HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2004-02-05, Page 1Helping hand
Tons of snow can be plenty of fun for little ones, but all the bundling up isn't always easy to
cope with. Mitchell McKay gets a little help with his hat from friend Wyatt Machan as little
brother Wade Machan makes his way through the tunnel of snow dug out of the front yard.
(Sarah Mann photo)
NOR1H HURON PUBLISHING COMPANY INC.
Inside Inside this week
Pg' 6
Brussels Curling
Club turns 40
Pg.Q Local teams doing
0 well
n Cream producers
1 .6. iv meet
OFA president Pg. iu visits Huron
Pg. 22 Howick woman
writes book
e Citizen
and northern Huron County
Volume 20 No. 5 Thursday, Feb.5, 2004 $1 (93c + 7c GST)
Market to
be explored
Following the success of an
experimental one-day farmers'
market in Blyth last summer, a
meeting will be held to explore the
idea of a regular market this
summer.
As in last summer's success, the
market would be held Saturday
afternoons to take advantage of the
extra traffic because of Blyth
Festival matinees. Markets would be
held from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on a
main street location. - -
"It's our hope that the market will
add interest to Blyth's main street
for visitors and bring more people
ffom the surrounding community to
the village as well," said Keith
Roulston who chaired the
committee that organized last year's
market which included 11 vendors
selling fruits and vegetables, baking,
plants and crafts.
• Anyone interested in being part of
a weekly market can attend a
meeting on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 2
p.m. at The Citizen. "The level of
interest shown at this meeting will
determine whether we try to run a
weekly market, Anyone who cannot
attend but is interested in taking part
should call me at 523-4792 or 523-
9636 in the evenings."
By Elyse DeBruyn
Citizen staff
The freezing temperatures, high
winds and continuous snowfall that
made January a month to remember
had some local businesses closed,
while others weren't affected at all.
Don Scrimgeour of Scrimgeour's
Food Town in Blyth, said the
unpredictable weather didn't have
much effect on his business.
"We lucked out on deliveries.
There were a couple of days without
produce, but we pretty much had a
normal delivery schedule," said
Scrimgeour.
He said there are two or three
employees that live out-of-town and
couldn't make it in, but local
employees were able to cover and
the grocery store was able to keep its
normal hours.
Colleen Elliott of JR's Family
Restaurant in Brussels, said some
days they closed a couple of hours
early so their staff could get home
safely."I give them (the staff) a lot of
credit. They are pretty faithful and
do their upmost to arrive for a shift.
A few have had to call in, but that is
understandable," said Elliott.
She said the only other effect the
storm has had on the restaurant is the
limited' number of out-of-town
customers.
Many area roads -were closed due
to heavy drifting of snow and some
highways were down to one lane or
less during last week's storm.
Visibility was difficult for most
motorists to see and avoid traffic
accidents in white-out areas.
On Jan. 28, Huron OPP wrote 12
traffic tickets to drivers who failed to
obey the road closure signs. This
cost each driver $110 plus it added
three demerit points to their driver's
licence.
Sr. Const. Don Shropshall of the
Huron OPP said some tickets that
were issued were to drivers on their
way to work, but others had
something else they had to drive to.
"They weren't all work related.
Some were in the evenings and some
were during the day. Citizens move
from one place to another even when
it's bad out," said Shropshall.
He said people have been saying,
"well it was fine when I was in
town", but on highways it is a
different story because of the
blowing and poor visibility.
He recommends people just stay
off the roads when it is bad weather.
storms
"If it is a dire must to drive on the
roads, not closed roads, slow the
speed down considerably and allow
more time and don't rush when the
weather is bad," he said.
The road closures stopped many
motorists from travelling far, but Jeff
Howson from Howson and Howson
Ltd. in Blyth said the stormy
weather only delayed a few truck
runs.
"The trucks made every scheduled
delivery and there weren't any extra
deliveries to do," said Howson.
Jim Jutzi of Brussels Transport
Ltd. said his truck drivers got their
work done, it just took a little longer.
"Everything was slowed down
because of the weather. Some had to
take detours because of closed roads
and some had to stop and wait for
roads to open back up," Jutzi said.
Hall
meeting
turns
sour
By Andrea Hruska
Special to The Citizen
The meeting intended to decide
the fate of the Moncrieff Hall
quickly 'turned sour Tuesday
evening, Jan. 27 and became what
many present referred to as "a good
old-fashioned lynching."
Grey Ward councillor Alvin
McLellan found himself "caught off
guard" by the hostility, agreeing that
this was "probably one of the worst"
meetings he-has been involved with
in his political history.
The meeting left some ratepayers
wondering if council needs to
demonstrate better leadership in the
management of potentially volatile
community situations and promotion
of positive conflict resolution
initiatives.
Although many expressed genuine
interest in seeing the town hall
revitalized, it soon became evident
that discord within the community of
Moncrieff might stand in the way of
any success. In recent years,
apparent conflict over bylaws and
property boundaries have left
feelings of resentment and anger,
emotions that dictated the tone of
Tuesday night's meeting.
Several reasons were noted as to
why the hall is not being rented and
generating revenues, which included
no heat due to a faulty oil tank,
unreasonable parameters in which
one must reside to rent the facility
and disagreement over whether or
not the basement portion of the
facility should be rented for storage.
In the past, the hall board acted in
good faith upon renting the facility
until substantial damage occurred
after one event. Since that time, the
board has established stricter
policies and the Liquor Control
Board of Ontario now requires
special occasion permits when
alcohol is to be served at a function.
The history of the Women's
Institute in Moncrieff became an
important detail that evening as it
was rumoured that dishes stored in
the hall which had been purchased
by members who were "ancestors"
of the community were potentially
headed for auction on ebay to raise
money to support the hall. Elaine
Smith, past member of the Moncrieff
WI which disbanded in the late
1980s, explained that the "blue
dishes" hold great historical and
sentimental value to residents and
that they would like the opportunity
to purchase some of the 85 place
settings.
Cindy Moyer, Moncrieff resident,
hall board member and one of the
parties involved in some of the
bylaw conflicts within the hamlet,
wonders if council could do things
differently to promote conflict
resolution. According to Moyer,
council has bylaws established to
protect the property and rights
Continued on page. 6
Business as usual through