The Citizen, 2006-12-07, Page 1e Citizen
MIIIIIIMMIMMIlikartaulmunities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
$1.25 ($1.18 + 7c GST) Volume 22 No. 48
P
Inside this week
Pg. 6 Miniature museum
opens in Blyth
tin c Seasonal music
5.* I -7 sheets begin
M-1 council holds
5,* inaugural meeting
Da le Dealing with grief s. 1.1 " at Christmas
1- is the season to
P2. 30 0 cut down a tree
Council
fills
Blyth
vacancy
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
Blyth has its second representative
at the North Huron council table.
At the inaugural meeting on
Monday night councillors appointed
Greg McClinchey to the vacant
position. Only incumbent Murray
Nesbitt had put his name forward for
Blyth'ward prior to the deadline for
nominations.
McClinchey, who serves as
administrative assistant to Huron-
Bruce MP Paul Steckle was born and
raised in the Londesborough area.
He currently owns property in North
Huron.
Under the Municipal Act, council
had two options to fill the vacancy.
The seat could be filled by council
appointment or by holding a by-
election.
Besides McClinchey, three other
applicants had put their name
forward for the position — Jim
Henry, Brock Vodden and John Roe.
Henry and Vodden were present at
council meeting.
The cost of a by-election was
something councillor& felt could be
avoided. Nesbitt said, "I think we
have a good turnout of applicants.
We should be able to deal with this
as soon as possible."
Councillor Archie MacGowan
concurred. "The quicker we deal
with this the better. Don't see a
reason to drag this on. We are lucky
to have four applicants to choose
from. I was concerned we might not
even have any names come forward,
so this is good news for us. I'm
prepared to move ahead this
evening."
Reeve Neil Vincent also agreed,
stating that a by-election would be
very costly and that council has
Continued on page 3
Hockey
Days
nearing
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Mark it on your calender. Hockey
days are coming to North Huron in
January.
A packed schedule of events
between Jan. 5-7, all about the
community spirit behind hockey
will be taking place throughout the
area, building on the foundation of
Hockeyville in 2006.
Wingham went the distance in last
year's Kraft Hockeyville 2006
competition andllockey Days is an
attempt to keep that momentum
flowing.
"Hockey Days is a 'fun-raiser' as
opposed to a fundraiser," says
director of recreation and facilities
Pat Newsom.
"We're trying to host an event
throughout all of North Huron that
wily increase community spirit and
provide fun and activities for
families and people of all ages."
The cornerstones of the weekend
says Newson will be a dinner and
dance party on the Saturday night,
Saturday morning breakfast, the All-
Star game on Sunday and the road
hockey game in Belgrave on Sunday
Fight to close out the event.
"We're encouraging everyone
from seniors to newborns to come
out and participate in the dinner and
dance. At the same time, they could
be checking out the Bulls game that
is being played in the arena,"
Newson said.
"Admission is free for all youths
accompanied by an adult. It's just a
chance for an economical -evening
for a family to go out and have fun."
There will be two Wingham Bulls
games, an Ironmen game, and the
All-Star game with entertainment
for everyone during floods.
First off, there will be a draw for a
chance to ride the Olympia during
floods and just before floods there
will be events and contests for
everyone.
These events include youth games
(tykes and pre-tykes), remote-
control car races, tricycle races, a
shoot to win contest, a figure-
skating demonstration and toilet
races.
The All-Star game will be played
between the North Huron All-Stars
(comprised of some of the best
players North Huron has to offer)
and the CKNX Tryhards (a team put
together by the radio station).
Newson plans to begin bringing
Hockey Days to North Huron
annually, perhaps expanding into all
of Mid-Western Ontario.
"Everybody gets behind hockey,
so we realized that it's hockey that
everybody loves, so let's build on
that rather than trying to find out
what we identify with," Newson
said.
"We identify with community
spirit and we identify with hockey,
so we wanted to expand that beyond
Continued on page 8
Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006
By Bonnie Gropp
The Citizen
There will be two more Huron
County councillors when the new
term begins.
It was noted at the Nov. 29
meeting, that Huron East and
Central Huron will each have one
more representative at the council
table. The county bylaw states that
the council will be composed of the
head of each local council who shall
have one vote, the deputy head of
each local council once the
niuncipality's population achieves
4,001 electors and an additional
representative for every 4,000 -
electors beyond that.
Until now, Bluewater and South
Huron were the only municipalities'
with three representatives.
-Huron East voters list for the
November election shows them
having 8,093 electors. Central
Huron has 8,142.
Huron East administrative
,committee will recommend to
council at its Dec. 5 meeting that all
members be provided the
Citizen editor Bonnie Gropp was
among the winners as Ausable
Bayfield Conservation Authority
held its first journalism awards last
Friday.
Gropp took home the overall
second-place prize, tied with Nina
Van Lieshout of the Exeter Times-
Advocate.
Gropp also took home the award
for best news story for Losing
Ground, a story on sinkholes
published in the November issue of
Rural Voice and the farm issue of
The Citizen in March.
The top prize was also a tie. It was
between Bob Montgomery of
opportunity to seek the position.
Each member interested will then
have the chance to address council
prior to a secret ballot. The
candidate to receive the majority
of votes will be the third
representative.
Central Huron clerk-administrator
Richard Harding said last week that
the method of choosing a
representative to county is ultimately
the decision of council, but believed
_it would be by secret ballot.
For the current county council,
however, the change brought up
some issues. Chief administrative
officer Larry Adams said that the
planning, and the agriculture and
public works committees would now
have an additional member. "It feels
like a good fit for these committees."
Adams also mentioned how they
would fit two new councillors
around the table, prompting Huron
East councillor Bernie MacLellan to
ask about costs, "What's the dollar
value. We just built this room. What
is it costing us to modify it."
Adams said he believed the only
modifications will be two extra
CKNX radio and Gord Whitehead of
The Parkhill Gazette and The Forest
Standard.
The third-place prize went to Stew
Slater, editor of Regional Country
News.
A four-person panel reviewed the
nominees and awarded them based
on journalistic initiative, body of
work, a standout single work of
excellence and consistent attention
to environmental issues and themes
likely to foster watershed
stewardship.
Other recipients were Wendy
Hoernig, special award for trails; the
Huron Federation of Agriculture,
mikes, but added that he really didn't
know the numbers at this point.
Seeing the number of councillors
increase was an issue as well.
Warden Rob Morley encouraged the
new council to look at the bylaw.
"We are gaining and now have more
council looking after 60,000 people
than the City of London has with
350,000 people."
"I agree 100 per cent," said
MacLellan. "I don't think a bunch
more chairs in here is the way to
make things work."
Morley said when representation
was first considered, it was primarily
to find a way to end up at 18
members,
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh
councillor Ben Van Diepenbeek
wondered if it wouldn't be simple
enough just to change the bylaw
from every 4,000 to every 5,000
voters.
Adams said this would have to be
done prior to an election.
Goderich councillor Deb Shewfelt
said that the county now had four
years to look at the issue and hold it
up against other municipalities.
newsletter award and Lynda
Hillman-Rapley, special award for
conservation history writing.
A-Channel received the award
for television and ETM Television
out of Exeter won for cable
television.
Van Lieshout also won for best
photo essay and Scott Nixon of the
Exeter Times-Advocate won for best
editorial.
Honourable mention went
to Larry Gordon of 1070 CHOK
radio, Susan Hundertmark of
The Huron Expositor and Paul-
ine Kerr of The Minto
Express.
Mad Hatters
Huron East clerk-administrator Jack McLachlan, right, and emcee Neil McGavin play the
Christmas hat game at Walton Hall last Sunday. The guys did a great job of keeping up despite
the lightning-fast pace. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
County council now at 20
`Citizen' editor among winners
of ABCA journalism awards