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The Citizen, 2016-03-24, Page 2PAGE 2. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2016. Brussels' community spirit shines Prepared for business Joumana Zeeb, the owner and operator of JouLouMou Delights on the main street of Brussels, is quite excited to share her love for Middle Eastern delicacies with the community. She hosted a grand opening last week and encourages people to visit the shop and try everything from the sweeter treats to the more savory delights. (Denny Scott photo) Where else but Canada could the weather take so much of our attention and conversation, for now we're back to snow. Life is all about attitude and so if we look at the snow as a second chance to pretend that the lawn is really not all that bad, that blanket of white looks pretty fine. Palm Sunday was celebrated this week in our area churches, the time to tell a story of long time ago. So each year we hear of the parade and the fun and then very soon, the warnings that life was ready to take a turn. So some stories never change. In our life we never know when the turn will come, but the best thing is just be ready for anything. So we followed the Jesus story as an At the Branch example. For us at Brussels United Church we had a visit from Buddy VanderMeere. Now Buddy had a prior fitting with our creative wonder Joan Jacobs and what appeared leading the Sunday School kids' parade was a very nice dog complete with coat and ears, a spiffy donkey all ready for a parade. With music by the guitar choir and palms at the ready, a great parade was held. Thanks Julie and Patty for the ground work and to Buddy for a nice personality. What more do you want at a parade. Holy Week continued the story after the parade and so in Brussels Lenten lunches were at the United Church starting at noon with a short service, lunch and chatter. A time to think of the significance of history, stories and Easter. For without the events of Holy Week, the celebration of Easter would not be such a great thing to celebrate. The community was well fed on Sunday. The Lion and Leo members were out in full force cooking and serving in aid of the Legion accessibility project. This day, after the very successful Optimist dinner was another chance to marvel at the co-operation and generosity of our Cadets prep for event By Jo -Ann McDonald It was a good week around the Brussels Legion Branch with progress on all fronts. Cadets had drill practice as they are getting ready for their upcoming competition. The Thursday night darts had 13 darters out for the evening of fun. Winners were: first, Ron Schmidt and Sheron Stadelmann; second, John Stadelmann and Marlene Rutledge; Brussels home to new business The main street of Brussels is welcoming a new business with JouLouMou Delights which will offer Middle Eastern flavours, treats and delicacies. Joumana Zeeb, the owner of the store, has been working hard over the previous few weeks to try and get the store ready for its grand opening which was held last Friday. Visitors to the store, which is located between Foodland and the Post Office, may not recognize the former office building that is the store's home. "We did a lot of work," Zeeb said. "It was all dark wood panels and there were big walls right across the store and the ceiling was just terrible." Zeeb said the floor was carpeting, which wouldn't work for the store, so they had to make all sorts of changes. "We couldn't make all the changes we wanted, but we did need to make a lot of changes to be ready for the opening," she said. "We had to put in new electricity, new flooring, new panelling and even a new bathroom. There were a lot of renovations." Zeeb said she fell in love with the area when she first visited. "I liked the historic features, the river, the quietness and, overall the very nice people," she said. "It's a simple life and I think that's great." Zeeb is currently located in Kitchener, but will be moving to the area when her son goes to school so she can be close to the business. She feels she will be one of many people moving from larger, multi -cultural centres to places like Brussels. "People are leaving those places and coming north," she said. "Because of that, I thought this would be a good opportunity for a business. I think there is going to be a good economic future in Brussels" As far as exactly how her business fits into that economic future, Zeeb said she wants to sell things that she believes in, uses and likes and one of the most prominent things in the shop are the sweets and treats. "We have nougats like strawberry and almond, dried fruit snacks, malban, which is a grape treat with starch and rose petals and has different ingredients like pistachios, walnut, raisins, cashews, sesame and pure coconut and sesame bars." Zeeb said she will be offering all sorts of Middle Eastern goods including dates, orange -blossom flavouring, Turkish Delight candies, seasonings, herbal mix for crackers and treats and baklava. She said she plans to source all of it in Canada and hopes the baklava is a big seller. "I hope it's the kind of thing that people will come in and have with coffee," she said. "I plan to offer a special with the baklava and a coffee." The store will sell Turkish coffee as well as tea and, on top of that, cold fruit juices and non-alcoholic flavoured beer. "I'm really hoping people like these things as much as I do," she said. Zeeb has worked in the automotive industry and, prior to that, worked for the Blackberry smart phone company Research in Motion (RIM). She said she got tired of doing work she wasn't invested in and wanted to do something she could believe in, so she started looking to create her own space. For more information, visit JouLouMou Delights on Brussels' main street. We're bringing back the Blues Kim Sterling J Morgan Blues Band ..1-1 J JJ' Dais Friday, April 13 Friday, May 27 Live in the Upper Deck — 8:30 pm High energy Smooth and Satisfying -- contemporary blues band "The Real Deal"- Mel Brown Enjoy dinner in the cafe before the show. Call to reserve your space. Open Saturday, March 26 with all -day breakfast Closed Good Friday & Easter Monday 401 Turnberry St., Brussels 519-887-8011 Ri high shot honours, Ron, 137 and Sheron, 121. The group had another skunk for Deb Burch and Sharon Robbins. The Friday night supper had the best crowd it has had in weeks. There were 25 people who enjoyed the roast beef dinner. It is Good Friday so there will be no supper this week. On April 1 it will be bone -in ham. The Saturday afternoon euchre tournament had 14 -and -a -half tables of players hoping to win first prize. Winners were: first, John and Iola Subject, 84; second, Paul and Barb Machan, 75; third, Ed and Marie Stewart, 72 and low, Bob and Chris Simpson, 43. Euchre is every two weeks. This was convenor Bush Whittard's final week running the euchre. Bush has been a faithful helper for the Branch, running the event for approximately eight years. He has done a great job and we Continued on page 7 community. When a goal is set and it improves community we seem to know support is needed. People attend what they can and support as able and so success is ensured. In that same thought, an update on the floor at 5R's — initiated by our Catholic friends and followed by the Anglican, Presbyterian and United Church folk, their generosity and belief that 5R's is important to our area paid our new floor in full. Well Hallelujah to and for our great people. Enjoy the company you have over the weekend and remember it's your company they want, not just the mashed potatoes and angel cake. Happy and blessed Easter to you. Betty G.W. FROM BRUSSELS Municipality of Huron East FIRST INSTALLMENT OF INTERIM TAXES Property owners are reminded that the due date for the first installment of interim taxes is March 31, 2016. P. Michiels Treasurer -Finance Manager Thank You The Brussels Curling Club wishes to thank everyone who contributed to their bonspiel's success held March 12 They appreciate all the support from the local businesses in providing prizes. Everyone attending was in awe of the generosity of the Brussels and area business folks. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE Ie A BIG THANK YOU from the Brussels Optimist Club The Brussels Optimist Club would like to thank everyone who donated items and came out to buy items at our Spring Dinner and Auction. Over $24,000 was raised to support Community Betterment and The Sunshine Foundation. Special thanks to Tricia's Catering for an excellent meal, and to Tanya McArter and Staff for an excellent job decorating the hall. It makes us very proud to have the support of a great small community. Thanks again, Brussels Optimist Club