to thank the two organizations for the many years of support and sponsorship,
which make Scouting possible in the village.
$ PAYING $
TOO MUCH
$ TAX> s s Si • $
Like most people, you probably don't have
time to keep up with every new and complex
tax change. But the things you don't know
could be taking money out or your pocket.
Whether it's your personal, business or farm
taxes that concern you, let the tax
professionals at Deloitte & Touche help!
For free consultation or further information,
please contact
Brian Wightman or Rosemarie Deane
Seaforth Office 519-527-1331
A Deloitte & Chartered Accountants & Management Consultants "."-- Touche
64 MAIN STREET, SEAFORTH, ONTARIO
PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 1996
Letter to the editor
Writer responds to letter on museum
THE EDITOR,
I felt compelled to respond to the
letters of W. P. Fydenchuk
regarding the Huron County
Council funding of the Museum at
Goderich.
It is unfortunate that few Huron
County residents have had the
pleasure to view the real value of
the Museum to Huron County - its
Archives. The Archives houses
documents that date back to the
1840s when this County was first
settled. The records have proven to
be valuable sources of information
to the individuals who have
volunteered thousands of hours to
the preparation and publication of
municipal histories. The success
that these books have had shows
that the people of Huron County
are interested in their history if they
can access it in an easy manner.
As chairman of the Huron
County Branch of the Ontario
Genealogical Society, I would like
to describe our group and explain
the significance of the Huron
County Museum to our aims. In
1995 our branch celebrated 15
years of promoting genealogy and
reached its highest membership
ever - 383 members of which 53
resided in Huron County. Since its
formation the branch has had over
1,100 different members
researching their roots in Huron
County.
Our branch was fortunate four
years ago in arranging an
agreement with the Huron County
Museum to rent the log cabin to
house the branch library. We had
89 researchers in 1995 - 24 from
Huron, 39 from Ontario, three from
Alberta, 22 from the U.S. and one
from Australia. These researchers
aided the Huron County economy
by purchasing gas, meals, and
souvenirs.
In addition our research co-
ordinator answered 95 letters - 43
from Ontario, 20 from Western
Canada, 32 from the U.S. - of
which only 15 were from members.
These researchers all benefit from
the existence of the Archives at the
Museum to help provide insights
into the everyday lives of their
ancestors.
The Huron County Branch
O.G.S. has been compiling
reference materials of genealogical
importance to aid researchers. In
1995 the Port Albert Cemetery
transcription was completed to
bring to completion the transcript
of all the known cemeteries in
Huron - in excess of 120. To make
them easily available to
researchers, complete sets were
donated to the Wingham, Seaforth,
Clinton, Exeter, and Goderich
libraries as well as the Archives.
The Branch is now embarking on
extracting genealogical information
from early Huron County
newspapers. The Branch has
recently purchased the microfilm
indexes of the Ontario Vital
Statistics and placed them in the
Goderich library for the use of all
researchers. This was made
possible by the generous donations
in memory of Beryl Reid, a
dedicated member and volunteer of
our Branch. The key point is that
organizations must work together.
There is strength in numbers.
What is the cost to the residents
of Huron County to maintain the
funding of the museum at its
current level? Mr. Fydenchuk's
statistics are misleading in several
regards. The total expenditures to
operate the museum in 1995 were
$437,920. However, these
expenditures covered the operation
of the museum, historic Gaol, and
the Marine Museum. Attendance at
the museum was just over 23,000
but when added to attendance at the
other two museums tc tailed 38,000.
The salaries paid were spread
among the three museums. The
people of Huron County are the
losers because the promotion of Pat
Hamilton, a truly extraordinary
lady, to curator of the Gaol has left
the position of Archivist vacant
with no likelihood of it being filled
in the near future.
Mr. Fydenchuk should also be
mindful of the fact that although
the museum paid Mr. Breede's
salary for the last few years, the
majority of his time was spent
overseeing the renovations at the
old Huronview building in Clinton.
This allowed the County to save
money by avoiding the
employment of a consultant to
oversee Huronview. Also the storm
of 1995 likely contributed to
greater expenditures in time and
money to repair damage done by
high winds and fallen trees.
With a population of
approximately 57,000 men, women
and children, the grant given by the
Huron County council represents
an expenditure of less than $5.50
per capita. The total operation costs
of the museum, Gaol, and Marine
Museum represent a cost of less
than $8 per capita.
Are we willing to lose these
institutions for the sake of one
movie admission per year for every
resident of Huron? The museum
provides one of only a few county-
wide facilities which benefit all
municipalities.
Should all residents partially
Initiative begins
A new youth initiative is under-
way in Huron County and anyone
interested in developing activities
to meet the needs of 11 to 19-year-
olds is welcome to attend the com-
munity meeting.
Youth and adults alike are invited
to gather to discuss plans for Youth
Count, a project which will assist
young people to have happy,
healthy and successful lives.
An afternoon meeting will be
held at the armoires in Wingham,
March 25, at 1:30 p.m. and at F.E.
Madill Secondary School, Wing-
ham, at 7 p.m.
To obtain more information
about Youth Count if unable to
attend the meetings, call Mary at
the Learning Resources Centre, 1-
800-565-2706 #372.
finance at the county level the
airport at Goderich which benefits
a few local residents and
businesses? At the township and
town level, recreational facilities in
the form of arenas and ball
diamonds are more heavily funded
per capita than the museum. Should
everyone pay for these facilities to
be used by a few?
Mr. Fydenchuk does a disservice
to the Friends of the Museum when
he suggests that they use volunteers
to run the museum. Volunteers
have always been a valuable asset
in the operation of the museum. In
the. "Museum Musings" column of
The Goderich Signal Star of Jan.
24, 1996 it was noted that over 250
volunteer hours were logged in
November and December of 1995.
However, some jobs require
expertise which one cannot expect
to find in volunteers and this is
where the paid employees fit into
the picture.
Also, Mr. Fydenchuk should be
aware that in northern Huron
County volunteer firemen are paid
between $15 and $25 per hour
while fighting fires. To expect them
to, do otherwise would be
foolishness.
I would also recommend several
things to Mr. Fydenchuk in regards
to receiving government grants to
hire students. It is not the fault of
Mr. Breede and the staff of the
museum that he was denied
financial assistance to hire a
student. The government deter-
mines the guidelines, not Mr.
Breede. The fact that Mr.
Fydenchuk has a private collection
is likely the major reason. There is
no guarantee that the collection will
be kept as a permanent collection
when the control of it rests in the
hands of an individual. If he desires
government assistance, perhaps he
should consider donating the
collection to the local Legion
Branch or another service group
with more standing with the
government. If Mr. Fydenchuk
feels the policy should be changed
then he should approach his MP
a d MPP to voice his concern.
Finally, I encourage all
individuals — members of the
Huron County Branch O.G.S.;
Huron County Historical Society;
W.I. Tweedsmuir Historical
Committees; etc. to voice their
opinions to their local
representatives regarding funding
to the museum. I welcome all
comments, good and bad, at the
address provided below this letter.
If the unthinkable should happen,
please show your support to the
museum by making a donation of
your time and/or money.
Yours truly,
Donna Nicholson, Chairman
Huron Co. Branch O.G.S.
Box 469,
Goderich, Ont. N7A 4C7