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The Citizen, 2003-12-10, Page 1The Citizen Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Volume 19 No. 48 Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003 $1 (93c + 7c GST) I NORTH HURON PUBLISHING COMPANY INC~| Inside this week Pg-3 Pg. 6 Pg. 7 Legion, Auxiliary donate Lewington leads NFU youth Novice Dogs enjoy big day Former Brusselite writes book Shorthorn producers Pg. 18 hear from OCA media manager Auxiliary disbands By Elyse DeBruyn Citizen staff Alter 57 years of community involvement, fundraising and banquets, the Brussels Legion Ladies Auxiliary is coming to an end. Helen Dobson of Brussels, said they (the Auxiliary) had to give up the charter because there are only about five members. "Members are getting too* old now. some live out of town and there just aren't enough people to come and help out anymore,” said Dobson. To give up the charter is a process of sending the charter to the command, who then closes the organization, stamps it and finally sends it back to the Brussels Ladies Auxiliary. Over the years, the Ladies Auxiliary has financially supported the Brussels Legion by catering banquets, helping to pay mortgages, and purchasing some furnishing. Before the announcement of the Ladies Auxiliary closing its doors, they had committed themselves to renovations in the Brussels Legion kitchen. Dobson said they are still trying to honour their word and will have a piece of the cupboard put in and paid off by the time the Ladies Auxiliary is closed. She said they will be officially closed at the end of the year and even if more women want to join after, it would be too late. She said they have done advertising before and no one showed an interest in it. Dobson has been president of the Ladies Auxiliary before and is saddened that she has to be the one to close it down. “I’m sad I’m having to do this. I’ll miss it, but I’m still involved,” she said. It seems more and more of the young women who would have joined the Ladies Auxiliary, are now joining the Legion. Other area Legion Ladies Auxiliaries that have come to an unfortunate closure are Howick. Hennsall and Kincardine. Food drive In the sprit of the holidays, the student council at Brussels Public School started a food drive last week. Each classroom had an oversize stocking and the goal was to fill each stocking as much as they could with non-perishable food items and toys. The 362 food items were sent to the food bank and the 212 toys were sent to the Christmas Bureau in Wingham. The organizers of the food drive are, from left: Ben Gowing, Zach Hoegy, Chelsey McLellan, Kayla Bishop, Lindsey Watson and Kelby Krotz. (Elyse DeBruyn photo) HE fire boundaries change By Andrea Hruska Special to The Citizen In a move to reflect both “belter management of ratepayer money” and “recommendations from the fire marshal’s office”. Huron East council passed a motion last Monday evening to implement boundary changes for local tire departments. The decision, according to emergency response co-ordinator. Marty Bedard, began to surface last spring. Bedard explained that early last year the fire marshal’s office sent out what is referred to as a Municipal Fire Protection Survey. The data acquired from the survey allows the fire marshal to assess and review current resources and make recommendations as required. Based on the information provided by Huron East, changing the fire department boundaries and starting a “dual call” program needed to be done. An example of the “dual call” system would see both Brussels and Grey being dispatched to an emergency, should the 911 call come in on Grey territory but close to Brussels. In this situation, according to Mayor Joe Seili, Brussels would leave if not required once Grey arrived. The boundary changes locally, according to Bedard, involve “Brussels Line and Amberley Road to Blyth - basically a mile and a quarter around Brussels.” Seili. who also sits on the Huron East fire committee board, levls that this decision is a "win-win lot everybody. Whoever can get to the people the quickest, gets there." Seili commended both Brussels and Grey fire departments for having excellent response times. Ratepayers would probably not notice any changes should they need to call 911. “The changes are internal”, explains Bedard. “A 911 call gets directed to fire dispatch and then the closest department is immediately called to respond.” When asked about fielding criticism regarding whether dispatching two fire departments to the same call is “the best use of ratepayer money”, Bedard reflected back to when the decision was made. “Originally,” he said, “the decision for the dual call was made before Brussels had their tanker.” With Grey having the tanker (for extra waler reserves) for the area, it was suggested that having both departments respond to a call within their boundary was in the best interest, should the call require more water than what is contained on the trucks. Knife incident at St. Anne's The principal of St. Anne’s high school contacted Huron OPP on Dec. 2 at 1:30 p.m. over a knife incident, which occurred that morning outside. Two males in the smoking area got into an argument that led to statements about the one youth’s girlfriend The male was walking away when ‘more comments were made causing the youth to become more upset Currently, Brussels has acquired a tanker. Bedard still feels that a dual call is important right now. particularly until all the departments sort out the logistics of the decision. "Even something like figuring how to park the trucks so that one department can get away immediately if another call comes in has to be decided. It’s going to take some time,” he said. Although Council passed the motion stating the changes are effective "Jan. 1. 2004”, Bedard doesn’t see it all coming together until February. Once the exact date has arrived, the fire departments will be expected to do a “site tour” of the boundary changes. Bedard drew particular attention to his hope that the fire departments do not view this with any negativity. “If, for example. Grey takes over some areas of McKillop, that certainly does not mean we are unhappy with Blyth,”he explained. “We are simply trying to make it so that the closest lire department can respond the quickest.” He pulled a knife out of his pocket. Other students intervened and convinced him to leave. Later that afternoon police arrested a 16-year-old male and have charged him with assault with a weapon. The youth was released into the care of the parents with several conditions. He will attend court in Goderich on Feb. 12. BIG mailout begins By Bonnie Gropp Citizen editor Some 600 letters have been sent this past week to begin an aggressive promotion campaign for Blyth and its main street. The ambassador committee of the Blyth Idea Group (BIG) has written to former residents, the names of whom were obtained from the school reunion list of several years ago. Susan Howson, who along with her husband serves on the committee which is chaired by Don Scrimgeour. said the focus is io promote the village, to welcome anyone who might be interested in coming back and starting a business. The letter is written in the form of a missive from home, telling people what’s been happening, said Howson. It speaks of the many attractions in the village, such as the Festival, which brings in 25,000 each summer and the Thresher Reunion which draws 14.000 to town over the weekend. The letter also, however, talks about hopes for future growth and a revitalization of main street. "We want to get the news out that we want to fill our downtown,” said Mrs. Howson. “The people we reach may not be interested but they may know of someone who is.” The letter talks of four businessess that are opening and of the hotel's plans to open some guest rooms in the spring. Part two of the dream, it states is for former residents to return and once again become part of the village or introduce Blyth to business friends they might have. The committee is encouraging not just past residents of Blyth to promote it, but also current residents. “We want them to share with their friends information about the resources we have here and get them interested in promoting Blyth” "We are encouraging them to become ambassadors. Promote Blyth in your Christmas letters and any time you are outside the village.” Mrs. Howson also said the committee is hoping people will help them with the list, adding names or providing current information. “Many (people) on the list may have married or moved. We would like to have these up to date.” Along with a specially-designed laminated bookmark made by Citizen publisherKeith Roulston and Ken Whitmore of Blyth Printing, the mailing also includes a letter from Blyth Festival. “They have been working very closely with us on this and have been an excellent aid.” The committee also adds that anyone with ideas or proposals as to how stores might be filled is invited to speak with Scrimgeour at Food Town or with either of the Howsons at 523-9436.