The Citizen, 2004-05-20, Page 1Soaring high
The Brussels. Public School students competed against each other to determine the fast est
runner, highest or longest jumper and farthest thrower during the annual track and field day
on May 14. Grade 8 student William King, flies through the air during the running long jump
event in the Senior boys competition. (Elyse DeBruyn photo)
No drop in sight for gas prices
NORTH HURON PUBUSHING COMPANY INC
Inside this week
Pg. 3
Pg. 7
Pg. 8
New business in
Blyth
AMDSB
superintendent
goes west
Local athletes
perform well
Pa .7 Area women on
S. I / District executive
Blyth Lions Pg. -10 honoured
Car
show,
May 29
By Elyse DeBruyn
Citizen staff
e Citizen
Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Volume 20 No. 20
Thursday, May 20, 2004
$1 (93c + 7c GST)
Clean out the closet and gather up
all those unused toys for the annual
Brussels community yard sale on
May 29. offering two new exciting
events for" everyone to enjoy.
George Langlois of Brussels said
the Brussels Business Group along
with local residents, have decided to
hold a custom car show and swap
Meet at the Brussels. Morris and
Grey Community Complex during
the yard sale.
Although this is the first year for
the car show, Langlois said the event
was planned for last year's yard sale,
but unfortunately the weather didn't
co-operate and the pouring rain
Drevented the first show from
mppening.
He said proud owners bring their
:ustomized cars in for display from
' ill over the area including
<itchener. Goderich and Listowel.
"We try to bring as many people
° Brussels as we can with this
vent." he said.
Each car is numbered and the
mblic is welcome to vote for their
'avourite one. At the end of the day,
'otes are tallied and the winner will
eceive the people's choice award.
Langlois said community youth
roups, schools and local churches
will set up food booths along the
nain- street of town making
ielicious treats _available to
veryone.
"We try to get the whole
ommunity involved in this event.
'eople seem to have a good time at
said Langlois.
He said the car owners are having
swap meet, allowing them to trade
rticles with each other at no cost,
lcluding car parts, hot • rod
tagazines and eight-track players.
The cost is $2 to register for the
- :immunity yard sale. Contact
russels Variety at 519-887-6224 or
)ntiict at 519-887-6751.
By Elyse DeBruyn
Citizen staff
Gas prices have gone up
considerably in the past month,
frustrating motorists more and more
every day and it doesn't appear
there's much hope of them dropping
any time soon.
Eleanor Babcock, owner of Grand
View Restaurant and Gas Bar in
Blyth, said in the, past month the
price of gas has risen almost 10
cents.
She said on March 3 the price of
gas was 78.9 cents per litre, then on
April 29 it rose to 81.9 cents per
litre, then May 5 it rose again to 83.9
cents per litre and finally on May 9 it
was at 89.9 cents per litre.
"When I get my load in of gas, I
know by what I have to pay what I
have to charge," said Babcock.
Doug Scrimgeour of Radford
Fuels in Blyth said the price of gas at
his gas station has also risen 10
cents in the past month,
"Recently. gas has gone up in
price each time I get a new load. The
wholesale cost is continually rising,"
said-. Scrimgeour.
Some gas stations are beginning to
stop the use of credit cards at their
and finally
book work to keep track of the
profits.
"So you can see thq net profit is
not very good," said Babcock.
Scrimgeour said the constant
rising prices of gas has not affected
business for him.
"People still have to drive. In this
sbeiety people have to drive for
everything because there is no
public transportation. We are tied to
our automobiles. There is no
escaping it for rural Ontario," said
Scrimgeour.
He said thisrising prize of gas is
starting to worry him as other
consumer industries are being
effected.
"People will continue to drive, but
since the cost is so high, they might
have to give--up something else. It's
the ripple effect. People only make
so much money a week, so they
might have to give something up in
order to drive that day," he said.
For example, he said restaurants or
clothing stores might be affected as
people will save their money and not
buy the material things.
Both Babcock and Scrimgeour
said they are unsure if the price of
gas will continue to rise.
Walk
focuses
on
Brussels
heritage
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen editor
Sunny skies and seasonal
temperatures made for a perfect day
as people took part in a Community
Heritage Walk in Brussels on
Sunday, May 16.
Sponsored jointly by the Huron
East heritage conservation
committee and the Brussels chapter
of Networking for Business Leads,
the walk was a launch for a new
brochure. celebrating Brussels'
heritage homes and buildings.
One of those who initiated the tour
is Charles Hoy who was surprised
by the interest. "I thought it would
be just a few people, but through
word of mouth it has grown to be
more than I expected."
Hoy- said they hoped to receive
feedback after the walk as to what
interests people and what other
points of interest there might be.
According to information from
Ralph Laviolette, business growth
and economic development officer
for Huron East, the brochure will be
distributed through the province's
network of 17 Ontario visitor
centres. It will be part of a raft of
brochures and information on
features of heritage and culture in
Huron East.
"Just the sort of thing to attract
visitors and tourists down our main
streets to eat. schmooze, browse and
shop."
Some of the highlights on
Sunday's walking tour were
Dunedin Manor, the library, the John
A. Leckie house on Dunedin Drive,
Logan's Mill and the Anglican
Church.
Blyth
office
open
Monday
In order to meet the regular press
date, there will be no holiday this
Victoria Day for most of The Citizen
staff.
While the Brussels office will he
closed, copy for editorial and
advertising to be included in the May
27 issue can be slipped under the
door for pick-up at noon May 24.
The Blyth office will be open
Monday, however, the deadline for
ads and articles for that week is
moved up to noon. ^41,1.
stations due to the usage charge'and employee deductions
high price of gas, but both
Scrimgeour and Babcock said their
gas bars will continue to offer credit
card services.
Scrimgeour said most gas stations
try to get about three to four cents
per litre while pumping, but that was
when the price of gas was 40 cents
per litre. Now the price of gas is so
high the margins are falling.
"Even though the price of fuel has
almost doubled, the margins have
fallen in half," said Scrimgeour.
On April I the price of fuel at
Radford's was 77.5 cents per litre
and on May 17 it was 89.9 cents per
litre.
Babcock said for a example, if
about 4,000 litres of gas were
pumped a day and if she were to
make three cents on every litre that
is pumped it workS' out to be about
$120 of profit a day.
Of that $120 she has to pay
minimum wage at 15 hours a day to
her employees which costs $107.25
a day leaving her with a gross profit
of $12. 75.
From that money she has to keep
maintenance of the pumps, 15 cents
per mile for each Air Miles reward
card used, credit card charges,