The Citizen, 2013-09-12, Page 1CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, September 12, 2013
Volume 29 No. 36
SPORTS - Pg. 10Baseball, soccer teamshighlighted as season ends REUNION - Pg. 18Thresher Reunioncelebrated in picturesAWARD- Pg. 2Yvonne Knight namedCitizen of the Year
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:
Town Hall renovations to come in over budget
Sun sets on another year’s Thresher Reunion
A significant anniversary
Gary Courtney, right, has been cooking some of the best corn available with steam at the
annual reunion of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association for 25 years, resulting
in massive lines of hungry people eager to play their part in the annual tradition. Working this
year with Gary was his son Nick, left, who is learning the ropes and will take over the tradition
some day. For video from the weekend, as well as a gallery of over 100 pictures, visit The
Citizen’s website at www.northhuron.on.ca. (Denny Scott photo)
Scheduled repairs for the North
Huron Town Hall in Wingham look
as though they will come in over
both the original and adjusted
budget.
The building, which is currently
having its front, roof and belfry
restored, had been on North Huron
Township Council’s to-do list for
several years but had been pushed
back due to budgetary constraints.
Originally the project was to cost
$250,000, half of which was from a
grant and half from reserves.
However, after the quotes came in
for the project, $117,000 worth of
extra work was assigned as council
was convinced it would be less
expensive to handle those
renovations now than to pay another
company to set up new scaffolding
to revisit the project at a later date.
The scaffolding is a major
component of the final price of the
project.
Recently, however, an additional
$65,000 had to be added as
contractors, and later engineers,
began looking beneath the
superficial woodwork at the
structure of the belfry, it was decided
the belfry needed serious repairs if it
were to stay.
Scott Faraghan of Heather and
Little Limited, the company
handling the renovations, said the
belfry was in dire straits and, had
they not caught it, it could have
ended poorly for the municipality.
“I believe that if the arches were
enclosed or glassed or walled in, the
belfry would be on the road,” he
said. “It’s that bad. The proposal
suggests we remove all the rotten
wood, fix the woodwork completely,
introduce internal structural steel to
the three levels of the tower.
“I agree with the idea,” he said.
Faraghan explained that by
reinforcing the structure, they can
prevent any kind of problems down
the road by using adjustable
construction techniques and steel
cable. The cable can be tightened or
loosened to keep the structure
standing upright while at the same
time providing the sway needed to
reduce the strain on the building.
This was especially important as the
contractors had found locations in
the tower where the wood had been
The 52nd annual reunion of the
Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby
Association was a very good
weekend, according to organizers,
despite some rainy weather.
Outgoing secretary Marian
Hallahan, who has handled a lot of
the organization’s planning and
preparation for more than 30 years,
said even with some rainy and
muddy weather on Saturday
morning, the weekend-long event
was good.
Numbers-wise, there were 750
campers, slightly more than in
previous years, and slightly higher
receipts at both gates, however she
thinks their numbers for visitors who
weren’t camping was roughly the
same.
“The total gate receipts were
slightly higher, but we raised the
prices a little bit, so we think it
balanced out,” she said.
The children’s program sees
children from three area schools,
including Maitland River
Elementary School in Wingham,
Hullett Central Public School in
Londesborough and Brookside
Public School north of Dungannon.
Hallahan said the highlight of the
day for many students was Papa’s
Petting Zoo which had been moved
to the centre of the campgrounds.
“They loved seeing the animals,
I’m told,” she said.
The reunion welcomed more than
300 students including 66 from
Maitland River, 225 from Hullett
and approximately 24 from
Brookside, who are attending as a
school for the first time.
Brookside Principal Dree Park
explained the decision to attend was
made at the end of the last school
year and many of the students from
the school are involved in the event
through their families.
“We have a number of students
and families who are involved in the
event showing animals and farm
machinery,” he said. “They were
welcome to attend the show. We
also had students from the area
who attended it as guests. It’s a
good event to have the students go
to.”
Hallahan said that, with both the
students and everyone else involved,
the attitude around the campground
is always very friendly and that
leads to a great weekend for
everyone involved.
Visitors this year came from near
and far including campers coming
from Holland, Michigan and British
Columbia.
The fiddle and step dancing
competitions brought out many
competitors.
In the 70-plus fiddle category,
Frank Gilbert of Harriston was first,
Alex Aldcorn of Badjeros was
second and Ralph Cadotte of
Wiarton was third.
In the 50- to 69-year-old fiddle
category, Ken Cook of Dorchester
was first, Shirly Waldre of
Thamesford was second and Larry
Thibert of Strathroy was third.
Mary Sabourin of Wingham
brought home the gold in the nine-
and-under fiddle competition and
Brooklyn Heaton of Miller Lake was
first in the 12-and-under
competition. Michael Haskins of
Brussels was second in the same
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 34
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 35
“ 14/19 is about people… hard working, industrious, visionary
people who carved a home out of a wild frontier in the early
1800’s… People who vowed never to forget the darkness of
war. Hopeful, inspired and engaged people who celebrate
Blyth’s uniquely Canadian art. This is the place - we are all
“those people”.
DAVID PEACOCK
CAO/RTO4