The Citizen, 2007-12-06, Page 19Ladies and gentlemen, let the
roasting begin.
On Nov. 21, history (and comedy)
was made during the first ever
Mayors and Reeves Dinner put on
by the United Way at Columbus
Centre in Goderich.
Spearheaded by Huron County
warden Deb Shewfelt and Huron
United Way executive director Kim
Payne, the event provided county
brass an opportunity to interact on a
personal level, presenting their
lighter sides to the guests assembled
and having some good-natured fun
at their own expense.
“The only time you get nine
mayors in one spot is county
council, if they want to get paid or if
you feed them,” said Huron East
mayor Joe Sieli.
Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell
said in her opening address, “The
titles that we hold give us the
opportunity to bring people
together.”
It couldn’t have proven more true,
as the event was completely sold out.
Mitchell, however, expressed
some dismay at not being able to get
her digs in at the mayors and reeves,
but as she put it - “What happens in
Toronto stays in Toronto.”
With two roles within the
community, as mayor of Goderich
and Huron County Warden, Shewfelt
got raked over the coals just a little
bit more than his counterparts,
though he added any dirty laundry of
his was already well known.
“Anything bad you want to hear
about me, just read The Signal-Star,”
he joked.
Hosts Dale Roth and Kristylee
Varley of 104.9 The Beach took a
couple pot-shots at the mayor for his
love of Tim Hortons, his Blackberry
addiction and even the name Deb - to
which the mayor said sometimes you
just have to “take advantage of odd
things.”
Shewfelt praised the open-
mindedness of county council, and
its ability to work through their
problems at the end of the day.
“We haven’t always agreed,” he
said. “But we always get the job
done.”
He was presented with a butcher’s
knife as a gag gift to help him slash
$1.5 million from the Goderich
budget.
While the hosts agreed it was hard
to come up with dirt on Ashfield-
Colborne-Wawanosh reeve Ben Van
Diepenbeek, they did get
congratulations from the politician
for correctly pronouncing his name
on-air.
“You didn’t look back far enough,”
was his response when the evening’s
hosts failed to come up with
sufficient dirt on the politician.
Bluewater mayor Bill Dowson
took some time to comment on the
merits of Bluewater, including its
strong agricultural roots and trades
people.
“It is our history. It is our being,”
he said.
Dowson recounted the arrival of
John Dowson as one of the first
settlers of the Bronson Line, making
the trip across the pond with little
more than his wife, three sons and a
bottle of Irish whiskey.
However, it was pointed out thatcoffee was this Dowson’s poison, ashe has a habit of disappearing for‘farmer’s meetings’ at JD’s inBayfield a couple of times a day.Roth and Varley said they would
hold Dowson’s infamous (and filthy)
hat ransom until such time as the
mayor antes up some bismark
doughnuts from the Tasty-Nu
Bakery in Zurich.
Neil Vincent, reeve of North
Huron said it was gratifying to see so
many faces of friends and family in
the crowd, and urged everyone to see
Belgrave’s natural ice pad for
themselves.
He also took some fire from
(heavenly) Howick reeve Max
Demaray who, as a long-time
referree, knew a few of the
politicians from their PeeWee
hockey days.
“When (Vincent) was a PeeWee,
he didn’t have the beard,” said
Demaray, who added he’s reffed in
every arena from Exeter to Lion’s
Head - including the legendary
Belgrave pad.
He also gave Ken Oke of South
Huron 10 minutes and put Dowson
on a time out.
“I’m just an old Dutchman who
came across the pond with my
parents,” Central Huron reeve Bert
Dykstra said during his two-minute
speech.
Wooden shoes, wooden head and
wooden listen was how he described
his particular knack for not
remembering people’s names.
Dykstra was then presented with a
strip of stick-on nametags to help
him out.
However, it was South Huron
mayor Oke who would steal the
show, despite his perceived time
disadvantage.
“It’s tough to tone down your
speech and come across as an equal,”
he joked, eliciting groans from the
crowd.
Taking liberties with the evening’s
host, Oke asked if Goderich was the
prettiest town in Canada, why does
Shewfelt walk the streets of Exeter
in disguise, wondering where he
went wrong? Oke also claimed
Central Huron was really thinking
about South Huron when they called
themselves the gem of Huron
County and that when people say
they’re going south for the winter,
they really mean South Huron.
To prove he’s a fan of nature’s
anomaly, Oke proposed two major
events for Exeter - a white squirrel
pie-baking contest and a bag-the-white-squirrel campaign - much tothe delight of the crowd.Morris-Turnberry Mayor DorothyKelly again posed a challenge for thehosts, as she was perhaps the most
squeaky-clean of all.
As treasurer for 24 years, Kelly
made the leap to the mayor’s office
and this year, will be throwing her
hat in the ring for the warden’s
seat.
Payne said she was pleased the
politicians each had great things to
say about the United Way in their
addresses, and was especially happy
that Kelly announced her intentions
for the warden’s seat at the event.
Ending out the night was a live
auction, with Ben Lobb providing
his services as auctioneer. Together
with the silent auction, the event
raised just under $6,000 for the
Huron United Way.
“I think the mayors and reeves had
the most fun of all,” said Payne,
adding each of the politicians said
they’d be coming back next year.
However, the location will be
determined when a new warden is
chosen, as the dinner will then be
hosted in his or her home
municipality.
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2007. PAGE 19.
Roasted
It was North Huron reeve Neil Vincent’s turn on the hot seat
at the first United Way Mayors and Reeves Dinner. (Goderich
Signal Star photo)
Reeves get roasted for United Way
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