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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2000-07-05, Page 1The Citizen _______________________Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Volume 16 No. 27 Wednesday, July 5, 2000 75 Cents (70c + 5c gst) Inside this week Pg. 6 Pg. 10 Pg-19 Day Centre leaves old Huronview Area teacher retires from Sacred Heart Special section salutes the Grade 8 class of 2000 Brussels man’s tractor heads west Blyth director scores a double While actor/director Ross Manson was burning the midnight oil tackling a dress rehearsal for Corker in Blyth a week ago this past Monday night, his stand-in was accepting not one but two of Toronto’s coveted Dora Awards. Manson is the artistic director of Volcano, an independent theatre company in Toronto. He directed Building Jerusalem which was awarded the Outstanding Production Dora and the Outstanding New Play Dora. The Dora Awards are named for Dora Mavor Moore (1888-1979), a well-loved teacher and director who helped establish Canadian professional theatre in the 1930s and 1940s. Following the announcement, Manson said he was delighted to hear that the production had won the two Doras and shared his belief that “something can be both experi mental, formally sophisticated, and also very accessible.” Building Jerusalem had an exceptional 90 per cent box office for the duration of its run. “It shows that if you put work into developing new plays the audience likes it and the artistic community will also respond,” Manson said. In Blyth Manson was the director of Corker, which is a satirical comedy by Dartmouth MP Wendy Lili. It opened June 28 and runs through to Aug. 5 at Blyth Festival. Tickets for the productions are $18.50 - $25. For more information call 1-877- 862-5984 or visit the website at www.blythfestival.com. The last hurrah With the sweet voices of singing children, music softly playing and the schools bells ringing at the last Walton Public School and the previous one, the classes of 2000 released message- filled balloons on the final day of school, June 29. After numerous activities, ceremonies and appreciation days, students, teachers and family members said a final farewell to the school which felt like part of the family. School board makes decision to cut funding to outside groups By Susan Hundertmark Special to The Citizen No outside groups will be receiving funding from the Avon Maitland District School Board this year, said superintendent Geoff Williams at last week’s board meeting. Because a board policy created last year gives administration the power to determine which, if any, groups are funded by the board, the issue was not discussed or decided by trustees. However, trustee Abby Armstrong asked Williams where the $65,000 given last year to outside groups will be spent. “The intent this year is to redirect the money into primary language resource programs in schools,” said Williams, adding that the money will purchase reading materials for primary students and train teachers how to use them. The issue created controversy last year when groups that had been historically funded for years by both predecessor boards in Huron and Perth Counties, such as the Seaforth District High School All Girls Marching Band, were informed the funding would end. While the total budget for outside groups was reduced to $65,000 from the $106,395 to Perth groups and $59,124 to Huron groups, many groups retained some funding last year after following another new policy, also put in place last year, that required groups to apply for funding each year. Williams refused to release the list of groups which received funding last year until the groups receive a letter from the board. However, a list of the groups receiving funding two years ago included in Huron County, Huron High Art Attack, competitions beyond local level, regional sports, director’s recognitions awards. Grey Central/Ministry of Natural Resources, “Beyond” enrichment program, Quest and VIP, literacy festi val/Slice of Huron, Math League, Biyth/Brussels/Belgrave school fair, safe schools/violence against women, peer mediation and mentoring programs, Wescast/adult education and the Seaforth District High School All Girls Marching Band. In Perth County, the groups included Brocksden, championship arts, championship athletics, dairy program, developmentally- handicapped special games, developmentally-handicapped swim program, environmental awareness, Fryfogel, Gallery Stratford, Interlink Project, Kiwanis Music Festival, Lions Quest, literacy programs, math contest, Newspapers in Education, performing arts, Perth County Museum, Perth County Youth Choir, Sci-Tech Encounters, Sisters Cities and Vision-On program. Williams said because the board no longer has the ability to control its revenue by raising taxes, funding outside groups is a “luxury the board has ceased to be able to do.” “We’ve got to focus all our resources on program development,” he said. He added that the programs can still continue to operate, can still apply for funding to the board’s Foundation for the Enrichment of Education and will still be used by students of the board. “My sense is, with one exception in Perth County, most of the programs aren’t getting a large percentage of their revenue from the board,” he said. Thieves hit Lees, take bike The theft of more than $14,000 worth of motocross racing equipment from the Lee farm on Cone. 17 of Grey Twp., June 29, has put the family out of competition for the season. “It is a real bummer when you can’t store your equipment on your own property,” said Brett Lee, owner of the $13,000 racing bike stolen. Lee also said racing bikes cannot be insured because the value depreciates so quickly. With his sponsorship deal, Lee gets a bike to use for racing for the season, then sells it at the end of the summer 'to pay the cost. With no insurance and no bike to sell, Lee will be working hard to cover the loss. OPP were notified that sometime between 8 p.m. on June 28 and 2 p.m. on June 29 a person entered an unlocked driving shed and stole the orange 2000 KTM 400 CC motorcycle with a four-stroke engine. This is a unique motorcycle, only one of five located in Ontario, said Lee. Lee is hoping someone can help the OPP track down the bike, saying it would stand out as unusual. It looks and sounds different from the Hondas or Yamahas. He is not concerned that someone is charged with the theft which has left the family out of racing and his brother Matt to teach riding without a bike, but that the bike is returned. “I don’t care if it is dumped on our lawn. I just want the bike back.” Lee said this will be a long summer for the family as their lives revolve around racing. Also stolen were 25 nylon waist length green/black coats, two pairs of Motocross boots, five pair of racing pants, three helmets, five jerseys and two chest protectors. Lee said it appears the target was motocross equipment as other items were left untouched. Anyone who can help find the property or the persons responsible is asked to call the Huron OPP or by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800- 222-8477(TIPS). Huron East sets salaries The Huron East transition board and its administrative and property committees held meetings on June 12 ahd 27 with a number of decisions being made with respect to personnel issues. Salary grids were established for the positions of clerk-administrator ($52,000 to $76,000), treasurer finance manager ($46,000 to $60,000), deputy clerk-treasurer ($36,000 to $43,000) and public works co-ordinator ($45,000 to $61,000). The clerk-administrator’s position will be posted with the deadline for applications being July 7 at noon. Once the clerk- Continued on page 6