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The Citizen, 2006-03-09, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2006. PAGE 19. Speakers Zone C-1 of the Royal Canadian Legion held its annual public speaking contest on March 4 at Branch 140, Clinton. Winners in the Grade 8-9 category, with Zone C-1 Commander Shirley Chalmers, left and youth education chairperson Peggy Griffin, are from left: Mercedes TenPas, Brussels, first; Stephen Lambert, Goderich, second and Tyson Sjaarda, Auburn, third. (Photo submitted) Well done Tori Kellington received her certificate from youth education officer for Brussels Legion Branch 218 Sandra Josling for taking first place in the Zone junior essay and Zone junior poetry Legion Remembrance competition. Tori's first-place finishes qualify her for District competition. (Photo submitted) Landfill neighbours want opportunity to provide input Top finishers The top three speakers in the Grade 4-6 category at the Zone C-1 public speaking contest held Saturday at the Clinton Legion Branch are, with Zone Commander Shirley Chalmers, left and youth education chairperson Peggy Griffin, from left: Jacob McGavin, Brussels, first; Madison Sjaarda, Auburn, third and Luke Dailleboust, Wingham, second (Photo submitted) Locals win at Zone contest Zone C-1 of the Royal Canadian Legion held its annual public speaking contest on March 4 at Branch 140 Clinton with 40 students competing. The first-place students from the 13 Branch contests in the zone competed in four grade categories with the following results: Grades 1-3, first, Terry Hartman, Exeter, Tomas' Snowsuit; second, Matthew May, Goderich, Bring the Rain to Kapiti Plain; third, Mary Paige St. Onge, Seaforth, Love You By Ric McBurney At the general meeting of Blyth Branch 420 of the Royal Canadian Legion March 2, members had the pleasure of hearing the first-place winners of the speaking contest sponsored by the Royal Canadian Legion. Comrade Gwen Papple, the youth and education chairperson introduced these three students. The first place winner of story telling was Lexi Aitken from Hullett Central Public School. Her story was on Moods. • The first-place winner for junior speeches was Courtney MiddeOal from Hullett Central School and her speech was on Cats. The first-place winner for intermediate speeches was Tyson Sjaarda from St. Anne's Catholic Secondary School. His speech was on ketchup. These students moved onto Zone Forever. Grades 4-6, first, Jacob McGavin, Brussels, Equality; second, Luke Dailleboust, Wingham, Winters in Wingham; third, Madison Sjaarda, Auburn, Crayons. Grades 7-9, first, Merecedes Ten Pas, Brussels, Embarrassing Moments; second, Stephen Lambert, Goderich, Hypnosis; third, Tyson Sjaarda, Auburn, Ketchup. Grades 10-12, first, Ryley Neal, Goderich, Civil War; second, Rachel Kuyvenhoven, Wingham, I Pods. level public speaking which was held at Branch 140 Clinton on March 4. The students did an excellent job and need to be congratulated for their efforts. Membership chair, Comrade Thelma Johnston, initiated two new associate members Chad Haggitt and Michael Haggitt. Congratulations to the new members and welcome to Branch 420. We are always looking for new members so if you are interested, or know someone who is, by all means step forward and become a Legion member. The elections this year will be at the general meeting on May 4 at 7:30 p.m. Have you been thinking about getting involved? Come on out. This is your chance. There are positions to fill on the executive committee. Donations have been made to the Congratulations go out to all the students who competed in this year's contest. Each student received a certificate and prize money. The first-place winners from the Zone will now advance to the District C contest to be held at Legion Branch 218 Brussels on March 18 with speeches starting at 1 p.m. The general public is invited to come and listen to these talented students. is Branch 420's 60th This event will be celebrated April 1 at Memorial Hall. Mark this down so you don't miss out. There will be local talent to entertain as well as a dinner and dance to the music of Country Motion. The special guests will be our local veterans and certainly any other veteran who can make it Also attending from Ontario Provincial Command will be president Gord Moore. For more information and to get tickets contact Thelma Johnston at 523-9444 or Ric McBurrigy., at 523- 9580. Tickets are $15 per person for dinner and dance or $5 per person for the dance only. By Heather Crawford Citizen staff Residents who live near the Wingham landfill site, located on the corner of Reid Road and Currie Line, would like to see the site closed down and moved. According to Brian Hallman, who lives directly across from the landfill, the site is on a gravel pit and the waste could contaminate the water. "We've always been worried about our water. Worrying about what's going on across the street is an on-going problem," he said. Hallman, as well as Charlie Brak, who built his house with the information that the site would be closing in the mid-1980s, have their water tested every six months by a Burnside engineer. "Anything could happen between the tests," Barb Hallman said. "We don't get to know what the tests say." • Brak said he requested a report and the engineer said that he would be informed if there was a problem. Other concerns the residents had about the site include the fumes and smoke from burning the waste. "It gets so bad in the summer, we can't even sit outside," Barb said. "I can't even go out to barbeque," Brian said. "Who would want to barbeque with that?" Both Currie and Reid are dirt roads and Barb said she is concerned about the wear and tear taken to the road with the many trucks coming into the site. '4 "Who's going to nave to pay for the damages done to the road?" she asked. "Our taxes are going to go up because of it." Jim Taylor, who lives on Currie Line said his taxes have already increased 80 per cent since he first owned his house. He, along with the Hallmans and other local residents are concerned about property value decreasing. "Our land value is nil right now," Barb said. North Huron council is now considering increasing the use of the site and expanding it into a county wide site. A public meeting was held on Feb. 15 to hear the concerns of the local residents. As a result of the meeting, North Huron Reeve Doug Layton decided to form, a committee, clerk- administrator John Stewart said. "A lot of the discussion (at the Feb. 15 meeting) was about the past," Stewart said. Jim Taylor said he was asked to be the liaison between the public and council. "I think there was a mismanagement of the dumpsite," he said. "They didn't tell us what was going on." Taylor said he wasn't aware the site was being used as a landfill after 1987 when he thought it was closed. "We thought they were moving the waste from there to Exeter," he said. Taylor said there was a plan to close the site in 1987. "There was a certificate of approval that said it would close but council had it extended twice," Stewart said. "First the land was rented and then [the municipality] bought it. The date to close the site was then removed." A public meeting was held to discuss this change Stewart said. A notice of the meeting was published in the local newspapers however, the residents felt they should have been given more notice. "We weren't obligated to give a personal invitation," Stewart said. "There were certain ways, according to regulations that we could inform the residents and one of them was to advertise in the paper. We filled our obligation." `There's a process to go through. There's licencing," Taylor said. He was still apprehensive about the way North Huron council informed the residents and felt they could have been notified throughout the changes. He said hiS property value is decreasing because of the site and he didn't get a chance to defend it. Stewart said the next step for council is to "further investigate the expansion." Br. 420 holds general meetin Huron Hurricanes swim club, Blyth Public School and Hullett Central School for swimming lessons and the Alzheimer Society of Huron County. This year anniversary.