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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1999-04-28, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1999. The North Huron P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 itizen >cna P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@scsinternetcom Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager, Jeannette McNeil Member Ontario The Citizen is published 50 times a year in Brussels, Press Council 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 $100.00/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. 09244 Canadian Publication Mail Agreement No. 1374990 Rules over common sense E ditorial i •• ........ i Once upon a time there were two little towns that needed doctors but couldn't find any doctors interested in coming to serve the medical needs of their people. They started looking for some good doctors who were interested in helping and they found them in a neighbouring town. But the wise people who dwelt in the never-never land of the Ministry of Health saw what was happening and said to the doctors they couldn’t help the people of the villages. The villages were supposed to be helped by doctors from two other towns, though no doctor in those towns wanted to help. Unfortunately this isn’t an old fairy talc about how silly bureaucracy can be. It’s the plight of the villages of Blyth and Brussels. According to the ministry, Blyth is supposed to be served by doctors from Clinton or Wingham and Brussels, from Wingham. The problem is doctors from those two communities are already overworked and have closed their offices in the two villages. Doctors of the Seaforth Medical Clinic had stepped in to provide service to the two villages. But according to the ministry they weren't supposed to be in the two villages and therefore the patients they had there couldn’t be counted among their patient load. Therefore, Wingham has a patient load of 5,269 per doctor and Clinton 2,251 per doctor and they're both regarded as under-serviced. Seaforth, with 766 per doctor, is over-serviced. Ironically, thc^caforth clinic could be penalized for its success in attracting doctors when other communities can't. Seaforth doctors have organized in a clinic set up that lightens the workload, allowing them to share patients in busy times. Because they have been able to attract doctors they have been able to offer to serve Brussels and Blyth when other doctors couldn’t. However the doctors have been paying a price for that service because they are not getting ministry support for the offices in the two villages. It's a silly situation. The people who are supposed to provide medical coverage for the villages can’t and the people who will aren't supposed to. It’s time the Ministry of Health showed some common sense. — KR Praise for neighbourliness While amalgamation has proved to be a thorny issue in some areas, the proposed union of Brussels and Grey Twp. has quietly moved toward completion with little controversy of any sort. The most contentious issue may still prove to be the proposal to locate the administration of the new municipality at Grey Twp.’s new facility instead of in Brussels but there were few questions about even that when 75 residents of the two communities gathered al the BMG Community Centre recently. The success so far is perhaps due to the positive attitude of the councillors and staff from the two municipalities with people looking for what is best for the community, not protecting their turf. Hopefully this positive influence will continue right up until the marriage officially lakes place. — KR Save us money, please If you should get a call from a polling firm asking which parly you plan to support in the provincial election, it might save money for us all if you said you plan to vote Conservative, even if you don’t. It was probably bad news last week when a poll suggested the Liberals were 12 points ahead of the Conservatives. Il may mean the provincial government will continue to spend millions to tell us what a good job it has been doing. One estimate is that the cost of these ads has now reached $100 million. While the election rules have been changed to make the official campaign for the next election the shortest in history, the unofficial campaign has been going on for months. Il started last fall when the Conservatives started paying for ads that attacked Liberal Leader Dalton McGinty. Il continued with the swell of government ads about the great things happening in health care and education and it is being escalated now that the Liberals arc shooting back. This promises to be a long, nasty campaign. Maybe if the polls improve, the government will call the election quickly and gel this over before things gel worse. — KR Spring waters Photo by Janice Becker Looking Back Through the Years From the files of the Blyth Standard, Brussels Post and North Huron Citizen May 2,1979 The Blyth Lions Club had their new officers swom in at their ladies' night banquet. New officers were: Keith Richmond, zone chairman for district A9; Lloyd Sippel, past pres­ ident; Don Scrimgeour, secretary; Rick Smith, treasurer; Douwe Wilts, vice president; Larry Walsh, president; Joe Chatterton, vice pres­ ident; and John Stewart, vice presi­ dent. At a convention of Lions International District A9, the Auburn Lions won an award for outstanding service to community and district. Despite some opposition, it was decided that a beer garden would again be run at the Thresher's Reunion. Heaven Can Wait, 20-time Academy Award nominee, was playing at Brownie's Drive-In in Clinton. Thank God It's Friday was showing at the Mustang Drive-In outside of Goderich. t May 3,1989 » The Ministry of Education con­ firmed an expenditure of $241,000 for the purpose of providing addi­ tional space at five Huron County schools. A total of $193,000 repre­ sents the share accepted by the Ontario government. Brussels taxpayers saw their taxes for village purposes jump by 11.2 per cent according to the mill rate adopted by village council. Distinguished Service Awards were presented to six members of the Blyth and District Fire Department by Murray Cardiff, MP for Huron-Bruce. Members receiv­ ing awards were Lieut. Doug Scrimgeour, 23 years; Bill Campbell, 20 years; Retired Chief Irvin Bowes, 40 years; Deputy Chief Jim Howson, 28 years; Clarence Bailie, 28 years; Don Noble, 23 years; and Don Craig, 28 years. Maureen Stapleton of RR2, Auburn received an excellence in education award. She was one of six students at Goderich District Collegiate Institute to receive the award for academic and extra cur­ ricular activities. Connie McClure and Heather Baan, both students of Seaforth District High School, received excellence in education awards. Ben Barnes of RR5, Brussels was one of five’ SiE. Madill Secondary School students to receive the excellence in education award. Lisa (Bosman) Elliott, a former Londesboro resident, also received the award. At the Brussels Bull annual award banquet, Marty Rutledge was top scorer; Kevin Talsma, rookie of the year; Craig Robertson, most improved player; Brian Campbell, most valuable player; and Mike Vincent, playoff most valuable player. Erin Mitchell, Kim Mulvey, Leslie Elliott, Sherry Verstoep and Nicole Lowe were the five Brussels Starlettes who won trophies in the Miss Pretty Toes competition at the Midwest Majorette Fest held in Wingham. In the same competition, Janice Jacklin of Brussels won several tro­ phies, including first place in the Miss Pretty Toes, Miss Military March, Miss Duet Twirl with part­ ner Margie Gordon of Belgrave and Miss Midwest Majorette, for total overall points in her category. Letters THE EDITOR, The Maitland Conservation Foundation recently held its annual fundraisng dinner and auction in Brussels. The event sold out in record time this year with over 300 people attending. One of the highlights of the evening was the Conservation raffle draw sponsored by Conway Furniture of Listowel. Mrs. G. Hazelden from Lucknow was the lucky winner of a $1,200 furniture voucher. Proceeds from the dinner and auction will be used to support conservation education activities at the Wawanosh Nature Centre. The Nature Centre, located north of Blyth, provides hands-on environmental programs to over 6,000 participants each year. The popularity of our annual Dinner and Auction reflects the ongoing generosity of Brussels and area businesses. Although the final Continued on page 7