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The Citizen, 1998-06-03, Page 4Blooming lovely Photo by Janice Becker Looking Back Through the Years From the files of the Blyth Standard, Brussels Post and North Huron Citizen June 6, 1968 At the first graduation ceremony held at Fanshaw College of Applied Arts and Technology, Ross Yuill was one of the 200 graduates to receive his diploma. Huron County residents were hit, with a tax increase, due to educa- tion costs. Little of the hike was due to local expenses. In tri-county intermediate soft- ball standings, Brussels held third place with two wins, and one loss. Playing at Brownie's Drive-In this week was The Dirty Dozen, featuring Lee Marvin and Robert Ryan, and Clam Bake with Elvis Presley, and Shirley Fabares. At the Stop'n'Shop, Maple Leaf cheese slices were selling for 37 cents per eight ounce package. Tenderflake or Crispy Crust Lard, two pounds, was selling for 39 cents. Stephenson's Bakery and Gro- cery had many delicious items on for good prices with McCormick Chocolate Chip Cookies on for 39 cents and Sheriffs Bud Puddings 10 for a dollar. June 6, 1973 The wall around the Huron County gaol in Goderich was saved but it was still going to take a fair amount of community interest and money to promote the building so it could become a tourist attraction in the future. The Standard announced it was moving again, this time from their office near Bainton's Old Mill uptown to the former LiVis Insur- ance office near the Christian Reformed Church. After a lengthy debate Blyth Vil- lage council set a policy for meet- ing costs of future expansion. The policy called for a charge of $200 to be made for every home built on a new street constructed after June 4, 1973. A wanted notice was displayed on the front page calling for all ballplayers to join the Blyth indus- trial softball league. People young and old were invited to join. The 8th Liners were the first team to enter. Ron Gordon became the 1500th member of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. June 4, 1997 Liberal Paul Steckle was returned to the House of Commons for a second term with 24,243 votes, surpassing his next closest competitor, Reformer Doug Fines, by more than 14,000 votes. For the 11th year, the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Spe- cial Olympics was to wind its way along Huron County highways. The event has raised $12,000 local- ly and more than $1.4 million provincially in 1996. The Brussels Bulldogs began their 1997 season against the Zurich Rangers, winning a hard fought game to move on and play the Brussels Tigers and win. The Blyth Festival announced their season kick off for June 20 having planned a gala dinner, art gallery exhibit opening, perfor- mance of Quiet in the Land and post-performance reception. This year, the Festival celebrated its 23rd year of presenting new Cana- dian plays. The movie to see this week was The Lost World Jurassic Park at Park Theatre, and Capitol Theatre. Letters THE EDITOR, We've finished another busy morning at our Food Bank and as usual, have met some very nice people. Two came from Blyth. One pleasant woman delivered a basket of food, also an offering of money from UCW. Blyth United Church. Then a gentleman from Trinity Anglican, arrived with their donation. Busy people, yet finding time to bring to our door the community's contributions and always with a smile. As I entered the names in the book I glanced at lists of organizations, churches, business people and yes, young people who give on a regular basis. We at the food bank are always aware that these are gifts, not to be taken lightly, and we want your readers Continued on page 18 C itizen .JNc A P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1110 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887.9021 Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager,_ Jeannette McNeil vCRIFIC 0 CORM,. av,ON E-mail norhuron@huron.net IA10 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $27.00/year ($25.24 + $1.76 G.S.T.) In Canada; $62.00/year in U.S.A. and $75.00/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. We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 The North Huron E ditorial PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1998. This is progress? With Sunday's vicious wind storm western Ontario residents got a lesson in the price paid when service is sacrificed to cost cutting. It was not a pretty sight. Given the length of the power interruptions in some parts of the area, one might have expected to see much more physical evidence of the storm's damage. While the area south of Clinton suffered no interruption, Blyth and areas north were out much longer. Some areas were still without power on Monday. It meant problems for farmers, businesses and homeowners. For residents of this area the frustrations mounted. Ontario Hydro has instituted an automated reporting system which sends callers off to some far-off office instead of the Clinton office. Aside from the frustration of having to deal with one of those "press one for repair" telephone systems, the expensive technology just didn't work. The system got bogged down with hundreds of inquiries. Despite numerous calls the Blyth PUC only got through with the message that the village was blacked out after an enterprising employee drove to Clinton and tracked down a crew. As the time dragged on, no one from Ontario Hydro was designated to undertake the simple job of getting on the radio and telling people what the heck was going on (public relations is now handled from head office in Toronto). This, of course, only caused more people to phone for information, bogging down the system more. Cutbacks in service by the local radio station made the situation worse. The station employs no news staff on weekends, depending on a province-wide service. But when a-local emergency occurs and people are depending on very local information, there's nobody on hand to get that information — particularly when the source, Ontario Hydro, is also difficult to deal with. Getting very local information is exactly why people listen to a local radio station. Otherwise, they might just as well listen to a London or Toronto or Detroit station. Emergencies like Sunday's demonstrate the pendulum has swung too far from providing service toward cost cutting. We depend on Hydro to an overwhelming extent these days. We must not only have reliable service but we also must have information about when the power is likely to come on again so they can make emergency arrangements. Yet in this "information age" communication was the most lacking service. In a time when the customer is supposed to matter, nobody seems to be thinking about the needs of the consumer. The cost-cutting has gone too far. — KR A huge loss for education The drive for quality education for local young people suffered a blow last week when Paul Carroll announced his resignation as director of the Avon Maitland District School Board. The leadership of Carroll and the management team he had put together with the Huron County Board of Education perhaps only became apparent when the merger of the Huron and Perth boards went into effect. Huron was so far ahead in programs like applying technology to the classroom that the new Avon Maitland board's first challenge was find ways to bring the Perth schools up to the Huron level. Carroll and his staff in Huron had done wonders in searching out sources of funding needed for new programs. Carroll was immensely approachable for media representatives, always open to answer questions and help make complicated issues more clear. He was open to ideas. He tried to find a way to bring different sides together. Despite a heavy workload, he was also involved in his community of Seaforth and that involvement may have been the final straw. When the controversy erupted over the possible closure of the Seaforth District High School, he was a handy target for the attack. He subsequently resigned all his local positions. Carroll's premature departure is evidence of the human cost of the stressful '90s. With change and uncertainty forced upon them, staff of our schools and hospitals and other government-supported institutions are under tremendous, unrelenting pressure. It's bound to take its toll. In this case, the savings in the education system have come at a heavy price. We had a man who made Huron a leader in education but we've lost him. — KR