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The Citizen, 1998-09-09, Page 4Strike a pose Photo by Janice Becker The North Huron itizen O c n eNA P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, On1. BRUSSELS, Ont. NOM 1H0 NOG 1H0 Phone 523-4792 Phone 887.9114 Advertising Manager, FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 Jeannette McNeil E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com The Citizen is published 50 times a year 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. - Bly1h. We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright. Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp z • Mr2:frM E ditorial Looking Back Through the Years From the files of the Blyth Standard, Brussels Post and North Huron Citizen Sept. 12,1968 John Murray Lowe of Brussels wed Ruth Louise McTaggart of Kitchener. Also married were Larry Ross Duncan and Judith Caroline Mar- ian. The Brussels Fall Fair was being prepared for. It was to feature both the Seaforth High School band and the Brussels Legion Pipe band, as well as a midway, pony and cart races, a dance, a school parade, a pet show and many exhibits of ani- mals and crafts. Exhibits could be seen at Crystal Palace. The Great Western Fair in Lon- don was also approaching. Admis- sion to the show was $1 for adults and 25 cents for children. Events at the Fair included daredevil acts, art exhibits, livestock, agricultural and horse shows, go-go dancers and two midways. It was in its 101st year and spanned nine days. . Sept. 12, 1973 The 12th annual Huron Pioneer Thresher Reunion drew over 9,000 people. Paid attendance alone totalled over 7,000. It was the sec- ond year that it was held through over Sunday, and that day's events started with a church service. In an editorial, it was discussed that Blyth needed street signs, an issue that had been discussed in the village for over a year. At Brownie's Drive-in in Clin- ton, The Train Robbers starring John Wayne and Jeremiah Johnson starring Robert Redford were play- ing. At the Blyth Meat Market, T- bone or sirloin steak cost $1.89 a lb. Pine River medium cheese cost 99 cent per lb. at Snell's Food Mar- ket. At Stewart's Food Market, two lbs of bananas cost 35 cents and two rolls of paper towel cost 68 cents. Sept. 10, 1997 The Huron Pioneer Thresher Reunion was a success with 13,000 people attending it. Campers num- bered 820, and 57 exhibits were entered in the craft exhibition. The event was in its 36th year. Malinda Exel, Leanne Zehr, Cynthia Dewit and Lee Ann McDonald competed for Brussels Fair Ambassador. Todd Uhrig pitched a no-hitter for the Brussels Tigers against the Exeter Braves. He walked only two batters and struck out 16. It was the first of a series. The Tigers lost the second game, but Uhrig was four for four at bat and gave up no runs as a relief pitcher. At the Goderich Park Theatre, Contact and Conspiracy Theory were the movies playing. In Lis- towel, at the Capital Twin Cinema, George of the Jungle and Hoodlum played in one theatre, while Cop- land played in the other. THE EDITOR, As chair of the HCHAN (Huron County HIV/AIDS Network) I would like to take this opportunity to thank the few devoted people who showed up last week (Aug. 25) for what was a very critical meeting concerning the life of HCHAN. It seems that it is time to address some very important issues concerning the agency-highest in the list was where do we see ourselves in the future. Seeing that we are running out of vital volunteers and people able to contribute valuable time to the Continued on page 11 Letters PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1998. Rolling the dice It seemed like a huge break for Huron County taxpayers when an alternative arose to the expense of creating a new county-owned landfill. Ever since the idea of expanding the Morris Twp. and Town of Exeter landfills to serve the northern and southern parts of the county came along, however, county politicians have been looking this gift horse in the mouth. Having already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in studying various landfill site options that eventually ended up not being usable, many county councillors seem determined to end the role of the county and its consultants in the garbage issue. In many ways, councillors just want to see the issue go away. But it won't, and in trying to make the issue disappear councillors may be rolling the dice. The county first got involved in waste management a decade ago because many local municipalities were facing the end of the life expectancy of their local sites and the expense of finding a new site was so great. Since then there has been endless frustration as the search for a county landfill took longer and longer and took more and more money at the same time as relaxed regulations and implementation of recycling have increased the potential lifetime of existing sites. With these new developments some reeves have become complacent with the way things are and are not ready to look for a more permanent solution. They see their own sites lasting for years into the future and worry that if a larger landfill was created, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) might make them close their own site. That latter possibility is indeed a threat, but local councils should realize that the life-expectancy of their landfills has only increased because the MOE has been turning a blind eye to some practices like burning wood and paper. There are likely few landfills in the county that could stand up to the full scrutiny of the environment officials. In many ways the county is dealing with the same kind of situation that has many running toward amalgamation whether they want it or not. In that case, they see it as better to find their own solution than to have the province impose one. The provincial ministry has the same kind of power in the landfill issue. If it decides to use that power, it could end up being very expensive. If Morris and Exeter get tired of foot-dragging by their neighbours and withdraw their options, county councii could have made a very expensive mistake. — KR Telling half the story As students head back to school, Ontario voters are the subject of a propaganda campaign waged by the provincial government and teachers' unions in which neither side is telling the whole story. In battling the government, for instance, the teachers' spokespersons have said the new working hours forced on them through the government's Bill 160, mean they will no longer be able to take part in extracurricular activities like sports or music or drama. This seems to be holding students hostage in the battle with the government. If teachers want to coach a team or supervise a choir they can still do it as they have before. Most of that work was done on a volunteer basis after school. Certainly spending more time in class will make this volunteerism more difficult, but it's not impossible. If teachers cared as much about their students as they claimed, they wouldn't be using them as pawns in their battle. On the other hand the government has been less than honest in its approach. Education Minster Dave Johnston has said "I'm not the one negotiating. I'm not the one dictating seven out of eight (classes a day). That's up to the local boards." That's patently dishonest. For one thing, Bill 160 terminated all contracts between school boards and teachers' union locals as of Aug. 31, forcing the confrontation. Secondly, the government by taking away the ability of the local boards to raise their own money, effectively gave them no other choice but to implement its demand that teachers spend more time in the classroom. There isn't the money to hire enough teachers to live up to the old contracts which the government legislated an end to. Dishonest or not, the government will no doubt win this battle. Their advertisements hit many concerns that parents have had for years, things like a return to basics and report cards you can understand. And of course it's never bad politics to bash the teachers. — KR