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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-09-10, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10,1997. C itizenTheNorthHuron P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@huron.net Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager, Jeannette McNeil The Citizen is published weekly In Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $27.00/year ($25.24 + $1.76 G.S.T.) in Canada; $62.00/year in U.S.A, and $75.00/year in other foreign countries. 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 Receiving a helping hand A man from a village of similar size as Blyth recently marvelled at the success of events such as the Huron Pioneer Threshers’ Reunion and wondered why his village couldn’t do things as well as Blyth. Blyth’s reputation as a village that gets things done got another boost on the weekend with another amazing edition of the Threshers’ Reunion. Once again the village was alive all week with hundreds of campers who arrived early to take part in the preliminary events leading up to the Reunion itself. Once again the event was well organized and seemed, to the visitor at least, to go off like clockwork while maintaining a relaxed sense of a few friends just getting together for a party. Certainly the Threshers’ Reunion, like the Blyth Festival, adds to the remarkable reputation of Blyth and helps spur the local economy in a time when the traditional role as service area to the surrounding farmland seems to be faltering. But Blyth gets a lot of help from non- Blyth residents in maintaining these two famous institutions. Certainly there are local people who take major parts in making the Reunion and the Festival take place, but both are sustained by the thousands of volunteer hours put in by people from all over the county and, in the case of the Threshers’ Reunion, from all over southern Ontario. Blyth’s remarkable reputation for getting things done doesn't look as shiny when you look at activities that depended only on the local community for support. From the fall fair to the Rutabaga Festival, good events died because of a lack of local volunteers to keep them going. Blyth is indeed lucky to have two such events (and the Bluewater Kennel Club’s annual dog show, too) and we should praise the local people who helped gel the events started and help keep them going, but we also owe a huge vole of thanks to all those outside volunteers who bless Blyth through their hard work for local events. — KR ‘Market’ no excuse Now that the funeral of Princess Diana is over the focus reverts back to the cause of her death and the unsavory role the photographers who, it appears, chased her car until it crashed. While members of the mainstream press have tried to distance themselves from the paparazzi who pry into the private lives of public people from the royal family to Hollywood stars, many apologists were also quick to remind us that, after all, the spying photographers were just filling a market demand. They wouldn’t be paid hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars to photographers if the editors and publishers didn’t know that people would buy the tabloids to get the latest peck into the private lives of the rich and famous. And it’s true. Everyone who ever bought a tabloid because of a picture of Princess Di on the cover is, to a small extend, responsible for her death. But saying that the photographers, and the editors, are absolved of guilt because they were simply filling the market’s demand is a cop- out. Drug pushers can argue that they are only filling the market demand. Prostitutes can claim they have no personal responsibility because they are just filling the market demand. Governments can plead innocence for a growing dependence on the proceeds of gambling because they’re just giving people what they want. Just because there is money to be made on the “market” doesn’t relieve people of personal responsibility. We established new standards for personal responsibility in the war crimes trials after World War II when people were not allowed the defence that they had carried out atrocities under orders. How much more should people be held to account for personal responsibility in doing the wrong things to gain money? In recent years we have quickly gone from a return on the emphasis on the marketplace as a discipline on the economy, to setting the marketplace up as the only arbiter of human activity. If there is a market, many seem to say, then the activity is legitimate. If there isn’t a self-sustaining market for an activity, it hasn’t any legitimacy. A personal sense of morality must always be applied to any activity. Just because the market will allow one to make a huge amount of money while others starve, for instance, doesn’t allow the rich person to be guiltless while watching human suffering. We can’t fob off personal responsibility on the impersonal marketplace. — KR Photo by Janice Becker Letters to the editor THE EDITOR, I joined the Brussels Terry Fox committee because I admire his courage, his will not to give up. There are so many people in everyday life who want to give up but not Terry. Having lost members of the family to cancer, I feel the Terry Fox committee is a great cause. Having lost a mother to breast cancer and therefore my chances being a higher risk, his courage makes my days a little easier. Carol Thornton. THE EDITOR, I am writing this letter to introduce myself to your readers and to encourage them to support a worthwhile event that will be taking place in their community in a few weeks. My name is Jim Kennedy and I have diabetes. I am also a Beer Store employee. Later this month, I will be participating in the annual fundraising bottle drive, entitled "A Case for a Cure”, hosted by The Beer Store for the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA). The bottle drive will be held on Saturday, Sept. 27 with every Beer Store across Ontario collecting empty beer bottles and cans donated for this important cause. Why am I doing this? Eight years ago I was diagnosed with diabetes. As a result, my lifestyle changed considerably. I began to watch more carefully what I ate. I began to exercise regularly. And I had to begin monitoring my blood sugar level. It was shortly after I was diagnosed with diabetes that I began my quest to leant as much as I could about the disease that is estimated to affect more than 100 million people by the year 2,000. That's when I joined the CDA. To my delight, I found that the Association was an invaluable resource. The Association provides individuals with advice from doctors specializing in diabetes. It conducts research and is up to date about new improvements being made in the fight to control the disease and to one day find a cure. Educating the public about the disease is also an important function for the Association. In this day and age almost everyone knows someone who has diabetes. While many think that diabetes is less serious than other diseases, it is not. Diabetes doubles the chance of heart attack and stroke. It increases the risk of kidney disease and is the leading cause of adult blindness and amputations. On top of all of these services, the Association also helps reduce the financial strain for those who have the disease and who are on a fixed income or don't have a medical plan. Supplies to control this disease can be costly. The Continued on page 10