The Citizen, 2005-09-22, Page 24PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2005.
Dini Petty appears at Bly th
By Heather Crawford
Citizen staff
Reporter, actor, talk show host,
mother and Canadian celebrity...as
Dini Petty says, "there ain’t much a
girl can't do.”
In her one woman show the Moth,
the Flame and the Lemming at Blyth
Saturday night. Petty shared her
personal triumphs, tribulations and
observations on life with humour,
spunk tjnd a few tugs at the heart
strings.
The stage was transformed with
only a few chairs a nd Petty herself
into the backdrop for her colourful
stories she has collected through her
years in television and beyond.
Petty, who is best known for her
daytime talk show The Dini Petty
Show. began her career as a traffic
NH gets Festival update
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen editor
Jane Gardner and Eric Coates of
the Blyth Festival attended the
Monday night meeting of North
Huron council to discuss the
successes of the season.
Gardner said that seasonal work
was provided for 55 people, in
addition to the full-time staff.
She spoke of the “incredible
activity” at the Festival, particularly
with the youth programs the “place
wh 're they first get interested in us”.
Thirteen children between the ages
of five and 12 created and
performed two original plays for 75
people.
The Young Company worked for
six weeks under the direction of
professional director/actor Maie
Beath Badian and guest artist
Andrea Donaldson.
While the Young Company’s
expenses' surpassed revenues by
$1,359, it is money well spent, said
Huron, Perth Federations
present joint farm tour
The Huron and Perth Federations
of Agriculture are teaming up to
present a joint farm and rural tour on
Sunday. Oct. 2 to launch Ontario Ag
Week.
Each year the two Federations
arrange for separate tours in both
Huron and Perth, but have decided
to highlight a “border” community
this year.
They have arranged for a number
of sites in the Kirkton area and have
Easy Riders
visit farms
By Joscelin Andrews
At the Easy Riders 4-H club this
summer members learned about the
awareness zone, different kinds of
bits, different kinds of hay. different
types of horses, grooming, bathing,
backing up, showmanship and much
more.
They went to Anderson’s farm,
Helen Watson’s farm and Margaret
Cunningham’s farm. They also went
to the Seaforth Fair on Sept. 9.
Everybody did a super job.
There were four competitions,
showmanship, an obstacle course, a
costume contest and a plain riding
contest. It was a great day and
everyone had fun.
reporter flying over the streets of
Toronto in a bright pink helicopter.
She reels the audience in with her
fascinating and humorous tales of
getting kicked out of school, ("no
one told me I could make a living by
talking,” she said), obsessive fans,
and taking passengers up in her
helicopter while “eight months and
30 days pregnant.”
The audience got a glimpse of the
personal side of one of Canada’s
most loved talk show hosts. She
confesses secret crushes (Eric
Clapton and Dwight Yokam),
moments when she thought her life
was over, (having a gun pulled on
her in a crowded arena in downtown
Toronto) and her favourite interview
(Red Skelton).
Petty’s many interests and talents
led her down different paths
Gardner, as it is an investment in
today’s youth.
The Festival also met its box
office target of $418,000, drawing
23,784 people from southern
Ontario. New York and Michigan.
Increased marketing saw group
sales up three per cent from the
previous season.
While Goderich is not hosting a
Doors Open event in 2006, Gardner
felt it was a success for the Festival
adding that they now plan to host an
annual open house on the first
Saturday in June in conjunction with
the annual book sale. “It's a great
way of bringing lots of people into
our area.”
Coates spoke to council about the
capital needs the Festival is facing.
A recent contribution of $25,200
from the Ontario Trillium
Foundation went to things that it
was immediately apparent needed to
be changed. New black curtains,
ladders, communication system and
other equipment and repairs were
purchased.
partnered with the Kirkton
Agricultural Society.
The tour will run from 12:30 p.m.
until 4:30 p.m. Passports, showing
the location of the farms, will be
sold for $5 per vehicle and will only
be available the day of the event
from 12:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. at
the Kirkton Community Centre
located on Hwy. 23 al the north edge
of Kirkton.
The Kirkton Agricultural Society
will be presenting the popular
country supper that has been a
mainstay of the Huron tour in past
Three million Canadians have a hearing loss.
1H(
Fondotion conodienne
de I’ouie
I’m one of them.
t he Hearing Foundation of Canada funds
the only nationally coordinated medical
research program to find the cause and
cure of hearing loss.
To learn more about our programs and
how you can help, call 1-866 HEAR YOU, toll free
or visit our web site, www.hearingfoundation.ca
including as a spokeswoman, an
author, actress and television
personality. Whatever she’s done the
stage has continued to call to her.
“Like a moth or a lemming, I have
always known where I was supposed
to be,” she said talking about the
stage. “I just [didn't always know]
what to do when I got there.”
Through the years Petty has
garnered enough tales to tell to keep
a room gasping, crying and giggling
for hours.
She ended her show by reciting
her famous epic children’s poem.
The Queen. The Bear and The
Bumble-bee that tied together the
common thread that ran throughout
the show - Petty’s one trick she’s
always kept up her sleeve, was the
ability to be hersrelf. Canada
wouldn't have it any other way.
Over the season the Festival
experienced some problems with the
existing sound amplification and the
dimmer cards for the lighting board.
“This is probably the greates
understatement. Some problems
meant that I actually had to stop
performances earlier in their
run.”
An investment of $6,000 is
required to install four new sound
amplifiers so that rentals can use the
current sound equipment. Another
$10,000 is needed to retrofit the
dimmer cards to use existing
technology.
Coates also asked that the Festival
be involved in discussion regarding
the ramp at the Hall so that no
bookings will be done during the
renovations.
Council was thanked for their
support of the Festival. Councillor
Murray Nesbitt expressed
appreciation for the contribution
that the theatre makes to the
community. “It makes quite a
difference in our economy.”
Feeding the goats
Students were able to make friends with goats, calves and
sheep at the Belgrave school fair. (Heather Crawford photo)
Living life.
Living proof.
Community jra
^Living In support of
people with an intellectual disability a
years. A pork chop barbecue will be
available starting at 4 p.m. at the
Kirkton Community Centre. Tickets
will be available for $12 each for
adults, $6 for children under 12, and
pre-schoolers are free. There will
only be 300 tickets sold for the
supper. Call Ellen at 229-6395, Joan
at 229-6872, or tickets can be
purchased at the Kirkton Market.
Further inquiries about the
Harvest Day Farm Hiker Tour can
be made to the Huron/Perth
Regional office of OFA at 1-800-
511-1135.
communityliving.ca
Unattended cooking is the number
one cause of home fires.
Pay close attention
when you're cooking ff jpj|
and stay in the kitchen.