The Citizen, 1988-02-24, Page 1I
Comedy cooking for Biyth Festival's 14th opening
Serving Brussels, Biyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel,
Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships
VOL. 4 NO. 8 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1988.45 CENTS
A comedy about a battle be
tween huge food corporations over
an old-time Amish cookie recipe
will open the 14th season of the
Biyth Festival June 17.
“Cookie Wars” by Kathleen
McDonnellislooselybasedon a
true story involving famed cook
book author Edna Stabler in which
two huge food conglomerates tried
to get exclusive patenton an old
order Mennonite recipe for a
chewy, crunchy cookie. Each
company hired top lawyers and
each lawyer got a group of Amish to
cook the cookies to prove they had
legitimate claim on the recipe.
Caught in the middle is the
cook-book writer who is also being
convinced to run for mayor of the
town.
The Evel Knievel of the snowmobile set, two participants in the Walton
Sports Club’s Poker Rally on Sunday take a death-defying leap over a
snowbank in Grey Township - all for the benefit of the camera. More
than 200 machines took part in the rally, which raised much-needed
funds to support W al ton Minor Ball in the upcoming season. The Biyth
Snowtravellers also sponsored a Poker Rally over the weekend, which
was equally successful.
Bruce McCall MVCA president
Bruce McCall of Brussels has
been re-elected to the position of
chairman of the Maitland Valley
Conservation Authority, aposition
he first accepted early in 1987 after
then-chairman Vince Judge stepp
ed down as a result of other
commitments.
Mr. McCall served as acting
Biyth lift now officially open
Blustery weather cut down the
length of the opening ceremonies
but not the enthusiasm as the new
liftforthehandicappedat Biyth
and District Community Centre
was opened Saturday night.
Nearly all the guests from a
distance and even some local
officials weren’t able to attend
after a sudden storm made driving
Storm causes 4-vehicle pileup
High winds and heavy, drifting
snow are being blamed tor a
four-vehicle pile-up on Highway 86
near the junction of Highway 87 at
Bluevale early Monday morning.
On Monday, a spokesman for the
Wingham detachment of the OPP
said that few details could be given
out as the investigation had not
been completed, butadded that
chairman of the Authority for
several months before being ac
claimed to the position at the
MVCA’s general meeting last
August. Following a nomination by
Leona Armstrong, MVCA director
for Grey Township, Mr. McCall
was again acclaimed as chief
executive officer at the Authority’s
hazardous. Among those unable to
attend were Huron M.P.P. Jack
Riddell.
Two ribbon cutting ceremonies
were held, one at the main floor
entrance to the lift and one at the
second floor exit. Taking part in the
downstairs ribbon-cutting were
Janice Henry, president of the
Ladies Auxiliary to Branch 420,
three cars and a tractor-trailer
were involved in a chain reaction
which began when the first car,
driven by William Horne of Port
Elgin, went out of control in
whiteout conditions and became
stuck in a snowbank.
A second vehicle, driven by John
Jamieson of Listowel then collided
with the rear end of the Horne
vehicle; a third car, driven by
annual meeting in Wroxeter last
Friday. Carman Kaye of Minto
Twp. defeated George Wicke of
Ellice Twp. for the position of
vice-chairman of the MVCA.
One of the major items of
business on the agenda involved
the re-structuring of the MVCA
Advisory Board, a move which
Royal Canadian Legion and Ruby
Pattison, vice-president of the
group which spearheaded the
fundraising drive which made the
installation of the lift possible. Also
taking part was Bill Vincent,
Legion president.
Following the first ribbon cutt-
Continued on page 17
Donald Datema of RR 1, Auburn,
rear-ended the Jamieson vehicle;
and finally, a transport belonging
to Ron Walden Trucking of Wing
ham and driven by Dale McLean of
Gorrie piled into the rear of the
Datema vehicle.
The police spokesman said that
there were no major injuries
involved.
Chairman McCall said would have
the effect of keeping all the
members of the Authority better
informed and more knowledgeable
of all the organization’s functions.
Under the motion to re-struc
ture, which was unanimously
Continued on page 2
Citizen
of the Year
nominations
needed
After many nominations being
received in the past two years for
the “Citizen of the Year” awards
for Biyth and Brussels, only one
nomination has been received with
nominations set to close Friday.
The Citizen of the Year award is
designed to reward those who have
made outstanding contributions to
their community. One award is
given out for the Brussels area and
one for the Biyth area. Lastyear the
awards went to Wayne Lowe for his
many years of work in Brussels
organizations and to Franklin and
Cenetta Bainton in Biyth.
Nominations can still be receiv
ed this week. A nomination form is
enclosed in this issue of The
Citizen.
The award is presented by The
Citizen.
The play, says Festival Artistic-
director Katherine Kaszas shows
the clash of cultures between the
rural Mennonite world and the
high pressure, big-business New
York way of life. It is the first time in
her four years choosing plays for
the Festival that she has opened
the season with a comedy, Ms.
Kaszas said.
The second show will be “Mail
Order Bride” by Robert Clinton,
an Alberta Playwright. Ms. Kaszas
describes it as a funny, warm,
moving play. It is the story of a
young couple in the 1950’s who
return to a Saskatchewan farm to
clean up after their grandmother
has died. Little by little they
discover the history of their family,
the relationships and, the charac
ters. The play deals with the way
we tend to revise our family history
to fit our own needs, Ms. Kaszas
said. Mail Order Bride opens June
22.
The third opening will be a
one-man play from New Brunswick
called “Lucien” which will bring a
familiar face back to Biyth. Ted
Johns will direct the play which he
had previously directed in New
Brunswick. The play by Marshall
Button is about an Acadian
millworker, Lucien works the
graveyard shift and who is filling in
a new employee on the secrets of
getting along on the job but it also
tells a lot about life in the maritimes
for work-class people. The play
opens July 6.
“Fires in the Night” the story of
former Blyth-teacher Fred Slo-
man, his wife Cela and family and
their life on the first school-car
teaching children in remote areas
of Northern Ontario. The play,
dealing with the passionate com
mitment of a teacher to universal
access toeducation for even the
most disadvantaged, isolated com
munitiesis written by David Craig,
former writer-in-residence at the
Festival. The story was dealt with
in a young people’s workshop at
the Festival last year and that
work, along with other research,
has gone into Mr. Craig’s play.
The play has four acts, one in the
1920’s, one in the 1930’s, one in the
1940’sandoneinthel960’sand
will involve a large cast including
“kids and dogs” as four genera
tions are examined. It will utilize
virtually the entire company and
opens July 27.
The final production of the year
will bring back a hit from last year,
“Bordertown Cafe’’ by Kelly
Rebar which has had several
productions across Canada since
premiering at Biyth last year. The
play deals with the relationship
betweenamotherandasonwho
must decide if he wants to stay with
his mother with her “boring”
lifestyle in the family’s prairie
cafe, or accept the invitation of his
father, who moved out years ago,
tojoinhimintheexcitinglifeqf
being a trucker in the U.S.
Bordertown Cafe opens August
24 and runs at Biyth until Sept. 17
when it will go on a tour throughout
Ontario until early November.