The Citizen, 2019-01-17, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2019.
By Jo-Ann McDonald
It was a nice week at the Branch
with several usual activities and one
annual activity. The Cadet Corps met
on Tuesday evening with their
normal actions. Parade, inspection,
classes and drills were all part of the
night’s activities.
Wednesday evening was the
gathering of the Huron County Beef
Producers for their annual meeting,
held every January at the Branch. It
is not uncommon for the weather to
be unruly the night of the meeting
and this year was no different. Snow
squalls moved in late in the
afternoon and kept some of the
crowd from attending.
Other years they have faced ice
storms, heavy fog and heavy snow of
course. Nearly 50 managed to attend
to hear the reports and guest
speakers. They enjoyed a roast beef
dinner first (which was delayed 20
minutes waiting for the crowd to
arrive) and then moved right into the
meeting (while many were still
eating dessert) to hopefully wind the
evening up early.
Comrades helping and
appreciating the fast pace to end the
night early were Linda Bird, Judy
Lee, Kathy Burkholder, Jo-Ann
McDonald and John Lowe.
The Thursday night darts had 12
players shooting at the boards. The
first place team was Sheron
Stadelmann and Gord Jacklin.
Second place went to Ken VerBeek
and Sandra Brown. The high shots
were by Sheron hitting 140, Gord
with 133 and Roger McHardy with
106.
Everyone is welcome to come out
on Thursday nights. Darts start at 8
p.m. and the cost is $1 to play.
The Friday night Catch the Ace
draw is bringing out more people
every week as the pot grows and
grows. The ticket sales are going up
every week, and so too will the pot.
This past week’s winner was Jennifer
Smith winning $373. She chose
envelope number 44 and found the
four of spades. The estimated jackpot
for this week is $6,300.
On Saturday, there were eight
Comrades heading to Hespeler Br.
272 to play district darts in singles,
doubles and teams. Ron Schmidt and
Eric Ross had winning records in
singles but will not advance. Ron
and partner Dan Byersbergen are
district double dart champions and
will advance to provincial play in
Port Credit in March. Team Ron
Schmidt, Daisy Wong Schmidt, Eric
Ross and Bob Richardson were third
on their card and Dan Byersbergen,
Tyler Verbeek, Jason Colgate and
Andy Overholt were not so lucky.
They all had a good day but will
not advance as teams.
Congratulations to Ron and Dan!
BRUSSELS MINOR BALL
2019 REGISTRATION
January 31st & February 7th
5:30 - 8:00 pm
BMG Arena
Forms available online at
www.brusselstigersfastball.ca
*Coaches needed
At the Branch
Local pair wins at district darts
Organizations prep for AGMs
I’m not sure what made me smile
more on Sunday: admiring the
sunshine or watching the
neighbour’s pup dash through the
snow. His stops were spontaneous,
halting on instinct to check a new
thing. He ran with abandon, smelling
and looking, rooting and watching,
no spot in the yard, and beyond, off
limits.
Perhaps it was the energy and new
life or maybe a combination, to get
excited about what is happening
right around us. Mind you, the sun
was pretty fine too.
Annual meeting time is here. A
time to reflect on the year past. For
some, it’s the agony of pulling the
reports together, for others it’s
planning for the meeting and seeking
ways to move into the future. For
others it’s deciding if the group is
important and then helping to keep it
viable by offering leadership. For
most, the annual meeting of any
organization means another year has
slipped away and face the facts, our
time here is not endless. Do your
good stuff now.
Mission trips, to places of abject
poverty, are a way to physically
improve a life. Through many
organizations, often churches, folks
with the needed skills for the role
requested, go to places not on the
tourist maps, but often nearby. Help
is offered in concrete ways like
schools and wells, homes and
centres. From input from the
residents and at their request, work is
started.
No longer do we haul outdated
books and clothes as a way to help.
Supplies are ordered and purchased
in that country, residents work
alongside and life changes for
everyone involved. This is the
season that folks you know will be
heading to El Salvador, Haiti or
Nicaragua or other spots to do what
they can to improve one life at a
time.
Months of preparation for the life
and work that they will share for a
bit has begun. Time there is spent
living the life of the residents. For
them the return is difficult when our
waste and abundance nearly sickens
them. For us, who only see our way
of life, be generous to the
organizations that do the details for
ground work of setting the work
sites, listen to the stories and learn
that we need to share better with the
world’s resources.
This is a good month to check on
the contents of a few drawers and
closets, a surprise is always good.
Take care of yourself,
Betty G.W.
NEWS
FROM BRUSSELS
By Betty
Graber
Watson
Call
887-9231
A NOTE FROM BETTY
Facing off
Over the weekend, as part of the annual Blyth Broomball
Tournament, the home-ice advantage paid off for one Blyth
team who took on competition from Seaforth and posted a
2-1 win. (Mark Nonkes photo)
Huron East voter
turnout near 38%
Voter turnout in last year’s
municipal election was just under 38
per cent in Huron East according to
a report produced by Chief
Administrative Officer Brad Knight.
Knight noted the figures at Huron
East Council’s meeting late last year,
saying technology has not proven to
be a barrier to those voting in the
municipality.
Huron East was one of the first
local municipalities to universally
adopt telephone and internet voting
in an effort to engage younger voters
throughout the municipality, he said.
However, if the municipality-wide
voter turnout was 37.6 per cent, the
percentage rose in every age bracket,
showing that older residents who
may have been concerned about
adapting to internet or telephone
voting also turned out in the greatest
numbers to vote.
He said that older residents feel
their duty to vote, compared to
younger residents who don’t vote in
the numbers that their older
counterparts do. This is similar to
the trend when traditional voting
was employed in the municipality,
he said.
Voters aged 75 to 80 had a turnout
of nearly 62 per cent, followed by
58.48 per cent for ages 70-75, 52.43
per cent for voters aged 66 to 70,
50.48 per cent for residents ages 56
to 65, 39.11 per cent for those 46 to
55, 29.81 per cent in those ages 36 to
45 down to turnout numbers
near 20 per cent for those aged 18 to
35.
He told councillors that the vast
majority, 78 per cent, of those who
voted used the internet, while 17 per
cent used their telephone and five
per cent used a special kiosk at the
municipal office in Seaforth.
In total, 16 voters abstained from
voting, 10 of which were in Grey
Ward. No one abstained from voting
in the Brussels Ward.
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Brussels Legion Branch 218
presents
Karaoke with Stubby D
and Wing Night
Food begins at 7:00 pm - Music at 8:00 pm
Bring your voice and friends
Friday, January 18
Brussels Legion 218 Catch the Ace
Weekly Winner
Winning Ticket: Jennifer Smith $373
Envelope #44 found the 4 of spades
Estimated Jackpot for January 18 is $6,300
Have A New Addition?
519-523-4792
or
519-887-9114
Let everyone know about
your new bundle of joy!
The Citizen
Call for prices and details