The Citizen, 2017-01-19, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2017. PAGE 7.
Smith family celebrates a `Griswold' Christmas
PEOPLE AROUND
WALTON
By Jo -Ann
McDonald
Call
887-6570
There are many reactions to the
weather of the past week. Some
folks are very unhappy with the
amount of ice that makes it so very
treacherous under foot. The low
temperatures have many saying it's
too cold and turning up the heat is
costing money. The rain and then
warmer temperatures have melted
much of the snow, so the many
snowmobilers are very sad and
unhappy to put away the machines
again. By the weekend, it was dry
underfoot, mainstreet sidewalks are
bare, many yards had melted down
to the gravel making it easier to walk
which makes folks happy.
Whether you like snow and winter
or you don't, it is an up-and-down
rollercoaster and who knows what's
next?
It seems like ages have passed
since Christmas was celebrated and
the children have only been back to
school for one week. When asked
what they did over the holidays
many of the same answers were
heard: "Not much", "Went to
Grandma's", "played hockey",
"nothing" and "shopping".
At least one family had an exciting
time over Christmas by travelling.
Chris and Shelley Smith and family
Lexi, Delayna, Hudson and Bennett
laugh. They enjoyed a "Griswold"
Christmas. They rented an RV and
headed to Florida for Christmas.
They left a couple of days before
Christmas Day, knowing they were
going to miss their usual family
Christmas traditions, but hoping to
make and enjoy a new one.
They travelled in style, taking
turns driving, sleeping and listening
to Christmas music. They arrived in
Bradenton near Tampa on Christmas
Eve. The campground was very
rustic and everyone was very
friendly.
They celebrated Christmas with
friends and enjoyed swimming,
shopping and a few excursions. They
had great warm weather and
everyone enjoyed the beach.
Pulling ahead
Wednesday, Jan. 11 was a busy day for sports at Central
Huron Secondary School with the school's basketball and
hockey teams both playing in the morning. While the
hockey team had some difficulty against St. Anne's, the
Senior Boys basketball team managed an impressive 58-
38 win over their competition from South Huron. Shown
trying to capture a rebound are, from left, Mason Watcher,
Ryan VandeWalle and Logan Baldwin. (Denny Scott photo)
After enjoying the week, they
packed up on Dec. 30, converted the
RV from summer to fall and headed
north. They arrived in Nashville for
New Year's Eve. They attended a free
New Year's Eve concert and it was a
great experience. They did plenty of
sightseeing and after touring the
Grand Ole Opry Hotel, the kids
wondered why they were staying in
an RV. They headed home just in time
to celebrate Bennett's 13th birthday.
They report a fabulous and a
memorable trip. Of course coming
from a farm there are always chores
to be looked after and there would be
no trip without help. Good friends
Dave Baker and Trudy and Amber
Ryan held down the fort while the
Smiths were away.
Celebrating Christmas after
Christmas were the McGavin Farm
Equipment owners and employees.
They went to Kitchener Waterloo for
axe throwing. The group was divided
into teams and after a night of "axe
throwing", the ultimate champ was
Rod McEwen. They travelled by bus
and stopped at the Heidelburg Hotel
to enjoy a delicious dinner. They had
a terrible ride home through the
stormy weather on Jan. 7, but the
group of almost 40 people all agree it
was a fun night.
We send our get -well wishes to
George Wheeler who is a patient in
hospital.
We are also sorry to report that
Irene Blake is also a patient in
hospital again. We hope she feels
better soon.
The Cranbrook Dart Club has
resumed its winter play a week later
because of bad weather last week.
They welcomed back friends,
farmers and neighbours on the night
of Jan. 11 for the first night of play.
The stacked team four consisting of
the pairing of Brad Speiran and Ern
Lewington won five games for the
top team of the night. Many
complained of being a little rusty,
but maybe those two have been
practising.
The high shot for the ladies was by
Jane Zwep hitting 114, while Brad
hit 133 for the men. The lucky shot
winner was Karen Bowles.
They had a good night and were
glad to see all who had returned for
the fun night. Hopefully the weather
co-operates and doesn't storm on
Wednesday nights anymore for this
season.
Celebrating birthdays this past
week includes Aiden Hackwell,
Kelly McDonald Jarosz, Sarah
McDonald Young, Lucas Mader,
Brad Pryce, Hailey Steinman, Ron
Stevenson, George Zwep, Don Baan,
Jeff McGavin, Gordon Mitchell,
Brenda Dalton, Holly Mitchell,
Doris Williamson, Leona
Armstrong, Dianne Huether, Murray
McCall, Brett Stevenson, Cody
Glanville, Harvey Shaw, Paulene
Gulutzen, Jacob Schmeltzer,
Heather Clarke and Joan Huether
Ritchie. Happy birthday to all.
FROM WALTON
HE proposes central
OPP headquarters
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
At Huron East Council's Jan. 10
meeting, Councillor John Lowe put
forward a motion suggesting that if a
new OPP station is to be constructed
in Huron County, it should be placed
in a central location to best serve the
entire county.
John Lowe has thrown his opinion
into the ring with somewhat of a
rebuttal to a 2016 motion from the
Town of Goderich asking for the
new Ontario Provincial Police
(OPP) station.
This came after the Goderich
Council motion of 2016 that was
circulated, which presented a
laundry list of amenities in Goderich
as reasons why the station should be
located there.
In Lowe's motion, he notes a
number of factors, including that
Highway 21, one of the two main
arteries into Goderich, is very often
the first road in the county to close
in blustery winter conditions
and that Goderich is very far
from being geographically central to
the county.
Lowe said that Huron East should
be in favour of a centralized location
for the new OPP station that would
best serve the county's five hospitals
and eight nursing homes/homes for
the aged. His motion also authorized
Huron East staff to contact
Infrastructure Ontario and to
communicate these points to the
organization ahead of a location
being chosen.
The motion will also be circulated
to all of Huron County's lower -tier
municipalities, including the
Town of Goderich. Council passed
Lowe's motion.
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