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The Citizen, 1998-07-08, Page 4Under close scrutiny Photo by Bonnie Gropp Looking Back Through the Years July 11, 1968 There was a great deal of activity at the Maitland Teleservices prop- erty. Preparations were being made for the installation of the dial com- munication system. It was expected to have the office equipped with it by the end of the year and through- out the Maitland Teleservices by the end of 1969. The Softball standings for the Tri-County Intermediates had Moncrieff and Walton tied for first with 20 points each, Belmore and Brussels were tied for third with 12 points each, followed by Jamestown and Ethel, both with nine points, Kunzville and Gorrie with six each and Bluevale in last with four points. At the Thompson and Stephen- son Meat Market, macaroni and cheese, minced meat, and chicken loaf each cost 65 cents per pound, Boneless smoked dinner ham cost 99 cents and fresh liver cost 39 cents per pound. July 11, 1973 Morris Township reduced its tax rates. The business and commercial rate dropped from 20 to 16 mills and the farm and residential rates dropped from 18.1 to 14.4 mills. An editorial stated that a com- mittee in Goderich was campaign- ing against the local A&P store because of the store's announce- ment that it would stay open on Sunday. The committee worried that this would start a trend that would see all stores remaining open on Sunday. Brownie's Drive-in movie theatre in Clinton was playing The Posei- don Adventure. Elliott Insurance Company made available for free use an engraving pencil to prevent the loss of goods due to theft. The Ontario Farm Machinery Agency promised to keep the costs of farm machinery from skyrocket- ing. and North Huron Citizen July 9,1997 The provincial government announced that Hwys 4 and 86 were turned over to Perth County. That meant that the north half of Huron would be served by only one provincial highway (Hwy. 21). A major windstorm hit the Brus- sels area resulting in power outs, felled trees, downed cable lines and even smashed cars. A total of seven full-sized trees fell within the village. Some local high schools named their Ontario Scholars. Stacy Hahn, Trevor Beck and Lone Black were among those named from F.E. Madill. From Goderich, Sarah Thomson and John Armstrong were named. Darrell Uhler was also a scholar, graduating from Lis- towel. Playing in Listowel were Walt Disney's Hercules, Buddy, and The Fifth Element. In Goderich, ConAir and Speed 2 were playing. From the files of the Blyth Standard, Brussels Post C tl c itizen 4J, A P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. NOM 1H0 NOG IHO Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@huron.net Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager, Jeannette McNeil C CNA ‘110.111,11[13 CI "JO 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. - Myth. We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright. Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 The North Huron PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 1998. Too tired to care? One of the most common complaints of the 1990s is that people feel they have lost control of their lives — yet human nature being what it is, people's solution often is to give up even more control. Often, feeling overburdened, people would rather assign control to someone else than to expend the energy to maintain control. Currently Huron County council is considering a proposal from the Ontario Provincial Police to provide county-wide police services. Given that all the towns in the county except Wingham have contracted the OPP to provide their local municipal service, and given that the provincial government is now charging for OPP service in villages and townships, the OPP offer makes a lot of sense, But part of the attraction for councillors of the OPP service is that it's no-muss, no-fuss. Just sign the papers and stop worrying — whether you should worry or not. That, and the cost saving, was no doubt part of the reason all the county's towns but Wingham have disbanded their own police services. No longer arc local politicians responsible for personnel problems, worrying about disciplining officers who overstep their powers and a host of other problems associated with maintaining their own police forces. In exchange for making life easier, however, they gave up one of the last vestiges of local control. Not that many of the local population probably worried. As one local politician asked recently, in relation to amalgamation talks, "Does anybody care?". People seem to be just too busy to pay attention to their government until something goes wrong, then they expect instant solutions. People in the 1990s are so tired and so harried that they'd rather not think about government and just let somebody else do it. But as John Philpot Curran said nearly two centuries ago, "The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance". If we become too tired to take our responsibility to democracy seriously, if we willingly cede our power to others, we may lose the ability to take control of our lives when we want to. One of the frightening things about the 1990s is the way a tired nation has stopped thinking, stopped caring. People have turned inward, to their own lives, their own families, and abdicated responsibility to community, to the nation. Seeing this, it's perhaps easier to understand how, in other times of stress, intelligent nations have allowed tyrants to come to power. It was just easier not to think about All of which is not to suggest the OPP decision is wrong, or that other decisions to give up control are somehow creating tyrants. But democracy is hard work. It requires us all to be involved all the time, whether offering our services to hold office, or just staying informed about what is going on. If, being too preoccupied with our own personal problems, we don't make the effort to support democracy, we run the danger of not having power when we want it. — KR Serving us well When two volunteer firefighters were killed in Quebec recently after an explosion at a carpet factory, concern was voiced in the national media over the fitness of part-time firefighters to take on the job they are given. Maybe the situation is different in Quebec but our local firefighters work very hard to stay as well trained as they can, given the limitations of their time. Listening to the national reports, it was hard to figure out whether the reaction was a lack of understanding by big city reporters about rural life, or whether it was a move by full-time professional firefighters to convince government that only professional firefighters can do the job. There is no doubt that, given the amount of time they have for training, our firefighters may, once in a long while, run into a situation for which they are unprepared. Nearly always, however, our firefighters do a great job, at a cost the community can afford. With our small, sparse population, we in rural areas cannot afford to have a professional fire protection service. A single professional fire department with one central location in the county, for instance, would not give us nearly as good service as our local volunteer departments which can respond much more quickly. It's demeaning to brave volunteer firefighters everywhere to suggest that because two firefighters died on duty, they were victims of ineptitude. — KR E ditorial