The Citizen, 2008-07-24, Page 1Huron East mayor Joe Seili was in
Walton July 17 to lend a hand, and a
power drill, to the official naming of
Motocross Town.
The sign, declaring Walton
Motocross Town was put up by Seili
with the help of Walton TransCan
organizer and track landowner Chris
Lee and his promotional assistant,
Mark Perrin.
This was the beginning of a day
that brought several local riders,
politicians, Huron East’s new
economic development officer Jan
Hawley and members of the local
media together. The day featured
information on the event’s past,
present and future, complete with a
riding demonstration.
This year’s Walton TransCan
Grand National Championship is
projected to bring nearly 30,000
faces to the area from Aug. 13 to
Aug. 17. Lee anticipates between
4,000 and 5,000 people on the
grounds at all times, consisting of
the 1,000 riders expected and their
family and friends camping on Lee’s
property. For the final two days,
Saturday, Aug. 16 and Sunday, Aug.
17, Lee expects 7,500 and 15,000
people to attend respectively.
Riders are expected to come from
Vancouver, Alberta, Quebec,
Newfoundland, California, Florida
and Texas, as well as a bevy of local
riders who call the Walton track their
home.
The motocross action is
highlighted by the Pro MX1
championship, punctuated with an
actual sword as the prize. The sword
is engraved and given to the winner,
who is dubbed the King of Walton
for the weekend. There is four days
of amateur competition as well as
the MX2 Shootout at the last outdoor
national event of the year.
With just 10 points currently
separating the top three riders,
Walton promises to be host for a
photo finish to a great season.
This is the 16th year Walton will
host the final round of the nine-race
National Pro MX1 Championship
and it promises more competition
and more social events than ever
before.
Off-track events are always a big
draw in Walton and this year the
itinerary is larger than ever. There
will be a motorcycle trade show, live
entertainment, riding
demonstrations, beer gardens,
helicopter rides, paintball, games
and giveaways.
New social events are also making
their mark this year. Bingo will be
featured, in addition to a Racing
Against Drugs promotion that will
feature a racing car simulator. There
Free style
Nothing exemplifies the lazy days of summer more than an
afternoon cooling off with the lawn sprinkler. The muggy
temperatures made the convenience of this homegrown
fun very attractive. Scott VanDorp makes a run for it.
(Vicky Bremner photo)
Since its inception, right around
last year’s Homecoming, the
Brussels Public and Continuation
School on-line class photo album
project has made significant
progress, tripling its archives in just
under one year.
Former resident Doug Leach
began the project, an on-line archive
of Brussels class pictures reaching
as far back as 1904, after seeing
several historical class photos in
storefront windows during
Homecoming.
Now, on at 1:30 p.m. Saturday,
July 26, he’ll be presenting his
progress at the Legion at part of this
year’s Brussels Funfest. He hopes to
be able to walk residents who may
not have internet access through the
website. He’s also hoping that those
who attend the presentation might be
able to lend their eyes and expertise
to the biggest challenge of the
project; identifying the students
in the pictures.
“Hopefully some people will have
some incentive to go home and dig
through the old shoeboxes and see if
they have any old pictures they might
want to contribute,” Leach said.
Leach applauds the people who
have helped him along in this
project, relying on residents, in some
cases, in their 90s, to identify not
only the students in their grade, but
all of the students in the picture, with
stunning accuracy.
Leach uses a school-wide picture
from 1932 as an example. He now
has nearly 80 per cent of the students
in the photograph identified, a
remarkable feat over 75 years later.
When Leach began the project, he
had just under 10 pictures, a number
which has now reached 33. He hopes
his presentation will help “shake the
tree a little more.”
Leach has had feedback from all
over North America. He says he has
had comments and suggestions left
on the website from people in
California, Florida and from several
parts of western Canada.
However, one major problem
Leach faces is the lack of internet
availability and in some cases,
computer literacy of former students
who would now be in their 70s, 80s
and even 90s.
This was one of the major driving
points behind this presentation.
Leach hopes to walk everyone
through the website so they can see
what they have been missing for the
past year.
“I hope to locate some new
pictures, I hope to get some new
people identified on the pictures I do
have, but really, I just hope to spread
the world to the public about the
project, so they can spread the word
to their friends and relatives,” he
said.
Find the album at
simplysurf.net/~dleach/
school.htm The website is also
accessible from The Citizen website.
Not quite halfway through the
2008 season there was some good
news coming from Blyth Festival.
While there have been concerns
about the rising gas prices and
declining tourism having an adverse
effect at other theatres, to date, ticket
sales at Blyth are up 40 per cent from
the total sold last year.
Though the news is encouraging,
however, artistic director Eric Coates
has a pragmatic outlook when
discussing it. “One thing I do that
others may not as consistently is to
put it into perspective. Last year
ticket sales had dropped. So, yes, we
are ahead of where we expected to
be, but we’re not going to set any
records.”
Such honesty may be admirable,
but there’s no question that Blyth
seems to be experiencing an
interesting trend in a time when
others are reporting less success. A
Toronto Star article by Richard
Ouzounian stated that both Stratford
and Shaw are feeling the pinch this
year.
The other positive spin to Blyth’s
story is that advance sales for Blyth
can be unusual. Coates said the
theatre’s mandate of producing new
work often has people waiting to get
some feedback before purchasing a
ticket. “It’s the reason a franchise
restaurant will do so well. You know
what you’re getting, there’s no
surprise. Blyth Festival is like
discovering some cool little mom and
pop restaurant.”
“More than any other theatre, it’s
word of mouth that sells tickets here.
People in Huron County really trust
their neighbours’ opinions. That’s a
great thing, but it can be a bit of a
roller coaster ride for us.”
As to who is buying the tickets,
Coates said one thing the Festival has
been able to discover is that each year
they get a significant turnover of new
visitors. “The loyals sustain us, but
then there are the others who will
come to a show every other year.”
With just over half the season to
go there’s no question Coates is
pleased with what he sees this year.
“We were not yet halfway through
the season and had hit the 80 per cent
box office revenue target. It’s
extremely good news.”
Go back to school at Funfest
CitizenTh
e
$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, July 24, 2008
Volume 24 No. 30SPORTS- Pg. 8Soccer teams wrap upseason THEATRE - Pg. 19Shakespeare’s ‘Shrew’onStratford stageSCHOLARS- Pg. 6, 16Local students on schools’Ontario Scholar listPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 PAP Registration No. 09244 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
We’re all going on a summer
holiday.
The Citizen will be closing
for holidays the first week
in August. There will,
therefore be no issue of
the paper on Aug. 7.
For this reason anyone
wanting to advertise an
event for that week or
the next, should do so in
the July 31 paper.
The deadlines for inclusion in that
week’s Citizen will be 2 p.m.
Monday, July 28 in Brussels
or 4 p.m. in Blyth.
The Brussels office
will close at 2 p.m.
July 28 to re-open
Aug. 11 at 10 a.m.
The Blyth office will
close at 5 p.m. July 31
and will be open again at
9 a.m. Aug. 11.
V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!
Welcome to Motocross Town
Ticket sales up 40% over 2007
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 7