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The Citizen, 2007-11-29, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2007.EditorialsOpinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie GroppAdvertising, Ken Warwick & Lori Patterson The CitizenP.O. Box 429,BLYTH, Ont.N0M 1H0Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152,BRUSSELS, Ont.N0G 1H0Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.comWebsite www.northhuron.on.ca Looking Back Through the Years Member of the Ontario Press Council The Citizen is published 50 times a year in Brussels,Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc.Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $32.00/year ($30.19 + $1.81 G.S.T.) in Canada;$95.00/year in U.S.A.and $175.00/year in other foreign countries.Advertising is accepted on thecondition that in the event of a typographical error,only that portion of the advertisement will becredited.Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth.PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141PAP REGISTRATION NO. 09244 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com Nov. 29, 1950 Regional candidates were preparing for the municipal nominations taking place across the area, or had already happened as was the case in Morris Twp. were several positions had already been filled following their early nominations. Sweden crowned King Gustav VI, 67, as their new monarch. The King’s grandson, four-year-old Carl Gustav, was named the new Crown Prince. King Gustav assumed the Swedish throne upon the death of his father, King Gustaf V. It was reported from Russia that the few hard-surfaced roads which had been built in the country were being used for something other than the usual walking or driving. A Soviet newspaper article detailed the practice of farmers covering the stretches of asphalt highway with a thin layer of grain for drying purposes. The grain was only laid on one side, but regardless the roads had fallen into disuse otherwise. Nov. 29, 1961 Carol Pepper of Seaforth was successful in earning her ARCT solo performer’s degree in piano from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. A photo was shown of an affectionate Jacqueline Kennedy holding her son John F. Kennedy who had just celebrated his first birthday. This was his first official picture since his christening. An old-model automobile was found and examined in West Berlin, and it was discovered that the number of holes in its sides and windshields were bulletholes. The car was riddled with 100 Communist bullets, as the car had been used by five East Germans, who used it to escape into West Berlin. The car had also been reinforced with steel plates for added protection. Playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich was The Nun’s Story, starring screen starlet Audrey Hepburn and Peter Finch. Also playing was The Battle of Bloody Beach with Audie Murphy and Dolores Michaels, as well as The Silent Call with “Pete” the dog. Queen Elizabeth and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh shook hands with some of over 48 tribal chiefs in Kumasi, Ghana. A celebration was held there in honour of the couple’s 11-day visit to the African state. Nov. 29, 1972 Brussels firefighters were called to a chimney fire at the residence of Mrs. Lawrence Machan on Turnberry Street North. No one was home when the fire broke out but a passerby noticed flames and a neighbour made the call to the fire department. Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames quickly and no serious damage was done. A tragic car crash took the life of a former Walton resident. A recent graduate of McMaster University with a bachelor of science and a Master’s degree from Cornell University, the student was working towards his doctorate in Chemistry. While driving alone in Ithaca, New York, where he now resided, the man’s car collided with another vehicle, and he eventually succumbed to his injuries. Passengers in the other vehicle were treated for minor injuries, and no charges had been laid. Nov. 30, 1988 A demonstration involving over 300 elementary school teachers was seen in protest of a contract dispute which had been going on for 11 months. The teachers were seeking an end to the dispute with the Huron County Board of Education, and staged a peaceful demonstration in Clinton in an effort to get the board to resume negotiations. Representatives from the Ontario Public School Teachers Federation stated that teachers were encouraged to come and show their support for a negotiating team seeking the appointment of a mediator to act at negotiating sessions. Discussions had ceased to occur for over nine weeks. Ontario Provincial Police prepared to initiate once again the RIDE program to be operated for six weeks over the Christmas and New Year’s season. In the past year’s program, officers in Huron County checked 6,637 drivers and charged 19 people with alcohol-related criminal code driving offences. A total of 51 motorists were taken off the road with 12-hour license suspensions and 56 people faced Liquor Licence Act charges for having alcohol easily accessible to the driver. Nov. 28, 1990 The Murray Cardiff Citizenship Trophy, the highest award in the Huron County 4-H activities was awarded to Blyth girl Theresa Knox. The award was presented to her by Cardiff at the annual Huron County 4-H Awards Night held in Clinton. Knox had completed 24 4-H projects, taking part in regional conferences, provincial leadership camps, and also won the Marion Pardy Women’s Institute Scholarship, all in the five years since she joined the 4-H Club. At the November meeting of the Auxiliary to the Clinton Public Hospital it was announced that over $5,000 had been raised through a penny sale to go towards the $15,000 x-ray. Tickets sold for a draw held to win a quilt also raised $1,400 for the cause. THE EDITOR, Again this season, the Huron County Christmas Bureau will be operating in the northern part of the county, hosted by the Wingham United Church. The Huron-Perth Children’s Aid Society organizes the Christmas Bureau and the Wingham site serves the communities of Brussels, Belgrave, Bluevale, Fordwich, Gorrie, Wroxter, Lucknow, Wingham and surrounding areas. Last year, schools, churches, businesses, service clubs, as well as individuals, supported the Christmas Bureau by making donations of food, clothing and toys, which helped to brighten the festive season for appoximately 200 children and their families across the northern part of Huron County. We look foward to this tremendous support again this year. Donations of new clothes for boys and girls (sizes 0 to 16), underwear, socks, pyjamas, waterproof mitts, non-perishable food, new toys and money will be accepted at the Wingham United Church during the week of Dec. 10- 14. Also, starting on Nov. 19, drop boxes will be available in the banks in these communities. This project requires considerable organization and resources to be successful. With the help of you and your readers, we look forward to assisting those who are less fortunate in our north Huron community. Please call 519-357-1315 if more information is required. Sincerly, Bev McBrice, Co-chair Wingham Branch, Huron County, Christmas Bureau We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Why fewer politicians? To borrow from Robert Frost — “Something there is that doesn’t like a politician.” Even politicians don’t seem to like politicians. When former premier Mike Harris wanted to promote municipal amalgamation, he came up with a nifty title for the legislation: The Fewer Politicians Act. The detestation of politicians and the urge to get rid of them was supposed to encourage people to push for municipal amalgamation. The result? We got fewer politicians in larger municipalities run by more public servants making more money because they had more responsibility because of the size of the government. In most cases costs went up. The urge to get rid of politicians doesn’t seem to have gone away. In Morris-Turnberry, for instance, there’s currently a survey being done of the feelings of residents in the municipality. In one of the questions they’re being asked is if they would like to see the number of councillors reduced from six to four. At a question period at last week’s council meeting one ratepayer supported the idea, arguing that four competent councillors could do the job. Perhaps they could. The argument for downsizing councils always is that you’ll end up with only the best councillors left and only the duds will be lost. Somehow the percentage of stars to mediocre councillors always continues about the same. It’s been said that the best form of government is a dictatorship, run by the wisest person in the world. Yet even then, only one point of view will be represented. There’s an amazing thing that happens when a group discusses something and various points of view are expressed. Nearly always the result is better than the idea that was originally proposed. Getting rid of politicians, especially relatively inexpensive municipal politicians, is no recipe for better government. An electorate that puts good people on councils and stays aware of what they’re doing is the only guarantee of a good government. Sadly, though, two fewer councillors probably just means two fewer people paying attention to what’s going on in their municipality. — KR Following bad examples The country is horrified this week by a hockey brawl at a Guelph tournament in which eight-year-old players and their coaches took part. One Hockey Canada official said fighting among players this young is not acceptable. Apparently, fighting among older players is acceptable. It certainly is among professional players where one of the most popular personalities on TV celebrates the ability of his favourite players to be tough and fight when “necessary”. When their hockey heroes at the professional and major junior level fight, the lesson for young players is that this is the way hockey is played by the best. When fighting is celebrated by being featured in the short clips from a game that are shown on sportscasts, obviously it is made to seem important. When crowds roar and cheer when a fight breaks out in a pro game, it’s obviously something that’s approved. It may not be approved for eight-year-olds, but maybe they missed the subtlety of the difference.— KR & Letter to the editor