The Citizen, 2015-11-26, Page 14PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2015.
Christmas market fundraiser to help Bridges campaign
The Building Bridges to Our
Future campaign will be the
beneficiary of a special Christmas
market being held at the Maitland
River Elementary School (MRES)
on Nov. 28.
Diana Binotto-Peel, a teacher
currently on leave from MRES, told
The Citizen that the event will be an
exciting opportunity for people to
not only do some important holiday
shopping, but also give them a
chance to get out and be in touch
with their community.
The event runs from 10 a.m. until
2 p.m., which coincides with the
Wingham Santa Claus parade, which
is no coincidence.
“We hope that people will take
advantage of the fact that both are
happening at the same time and
spend that time together,” Binotto-
Peel said.
The event will feature over 40
vendors, which Binotto-Peel said is
a fantastic development. Any funds
made through the event by the
organizers will go to the Building
Bridges to Our Future campaign,
which is building new equipment,
upgrading the sports fields and
creating an outdoor learning zone
between MRES and F.E. Madill
Secondary School.
“Any money we give will be
earmarked for equipment for the
school,” Binotto-Peel explained. “It
won’t go anywhere else.”
Ninety per cent of the vendors are
local according to Binotto-Peel, who
said the vendors will all come from
the catchment areas of the previous
five feeder schools that amalgamated
at MRES.
Services and goods will include
family photo shoots, a wellness
table, baked goods, home business
and local farmers, jewelery, hand-
sewn goods, baby items and candles.
Cooking and spinning wheel
demonstrations are also planned for
the day.
“We’re looking for local vendors
and local artisans to share what they
have and help people get in the spirit
of the season,” Binotto-Peel said.
Down to the wire
The Blyth Brussels Midget Crusaders Rep squad was able to make it to the semi-finals of the
regional Silver Stick tournament held last week in Wingham and Blyth. The squad won all three
of its round-robin games including the one above against Seaforth in Blyth on Saturday.
Despite being down 1-0 late in the third period, a power play goal and a pulled goalie made
the difference, giving the Crusaders the boost they needed to win 3-1. They would later go on
to beat Bruce Peninsula by a score of 5-1 before being beaten by South Bruce in the semi-
final of the tournament. (Denny Scott photo)
North Huron Township Council
approved a plan from Fire Chief
David Sparling to install 911 number
signs on vacant farm driveways.
“Things don’t go well when
people can’t give a 911 number [to
emergency operators],” Sparling said
in his presentation to North Huron
on Nov. 16. “North Huron was more
proactive than most communities
when 911 numbers came in, but
there are still some vacant farms that
need signs.”
The signs, also called blades, are
blue and feature a designated
number for the property.
“In talking with Huron County and
[North Huron Public Works Director
Kelly Church], Huron County is
willing to give us the 911 blades and
posts if we install them,” Sparling
explained. “[We need] 188 blades to
cover every driveway that gets used
or has traffic on it... that said every
vacant farm should have a sign.
Huron County ambulances and
police have issues finding sites
without them.”
Sparling said that, since 911
dispatchers are usually not familiar
with the area, the 911 numbers are
more important now than ever.
Helping Sparling get his message
out is Luke Schilder whose son
waited precious minutes while
Schilder had to drive to one of the
properties he owns and farms to get a
911 number while his son was
trapped under a tractor at the back of
the property.
Aside from the blades, Schilder
believes that each farm implement in
the county should have a list of
potential properties (and their 911
numbers) where the equipment may
be used so, in an emergency, that
information is nearby.
As part of the presentation,
Schilder’s 911 call was played, and it
became apparent, when he tried to
describe the location of the farm, that
the operator didn’t know until she
was able to pull up a map and walk
through directions to the farm,
something that an individual in
distress may not be able to provide
or have time to provide during an
emergency.
The signs are to be installed by the
North Huron road crews, as Sparling
requested that the municipality allow
them the time to do that.
Councillor Bill Knott supported
the idea and a made a motion
approving the road crews putting up
the signs.
After some discussion about who
is responsible for the signs (which
Church said was North Huron),
council approved the motion.
NH supports placing
missing 911 blades
Bridge future pondered
The pending cost of maintaining
Bridge M230 (or the iron bridge on
Abraham Line) has Morris-
Turnberry Council looking at other
options for the site.
In a report prepared by Director of
Public Works Gary Pipe,
maintenance on the site will cost
$43,500 in the next five-year period
and $192,000 over the following five
years.
The work includes cleaning debris
from the bridge, monitoring rust
build up, replacing rivets and plates
and general maintenance on the
bridge.
Replacing the bridge, however,
isn’t any less expensive with an
estimated price tag of $2.5 million.
Councillor Dorothy Kelly asked if
the costs of the maintenance could
be put into the municipality’s budget
so they could apply for funding
through possible federal and
provincial grants.
Pipe explained that there are
several bridges in the community
that require maintenance, including
one that could be twice the cost of
M230.
Deputy-Mayor Jamie Heffer asked
if Pipe could price out what it would
cost to build a connecting road to a
different river crossing instead.
Mayor Paul Gowing was also
interested in that, adding that a new
road had not been built since before
Pipe had started with the
municipality.
Councillor John Smuck also felt
that looking at a road might be a
good idea. He lives in proximity to
the bridge and says that it isn’t
always the best way to get around.
“It’s probably one of the only
bridges left around that’s like that,”
he said. “It’s no good for people to
get back there anywhere. [Farm
equipment] requires parts to be
taken off to get over the bridge. I
know we go through a lot of
bearings pulling things across that
bridge.”
Currently, there is an unopened
road allowance that would work for
the municipality to bypass the
bridge.
More information about the bridge
and road will be brought back to
council at a later meeting.
Time for BARF
The word barf had a double-meaning last week at the Blyth Christian Reformed Church. First
off, it was BARF (Bring A Real Friend) night at the church, featuring youth groups from the
Blyth and Clinton Christian Reformed Churches and the Auburn Missionary Church, but
second, the night actually consisted of group members eating foods generally accepted as
unsavoury, such as beef tongue – certainly opening the door for members to actually barf as
a result. Trying not to barf were Naomi Filiatreault, left, and Katie Roth. (Vicky Bremner photo)
Continued from page 1
about the report, saying that while he
agreed that if there were no benefits,
be they financial- or quality of
service-related, that the county
shouldn’t pursue amalgamation, he
didn’t think the report told the whole
story.
He called Rockwood’s
presentation a “very professional
negative report” saying that while it
was presented well and the research
is thorough, he felt that she and the
committee turned some points
negative where he could
certainly spin them positively if he
wanted to.
Council accepted the report, as
well as the recommendation of the
committee that Huron no longer
pursue amalgamation of the Huron
and Perth EMS departments.
EMS report questioned