The Citizen, 2004-12-23, Page 1Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County -
At the rink
Students from East WaVvanosh Public School laced up their skates for a morning of skating at
the Blyth and District Community Centre on Dec. 15. Some teachers joined in the fun too as
they hopped onto the ice and helped younger children around the rink. (Elyse DeBruyn photo)
Alleged puppy mill owners charged
Volume 20 No. 50
Thursday, Dec. 23, 2004
$1 (93c + 7c GST)
Big event
coming to
Blyth
Campvention 2006 is coming to
Blyth from July 7 - 14, 2006.
The Blyth campground is now
confirmed as the location of this
international event by president,
Eldon Sellers (Indianola, Iowa) and
National Campvention director,
Alan Farlee (East Moline, Illinois)
of Family Campers and RVers
(FCRV).
FCRV is a family organization
and is open to any type of camping
unit, from tents to motor homes.
The organization has approximately
8,000 family members, located
throughout Canada and the United
States.
FCVR holds two large
International Campouts every year,
a summer Campvention which is a
week-long activity and in the winter
months there is a four-day retiree
rally held in one of the southern
states.
The Campvention is the highlight
of the campidg season and involves
about 850-950 families. This week-
long campout has a full program for
all ages and lifestyles.
FCVR is impressed by the Blyth
CaMpground site and the many
amenities that it contains that will
allow Campvention 2006 to
organize and conduct their many
programs during the week. Some of
the activities which will take place
during the week include nightly
entertainment, local tours, special
meals, seminars, and hospitalities,
sporting events, activities designed
specifically for youth, teens, adults
or retirees.
One of the highlights of the week
is the FCRV International Teen
Queen Pageant, where teen queens
from various provinces and states
enter a competition to choose a
National Teen Queen. This pageant
takes place on the Tuesday of
Campvention and it starts first thing
in the morning and usually ends late
in the evening, followed by a noise
parade around the site to honour the
new Teen Queen and her court. It is
hoped there will be between 15 and
20 Teen Queens entering this
competition.
On holiday
The Citizen is closed for
Christmas holidays.
The office in Blyth will re-open
Monday, Jan. 3 at 9 a.m. The
Brussels office will be back in
business at 10 a.m. that day. The
next issue of The Citizen will be the
first of the new year, on Jan. 6.
We take this opportunity to wish
everyone a Merry Christmas and
health and happiness in 2005.
Two people have now been
charged by the Ontario SPCA
following an investigation of an
alleged puppy mill in the Twp. of
Central Huron in Huron County.
On Sept. 22 investigators from the
Ontario SPCA, Huron County
Branch, along with a veterinarian,
attended the property to follow up
with a previous inspection of the
kennel facility. An inspection of the
facility determined the standard of
care being provided for the
approximately 100 adult dogs and
50 puppies of various breeds.
"The dogs were found to be in
extremely unsanitary conditions and
several were identified by the
veterinarian as having health
concerns including inadequate
socialization and exercise which is
essential to a dog's physical and
emotional health." said Ontario
SPCA Inspector Carol Vanderheide.
Investigators found that the kennels
the dogs were housed in were filthy
with urine and fecal matter and there
were also a large number of dogs
and puppies outside without
adequate protection from the
elements and no water available to
them.
The owners were issued Ontario
SPCA Act Orders to relieve the
distress of the animals. A female
Labrador type dog with open sores
throughout her body and missing fur
on her ears and legs was surrendered
to the Ontario SPCA. The facility
continues to be inspected by the
Ontario SPCA to ensure proper
Continued on page 6
St.
Mike's
closes
its doors
By Elyse DeBruyn
Citizen staff
The St. Michael's Roman Catholic
Church in Blyth will be holding its
last official mass on Dec. 24 as it is
being forced to close its doors to the
congregation.
Parishioner Mary Sanders of
Belgrave said the closure is due to a
"diminishing congregation" and lack
of money for building repairs.
"Young kids aren't coming
anymore and that has really hurt
attendance," Sanders said.
She said the congregation lost a lot
of the younger parishoners since
mass time was changed to 7:30 p.m.
on Saturday nights. About 20 - 25
people attend the Saturday night
mass.
"It's quite upsetting, but we have
to be realistic here," Sanders said.
"We've asked ourselves many times,
'Can we afford this or that' (repair
costs) and we don't think we can, not
with the small congregation that we
have."
Father John Johnston, church
priest, agrees that the closure is a sad
thing, but "it's not an issue of
emotions, it's an issue of reality."
"People are saddened by it, but
realistically there is no money," he
said.
When the church does close,
parishioners will attend mass at the
closest church to them. The options
include Wingham, Clinton, Brussels,
Goderich or Seaforth.
Although Sanders said members
will attend another church, some'
"won't feel like they belong."
"We're a close-knit family in
Blyth," Sanders said. "I'd feel like an
outsider. It's like moving into
someone else's family. Until you've
been there for 20 years, you don't
feel like you belong."
Fr. Johnston is trying to keep a
positive look on the closure saying
that it could "be a good thing."
"We want to celebrate the Lord in
big groups, larger communities. I
think it's a good thing to celebrate in
larger groups."
After being re-clustered to become
part of a larger community, Catholic
churches in Blyth, Wingham and
Brussels were clustered together and
were given one priest.
Sanders said the operating costs of
all three buildings including heat,
hydro, insurance and office supplies
are divided into thirds.
Continued on page 20