HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-11-05, Page 21Happy Gang Seniors take potluck
The October meeting of
Londesboro Happy Gang Seniors
was held at the Hall on Wednesday,
Oct. 29. Members enjoyed a
delicious pot luck meal.
They opened the meeting with O
Canada. Mary read "Indian
Summer". Audrey Thompson read,
"What are Seniors worth?"
The minutes of the September
meeting were read and approved.
Reta Kelland gave the treasurer's
report.
Candidates for Blyth state views on issues
KP for January is Audrey
Thompson and Margaret Good,
cake is Florence Snell and Betty
Fischer, ice cream is Harry and
Betty Millar.
The Christmas dinner is on
Wednesday, Nov. 26 at the hall at
12 p.m. Cost of dinner is $10.
Bring an item for the Food Bank.
Correspondence was read
regarding the Huron County draft,
woman abuse and child agency.
The guest speakers were Gwen
McKellar and Louise Hayter from
Zurich who spoke about USCO and
the new banner. It was decided to
buy a USCO banner for the club.
The meeting was adjourned.
There is a seniors' dance on
Friday, Nov. 28 at 8:30 p.m.
Cards were played. There were
six tables of euchre. Winners were:
ladies’ high, Beth Knox; ladies'
lone hands, Gwen McKellar; ladies'
low, Mary Peel; men's high, Betty
Dale; men's lone hands, Reg
Lawson; men's low, Len
Archambault.
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5,1997. PAGE 21.
LondesboroThe news from
Compiled by June Fothergill Phone 523-4360
D. Vincent greets at church
The greeter at Londesboro
United Church on Sunday, Nov. 2
was Darlene Vincent. Ushers were
Marsha and Kerrie Szusz.
Flowers at the front of the church
were in memory of Norman
Vincent.
Andrea Postma played a piano
solo.
The sermon topic/was "Almost
Saints".
IN THE
CLASSIFIEDS
Continued from page 3
contribution to the fire department
and Greenway Project.
Scrimgeour also sits on the amal
gamation committee, an issue he
said will “affect Blyth for years to
come.”
“We need to get the ratepayers
involved to determine what we
want to keep,” he said.
With the “mountain of work” left
to be done, Scrimgeour said he
wanted to return to his “rewarding”
position on council to be part of a
“unified and hardworking group.”
Seeking a seat of council, George
Reinink has served on the PUC for
the previous three years.
“My main concern is restructur
ing,” he said. In traveling through
many parts of Ontario, Reinink said
he has seen what has happened to
small towns with amalgamation.
“They are forgotten.”
“I don’t want to see that happen
here.”
Murray Nesbitt, a resident of the
village for nine years, said he
would like to see how the system
works and will do his best to repre
sent the people if elected to coun
cil.
Seeking another term, Ron
Ritchie said the last three years has
been an educational experience. He
would like to return to council to
help keep taxes down.
School board trustees
Candidates for the newly-amal
gamated Huron-Perth district
school board, Abby Armstrong and
Lynda Horbanuik, were given their
opportunity to express their views.
A third candidate, David Hallman
of the Bayfield area, was absent.
Armstrong, current Huron Coun
ty Board of Education trustee for
Bayfield and Stanley Twp., said
“the next few years in education
will be critical.”
“We need someone who under
stands the issues and is willing to
speak out about them. I speak from
the heart and with knowledge,” she
said. “I believe passionately in
good education for the future.”
While saying an appreciation for
beauty, responsibility and competi
tion are needed, she also said she
believes in strong core program
ming.
Incumbent HCBE trustee for
Hullett Twp. and Blyth, Lynda
Horbanuik said she sought the posi
tion to enable her to voice people’s
opinion and her goal is to keep in
touch with them.
“These are challenging times,”
she said. “We must concentrate on
the strengths. All I care about are
the schools and the kids.”
“Huron County is known across
the province for its excellence in
education so we should use that
strength to make Huron and Perth
better.”
Returning to serve on the Huron
Perth County Roman Catholic Sep
arate School Board is Louise Mar
tin of RR3, Goderich. She will
represent much of north Huron.
Stating that things are not dull in
education at the present time, Mar
tin said she decided to run again
because she “believes passionately
in education.”
“I believe it is a necessity of life
and I want to ensure our voice is
heard with the shift of decision
making to Toronto. ”
Decisions made in Toronto do
not fit rural Ontario, she said. “I
will kick and scream a lot because
the cultural reality is different than
in other areas, as are they all.”
Martin told of the great success
of the HPRCSSB, being the lowest
spending board, with a very low
drop-out rate as well.
She refuted information given by
the provincial government regard
ing the quality of education in
Ontario saying the province ranks
49th out of 63 school district in
North America in terms of educa
tion spending. “That is the same as
Alabama,” she said.
Speaking on the low rating of
Ontario children with international
testing, Martin said the province
ranked ahead of countries such as
the United States, Sweden, Ger
many, Australia and New Zealand.
Several countries which placed
higher than Canada's 18th were
also later disqualified, she said.
“We must ask where the statistics
came from. Education is not in cri
sis in Ontario. I am proud of what
we are doing and I want to ensure
it continues.”
PUC commissioners
Incumbent Tom Cronin and new
comer Dale Whitfield were
acclaimed to the PUC. Both men
told the gathering that the restruc
turing of the utility into one unit for
Huron County and one for Perth
County will be the biggest issue in
the coming year. (The plan has not
yet been approved by the govern
ment)
Cronin detailed work completed
in the previous term and said the
PUC was considering the upgrad
ing of services with reserves prior
to any possible amalgamation of
the utility.
Having previously served on the
PUC, Whitfield said he wanted to
be involved in the operation of the
village; to contribute. His aim in
restructuring talks is to protect the
interest and investment of ratepay
ers.
Question period
The questions from the gallery
revolved dealt mostly with the
amalgamation of school boards and
restructuring, however candidates
had few answers.
When asked about the new larger
school board, Armstrong simply
said she will work for what is best
for Huron.
In discussing junior kindergarten,
both Armstrong and Horbanuik
said they voted against implemen
tation, while Martin said she sup
ported it strongly for the separate
school board.
Armstrong said she fought
strongly against it because she
“does not believe it is need in our
county as children are better at
home at that age.”
“Parents need to take responsibil
ity,” she said.
With the combined JK/SK class
es, she said she was also concerned
about Grade 1 readiness for the
senior students.
“Perth County does not have JK
and there will be a tremendous
expense (with amalgamation) as
they don't have the room for it,”
she said.
Martin said the separate school
system has had combined JK/SK
for years, which she firmly sup
ports.
“It is strictly voluntary yet we
have almost 100 per cent participa
tion,” she said.
“The children leam from each
other. It is a wonderful environ
ment and there is no question that
the children are prepared.”
Municipal amalgamation
With the amalgamation of
municipalities, Scrimgeour said,
“council has been trying to fight it
off, but we need a plan ready if it
comes. For us, it will be later than
sooner. Morris Twp., has opted out
of talks so it is not happening yet.”
With regards to the downloading
of provincial highways to the coun
ty, Lawrie said taxpayers would
have to absorb the cost.
“We don’t know what we are
getting yet, but the province is cut
ting our funding (for roads),” he
said.
When questioned on the spend
ing of PUC reserves to update ser
vices prior to the possible
unification of utilities in Huron and
Perth Counties, Lawrie said the vil
lage does have some reserves, but
will take care of it when the time
comes to ensure the money stays in
the village.
Sorry,
our mistake
There was an error in Morris
Twp. Reeve Bert Elliott's informa
tion printed in last weed's issue of
The Citizen.
It should have read incumbent
Bert Elliott has been acclaimed as
Morris Twp. reeve. Besides his
term as reeve, Elliott has been a
school trustee, councillor, deputy
reeve and has been on many other
boards and committees over the
years.
We apologize for the error.
Between 1979 - 1993, a larger area
of Canada's commercial forests was
affected by fire, insect and disease
than by harvesting. On average,
natural disturbances affected 1.3
million hectares each year (0.6 per
cent of commercial forest land),
and harvesting was carried out on
887,000 hectares (0.4 per cent, or
0.2 per cent of total forest land).
VOTE
ABBY ARMSTRONG
For Your
CENTRAL AREA
SCHOOL BOARD
• proven communicator
• active committee member
• not only a trustee but a
parent committed to making
a difference
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