The Citizen, 2018-08-30, Page 1CitizenTh
e
$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, August 30, 2018
Volume 34 No. 34
ELECTION - Pg. 10
Goderich’s Allan Thompson
announces 2019 campaign
EAT FIT - Pg. 11
Local student returns from
special Nunavut school trip
PRINCESS - Pg. 6
Walton’s Jaden Shortreed
crowned 2018 Princess
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0
INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
B.D. Society concerned with level of consultation
Brussels’ Higgins crowned Queen of the Furrow
The Barn Dance Historical
Society’s board of directors feels it
is being left out of the decision
making process for the North Huron
Museum.
The future of the museum, which
houses a collection of artifacts
related to the board, is currently
being debated by North Huron
Council, however, due to the
upcoming municipal election, it can
make no further decisions about
moving the museum due to the lame
duck period.
The current building doesn’t
suffice for the needs of a museum,
according to staff reports, leaving
North Huron to look at moving it in
the future.
While reports point to the train
station in Wingham as a viable
location for the museum, the site is
smaller and will require the existing
collection of the museum to be
deaccessioned. Gord Baxter, a long-
time member of the Barn Dance
Historical Society, spoke to The
Citizen this week and feels the Barn
Dance artifacts aren’t being
considered as part of the overall
collection.
Baxter said he was shocked to see
a story in The Citizen on Aug. 23
referring to the ongoing project as he
hadn’t been contacted since early
July, after having initially
communicated with North Huron
staff in March. He said the board,
alongside fellow stakeholder the
former Friends of the Museum
group, were to be a part of the
ongoing discussion, but had been
left out of the planning.
Baxter said the Barn Dance
Historical Society’s collection was
under-represented in the reports, and
that it was concerning for the future
of the artifacts and the annual Barn
Loretta Higgins fought through a
cold to claim the crown and sash at
the Huron County Plowing Match
Queen of the Furrow competition
last week.
Higgins, daughter of Greg and
Betty Jane Higgins of the Brussels
area, said that, when she clinched
the victory, she enjoyed it.
“It felt pretty good,” she said. “I’m
not going to lie.”
Higgins said the win came as a bit
of a surprise to her as she battled
sickness and was surprised that the
judges were able to understand her
speech.
This is her second attempt at the
crown, having competed last year
after being encouraged by her sister,
Kate, who won the crown for 2015-
2016. She said that outgoing Queen
Kara Hendriks encouraged her to
run again, and, after thinking on it,
she realized there wasn’t a reason
not to.
“I thought to myself, what have I
got to lose?” she said.
That first attempt, alongside her
skills learned from annual
involvement with 4-H clubs and a
timely speech, helped her win,
Higgins believes.
Her speech focused on the
importance of portraying agriculture
in media and education. Higgins
said a former teacher approached
her after the speech and said she was
addressing that very issue with
Huron County MPP and Minister of
Education Lisa Thompson right
before Higgins took to the stage.
“I realized then that my speech
Lucas Townsend and Paul Dodds
will be representing Huron County
in competitive plowing for the next
year after claiming victory in the
Junior and Senior categories at the
91st annual Huron County Plowing
Match.
The match was held on the farm of
Stephen Thompson near Clinton last
week and saw some prolific local
plowers bring home hardware.
Twelve members of the 4-H
Sodbusters Club plowed on
Thursday, Aug. 23 as part of Junior
Day including Seth Ashwin, Chris
Baker, Sjoerd Jan DeBoer, Andrew
Fear, Darcy Fear, Darnell Francis,
Troy Leeming, Elizabeth O’Rourke,
John Ryan, Ben Speer, Shawn
Steeper and Lucas Townsend.
Townsend brought home the Top
4-H Plowperson Award as well as
the Ross Gordon Memorial Award
for Top Crown. Francis earned the
William Leeming Memorial Award
for Top Finish.
On Friday, Townsend continue to
accumulate hardware, coming in
first in Class #2: Huron County
Junior Plowers. The rest of the class
included, in finishing order, Andrew
Fear, Leeming, Baker, Darcy Fear,
Ben Speer and DeBoer.
Class #4, the Huron County Green
Class, which is limited to Junior
plowers under 15 years of age, was
won by Ashwin with Ryan coming
second.
Class #5, the Huron County
Senior Class (plowers over 21 years
of age) was captured by perennial
winner Paul Dodds, who edged out
Shawn Ryan.
Class #6, Open Junior for plowers
aged 9 to 20, was won by Francis,
followed by Meghan Cameron, Alex
Cameron and Luke Wardell.
Class #7, the Open Senior (over
20) two furrow plow class, was won
by John Urqhart, followed by Kody
Vandevenne and John Johnston.
Class #8, Open Three Furrow
Plow, saw Anthony Bertrand emerge
victorious in front of Riley Terpstra
and Daryl Terpstra.
Class #9, Reversible Plow, was
taken by Gerald Corbett.
Ken Milligan was first in Class
#10, the Antique Trail Plow.
Milligan was followed by Richard
Elliot, Jack Elliot and Tom Thede.
The Antique Mounted Plow Class
(Class #11) was won by Allan
Elmwood. Following Elmwood, in
order of finishing, were Paul
Hodgson, Jim Cox, Jim Brush, Brian
Helka and John Milligan.
Class #12A, Horse Ploughing –
Dodds, Townsend top match standings
Loretta Higgins of Brussels, centre, was named this year’s Queen
of the Furrow. She bested Maranda Klaver, left, and Lauren Bos,
right, in the competition to earn the crown. Loretta follows in the
footsteps of her sister Kate, who earned the Queen of the Furrow
title in 2015. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Two days to remember
The weather was perfect and the level of competition was
high for another fantastic installment of the Huron County
Plowing Match, this time held near Clinton at the home farm
of Stephen Thompson on Stone School Line. Walton’s
Jaden Shortreed was crowned Princess of the match, while
Continued on page 10
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 12
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