The Citizen, 2015-09-17, Page 1CitizenTh
e
$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, September 17, 2015
Volume 31 No. 36
FOOD - Pg. 22
Blyth restaurant tops
provincial TripAdvisor list
AGRICULTURE - Pg. 15
Local demonstration farm
holds information night
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:
Tractor Pull 101
The brainchild of Peter Hendriks, right, who, later this year
will become the youngest-ever president of the Huron
Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association, Tractor Pull 101
on the Friday night of last weekend’s reunion was a great
way for those who didn’t know anything about a tractor pull
to get involved away from the bright lights of competition.
Hendriks dreamed up the concept after hearing comments from a
number of people who would like to try the event, but were afraid
to fail in front of a crowd. So, Friday night those same people, like
Laura McDonald, were given a chance to learn the ropes from
Hendriks himself. For more pictures from the 54th annual reunion,
see pages 12 and 13. (Denny Scott photo)
Reunion numbers good despite cool, rainy weather
Through good days and bad, Sawchuk plans return
There are now good days and bad
days for paralyzed Blyth-area cyclist
Julie Sawchuk, who currently calls
London’s Parkwood Institute
home – but as she learns and trains
more for her new reality, she says the
good days are starting to outnumber
the bad.
The Citizen spent last Friday with
Sawchuk at Parkwood, observing an
hour-long physical therapy session
and following up on Sawchuk’s
story, now a month and a half after
the incident that changed her life
forever.
Sawchuk spends much of her time
working towards getting better at
things she never had to worry about
before. Whether it be rolling herself
over in bed, being able to support
herself sitting up or lifting herself
from bed to wheelchair and back,
Sawchuk is working towards a new
life without the use of her core and
her legs. Although, as she says, she’s
not sure if that’s her new reality or
not.
While doctors and
physiotherapists have been very
upfront with Sawchuk for the most
part, the chance that she will walk
again is still very much a question
mark that doctors will not discuss
with her.
She was told after surgery that if
she hadn’t yet started to regain
sensation below the point of her
injury, it was unlikely to return. That
is the only conversation she’s had
regarding the future use of her legs
where she was given a clear answer.
There is hope, however, as
Sawchuk says that she has self-
diagnosed her spinal cord injury as
“incomplete” (meaning that some
feeling remains below the area of
injury) because no one has yet used
to the term “complete” to reference
her injuries (meaning there is no
sensation whatsoever below the
injury).
Through her hard work at physical
therapy, however, Sawchuk has
already begun to see results. On
Friday, she proudly showed off the
ability to flex her abdominal
Brussels Tigers are the Huron
County Fastball League champions
for 2015. The Tigers defeated the
Fullarton A’s 4-3 in the A-B final.
The Tigers scored one run in the
bottom of the first inning when Ty
Sebastian led off with a home run.
The A’s put two runners across the
plate in the top of the third inning.
Brussels tied the score at two in
the bottom of the fourth when
Andrew Baker hit an inside-the-park
home run. Fullarton regained the
lead in the fifth inning when they
scored a single run. The Tigers won
the game in the bottom of the sixth
inning when Steve Scholl hit a two
run home run to give Brussels a 4-3
lead.
Scholl and Sebastian each added a
double to their home runs. Dennis
Dewar rapped out a pair of singles
with Jamie Hickling and Sean Cook
each getting one base hit.
Sebastian went the distance on the
mound for the Tigers, recording 13
strike outs.
Scott Kemp hit a double for the
A’s. Single base hits were rapped out
by Brady Siddall, Chris White,
Jamie Pfeifer and Dale Hopf. Craig
Brookshaw went the distance for
Fullarton.
Shawn Daw of the Tigers said it
was a total team win. “We were
batting excellent throughout the
tournament,” he said. “We played
great. They played their hearts out
today.” he said.
Brussels reached the
championship by defeating the
The 54th annual reunion of the
Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby
Association was a success despite
some worrisome weather according
to association president Trina
McBride.
Held at the Blyth Campground
over the weekend, the event saw
rain, heat and cold over its three-day
time period.
“It went good, other than Mother
Nature not cooperating,” she said.
“It could have been warmer on
Sunday. However, we had great
crowds and a lot of campers.”
McBride said that the number of
campers was high, with 677 calling
the campground home over the
weekend. Between 8,000 and
10,000 visitors were counted at the
gates over the three days it was held.
Specifically, McBride said that
some of the events and attractions
drew larger crowds than normal.
“The [Ontario Artist Blacksmith
Association’s members] we had
were very well received,” she said.
“No matter what time of the day it
were, there was a lot of people down
there watching it and seeing what
was going on.”
She said that the music, both on
stage and the jam sessions, went
well, with the night time dances
doing even better than expected.
“That could have been due to the
cold,” McBride said. “There were
less people playing outside their
campers and more enjoying the
music inside.”
The number of visitors at the gate
was down on Sunday, possibly due
to the weather, but McBride said the
drop didn’t hurt them much.
The lack of children on Student’s
Day, Friday, was also noticed
according to McBride.
Due to the public elementary
The Citizen
Celebrating 30 Years
1985~2015
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 19
Continued on page 8
Continued on page 11
By Jim Brown
Special to The Citizen
Tigers top year-end tournament
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen