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The Citizen, 2004-05-20, Page 4I.A. NESPQLCA tiro 14111.*Os AND THEN SHE ASKED ME TO Se HONEST AND TELL HER IF THE JEANS MADE HER BUTT LOOK FAT. SO, t ANSWEQED:H HECK, NO! IT'S NOT THE JEANS"... PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2004. Editorials & Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising, Jamie Peters and Alicia deBoer The Citizen is published 50 times a year in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in odvance at a rate of $30.00/year ($28.04 + $1.96 G.S.T.) in Canada; $80.00/year in U.S.A. and 5100/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. - Blyth. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 PUBLICATIONS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM REGISTRATION NO. 09244 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON NOG 1 HO email: norhuroniascslnternet.com We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are (0 Copyright Member of the Ontario Press Council P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. NOM I HO NOG I HO Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com Website www.northhuron.on.ca I ocna ;NA The Citizen But we keep on driving Dreaming the impossible dream If there's one thing people talk about more than the weather it's the cost of gasoline, but unlike the weather there's something we can do about the high cost of gas: we can always cut back -our driving. While most people would argue the cost of gas is too high, it obviously isn't enough to have prevented us from changing our whole way of life based on cheap transportation. Fifty years ago people lived in the towns they worked in. Today it seems nearly everyone drives miles to work. Back then, farmers thought twice about a trip of three or four miles to town. Now people routinely drive 20 miles to shop. A trip to London once was a major excursion. Today people go to London for a movie. As a result of cheap transportation the economics that once supported a healthy rural community have changed Once there were small local butter and cheese factories, for instance,' because transportation costs were a major deterrent to centralizing production. Today most food processing is done in cities with the countryside providing only raw materials to create urban jobs and profits. Once we bought our groceries, shoes and clothing from people we knew on the main streets of our own towns and villages with the profits in turn staying in the community to support local services like hospitals, schools and arenas. Today people travel miles to buy from strangers working in huge chain stores that export their profits to Toronto or Arkansas. Once those local merchants were important leaders in our communities, part of service clubs, local school boards and municipal councils. Today there are often no local merchants to serve the community because we've exported our shopping dollars. We've built an entire economy on cheap transportation and now that the cost of transportation is rising, we're panicking. We're hooked on cheap gas like drug addicts, and like addicts, we'll pay any price to get our fix. Is the price of gas too high? When we begin to change our economic behaviour we'll know the price is too high. — KR There's a certain ring of familiarity in elements of the Conservative Party's election platform leaked last week. It almost sounds like Mike Harris took over leadership of the party after all. According to the Conservatives, you can have tax cuts but never fear — the services you really want will still be there. In fact there would even be more money for health care under their plans. So where will the money come from for this fiscal miracle of the loaves and fishes? Nobody has said yet but back in the Harris days it was going to come from eliminating waste. Of course there wasn't as much waste as the Harrisites figured and services ended up being cut, costs were downloaded to the municipalities which are now having to increase taxes, taking up any money put into the taxpayers' pockets by tax cuts. On top of that, the last Conservative government ran a massive deficit that the current provincial government is trying to deal with. It's hard to imagine there can be enough waste left in the federal administration— sponsorship scandal included— to fund the kind of tax cuts and service improvements the Conservatives are promising. In the name of balancing the budget, the Liberals have already cut services and downloaded too much of the burden of health care to the provinces. You can tell a left winger from a right winger by their dreams. A left winger thinks the government can do everything for everyone and somehow find the money. The right winger has the equally unrealistic dream that taxes can be slashed and somehow you can still get the services you need by "cutting waste". Both groups dream impossible dreams.— KR Letter to the editor Looking Back Through the Years THE EDITOR, I am writing to enlist your support in publicizing an upcoming meeting that will be of benefit to the surprising numbers in our area who suffer from multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells. Though in the last few years there has been great progress in treatment of this disease, it remains incurable and fatal. To help patients and their caregivers deal with the effects of the disease and its treatment, the London and District Myeloma Support Group has been organized by a group of volunteers. On May 26, we will be having a meeting on the topic, Anemia and Fatigue at 6 p.m. in room 1239 at the London Regional Cancer Centre on Commissioners Road in London. Dr. Ian Chin-Yee, M.D., Chief of Division of Hematology, UWO, and Grace Bradish, RN, Advanced practice nurse, London Health Sciences Centre, will be speaking. Patients, caregivers, and those interested in the topic are welcome. Those who would like more information about the meeting or the group can contact any of the following: Jim Barnes, 519-887- 6 163, barnes@scsinternet.com Carolyn Henry, 519-850-0730, Carolyn.Henry@rogers.com Becky Ross, 519-641-7080, bucky03@hotmail.com Thank you for your help. Sincerely, Jim Barnes. May 21, 1952 A double trio from Brussels Public School, Agnes Lane, Ester Smith, Dorothy Sullivan, Elizabeth Myers, Audrey Davidson and Diane McNair, competed in the Huron County Music Festival in Goderich and won the Goderich Public School Board Shield. The Huron County TB x-ray clinic was held in Ethel. A Teen Town party was held in Brussels for area teenagers. They participated in games and enjoyed a modern and old-time-music dance. The Bible in the World published in Britain by the British and Foreign Bible Society, had a picture of John Schnock, the president of the Brussels branch of the Bible Society, in its May issue. May 22, 1969 Graduates of the Ridgetown College of Agricultural Technology were David Wheeler and Brian Hopper of Brussels as well as Murray McClure and Keith Williamson of Walton. Five new homes in Brussels were in various stages of construction. May 24, 1972 Joyce Huether of Brussels, received her RN degree from St. Joseph's School of Nursing. Triplet calves were born on the Brussels-area family farm of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Groenveld. Students at Brussels Public School planted over 100 trees on the school grounds as part of the Centennial project. A farewell party was held for Mrs. and Mr. Eli Bury of Blyth who planned on moving back to Belgium. The Ontario government introduced a program to encourage long-term expansion in the province's beef calf herd. It was known as the Ontario Beef Heifer Loan program. May 21, 1989 Rainy weather didn't stop a large crowd from turning out for the annual Victoria Day fireworks in LO-ndesborough. The leftover money from the windup of operations of the Blyth Agriculture Society, which operated the old Blyth Fall Fair, went to various groups and schools in the community. The Blyth Horticultural Society received $200, Blyth, Brussels, Belgrave school fair got $500 and $1,600 was divided among the four high schools in the Blyth area, to be used for bursaries for students. Blyth council approved the plan to redesign the western and southern part of the Lions Park in Blyth. Council also decided to proceed with the repairs to the bricks at Memorial Hall with an estimated cost of $1,500. The 84th District annual of the Huron East Women's Institute was held with nine new executives. Margaret Niessen of Wingham and Ottawa-based pension consultant Paul Linden held an information session regarding the discovery that anyone who worked in Germany could be entitled to a retirement pension frcm the German government. Elaine Gottschall, a nutritional scientist spoke to 75 people about the power of food. A new parking lot, behind the stores on the east side of the main street in Blyth, was under construction. Bluevale welcomed four venders on opening day of the Farmers Market. May 18, 1994 Blyth children were educated on bicycle safety tips during the Optimist Bike Rodeo. The Blyth Business Association was looking for street entertainers or buskers to entertain on the village's main street as part of the Blyth Rutabaga Festival. More than 100 West Wawanosh residents zeroed in on environmental and social concerns to hear more about the choice of three township sites as possibilities for a Huron County landfill. For the first time in more than a decade Blyth businesses officially formed a new association. Students from Blyth Public School were able to watch the solar eclipse (which took place early that week) on TV. Mother and daughter, Karen Brewer and Sue Richmond took over ownership of the Belgrave Variety. Hullett Central Public' School students spent two hours jumping rope and raising money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation through the Jump Rope for Heart campaign. May 26, 1999 Hullett Central Public School held its annual track and field day. A daytime watering ban was set for Brussels residents allowing them to water their lawns and flowers from 7-10 p.m. Anyone caught watering during any time other than the designated hours was given a warning. A second offence would see their water shut off. Bill Howson presented a cheque to Grace Correia of Blyth Festival, the first donation to the endowment fund established between the arts council and the art groups. Huron-Bruce MP Paul Steckle was in Blyth to gather input on the tax system and developing equities for families with children and stay-. at-home parents. Former Walton Public School student, Brett Lee, visited the school to talk to the students about farm safety and the general safety of motorcycles and four-wheelers.