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The Citizen, 2005-05-19, Page 1ustTlie Citizen Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County i j Volume 21 No. 20 Thursday, May 19, 2005 $1 (93c + 7c GST) NH NORTH HURON PUBUSHING COMPANY INC. Inside this week Pg-9 Local soccer teams begin season Pg. 11 Trinity cornerstone re-dedicated Pg-17 New business opens in Blyth ' Pg-19 Brussels business a family affair Pg-20 Special day for Masonic Lodge Warden issues challenge Huron County warden Doug Layton is issuing a challenge to fellow politicians to strap their walking shoes on June 23 and get active. He has invited local reeves and mayors, along with Grade 5 and 6 students from Goderich, county staff and members of the community, to join him in a walk along Goderich’s beachfront boardwalk on Thursday, June 23 starting at 10 a.m., at the Rotary Pavilion. “If I am up for the challenge, my colleagues at county council should be too,” he said. The Warden’s Walk Community Challenge celebrates Summer Active 2005. a six-week initiative promoted by Parks and Recreation Ontario to increase awareness about the importance of physical activity, eating healthy and a tobacco-free lifestyle. Layton has also extended challenges to Grade 5 and 6 students across the county to hold walks on their school grounds or in their communrties, approximately one hour in length, on the morning of that same day. The local event is organized by Huron United Way, Huron County Health Unit and YMCA Goderich- Huron. Huron United Way executive director Kim Payne made a presentation to committee of the whole at the May 17 meeting. “1 am looking forward to the community event. The Huron County Health Unit, the YMCA and the United Way agree that the Warden’s Walk Community Challenge is yet another step toward building a safe, and caring community. It’s also a fantastic opportunity to get out, get walking, and kick off an active summer. Let’s walk,” she said. The Warden’s Walk will take place rain or shine, so organizers ask folks to dress appropriately. Refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact the Huron United Way at 519-524-7900. Under the gun OPP Const. Jeff Pollard uses the radar gun as officers gear up for a crackdown on aggressive driving over the holiday weekend. Const. Russ Nesbitt issues a warning to one ‘over-zealous’ driver. In less than a half hour time span, during a fairly quiet time of day, three drivers were stopped for speeding on Amberley Road. (Bonnie Gropp photo) OPP target aggressive drivers By Bonnie Gropp Citizen editor When it comes to packing up for the cottage or other holiday spots this Victoria Day weekend you might want to seriously consider leaving that lead foot at home. Making the roads safer is the primary focus behind a province­ wide initiative that will target problem drivers. OPP Sr. Const. Don Shropshall said that in the county over the weekend, eight officers have been assigned to conduct radar enforcement on Amberley, Blyth, Zurich-Hensall, Dashwood and Huron Roads, as well as the Bluewater Highway. Ride programs will also be conducted on these with the assistance of four new light sticks from Huron Bruce MADD. “We are hoping that the high level of visibility and enforcement by our officers will decrease the number of traffic issues and save lives,” said Shropshall. The initiative is one of many aimed at achieving Canada’s Road Safety Vision 2010. The goal is to make the country’s roads the safest in the world by the year 2010. The reason for targetting the Victoria Day weekend is obvious. With its arrival highway traffic increases. Over the past three years there have been 53 motor vehicle incidents on this weekend, 26 of which were collisions which resulted in serious injuries. While deer have contributed to a large number of the crashes, 23 per cent were the result of careless driving. “Following too closely, failing to yield and, the major one, speeding have been the contributors,” said Shropshall. In eight per cent of the crashes the driver was impaired by alcohol. “Huron OPP is committed to the goal of making our roads the safest in Ontario. Our plan is to reduce the number of collisions, impaired drivers, aggressive drivers and other highway traffic act violations over this long weekend,” said Shrop­ shall. “Do your part by slowing down, being observant, being courteous and obeying all traffic signs. And don’t drink and drive.” School boundaries to be adjusted By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen Lost in the shuffle of two successive attempts to close the former Seaforth District High School (SDHS), nine students from Wingham’s F.E. Madill Secondary School should soon no longer need to apply for official “border­ crossing” status from the Avon Maitland District School Board. At a regular meeting Tuesday, May 10, trustees were given notice of a proposal to adjust attendance boundaries at Madill, Mitchell District High School (MDHS) and Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton. They’ll vote on the proposal in late May, but all indications suggest it will receive full support. The changes address the fact that certain outlying areas of the former SDHS attendance boundary — all of which was transferred to Central Huron upon closure in 2003 — actually lie much closer to either Madill or .MDHS. Under the proposal, students living in a portion of Grey Ward southeast of Brussels will be expected to attend Madill, while the extreme western reaches of Hibbert Ward will become associated strictly with MDHS instead of a shared arrangement between MDHS and Central Huron. The changes were actually approved as part of an earlier attempt to close SDHS in 2000. But after a legal challenge successfully halted that attempt, authors of the subsequent closure process failed to include them. “All six identified families chose to border cross to F.E. Madill when the original motion was rescinded,” explains a report from Avon Maitland staff, delivered to trustees for the May 10 meeting. “They are pleased that the boundaries are being reviewed and possibly changed as the change would eliminate the need for them to apply each year for border crossing.” One student, whose sibling attends Madill, has chosen to attend Central Huron. If the proposals are approved, that student will be the only one in the area requesting border-crossing status. former residents of Seaforth who In Hibbert, one family currently moved into the ward within the last attends Central Huron, but they are two years. Doors Open in Blyth Have you ever sat in a jury box or been backstage in a theatre? Have you watched an airplane being refurbished or looked through the bars of a jail cell from the inside? Experience all this and much more during Goderich and Blyth’s first Doors Open event. For a full listing of all the sites, go to the Town of Goderich website at www.town.goderich.on.ca and following the special Doors Open link. Each site will be identified by bright yellow Doors Open banners and parking is always free in Goderich. You can pick up the Doors Open brochure at any of the sites or start out at the Doors Open Headquarters in the Tourist Information Centre at Hwy. 21 and Hamilton Street for all the Goderich information you might want. There is no admission charge for any of the sites.