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The Citizen, 2019-01-31, Page 3THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019. PAGE 3. His secret power and influence (J.C. Philpot, “The New Covenant & the Blood of Sprinkling”) “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” John 6:44 “I have loved you, My people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to Myself.” Jeremiah 31:3 None can really come to Jesus by faith, unless this drawing power is put forth. The Holy Spirit--that gracious and blessed Teacher, acts upon the soul by His secret power and influence, puts ‘cords of love’ and ‘bands of mercy’ around the heart, and by the attractive influence that He puts forth, draws the soul to Jesus’ feet; and in due time reveals Him as the chief among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely one. As the Spirit reveals and manifests these precious things of Christ to the soul, He raises up a living faith whereby Jesus is sought unto, looked unto, laid hold of, and is brought into the heart with a divine power, there to be enshrined in its warmest and tenderest affections. All through its Christian pilgrimage, this blessed Spirit goes on to deepen His work in the soul, and to discover more and more of the suitability, beauty, and blessedness of the Lord Jesus, as He draws the soul more and more unto Him. There is no maintaining of the light, life and power of God in our souls, except as we are daily coming unto Jesus as the living stone, and continually living upon Him as the bread of life. A Grace Gem Submitted by: Immanuel United Reformed Church, Listowel, ON 519-291-1956 Thompson recognizes local volunteers at event Earlier this month, Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson recognized the efforts and dedication of volunteers in her riding at her annual New Year’s levée. Held on Jan. 16 in Teeswater, Thompson presented Remarkable Citizens Awards to 23 residents from across the two counties she represents. Locally, Brian McGavin of Walton, Joyce Johnston of Bluevale, Doug Kuyvenhoven of Wingham, Joan Vincent of Wingham, John Leppington of Clinton, Lorri Anne Moore of Seaforth, Bob Beuttenmiller of Seaforth and Tom Melady, also of Seaforth, were honoured. Christopher Pennington, formerly of Brussels and now of Kincardine, was also a recipient. During an interview with The Citizen on Monday, McGavin said that while his award recognized his volunteer efforts, and while he was thankful for the honour, it really could go to any number of people in the community. “It’s not just for me,” he said, adding that for the International Plowing Match held in Walton in 2017, the award could easily go to any of the executive or 2,300 volunteers that put on that event. McGavin said the same of his involvement with the 4-H organization. He said there are many great leaders, members and volunteers in the organization that could also be honoured. The event was a good experience according to McGavin, who said getting to see all the volunteers from across the two counties was enlightening. “You can really see that volunteerism is alive and well in Bruce and Huron,” he said. “It’s nice that Lisa Thompson supports it, because so many people deserve that recognition.” Vincent said it was a great honour to be recognized, though she doesn’t volunteer for those reasons. Being involved in organizations like the Elementary School Fair in Belgrave, the Huron County Federation of Agriculture, local 4-H clubs, the East Wawanosh 150th anniversary celebration and the annual Huron County Queen of the Furrow competition, Vincent says she does it because the work needs to be done. She said she was also recognized for her baking, which she did for North Huron staff and council while her husband Neil was a representative. She said the evening was very nice, however, as it was postponed due to weather, not everyone she wanted to celebrate with could be there. In the end, she had some family there, as well as friends, and she said it was a nice evening with good entertainment. “It was humbling to be included with some of the other people who received awards,” she said. “There were some very dedicated volunteers there.” This year’s awards also included Bob Rowe of Hensall, who many locals may know through his work organizing Freedom Syrup in Walton. Freedom Syrup is produced in a sugar shack located in a bush on Jeff McGavin’s property, and is available by donation at several local locations. The proceeds from the syrup, which is produced by volunteers, goes towards helping the families of fallen soldiers. The awards also included a posthumous honour presented to Steve Millen of Teeswater, who passed away in November. Other recipients included Brent McKague of Teeswater, Darian Murray of Lucknow, Dave McDonald of Teeswater, Keith and Gail VanderHoek of Ripley, Jane Hoy of Dungannon, Judith Bond of Kincardine, Margaret Sutherland of Park Hill, Patti Hutton of Tiverton, Phyllis Ireland of Teeswater, Shannon McGlynn of Teeswater and Shannon Wood of Mildmay. Hard working Walton’s Brian McGavin was recognized by Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson during her annual New Year’s levée. Every year, at the event, Thompson shines a spotlight on deserving volunteers from her riding. (Photo submitted) Recognized Earlier this month, Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson, right, held her annual New Year’s levée. As part of the event, she recognizes local volunteers like Joan Vincent, left, for the hard work they undertake in their communities. (Photo submitted) 210 Industrial Park Brussels, ON N0G 1H0 Tim and Donna Prior tim@brusselsselfstorage.com You store it, you lock it, you keep the key. BRUSSELS SELF STORAGE 519-357-5807 www.brusselsselfstorage.com Units Are Filling Up! Drop by our office in Blyth or Brussels and check out our wonderful selection of books. We have books for all ages. 541 Turnberry St., Brussels 519-887-9114 413 Queen St., Blyth 519-523-4792 By Denny Scott The Citizen ‘Citizen’ offers glimpse of past In this week’s issue of The Citizen, you’ll find a page dedicated to the images, stories and people of yesteryear for a special Throwback Thursday feature. In recent months, The Citizen has been celebrating these stories of the past on its Facebook page, partaking in the social media phenomenon of Throwback Thursday. The weekly posts have become some of the newspaper’s most popular, engaging thousands of members of the public every week as they tag one another in photos and reminisce together over shared memories of their communities, captured by The Citizen years ago. Now, in the last issue of every month, The Citizen will be dedicating a page to the best posts of the month, saved from Facebook and shared exclusively in The Citizen. To see The Citizen’s Throwback Thursday posts online, visit The Citizen’s Facebook page. To see the best of January’s Throwback Thursday in this issue, turn to page 18. Dairy variance deferred by HE A Huron East farmer in the Grey Ward is looking for a pair of minor variances to expand his dairy operation, but some neighbours are concerned. Remo Schlumpf and his wife Heidi spoke to the application at Huron East Council’s Jan. 22 meeting, saying they were hoping to reduce the minimum distance separation on the dairy barn from 395 metres to 385 and the proposed manure storage from 555 metres to 430 metres. Not only were surrounding neighbours concerned, but other area residents were worried about the impact the setback would have on the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, which is adjacent to the farmlands. Planner Denise Van Amersfoort also spoke to the application at the meeting, saying the department was recommending deferral of the application to allow for more time for the applicant and his neighbours to discuss potential solutions. Schlumpf said that he had worked extensively to locate the manure storage in a convenient location for all. There are certain distances dictated by the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, however, for best practices and he was simply trying to adhere to those. The barn also has to be located close to the couple’s home in order to ensure biosecurity and so they can keep an eye on their animals. The application received a large amount of feedback from neighbours and interment right holders for the cemetery who are concerned about the Schlumpfs’ plans. They pointed out that at the time of their interment rights purchases, certain minimum distance separation bylaws were in place for a reason and that those should be honoured going forward. One neighbour, who was in attendance that night, asked about potentially treating the farm’s manure to help reduce odour concerns. Schlumpf told her that he wasn’t aware of such a chemical treatment, but since his operation is organic, it’s unlikely he’d be able to use it anyway. Van Amersfoort told council that she recommended a deferral so that the Schlumpfs and their neighbours could have some more time to discuss the issues at hand and potentially find some solutions to them as well. Council approved Van Amersfoort’s recommendation to defer the application. By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen