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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2004-01-22, Page 1Riding by After a Slow start to the season, impatient snowmobilers have been able to hit the trails thanks to the recent dumping of snow throughout the region. On Sunday, St. Helens' club held its poker rally. (Vicky Bremner photo) Court grants extension or restructuring Acre T NH NORTH HURON PUBLISHING COMPANY INC. Inside this week Pg. 6 Pg. 8 Pg. 9 Ag Society holds annual meeting Dynamites blast way to gold Peters on Prospects team Pg. 11 Villages welcome r g. " new businesses 23 Festival extends Pg. 'Donnellys' run The Citizen WELp(3PIE 'TO ESI'ABIJS1111) 1877 /10 Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Volume 20 No. 3 Thursday, Jan. 22, 2004 $1 (93c + 7c GST) Centre hosts Snowiest The Maitland Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) is hosting its annual SNOWfest celebration on Jan. 25 at the Wawanosh Nature Centre. The event runs from 1 - 4 p.m. Visitors are invited to bi:ing their cross-country skis or snowshoes and headout on the scenic conservation area trails. Trail maps will be available in the Nature Centre. If you don't have snowshoes you can rent a pair for $2.50. "We've been getting a lot of inquiries from people asking if they can rent snowshoes for an afternoon," said Esther Buck, community education technician with the MVCA. "Most weekends our snowshoes are booked by community groups so we developed SNOWfest as a time when families can come and try this winter activity." Conservation authority staff will be on hand to fit snowshoes and provide a short introductory lesson. The terrific thing about snowshoeing is that it's quite simple. If you can walk, you can snowshoe. Snowshoes are available for ages four and over. Coffee and hot chocolate will be available in the Nature Centre throughout the afternoon. For further information, contact the MVCA at 519-335-3557. The Wawanosh Nature Centre is located north of Blyth, west of County Road 4 on Nature Centre Road. Cartoonist I.A. (Tony) Nespolon continues to get recognition for his work from the Ontario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA). For the fifth year, Nespolon has been gelected as the creator of one of the top three Cartoons of the Year in OCNA's Better Newspapers Competition. Submitted by Citizen editor The Ontario Sdperior Court yesterday granted a further extension to financially-troubled Acre T Farms Ltd., which has been under court protection from its creditors since October. At a hearing in Toronto, Mr. Justice James Farley granted a 45- day extension allowing Lambert Huizingh, the court-appointed chief restructuring officer, and KPMG Inc., -the court-appointed monitor, time to formulate recommendations concerning Acre T's future. In an affidavit filed with the court, Huizingh suggests that Acre T will Bonnie Gropp, this year's entry from the May 23, 2003 issue depicted the condition of small town, rural main street, its empty stores and a family, pondering the reason while heading home in a truck packed with items from Big Box stores. First-place winners will be named at the spring convention in Toronto. have a greater chance of survival in the short-term and enjoy greater future success as a producer of early weans, rather than finished hogs, and urges that this course of action be pursued immediately. The affidavit said, in part, that in order for any successful restructuring or going-concern operation to continue, it is necessary that the hog finishing business conducted by Acre T be terminated when the hogs now in the finishing cycle have passed through the nursery stage or finishing barns. It is expected the remaining cycle will be completed in less than four months. The court confirmed Acre T's right to repudiate contracts with its nursery and growing contractors, which will become effective once the hogs now in their care have passed through the nursery or finishing stage. Huizingh said he has been involved in negotiations and discussions with various growers to ensure that the current fill of hogs in their barns is completed in accordance with contractual arrangements and that all obligations owing to those growers in respect of the current fill of pigs in their barns are met and that all obligations owing by the growers to Acre T are also met. He said that various disputed accounts as they relate to the finishing growers will be dealt with in a mutually agreeable manner and close out payments payable to growers will be made without deduction for such disputed amounts. Huizingh, a senior vice-president with Padden & Yorke Inc., described the 45-day extension as an opportunity to focus on the disposition of certain residual assets and to allow for the restructuring of Acre T. Acre T Farms Ltd. was founded in 1982 by Joe and Miriam Terpstra. The business has 48 full-time employees and contracts with 12 nursery contractors and 44 growing contractors. _ Acre T remains under court protection from its creditors. Festival recruits for play By Elyse DeBruyn Citizen staff The Blyth Festival is seeking participants for three winter drama workshops, which may lead towards the development of a community play. The play will be based on The Passion, a folk play that has taken various forms around the world for many centuries and now the Blyth Festival is embarking on its own unique interpretation, scheduled for full production outdoors, in the summer of 2005. Kelly McIntosh, Blyth Festival playwriter and actor, will be leading the workshops with help from Rev. Dr. Eugen Bannerman, minister of the Blyth United Church. Bannerman said when Blyth began in the 1850s there were various religions including the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, the Church of England and the Catholic Church. About 100 years later the Church of God and the Christian Reformed Church also began in Blyth. "Hopefully all these traditions will come together in the Passion play," said Bannerman. McIntosh and Bannerman said through the workshops they are looking for ethnic and spiritual music from this area ranging from choral to bluegrass music. This will help bring The Passion play to life and give it a community-based aspect. "(The workshops) will be a fun environment where we are" creating stories and ideas together. I'm looking for music and stories with an authentic Huron County voice," said McIntosh. They are also asking people to bring anything old fashioned including photos, old records, diary entries, testimonials of cultures and any stories from great-grandparents. "I feel that the best way to cultivate theatre is by sharing community stories and then putting them into dramatic form," said McIntosh. As an award-winning theatre artist, McIntosh has devoted most of her career to the development of new Canadian work and has worked extensively with director Paul Thompson. She has starred in such plays as Death of the Hired Man, The, Outdoor Donnellys, Hippie and The Perilous Pirate's Daughter. She said the Passion play will be along the same lines as The Outdoor Donnellys, involving members of the professional theatre community working in concert with local community players. The first workshops will be held during the evenings from Jan. 27 to Feb. 7 in the June Hill room in the Blyth Festival administration office. "We're hoping people will want Continued on page 2.3. Nespolon gets OCNA nod