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The Citizen, 2008-06-05, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 2008. Looking Back Through the Years June 6, 1962 When an old carpet was removed from Trinity Anglican Church in Blyth, a complete copy of The Blyth Standard, dated Feb. 22, 1925, was found. A dramatic aerial photo was featured of the wreckage of a Continental jet that crashed in a field near Centreville, Iowa. The crash resulted in the deaths of all 45 people aboard. One passenger lived for 10 hours after being saved from the wreck, but later died in hospital. Workmen were busy dismantling a large metallic eagle that stood on top of a building at an airport in West Berlin. The eagle was the last remaining symbol of Nazism in the city. The Communist party symbol of the hammer and sickle began appearing on posters in the streets of Rome, Italy, in connection with the city’s upcoming municipal elections. Much concern was felt for St. Louis Cardinal Minnie Minoso after he was carried off the baseball field in a semi-conscious condition. He suffered a skull fracture when he crashed into the wall of the ball field while trying to stop a long hit. June 3, 1981 The official opening was held of the new County garage at Auburn. Keys were presented to warden Fred Haberer by Casey Dendekker, president of Muer Construction of Guelph, the company that built the garage. An Auburn youth would be competing in provincial competition. Robbie Plunkett would be going to compete in Thunder Bay after placing second in the hurdles at a local competition in Kitchener. Robbie would be representing Goderich District Collegiate. The Women’s Institute of Walton celebrated its 25th Anniversary, and many of the past and present presidents and members gathered for festivities. Maxine Hunking of Atwood returned to her hometown after her two years spent in Africa. Working with the CUSO and ACORD, she had been spending time in Juba, South Sudan. She would be home for a couple months visiting family, and then planned to return to continue her work overseas. Morris Twp. council met with representatives from the Ministry of the Environment to discuss operation details for the Morris Twp. waste disposal site to be established near Brussels. Council also made a request to the Minister of Transportation and Communica- tions, stating that the township objects to the cutting of trees along Hwy. 4. June 6, 1990 A 16-year-old Londesborough youth was still in critical condition at University Hospital in London as a result of an accident in Hullett Twp. The teen was travelling alone on Sideroad 30-31 when he struck potholes in the road, causing him to lose control of the vehicle. According to police he entered the ditch, where the vehicle rolled several times. The youth, who was not wearing a seatbelt was thrown from the car. The car was completely demolished. Bob Rae, leader of the Official Opposition at Queen’s Park, would be making a visit to Huron-Bruce. As part of the New Democratic Party’s pre-election preparation, Rae would be attending a meeting held on a farm in Lucknow, and then travelling to Owen Sound for the rest of the evening. Marilyn and Peter Verbeek of Belgrave succeeded in building their own luxury boat, after eight years of continual work on the project. A new sign was erected at the Brussels ball park, commemorating the significant contributions made to the project by the Brussels Optimists Club. Since 1972 the Optimists had been aiding youth activities around the area, sponsoring a hockey tournament every year, and donating to numerous local projects. Playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: “Hey Dude, This Is No Cartoon!” Also playing was Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn in Bird On A Wire. June 7, 1995 In one of the most unusual political developments of the provincial election, three of five candidates refused to attend an all- candidates debate held at F.E. Madill Secondary School. Liberal John Jewitt, New Democratic Paul Klopp, and Independent Reform Association of Ontario candidate Kimble Ainslie were no shows at the event, leaving Progressive Conservative Helen Johns and Family Coalition Party’s Phil Cornish to conduct the debate on their own. Blyth’s annual Cook’s Spring Fish Out attracted over 300 aspiring fishermen, young and old. The grand winner for the junior division was Ben Walsh of Blyth, and the senior division went to Mike Hicks. The event raised $340.00 for the Huron Big Brothers. The Blyth Festival was busy preparing for the 1995 season. Rehearsals began for the theatre’s many productions to be shown during its 21st season, one of the most exciting being the world premiere of Laurie Fyffe’s Ballad for a Rum Runner’s Daughter. Also returning was a Blyth favourite, The Tomorrow Box. THE EDITOR, We would like to remind those interested that there is still time to register for the St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church’s 135th anniversary celebration in St. Joseph. Saturday, July 12 will feature an evening of local entertainment. An outdoor mass will be celebrated Sunday, July 13 at 10:30 a.m. to be followed by lunch. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to view historical displays, reminisce and renew old friendships. To register by June 15, call Monique at 519-236-7817, Dennis at 519-236-4755 or www.bluewater.dionet.ca Melodie and Steve Northey Grand Bend THE EDITOR, Farmers and government are proving they can work co- operatively to benefit Ontario’s environment. When Ontario first introduced the Nutrient Management Act, farmers expressed concerns over the thought of compliance inspections of their properties. This resulted in a number of meetings between the Ontario Farm Environmental Coalition (OFEC) including the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE). One decision made following those meetings was to have the farm inspections done by Agricultural Environmental Officers, MOE staff with specialized training in agriculture, and to have those officers focus on achieving compliance through a process of education rather than prosecutions. We knew Ontario farmers would be willing to do what’s right for the environment, They rely on a healthy environment for the success of their farming business and for the health of their families. With the objective of minimizing administrative requirements for farmers and the use of a scoring system that measures nutrient management activities, the MOE is finding farmers going beyond what’s required for a pass score. Records show over 70 per cent of the first farms inspected exceeded the requirements for a pass score. This is great news for OFEC and farmers across Ontario because it shows what a co-operative working spirit between government and farmers can achieve. Dr. John Fitzgibbon, OFEC chair Food security makes sense In the era of globalized trade, arguing in favour of national food security has been a lost cause — until the current concern about rising food prices and their effect on Third World consumers. For 20 years the emphasis has been on reducing barriers to trading food and other goods. Those who argued the need for food security were accused of being protectionists, trying to re-build barriers to prevent consumers’ access to the cheapest food from anywhere in the world. It has been well documented that while Canadian farmers were increasing their exports of food to record levels during that period, the net farm income of all farmers in the country had actually slipped into negative returns — farmers were having to take money earned in off- farm jobs to subsidize their production of food to be shipped around the world with the profit going to traders and transporters. At the same time as this was going on, many farmers in the Third World were also suffering. Urged on by organizations like the World Bank, many governments emphasized production on non-food crops like coffee or cotton in order to earn export revenue for their country, rather than feed their people. As long as the cost of imported food remained low, and the price of exports were high, this approach might work, but if the price of the exports dropped, or the price of the imported food increased, a crisis was inevitable. There may be short-term gains to be made shipping food all over the world instead of growing it close to home, but in the long-term, as the current crisis shows, it’s better that farmers grow food for the consumers of their own country as much as possible, whether they be small landowners in Third World countries or the modern farmers of nations like Canada. If we want enough food on a hungry planet, farmers need to be first in line for fair profits, not last. — KR King of the mountain There’s an old schoolyard game in which a child captures a high point on a mound of snow or dirt and proclaims himself or herself the “king of the mountain”. The federal government of Stephen Harper seems to think that winning a minority government makes it king of the mountain. Hearing that Ontario and Quebec governments had come up with their own plan to fight greenhouse gas emissions, federal Environment Minister John Baird said the provinces’ plan threatens to undermine Canada’s approach to fighting climate change. There must be one consistent plan across the country to control emissions from big polluters and it should come from the federal government, he said. The Harper government’s inadequate climate change plan has been ridiculed internationally but by Baird’s argument nobody else should be allowed to try something better. His arrogance is stupefying. — KR Letters to the editor Editorials Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie GroppAdvertising, Ken Warwick & Lori Patterson The CitizenP.O. Box 429,BLYTH, Ont.N0M 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. 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