The Citizen, 2010-02-18, Page 23At its Feb. 10 committee of the
whole meeting, Huron County
council recommended that the public
works department begin to plan for
in-house winter maintenance for the
Wroxeter patrol.
Director of public works Dave
Laurie said this would be the best
course of action and referred back to
when Huron County decided to go to
contract work, saying that he
couldn’t make the figures match.
South Huron’s Ken Oke agreed,
saying that despite some of the
numbers on paper, this would be the
best course of action for this patrol
which would begin in 2011.
“It’s cheaper to run our own
vehicles and we see better
workmanship on the roads,” Oke
said. “Our department is cheaper
and it works better and they can
prove it.”
Oke said that when a department is
willing to prove that it’s cheaper than
contract labour, he says it really
shows him something and that
department should be given a chance
to prove itself.
“If they say they can prove it, my
hat’s off to them,” he said. “Because
if they’re saying that, then I know it
can be done.”
One concern, raised by Huron East
councillor Bernie MacLellan, was
something that had been raised at his
municipal council, which was
overtime rates and how much a
municipality could save in terms of
overtime when it came to contract
work.
Laurie said that is not a problem
that Huron County runs into very
often because of the way the winter
maintenance shifts are structured,
with the early shift running from 4
a.m. to 12 p.m. and the late shift
running from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. He
said there isn’t much time missing in
that schedule, so overtime hasn’t
been a great concern for Huron
County over the years.
One problem Laurie said he had
encountered was the summer
maintenance work being contracted
out. He said because of this, staff
don’t have enough work to keep
them busy throughout the summer,
which can create problems, calling it
a “big mistake.”
“The summer work is a very
important part of the equation,”
Laurie said.
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2010. PAGE 23. After a very successful first run,Jim Rutledge’s Men Of Huron: ABook Of Honour And Remembrance1939 to 1946, has now gone into a
second printing.
Because Rutledge self-published
the book, he says he has a world of
options when it comes to additional
printings. After his first printing of
350 copies was sold, he was able to
order this second printing of 100
copies. He says he will be able to
order more printings, receiving them
in two weeks, for as long as they are
required.
In addition to the second printing,
which Rutledge says has already
seen high demand, he has planned a
celebration for May.
The celebration, set for May 8 and
9, coincides with the 65th
anniversary of the end of the Second
World War. He hopes to have some
military vehicles on hand at the
Huron County Museum in Goderich
on May 8 and a memorial church
service on May 9.
Every municipal council has
received an invitation from
Rutledge, who says this may be one
of the last chances veterans will have
to get together for an anniversaryregarding the Second World War.That, he says, is why he chose tocompile the book celebrating HuronCounty’s soldiers of the SecondWorld War first, while veterans ofthe war were still alive. His next
task, compiling a book of Huron
County soldiers from the First World
War, he said, has proven to be very
difficult.
Most of his information will come
from various historical records
compiled in Ottawa and families
who chose to come forward with
information. Because of the time
period, however, pictures have
proven to be scarce.
In addition to the difficulty
Rutledge has faced in compiling
information for his book on the First
World War, there is also more of it.
By his count 204 Huron County
soldiers served in the Second World
War, in the First World War he
knows of at least 487 Huron County
residents who served, saying that
number could be as high as 550 or
600 by the time he’s done with his
research.
He also said the difference
between the two wars will dictate a
difference between his two books.
As his first book tracked the paths of
Huron County’s soldiers throughoutthe Second World War, the FirstWorld War, he said, involved battlesin which positions were held andthere was less travel involved. Thiswill make the composition of thebook slightly different, but he says
that many elements of the two books
will be similar when the second one
is published, which he hopes will be
in late 2013 or early 2014.
Like he did for the first Men Of
Huron book, he plans on making a
month-long trip to Ottawa some time
next year to do extensive research in
the nation’s capital.
In addition to the smaller well of
information he has to draw from,
Rutledge says his research will be
difficult because of the age of many
of the documents he will be seeking.
He will be drawing from the
Commonwealth War Graves
Commission, the National Archives
and the Canadian Virtual War
Memorial predominantly, as well as
working off of whatever information
he can find from families willing to
donate their records, artifacts and
information.
For more information about Men
Of Huron: A Book Of Honour And
Remembrance, visit the website at
www.menofhuron39-46.ca
Pull!
One of the weekend’s toughest events had to be the tug-of-war, which pitted teams against
each other without the help of spikes or skates to keep their feet planted on the ice last
weekend in Belgrave as part of North Huron’s Luge-a-thon. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
HC sticks by maintenance team
Second printing for Huron book
Congratulations and Best Wishes
Love your children and grandchildren
Dwayne & Melanie, Brent, Darren & Justin
Sharon
&
Gary
Evans
February 21
2010
Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary
204 Huron Road, Goderich
524-BOWL (2695)
www.littlebowl.ca
WE INVITE YOU, FAMILY & FRIENDS
to help us celebrate the 1st...WEEKS #7 & #8, FEB. 12 - 25
Celebrate with us as
our Athletes shoot
for Medals!
BUCK & DOEKurtis Smith&Karen McCullough(Hank)
(Suzie)
FEBRUARY 27
TH, 2010
9 pm - 1 am
BMG Community Centre,
Brussels
$5/Ticket • Age of Majority
Lunch Provided • Music by DJ
For tickets call
Emily 519-450-9027 or
Laura 519-887-8253
By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen