The Citizen, 2015-09-10, Page 1CitizenTh
e
$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, September 10, 2015
Volume 31 No. 35
COUNTY - Pg. 15
Huron County considers
palliative care grant
AGRICULTURE - Pg. 12
Local farm hosts sessions
on new neonicotinoid rules
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0
INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
Brussels Fall Fair begins Tuesday
Handle with care
It’s no secret that a lot of work goes into the annual reunion
of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association,
some of which could be considered quite dangerous. One
of the biggest attractions at the event requires the most
work: the sawmill. Here, setting up the sawmill blade on
Monday are, from left: Jim Sloan, Nick Courtney and Ken Marks.
Some of the reunion activities are already underway with the
majority of the visitors set to come over the weekend. For more
information on this year’s reunion, see the story on page 10 and
this week’s special section. (Vicky Bremner photo)
ESTC
funding
denied
The 154th Brussels Fall Fair will
be held Sept. 15 and 16 and is
welcoming the midway back to the
grounds for the first time in several
years.
The fair opens on Tuesday at the
Brussels, Morris and Grey
Community Centre with opening
ceremonies at 7 p.m.
The fair will be opened by
Brussels Ambassador of the Fair
Tiffany Deitner and members of the
fair board committee.
After that, the dog competition
begins at 7:15 p.m. followed up by a
euchre tournament at 7:20 p.m. The
exhibits will also be open, alongside
the food and pie booth.
The midway will also be open on
Tuesday.
“It’s a different midway than the
one that was here,” Homecraft
President Nicole Noble said in an
interview with The Citizen. “There
has been a lot of talk of the midway
returning so we wanted to address
that.”
Noble said that the previous
midway was getting too expensive
for the fair board to bring the
midway in but this one will be more
manageable.
“The big thing is it’s back, so we
hope lots of kids come out and use
it,” she said.
Noble said that, if the numbers
indicate that people want the
midway to continue, it will make
fundraising a necessity for the fair
board.
“First, we will need the numbers
up to generate revenue from the
midway,” she said. “We need people
to come out. Then, if the numbers
are there, the fair board will look at
fundraising and partnerships. We
will need an annual fundraiser to
generate revenue to make sure it
happens every year. It will be hard.”
This year community partnerships
helped make the midway a reality.
Wednesday, the fair opens at 9
a.m. with children’s programming,
open to all children regardless of
schooling, starting at 9:20 a.m.
The Power Paws Canine Show
starts at 10:15 a.m. and will also run
again at 1:15 p.m.
The parade, which features
students from local schools, will
start at the Optimist Ball Park at
11:30 a.m. with the 4-H program
starting at noon.
The 4-H program is a huge part of
the fair and offers 4-H members the
chance to compete to see who was
able to boast the best livestock in the
sheep and beef categories.
The annual pedal tractor pull will
start at 2 p.m. as will a special
culinary demonstration by the Huron
County Food Advisors.
The midway will be open all day
and the food and pie booths are also
open.
For more information, visit
www.brusselsfallfair.ca
The Huron County Economic
Development Board has denied a
funding request from the
Emergency Services Training
Centre (ESTC) in Blyth, as
presented, but is willing to offer its
help.
In a letter to the county, Martin
VanderLoo, a director on the
development board, said “the board
cannot recommend this funding
request without some changes being
made to the organizational structure
and operations of the ESTC.”
The request was made at the Jan.
14 committee of the whole meeting,
in person by Fire Department of
North Huron Chief David Sparling.
The total amount of the request was
$284,600, paid over three years –
$175,000 of which would come in
the first year, followed by $63,800
the second year and $45,800 the
third year.
At the meeting to reassure
councillors Sparling was clear that
none of the grant money, should it
be approved, would go towards
salaries or remunerations, but rather
equipment and operations.
(A full story on the request
appeared in the Jan. 22, 2015 issue
of The Citizen.)
In his letter, VanderLoo stated that
members of the board engaged in a
lengthy discussion in late July in
regards to the request and found a
number of aspects of the
organization they felt would need to
be revisited.
“There is clearly a disconnect
between the management of the
ESTC and the Municipality of
North Huron as to how operations
and programs should be conducted,”
the letter states. “It is also clear that
the process of decision making and
approval of various costs and
programs seem to be delayed to the
point where opportunities are lost.”
The funding, Sparling said in
January, would address a number of
The Citizen
Celebrating 30 Years
1985~2015
The Brussels Leo Club is proud to
announce the completion of the
Libro Multi-Use Sports Pad project.
All members of the community are
invited to join in the grand opening
of the Libro Multi-Use Sports Pad
on Sept. 15, just before the opening
of the fall fair.
The Leo Club, along with Libro
Credit Union officials, will lead the
ribbon-cutting ceremony at 6 p.m.,
followed by an opportunity to test
out the newly-refurbished facility.
The Brussels Leo Club owes a
debt of thanks to many in the
community for the tremendous
support this project has received.
The Leos could not have achieved
their goal of re-purposing the former
tennis court without a generous
grant from Libro Credit Union and
the substantial financial support
provided by the Brussels Optimists,
the Royal Canadian Legion Branch
218 Brussels, the Brussels
Community Development Trust,
and, of course, the citizens of
Brussels who have donated
generously to many Leo fundraisers.
Underpinning the success of this
initiative is, of course, the
mentorship and continued support of
Brussels Sports Pad to open
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 2
Continued on page 9
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen