The Citizen, 2002-10-30, Page 4Looking Back Through the Years
PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2002
Editorials
Opinions
Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp
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ocna ENA AZ=
Member of the Ontario Press Council MEZEIMI
THE EDITOR,
Making preparations to celebrate
Ontario Agriculture Week this year
was certainly easier than some of the
previous years. While the industry
has always had a lot to celebrate,
recent funding announcements by
both federal and provincial
governments made celebrating
easier.
Ontario Agriculture Week was
first proclaimed by the provincial
legislature five years ago, following
introduction of legislation by Perth -
Middlesex MPP Bert Johnson. Now,
the event is automatically marked
during the week leading up to
Thanksgiving.
At a special breakfast at Queen's
Park on Oct. 8 where MPPs and
leaders of Ontario agriculture were
together to enjoy some products of
Ontario agriculture, the point was
made that farmers in this province
have been producing great food for
decades, and finally their efforts are
getting official recognition.
Our Minister of Agriculture and
Food, the Honourable Helen Johns,
told the breakfast crowd that more
needs to be done to ensure the
general public is more aware of how
valuable the agri-food industry is to
this province.
That's what Ontario Agriculture
Week is all about - bringing
awareness of our industry to a higher
level.
Minister Johns pointed out that a
number of new and extremely
important pieces of legislation are
working their way through the
process at Queen's Park. These will
impact most farmers in Ontario as
government responds to the needs
and demands of society to deal with
environmental issues.
Ontario Agriculture Week is
important for the job it is intended to
do -- making the non-farm
population of Ontario more aware of
our industry and the huge
contribution it makes to the
provincial economy. The agri-food
industry adds $32.1 billion to the
Ontario economy each year and
provides jobs for more than 650,000
people.
The Ontario Federation of
Agriculture and a number of its
commodity partners organ:zed a
special program for the people of
downtown Toronto as part of
Agriculture Week - staged at Nathan
Phillips Square on Oct. 9.
Now OFA is proceeding with its
Contract With Consumers initiative.
This is another step in reaching out
to consumers with information
about an industry that far too many
people are willing to take for
granted.
We don't want agriculture to
continue to be ignored by the
masses.
It's too important to the people of
Ontario and the people of
Canada.
OFA hopes everyone will strive to
learn more about agriculture - the
industry that feeds them and is still
the second largest economic force in
Ontario's economy.
Jack Wilkinson, President
Ontario Federation of
Agriculture.
Oct. 27, 1960
Prize winners at the annual Lions
Halloween party were Brian
Workman, Judy and Barbara
Marlett, Anne Shaw, Bruce
Workman, Ronnie Myers, Murray
Workman, Cathy Work, Vonne
McCutcheon, Bob Smith, Larry
Duncan, Murray Raymond, Don
Rutledge, John Wayne McDonald,
Danny Arnold, Donald Workman,
Robert Pipe, Jimmy Duncan, Greg
Wilson, Donald Pletch, Lillian
Myers, Susan Coleman, Lynne
Workman, Joan Stephenson, Brian
Stratychuk, Kathaleen Krauter,
Mary Gibson, Linda Lowe, Dorothy
Elliott, Murray McDonald, Keith
Raymond, Paul McDonald. Blaine
McCutcheon, Judy Marks, Judy
Work, Pauline McCutcheon, Archie
McDonald, Greg Huether, 'Karen
Pletch, Kenny Work, Nancy Baker,
Andy Adams, Bonnie Pletch, Anne
Lowe. Michael Kernaghan, Murray
Bradshaw. Anne Oldfield, Dorothy
Elliott.
Jack Knight was president of the
Grey Twp. Federation.
The Saturday special at Willis's
were chocolate layer cakes, which
were selling for 39 cents.
Two tins of Campbell's tomato
soup could be purchased at
McCutcheon Grocery for 25 cents.
Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston
were appearing in The Wreck of the
Mary Dear, which was playing at
the Lyceum Theatre in Wingham.
Harry A. Snell hosted the
executive meeting of the North
Huron Council of Christian
Education.
Oct. 30, 1985
Two Brussels and three Blyth-area
residents were named to the board of
The Citizen when the first
shareholders meeting was held. Max
Demaray and Barbara Brown of
Brussels and Mason Bailey of Blyth
were named to the hoard along with
Keith and Jill Roulston, editor and
production and office manager of
The Citizen.
After 33 years on council, 18 of
them as reeve of Morris Twp.,
William Elston decided he would
not seek re-election.
Huron County Warden Paul
Steckle presented a copy of the
Huron County Historical Atlas to
Minister of Agriculture Jack Riddell
on behalf of Premier David Peterson
at a ceremony unveiling the atlas.
The Brussels Bulls roster was
Marty Souch, Jeff McGavin, Mike
Smith, Todd McDonald, Rob
Cardiff, Stuart Bowman, Mike
Vincent, Dave Schmidt, Kevin
Ruttan, Mike Chapman, Matt
Carter, Tim Fritz, Kevin McArter,
Murray Dewar, Marty Rutledge,
Troy Smith, Rollie Smith, Kevin
Wheeler, Rob Campbell, Kirk
Whitfield. Dean Rutledge. Steve
Coultes. The coach was Gerry
Dillow, manager was Frank Stretton;
trainer was Pete Exel, equipment
manager Doug Shaw and assistant
coaches were Steve Coulter, Bill
Sellers and Brian Deitner.
Nov. 4, 1992
It was a hot time in the old town
on Devil's Night as vandals set fire
to a school bus parked in the
Brussels Industrial Park. Police said
the bus was fully engulfed by the
time firefighters arrived on the scene
at 2 a.m. Damage was estimated at
$10.000.
It cost the village $1.170 to have
the firefighters patrol.
Work was well underway at the
site of the new Brussels EMA. The
project included an expansion of the
existing grocery store in addition to
a new building for the Canadian
Imperial Bank of Commerce.
Winners of the pumpkin growing
contest were Jason Stryker, Shawna
Stryker. Justin Morgan, Nick
Stryker. Justin Peters. Adam Young
had the largest pumpkin.
Two area farmers were vying to
, represent the Huron-Bruce New
Democrats at the nominating
meeting, Ross Hemingway and Tony
McQuail.
People in the Brussels area were
given an opportunity to meet their
MPP Paul Klopp at a morning open
house in the Medical-Dental Centre
building.
Wracked by debt and disinterest
the Brussels Intermediate Senior
hockey team, the Crusaders, called it
quits.
Attendance pins were presented to
Brussels Lions Greg Ducharme,
Clarence McCutcheon and Jan van
Vliet.
Oct. 29, 1997
There were empty classrooms in
Huron as teachers went on a
province-wide strike.
The Huron County Federation of
Agriculture executive was first vice-
president. Pat Down; past president.
Steve Thompson; second vice-
president. Charles Regele: president,
Henry Boot.
Staff and students at Brussels
Public School were thrilled when
National Hockey League linesman
Scott Driscoll visited to participate
in the reading program. Driscoll.
originally from Seaforth, was
invited to the school by relatives
who teach there.
Visitors with the Furano Natural
Studio from Japan. made a bnel-
stopover in Blyth to touch base with
old friends. Five years earlier the
group presented Kanashibetssi in
Blyth and during that time were
billetted with local families.
Playing at the Capitol Theatre's
Cinema One was Rowan Atkinson in
Bean. while Rocketinan and The
Peacemaker, which starred George
Clooney and Nicole Kidman were
the early and late shows at Cinema
Two.
Education peace, for now
Trustees of the Avon Maitland District School Board can either be
accused of running scared for backing off from proposals for more school
closings, or standing up for the communities they represent in not wanting
to see more dislocation. We'll choose the latter interpretation.
Trustees rejected a report from the board's administration that, among
other things, called for the closure of Blyth and Turnberry Central schools.
Past chair Wendy Anderson argued Huron and Perth Counties need a break
from the potentially divisive and stressful school closure process.
Supporters of the current provincial government could argue the trustees
are just afraid to take the heat that would come with more clOsings. They
probably are, but they also see that schools are more than just places of
learning. Schools are part of the community and when a community loses
their school, as Walton did several years ago or Blyth could under this plan,
some of the vitality of the community is lost. How can Blyth expect to grow,
for instance, if young families know there :sn't even a school in the village?
Are the dollars saved in education worth the cost of the damage done to
community development?
Trustees have picked a good time to make their stand. With a report into
the school funding formula due soon and a proyincial election likely coming
next year and the Ernie Eves government trailing badly in the polls, now
might be the time to actually get politicians to listen. •
At least parents and community leaders in the schools targeted for the
latest 'round of closures can thank the trustees for buying more time.
Hopefully common sense will rule yet. — KR
Global warming is our issue
The federal government's plan to ratify the Kyoto Accord has been
under attack from big business and some provincial leaders for weeks now
but how did this get to be the government's issue in the first place?
It isn't the federal government that's creating the carbon dioxide that's
causing global warming: it's us. It's individual Canadians who need to be
more energy efficient. It's industries that are more worried about short-
term profits than long-term sustainability of human life on this planet. The
very people who want less government interference and more personal
responsibility don't want to take responsibility for their own actions in
creating this problem. Government has one use to these critics: 'a public
whipping boy to take the heat off their own lack of action.— KR
Letters to the Editor