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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2006-06-22, Page 1B'YTH WELCOd1E r0 ESTABUSIIE.D 187 '!, • A big one! Wyatt Porter outclassed his dad Dale with his catch on Sunday. Blyth Legion branch 420, the Radford Group and Canadian Tire jointly sponsor the annual Father's Day fishing derby at Radford's pond. (Carol Burns photo) N. Huron says no to BIG NORTH HURON PUBLISHING COMPANY INC] Inside this week Pg. 3 Pg. 6 Pg. 8 Pg. 13 Sisters cut for Locks for Love OPP hold annual Torch Run Local teams post victories Grey students wait for rain 23 'Much Ado' at Pg. Stratford Festival e Citizen ing the co mrnunitiMurrelyth and Brussels and nort.Huron County Volume 22 No. 25 Thursday, June 22, 2006 $1 (93c + 7c GST) Chat with Gabereau On July 15, Blyth Festival is sponsoring an an opportunity to chat with talk show host and author Vicki Gabereau, and to share brunch with her afterwards. The National Speakers Bureau describes Gabereau as: "...the kind of person who makes friends wherever she goes. She has a knack for getting the most reticent and evasive guests to chat with her like neighbours over the back fence, making it easy to get the inside scoop that Barbara Walters never gets." If Gabereau's personality is not enough to encourage people to attend, then the opportunity to find out how she has managed to turn failures into successes might be. At 18 she moved to Toronto to attend school and live with her father's best friend, Pierre Berton, and his family. Instead of finishing school, she married and had two children by the time she was 23. Her 1974 attempt to enter municipal politics was ended when she was defeated by 177,000 votes. Despite this, her profile as the clown, Rosie Sunrise, trying to become mayor, led to her first job in radio broadcasting. She set her eyes on broadcasting / for the CBC, and in 1981 began as host of CBC radio's Variety Tonight, which transformed into the two-hour afternoon interview Gabereau in 1985, and Gabereau Live! in 1997. Gabereau's books include her biography, This Won't Hurt a Bit and Cooking Without Looking. Brunch with Gabereau after the show, is limited to150 people. Special events co-ordinator. Lee- Anna Poelman says that a special caterer is working with Festival staff and volunteers to create the brunch which includes quiche, salad, soups, wraps and fruit. The Gabereau show and brunch will cost $30. The show, which starts at 11 a.m.costs $22.50. Brunch is at 12 p.m. The event is part of the Festival's annual Member Day. At 2 p.m. The Ballad of Stompin' Tom is being performed, at 6:15, a country supper, and at 8 p.m., Lost Heir. Call 523-9300 for reservations. By Bonnie Gropp Citizen editor A request for funds that came as a bit of a surprise was turned down by North Huron council Monday night. In council's agenda was a letter from the Blyth Idea Group (BIG) asking council for $2,000 for the four pipe bands which have been booked to appear in the Band Tattoo at Campvention 2006 on Sunday, July 9. In response to a question from councillor Murray Nesbitt whether or not council had previous knowledge of this, clerk- administrator Kriss Snell said that there had been discussions but nothing regarding costs. By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen Compared to the province-wide average, a greater proportion of Grade 10 students across Huron and Perth Counties were successful in the 2006 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT), administered in March. That was particularly true in the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board, which was second only to the Halton Catholic board in terms of the percentage of students achieving success on their first attempt. Results from the OSSLT, which is a required achievement for high Councillor Jim Campbell wondered if BIG had mentioned any dollar value that they would be willing to contribute. "Not that I'm aware," said Snell. Councillor Arnold Taylor mentioned an outstanding account that BIG has for signage. "There is no word as far as I know about settling that account so I have concerns about giving them more money." Nesbitt agreed, adding that he was also puzzled as to how the request came. "If this came up earlier I wasn't paying attention I guess. But this is like the decision's been made and then you ask if it's okay." Taylor added that this had also concerned him. "If you're looking school graduation, were released last week. Consistently over the past few years, a greater percentage of students from both boards in this district have passed the test, compared to the provincial aVerage. That has continued through a couple of major overhauls to the OSSLT, mainly to give boards more flexibility in administering the test to students who aren't comfortable in traditional testing environments. This year, as a provincial average, 84 per cent of Grade lOs passed the test. The corresponding results for the Huron-Perth Catholic and Avon for financial support council should be approached before you go ahead and book anything." "I hate to see them hung out to dry, " said reeve Doug Layton, "but this is the first I've heard of this." "I think they hung themselves," Nesbitt interjected. "The problem has always been communication, communication, communication," said Layton. Campbell went back to whether or not there would be any money coming from BIG. "I don't have a problem after I see something come in from them, but I don't want , to commit $2,000." Because procedure had not been followed council voted to refuse the request. Maitland District School Boards were 91 per cent and 87 per cent, respectively. Success rates were highest among Academic-level students, approaching 100 per cent for both boards and 96 per cent across the province. In the Applied-level OSSLT, 79 per cent of Avon Maitland Grade lOs were successful — one percentage point higher than the Huron-Perth board. Across the province, 6,5 per cent of Applied-level Grade 10s passed. "We take great pride in how well our students performed," said Avon Maitland education director Geoff Williams, in a news release. Market opens Saturday Blyth Farmers' Market will open for its third season, Saturday afternoon. The market, which will run from 1-4:30 p.m. each Saturday until Sept. 9, will be held on Dinsley Street West next to Sweets and Treats. The market grew out of a successful one-day experiment in August 2003. Over the last two summers there have been as many as 10 food and craft vendors at the market. Favourite vendors of regular market shoppers including Noah Stutzman (vegetables- and baking); Steele Wool Farms (lamb and woolen products) and Barb Storey (pork products, maple syrup and honey) will be back for the season along with some • new vendors. The market is still seeking new vendors and anyone interested can call Keith Roulston at 523-4792 (days) or 523-9636 (evenings and weekends). OPP nab `high flying' speedster near Brussels At approximately 11:30 a.m. Huron OPP on June 16 were operating radar on Brussels Line, Huron East. The officer observed what he believed to be an unidentified flying object. The officer watched as a 1991 Volkswagen Jetta landed on the road and was locked in on radar travelling III km/h in a posted 50 km/h zone. The officer was able to stop the driver and issue a summons for Goderich provincial court on Aug. 31. A 65-year-old from Huron East will face one count of speeding. A release from Huron- Perth superintendent Dan Parr, meanwhile, expressed "encourage(ment) that the students of our secondary schools performed above the provincial average." He adds, however, that the Catholic board is still "committed to improved performance." School-based literacy committees will assess the results and propose strategies for improvement, Parr said. The Avon Maitland board, meanwhile, will continue to "offer summer school courses and in- school support programs to ensure future success." Grade lOs above provincial average