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The Citizen, 2007-12-20, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2007.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. Box 152,BRUSSELS, Ont.N0G 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com Website 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 the condition that in the event of a typographical error,only that portion of the advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 PAP REGISTRATION NO. 09244 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com Dec. 20, 1950 Former middleweight boxing champion Rocky Graziano, sometimes known as Boxing’s Bad Boy made the announcement of his new, post-boxing profession. The champ announced that he was now a part-time teacher at a dancing school for children, solemnly stating that “I think this could do lots for juvenile delinquency.” A gadget being used in some supermarkets took the form of a small adding machine. The machine was mounted on the shopping cart handle, and by checking off the price of each item chosen, shoppers could tally the total before the checkout. Dec. 20, 1961 A photo was shown of a woman with facial injuries being carried down a street. It was taken following a harsh scene in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic after a truckload of troops moved against a crowd of over 1,000 women demonstrators, hurling noise bombs and firing machine guns. The U.S. Marine Corps was very excited about a prototype of a shoe that could save lives. Navy medical researchers had developed a heavily armoured combat boot which was designed to withstand the explosion of a land mine. The boot had a six-inch beveled stainless steel sole with a blast deflection contour wedge to ward off fragments of exploding mines. The idea to develop such a boot came from rising numbers of casualties caused by land mines used in warfare. The new footwear was expected to be issued in 1962. There was another breakthrough in technology, this time in the area of nuclear power. New fuel pellets made of uranium dioxide were to be more regularly used in nuclear power reactors. A large pellet was generally one and a quarter inches long and had the energy equivalent of a tonne of coal. These improved fuel pellets had twice the strength of the former smaller sized version which was first mass-produced in 1958. Despite their energy mass, an estimated 500,000 of these large pellets were needed to power one nuclear reactor. The first hockey game of the season to be played at the Blyth arena was finally held. Lucknow and Blyth Intermediate players faced off, renewing their rivalry of the past two seasons. Dec. 21, 1988 Bayfield reeve Dave Johnston was named warden of Huron County, defeating Marie Hicknell, reeve of McKillop in a two-way race for the position. The Bayfield businessman won the post by a 20- 12 margin. He had served as Bayfield reeve since 1983, and had also spent five years in the Navy and 15 on a Toronto-area police force before before moving to Bayfield. Public school students from across the area were busy putting on annual Christmas pageants to the joy of their family, friends and community. And as usual, everyone was eager to write their letter to Santa just to make sure their wishes for this Christmas season are made clear. Schools holding their Christmas concerts in the area included Hullett Central, Grey Central, Blyth and East Wawanosh Public Schools. Playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich was The Naked Gun, ‘from the files of Police Squad, you’ve read the ad now see the movie!’. Dec. 18, 1991 The generous people of the North Huron area showed their heart in supporting those less fortunate in the holiday season. Food and toy drives in Blyth and Brussels alone resulted in several truckloads of goods sent to the Huron County Christmas Bureau and the Salvation Army. A Belgrave couple lost their home in an early morning blaze. Despite quick action from Blyth and Wingham Fire Departments, the home of Dan Hunter Conc. 6, Morris Twp. The fire was thought to have started in a woodstove and was fueled by the high winds outside. The fire was continually doused with water but was not completely put out for another seven hours, by which time the house was gutted and only a few photo albums and treasured momentos could be saved. There was no estimate of damage yet. Zurich reeve Robert Fisher was elected the new warden of Huron County at a meeting held in Goderich. Fisher defeated Tom Tomes, reeve of Stephen Twp., by a 22-10 count. In a speech to council, Fisher said that he felt staff should be asked to accept lower pay increases, and commended the councillors for taking a zero per cent increase the past year. Grade 3 students from Blyth Public School entertained the residents of Queen’s Villa with some traditional Christmas carols and poem recitations. Some of these carols and poems had already been prepared for the upcoming Christmas concert and this visit to Queen’s Villa served not only as some friendly community involvement but valuable practice for the pageant. Following the program, the seniors joined in with the students for some carol singing, and then the students passed out some handmade gifts. THE EDITOR, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle are common terms to most of us and the volunteers at Habitat for Humanity Huron County have recently added ReStore to their current jargon. The local initiative is focusing on the preservation of diminishing resources and the welfare of our fragile environment. A ReStore committee for Huron County has been formed with its sole purpose of recycling new and slightly-used construction-related material for the general public. The selling price of these materials will be approximately 50 per cent of the retail and all monies are directed towards the ReStore operating costs and assisting with building more Habitat houses for Huron County. Habitat for Humanity is a registered charitable organization. The committee has an option on a Parsons Court property, and are looking to construct a 7,500 sq. ft. building to house the ReStore, and serve as a central office for our Huron County volunteer personnel. They plan to be open for business in the fall of 2008. Bob Farrell and John Orr have started picking up material donations on Thursdays. The folks at St. Vincent De Paul are letting the volunteers use their truck to do our pickups. The supply chain committee will be working with the larger retail stores for their support with end-of- line donations and slightly damaged materials this coming January. The committee realizes that it is necessary to have a well-stocked store from opening day, and anticipate that their supply chain and personal material donations will keep the store well stocked with a good mix of products. We hope to attract many contractors, do-it-yourselfers, and cottagers for donations and as customers. A newly-created re-construction committee, headed up by Henry Exel of Brussels, will assist in removing parts of a house destined for upgrades. A recent project just west of Clinton was very successful with doors, windows, kitchen cabinets, and stairs being donated. They anticipate more contributions will be obtained in this manner. Needless to say, we seek volunteers who can assist with the build and store layout, retail and display volunteers, and material pickups. Items which can be donated are: windows and doors, plumbing fixtures, relatively new furniture and appliances, lumber, cabinetry, electrical fixtures, tools and hardware. 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 Peace begins at home Even in a politically correct country of great religious diversity, one part of the Christmas message echoes true to all: the wish for peace on earth. Though while we all want peace, in a world where leaders of foreign powers seem to play war and peace like a game of chess, what can we do? But the same fear, greed, anger and self-centredness that prevents peace on a world scale, also plays a role at a level where we have control: in our families, our workplaces or social groups and our communities. Last week a young Toronto-area teenage girl Aqsa Parvez died in her Toronto home, allegedly strangled by her own father. Her friends claim she had been battling her family over her unwillingness to abide by what they felt was a proper religious lifestyle. She refused to wear a hijab and dressed in western clothes like her schoolmates. If this is true, then in a way it’s a microcosm of the current conflict between militant Muslim groups like Al Qaeda that think Western influences are corrupting their view of a proper Muslim lifestyle in their own countries. At the family level, any parent of a rebellious teenager can have a certain understanding of the frustration Aqsa Parvez’s father was probably experiencing. He had tried to instill a certain set of values, values he thought essential for a good life and she was rejecting them. But this is where another part of the Christmas message comes in: “Goodwill toward men”. We need to extend that goodwill to those around us, even those doing things we disagree with. We need to try to reach outside our own world view to accept that other’s have the right to their own views, and to try to understand why they believe what they do. Peace begins at home. If each of us shows goodwill toward those around us we take a tiny step toward world peace. — KR Remembering a peacemaker Last week marked the 50th anniversary of Lester B. Pearson’s acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize and brought attention to this near- forgotten Canadian leader. While the recent controversy over Brian Mulroney has rekindled the fires of the Mulroney versus Pierre Trudeau debate over who contributed the most as prime minister, Pearson’s legacy as the leader who established Canada’s role as a peacemaker and the prime minister who brought in the Canada Pension Plan and medicare on a national level, and who gave us our flag, goes on affecting our lives every day. Pearson managed to accomplish all these lasting things while never being rewarded by voters with a majority government This peacemaker deserves a bigger place in our history. — KR & Letter to the editor Continued on page 6