The Citizen - April 14, 2022

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Thursday, April 14, 2022

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Volume 38 No. 15

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Central Huron awarded

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

Springing forward So long to winter coats (hopefully) and hello to lighter sweaters as the weather has finally warmed up slightly in Huron County. At Hullett Central Public School, Judith Watson, left, and Anna Lapp made sure to live

their lives to the fullest on a recent recess, as they were finally able to put playing in the snow in their rear view mirrors in exchange for some more warm-weather activities on the school’s yard. (Denny Scott photo)

When the Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO) handed out all of its awards last week, Central Huron had won two, including the Lieutenant Governor’s Award, the highest honour of the night.

The organization held its 65th annual awards gala and conference from April 5-7 at the Marriott Downtown at CF Toronto Eaton Centre by way of a hybrid model, welcoming people virtually, as well as in person. It was Central Huron Community Improvement Coordinator Angela Smith’s Huron Student Honey project that wowed judges and attendees as the winner of the Rural Excellence Award and then the Lieutenant Governor’s Award, the highest honour of the night, which is chosen by attendees from among all of the night’s nominees.

The municipality also received an honourable mention (runner-up spot) for its Back Alley Artist Extravaganza project in the tourism attraction and tourism product development category.

Speaking with The Citizen on Tuesday morning, Smith said it was “fantastic” to have the projects recognized provincially, especially when they were competing against some large-scale projects carried out in communities with higher population and more robust Continued on page 2

HE doesn’t close door on Brussels/Grey FD merge

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron East Council is moving forward with a process that could see the Grey and Brussels Fire Departments merge into one department under one roof in Brussels.

Chief Administrative Officer Brad McRoberts presented a report on the issue at council’s April 5 meeting, which was held virtually via Zoom. This came after McRoberts floated the idea of consolidating the two departments in a report he presented to council at its Dec. 7, 2021 meeting. In that report, council directed McRoberts to undertake 10 reviews or reports, one of which was a feasibility study to consolidate the Grey and Brussels Fire Departments and the northern public works operations in one facility.

In speaking with council,

McRoberts added that a fourth element would also be added to the mix, if approved, which is the Huron County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) station in Brussels, which he suggested would be at home in the same proposed

building, thanks to funding from the county.

McRoberts estimated that the cost of a new facility would be approximately $5 million, in addition to any land purchase costs.

At the same time, he projected that

the municipality would make just over $1 million by selling the former Grey and Brussels fire halls and the public works shop buildings in the northern half of the municipality. And while he estimated some energy savings as a

result of the consolidation, he didn’t feel it was feasible for the municipality to undertake such a large project unless a large grant was available.

“Energy savings from disposing Continued on page 25

Huron County ends State of Emergency On April 6, the County of Huron ended the State of Emergency that was declared on March 24, 2020 in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Municipalities may declare state of emergencies in accordance with the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. “While recent announcements from the Province of Ontario and public health officials are encouraging and certainly welcome, it’s important to remember that COVID-19

continues to circulate in our community,” said Huron County Warden, Glen McNeil. “Ending the State of the Emergency in Huron is an important step toward returning to usual operations at the County.

We will continue to prioritize the health and safety of staff and residents, adapting when required.”

The 2020 State of Emergency was declared to: • Allow the County of Huron to act on measures that fall under its authority and are considered necessary to preserve the health,

safety and welfare of residents • Raise public awareness regarding the gravity of the current COVID-19 pandemic situation • Protect volunteers that may be called to assist • Preserve the rights of the County for future compensation should it become available • Ensure the organization can quickly respond to other unforeseen events, should they arise.

“I thank every person in the Huron County community, especially our healthcare agencies

and front-line workers, for their unprecedented efforts over the past two years to keep us safe and well.

The county continues to value these important contributions as we enter the next phase in our community’s response and recovery,” said McNeil.

As local and provincial restrictions begin to ease, residents can expect county services and operations to continue to adjust according to the latest recommendations of health authorities.

PAGE 2. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022.

Program nets CH, Smith prestigious award it became successful, however, Smith says, is really a testament to how things are accomplished in rural Ontario in communities like Central Huron. Without large-scale budgets and an extensive staffing complement, people have to get creative, bringing in students, volunteers and other community members to turn a vision into reality.

The Huron Student Honey project, for example, would have never gotten off the ground if it weren’t for beekeepers Adi Treasurywala and Jonathan Cucksey, who helped train those involved, including Smith herself, in an effort to make the project a success.

She says it really has been a community effort and while she’s the one that was lucky enough to

walk across the stage and accept the award, there are so many people who made it possible, from Cucksey and Treasurywala to the students to the teachers to the volunteers and the business owners who sold the honey in their stores.

Leadership in energy and environmental design

Devon Henry 84772 McDonald Line • Box 616 • Brussels

devonjhenry@hotmail.com 519-505-2473

Award-winning effort Central Huron and its Community Improvement Co-ordinator Angela Smith, right, were recognized for the Huron Student Honey project twice-over during the Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO) annual conference last week. The project earned not only the Rural Excellence Award, but was also recognized by Smith’s peers by being voted for the Lieutenant Governor’s Award, the highest honour offered through the group. Smith is shown above participating in the program which saw students harvest, bottle, market and sell honey. (File photo) Continued from page 1 economic development departments and budgets.

In attending economic development awards ceremonies in the past, Smith said, projects from rural Ontario aren’t always represented, so to even be nominated alongside projects from larger communities was an honour.

However, to win, was a very special feeling.

Smith said she was quite proud when the Huron Student Honey project took home the Rural Excellence Award. She took the award out into the hallway, so she and Central Huron Councillor Alison Lobb could take some pictures. However, not longer after they took a break from the ceremony was someone coming to find Smith and hurrying her back into the hall.

Soon she was on stage with Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell, hearing a glowing review of the Huron Student Honey project, what it means to Central Huron and how it could be

replicated around the province.

Smith says she was overcome with emotion when she found out the municipality had won the top award of the night. As someone who has always been skeptical about the emotion that spills out when someone wins a large-scale award, Smith, now having been there, says she no longer doubts it and knows how easy it is to be overwhelmed with emotion in a moment like that.

The project had proven to be popular locally, engaging local students, teachers, volunteers and

Brussels ‘Citizen’ office closing The Citizen’s office at 541 Turnberry Street in Brussels is closing so that North Huron Publishing Company Inc. can consolidate all of its administration into one central location at the Blyth head office.

Honourable mention While the focus was on the Huron Student Honey project, Central Huron’s Community Improvement Coordinator Angela Smith, right, was happy to report the municipality’s Back Alley Art Extravaganza was also recognized as an honourable mention at a recent awards ceremony. Smith is shown above with Mayor Jim Ginn and special guest Brad Shortreed during the ribbon cutting for the back alley project in 2021. (File photo)

business owners, but it was when it caught the attention of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs that Smith knew she’d happened upon something great.

She was told quite early that the ministry was interested in the project as a simple, cost-effective project that could be replicated in smaller communities across the province.

Winning a provincial award for it, however, never really crossed Smith’s mind, she said.

The nature of the project and how

For many years, the company has been fortunate to have a small, cost-effective satellite office on the main street keeping The Citizen very visible to the public, but the day-to-day operations have mostly been carried on in the Blyth location.

Unfortunately, due to rising commercial rents and revenues still struggling as the economy rides out the pandemic, the company has had to make the difficult decision to concentrate resources so that content is not affected.

The Citizen’s staffing complement will be unchanged, including production and advertising sales positions as well as a full-time editor/reporter, dedicated reporter and a part-time, Brussels-based photographer, so community coverage will not change.

Advertising and classifieds are just a call or e-mail away.

Subscriptions can be ordered or renewed by phone, by mail, by etransfer or online. Visit the Blyth office for an extensive selection of rural-themed books and those by local authors.

The office will be closed at the end of business on Thursday, April 14.

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022. PAGE 3.

Looking back through time Glimpses of the Past with Karen Webster

Doing the work The Blyth Repository of History began as a small project by Brock and Janis Vodden and now it’s being carried on by an enthusiastic group of volunteer researchers, from left: Cheryl Cronin, Deb Sholdice and Karen Webster. (Denny Scott photo) For more than mere glimpses of the past, one should consider the Blyth Repository of History (BRH).

This amazing collection was the brainchild of Brock and the late Janis Vodden. Around 1994, Janis started a simple list of the names of families who once lived in Blyth and area. From here, she added details about those families and sought input from various sources.

The Voddens’ efforts have grown to be a massive collection that fills hundreds of binders of information.

The collection is divided into two sub-sections: surnames and general.

In surnames, there is information on over 1,200 different family names.

Because some family names denote one or more separate families, it is likely that well over 2,000 families are represented. The general section

mostly references Blyth and area institutions such as churches, schools, cemeteries, businesses and organizations. As well, information on surrounding communities can be found in this section.

In 2019, the repository came under the leadership of a board of directors, namely David Sparling, Brock Vodden, Keith Roulston, Deb Sholdice, Cheryl Cronin and myself.

There are many interesting and varied requests for information received at the repository, some through the webpage, some by phone or mail and as well as some by in-person visits. Let’s look at a sample of the research projects that have been undertaken recently by the volunteer researchers.

A Wingham collector of milk

bottles was interested in finding the origin of one marked “Waymouth Dairy Blyth”. It was ascertained that Harry Waymouth operated a dairy and delivered milk from his farm on the eastern outskirts of Blyth in the 1920s and 1930s.

Research into the Waymouth file led to interviewing Harry’s daughter, Doris, who confirmed details about the dairy. Ironically, within a few weeks of this investigation, another request was made about the Waymouth family, this time from a lady in the Windsor area. Not only will she be coming to Blyth to view the Waymouth information in the repository in the spring, but she will also be meeting Harry’s daughter, a relative who was previously unknown to her.

Often, in addition to sharing information with people, the repository receives new items to add to the collection, as was the case with a member of the Gardner family who not only sought information but was also able to share some of his research.

Some requests are for information about families that once lived in the vicinity, but since moved on, such as the Cullen family that went to New Zealand.

Even though this family left Morris Township over 100 years ago, information on the Cullens can be found in the repository.

One of the most intriguing searches came from an employee of the Kinze equipment manufacturing company from Iowa. His interest centred on the 1951 patent of Blyth businessman Russell Dougherty for a rutabaga seeder. A photo in the repository’s collection led to the discovery of one of these planters still in existence in our area. It appears that the Kinze company and another company are involved in court cases over the legality of certain patents. It will be interesting

Co-operatives to merge Sept. 1

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen By way of a unanimous member vote, the Huron Bay Co-operative Inc. and North Wellington Cooperative Services Inc. will be joining forces, becoming Midwest Co-operative Services Inc. as of Sept. 1, 2022.

The amalgamation came unanimously recommended by the boards of both co-operatives.

The vote took place on April 7 with both co-operatives hosting members’ meetings concurrently so the vote could take place simultaneously. According to General Manager Kelly Boyle, a two-thirds majority was needed from both co-operatives in order for the new structure to move forward.

Boyle will serve as the general manager of the newly-amalgamated co-operative. He said, in an interview with The Citizen, that those managing the two businesses began to see their vehicles and representatives travelling the same roads and servicing the same areas.

In this era, he said, that kind of duplication of services calls for increased efficiency and, thanks to a well-established relationship between the two co-operatives, the conversation was an easy one to have.

“We are looking at ways to position our co-operative to be

more competitive, as we are facing larger competitors. We currently occupy a lot of common trade territory and have limited space to grow geographically,” The business’ frequently-asked questions package on the merger states. “This step will allow us to work within a larger geography in a co-ordinated and efficient way. We always want to create an organization that can attract talent as it will be able to offer specialized roles for administrative and management purposes as well as expertise at the farm gate, like precision agriculture.

“Our vision is a stronger, more competitive and profitable cooperative that provides core products and services to our member owners.”

Because of the co-operative structure, an amalgamation like this one can happen without a direct sale of one company to another, Boyle said, but just a member vote.

Other than the name change and the consolidation of resources, Boyle said the company doesn’t have any big changes planned. It will continue operating out of the same 16 shared locations in the 16 current communities, so it really should be “business as usual” as far as members, customers and community members are concerned.

Those who have memberships in one of the two previous cooperatives will simply have a membership in the new cooperative, under the new name, beginning this September. The new co-operative has a shared membership of over 9,000 farmers and rural residents.

Boyle says that, with the Sept. 1 timeline in place, there is plenty of time to work out any kinks along the way both internally and externally.

The projected combined sales for the newly-amalgamated cooperative will be over $86 million with service revenues of $3 million, according to the amalgamation fact sheet. The combined assets of the new co-operative are projected to have a book value of $55 million with territory in Grey, Bruce, Wellington, Huron, Perth and Dufferin Counties.

The fact sheet also reiterates that there will be no job losses as a result of the restructuring process.

Rather, management anticipates the need for additional staff as member demand for specialized services increases. In addition, there are no immediate plans to close any of the co-operative’s locations.

The new head office will be located in the Teeswater facility, while the Harriston office will continue to provide administrative support.

to see if information from the repository will carry any weight in those deliberations.

Requests for information are sometimes relayed to BRH from other Huron County sources. That was the case when a researcher from the Groesbeek Canadian War cemetery in the Netherlands appealed to the Huron County Historical Society for information on Robert (Bert) James Elliott, who died serving his country in 1944.

While very little was found in the repository files about Bert, the obituary of his mother named his siblings with their married names.

One name was recognized as the parent of a friend of a BRH researcher. This family was contacted and they did have a photo to send to Holland. Ironically, the cemetery was able to give this Canadian family information that they did not have, as their uncle had not been spoken about very much by his siblings.

The Groesbeek cemetery honours the soldiers interred there by a Faces to Graves project whereby laminated photos are placed beside the gravestones of the fallen men.

As well, the cemetery has documented the early life, training

and military experiences of these soldiers. It is heartwarming to know that our Canadian soldiers rest in a beautiful place with well-tended flowerbeds. The web address for this cemetery is facestograves.nl.

Locally, some research about the Blyth Memorial Hall was conducted in response to a project of the national Women’s Institute (WI) to highlight the theme “Extraordinary Achievement comes from Ordinary People”. The Walton WI chose the Blyth Memorial Hall because of the institute’s involvement in the massive fundraising campaign conducted around 1920. Truly, the Blyth Memorial Hall was and continues to be an “extraordinary achievement”.

Whatever the request, the researchers at the Blyth Repository of History are willing to delve into the collection. As well, the repository actively seeks family histories and photos to augment its files. To help finance the maintenance of the collection, a giant used book sale is planned for June 3-5 at Blyth Lions Park.

Visit the Blyth Repository of History at 405 Queen Street in Blyth in person or online at blythrepositoryofhistory.ca.

Behold Him! (John Newton) “God made Him who had no sin — to be sin for us.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 Behold the beloved Jesus, perfectly spotless and holy — yet made an example of the severest justice.

Behold Him... prostrate and agonizing in the garden; enduring the vilest insults from wicked men; torn with whips, and nails, and thorns; suspended, naked, wounded, and bleeding upon the cross — forsaken by God! Sin was the cause of all His anguish. He stood in the place of sinners, and therefore was not spared.

Not any, or all, the evils which the world has known — afford such proof of the dreadful effects and detestable nature of sin, as the knowledge of Christ crucified!

A Grace Gem Submitted by: Immanuel United Reformed Church, Listowel, ON 519-492-1359

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PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022.

Editorials & Opinions

Founding Publisher: Keith Roulston Publisher & President: Deb Sholdice Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Brenda Nyveld

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A historic day... for some On April 7, the United States Senate made history when it voted to confirm the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, making her the first Black woman to become an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

This is a big deal. In fact, the last time such a monumental moment was achieved might have been in 1981 when Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court, or in 1967 when Thurgood Marshall became the first Black Supreme Court justice. And they both won their nominations with support from both sides of the house. In fact, O’Connor won by a unanimous vote.

The Senate is the canary in the coal mine on how divided the United States has become along partisan lines, with Brown Jackson carrying only three Republican senators’ votes, and two of the most influential Republicans could not even be bothered to be at their desks for the vote.

Lindsay Graham and Paul Rand had to cast their votes from the cloak room as both had somehow managed to “misplace” their ties and be banned from the floor, resulting in the unusual voting arrangement, which many feel was a calculated gesture.

If that wasn’t rude enough, in a stunning display of disrespect, many of the Republican senators walked silently out of the chamber during the ovation for Brown Jackson’s successful nomination. The overt rudeness certainly looked like sour grapes from the old white boys’ club. – DS

It’s a start Following in the footsteps of places like Europe and Australia, the Canadian government has introduced legislation requiring tech giants like Google and Facebook to pay struggling Canadian media outlets for distributing their news to the masses. Canadian news organizations have been pushing for such legislation for years.

Speaking to the proposal, Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez said that the Canadian news sector is in crisis, which is a contributing factor to the rise in public mistrust and disinformation.

As the internet and social media have risen, some of their most highprofile companies have printed money on the backs of news organizations, while those same news organizations have seen revenue fall as the world has moved online and news has worked to keep up.

Critics of this move see it as another hand-out to the news industry under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as an effort to curry favour for his government, especially when it comes to talk of eligible organizations being qualified for subsidies, while many Canadian publishers will see it as the government finally starting a conversation that should have begun years ago. How successful of an initiative it will be, however, remains to be seen. Like previous attempts to support the industry, will the money be swallowed up by big companies with well-paid top brass, or will smaller, independent publications see a piece of the pie?

Regardless of the next steps, this proposal is a step in the right direction for news organizations that have seen tech giants stand on their shoulders and get rich, leaving news collectors behind. – SL

Canada’s ‘Whac-A-Budget’ While there are some notable efforts made by the federal Liberal government in the 2022 budget, it looks like the government and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland are playing a never-ending game of Whac-AMole - dealing with the pop-up issues, but never getting at the root cause.

From the initiatives designed to help first-time home buyers get into an elusive affordable home, to housing construction initiatives and through to the dental care initiative that the Liberals promised the NDP for the latter’s support of the former, the budget looks less like a plan and more like a reaction to the financial realities being faced by Canadians.

The bans and controls put on foreign house buying, for example, is a temporary measure by design and represents another reactionary effort to control a symptom of an “out-of-whac” economy. They also don’t go far enough, according to some in the industry, who say that allowing purchases of “recreational properties” like cottages, cabins and other vacation homes could easily be used as a loophole by foreign investors.

Also, as many have pointed out, the efforts put forward will help people who can afford a home to be able to better afford it, but those who have already been priced out of the market will still find themselves unable to achieve the dream of home ownership.

Financial institution representatives have pointed out that enabling people to better save for a home only helps if people can save, but with rent prices being so high, that could be a non-starter for many.

Other experts have also pointed out that there isn’t a lot of help in the budget for the average taxpayer, unless they plan on buying a house, and while Freeland says Canada has recovered from COVID-19, it certainly can feel otherwise when Canadians are only able to afford three-quarters of the groceries they could a year ago or not fill up their tank without making a tough decision. – JDS

Looking Back Through the Years April 15, 1965 The Majestic Women’s Institute in Brussels installed its new slate of officers for the coming term.

Mrs. J. Lowe took over as president, succeeding Mrs. C. Hemingway. Mrs. James Smith was elected as first vice-president, while Mrs. William Evans was named the second vice-president.

Mrs. John Speir would be the secretary-treasurer. Also at the meeting, held on April 8, Mrs. Ross Knight, the Women’s Institute’s District Vice-President, was the guest speaker.

April 16, 1975 On the recommendation of the education and management committee, the Huron County Board of Education agreed to close North Ashfield Public School, sending the students instead to Brookside Public School. The move was expected to save the board over $2,000 as a result.

Morris Township Council ran up a larger-than-expected deficit of nearly $24,000 in 1974, according to an auditor’s report. Staff attributed the deficit to high costs associated with drainage and sewage work in Belgrave.

The Blyth Atom hockey team travelled to Arthur to take part in the Western Ontario Athletic Association (WOAA) Grand Championship, but lost both of its games. First the team lost to Brussels by a score of 6-2 and then was knocked out by Kincardine by a score of 5-2.

At the East Wawanosh Federation of Agriculture’s annual meeting, Huron County Warden Anson McKinley was the guest speaker, standing in for MPP Murray Gaunt, who had to be in Toronto for the provincial budget debate.

April 16, 1997 Wingham’s Colleen Schenk won the Progressive Conservative Party candidacy for the Huron-Bruce riding, defeating Shirley Hazlitt of Benmiller.

In her speech to those at the nomination meeting, Schenk referenced The Little Engine That Could, saying that the Progressive Conservative Party needed to adopt a similar don’t-give-up attitude, adding that, in 1993, the people of Canada told the party that it wasn’t listening to them.

A joint effort between the federal government and community fundraising aimed to purchase new computer equipment for the Brussels Library that would enable access to the internet at the facility.

An early morning fire on April 9 gutted the former S.S. #11 Grey schoolhouse. In order to bring the fire under control, the Grey Fire Department called in assistance from the Elma Fire Department.

Daryl Graham, an alumnus of F.E. Madill Secondary School in Wingham, returned to the school to discuss animation with the students.

Graham, the son of art teacher Dee Graham, had been working with Chuck Gamage Animation, based in Oakville, which would be contracted by film studios like Disney and Warner Brothers.

Graham had most recently worked as an assistant animator on Space Jam. April 12, 2012 After “a great deal of difficulty” in negotiations with “one of the costliest [fire services] in the county,” Morris-Turnberry Mayor Paul Gowing said he and his council were tired of being the only municipality in Ontario without an ownership stake in a fire

department. As a result, he raised the issue with Huron County Council, lobbying for a countywide fire department.

He said the issue was too large to be discussed at the April 4 meeting, but that he felt it should be added for discussion at one of council’s future strategic planning sessions.

“We should at least question if this is an option,” Gowing said to council. “It just makes sense.”

Gowing found support for further investigation of the concept from Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn, Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Mayor Ben Van Diepenbeek and Goderich Mayor Deb Shewfelt, among others.

In other Morris-Turnberry fire department news, Belgrave resident Lynne Armstrong, a vocal opponent of the municipality starting its own fire department, launched an appeal of the zoning change that would pave the way for a fire hall in the community. In her appeal, Armstrong said the decision felt “rushed through” as one of her concerns.

After the closure of the Bluewater Youth Centre, Huron County Council expressed an interest in owning the site of the former centre, with a deadline to express interest set for April 19.

At the Junior Farmers Association of Ontario’s annual March Conference, Huron County Junior Farmer Rachel Haney was elected as the executive director of community and international programs for the second consecutive year. In addition, the local club placed in the top three for Overall Club of the Year and Agriculture Club of the Year, winning the Best New Member Recruitment Award.

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022. PAGE 5.

Other Views

The walls hide such stories

T

he photos of the home on the edge of Brussels of Darwin Ducharme and Beverly Stevenson are so ordinary it’s hard to imagine the desperate drama that played out there recently when the couple was murdered.

Their neighbours and those who knew them – even those of us from the area who didn’t know them personally – are trying to understand how anything could lead to the violent deaths of two people, let alone that his grandson could be accused of the crimes.

(Beverly was the daughter of former The Citizen’s Walton correspondent Betty McCall.

Darwin was the brother of his late neighbour Oscar who, with his wife Dorothea, mailed The Citizen for years.)

How many times do those of us living in small towns tend to think we’re so similar to our neighbours, then something happens inside the walls of a neighbour’s home that would be a complete shock to us if we knew.

Husbands and wives have arguments that might result in violence, or lead to divorce, yet we’re unaware of it unless the windows are open or the couple fights on the porch or yard.

(I remember, early in our marriage, living in an apartment that backed onto Toronto’s Cabbagetown when it was still a slum and hearing loud arguments in the days when we kept windows open because we had no air conditioning.)

The story inside the walls of a house can change according to the age of the residents.

Young marrieds are still learning to live together. Couples have babies and try to navigate the changes this brings. Children grow and make their own demands for time and attention that may be difficult for parents to meet given the demands of a career. Teenagers are navigating their own sense of worth, which

Keith Roulston From the cluttered desk may bring conflict with their parents or siblings.

Children leave the home and parents have to adjust to being on their own again. This may be a relief but for some families it’s also a breaking point as couples realize they have little in common or as partners (particularly men) feel the need to prove they’re still young and have affairs.

If marriages make their way through all those challenges, we still have the maze of old age to navigate. Diseases and life-changing illnesses can alter the story day to day.

The house may be fairly new, with a short story to hide behind its walls, or old like ours, with differing stories of various families from over 100 years.

And those are simply those behind the walls of the ordinary, let alone the extraordinary homes like that of Ducharme and Stevenson and other homes with troubled relationships.

We have, at various times, had happy stories and conflict within the walls of our home – thankfully never as unhappy as the Ducharme/Stevenson house. Still, in nearly 50 years, our home’s walls have held stories that are heart-warming and heart-breaking. Our neighbours probably seldom knew the stories that played out up our long lane and behind our thick, brick walls, just as we didn’t know the joy and heartache within their walls.

Not having known them personally, I didn’t

attend the funerals of either Beverly or Darwin but I hope those who did managed to turn each occasion into a true celebration of their lives.

They both deserve to be remembered for the accomplishments of their long lives, not misfortune of their final minutes.

Having spent most of 50 years in the newspaper business, I’ve had a chance to cover the good times and the bad, the celebrations and the heart-breaking moments of life. I’ve been involved in helping cover deathdealing accidents and murders as well as happy annual events like fall fairs, the Huron Pioneer Threshers Reunion and the Blyth Festival. Unfortunately, the bad comes with the good.

I learned this early. I was in my first month as editor of The Clinton News-Record in 1970 when a teenager, seeking money, invaded the home of a senior citizen, who had given him odd jobs, and killed the woman. Reluctant to touch such an unpleasant story, especially in the community that had convicted Steven Truscott (falsely, it turned out) a decade earlier, I gave the story the minimum coverage, displeasing my publisher and no doubt many of the paper’s readers who were trying to understand how such a thing could happen in their town.

But such is life in a small town. People in a city can somehow feel detached from a crime that happens in an apartment half a block away but in a small town, we know the people, or know people who know the people.

The people who die, whether from a murder, fire, or in an accident, can seem so much like ourselves. That’s what makes a small community special – a sense that people down the street share something with us, even if the story behind their walls is different.

Staying local your best choice for news

T

he internet is a wonderful thing that, at its best, allows us to view the world through perceptions we might never consider. At its worst, however, it becomes an echo chamber where prejudices are confirmed and differing opinions are treated as heinous crimes.

Much of the latter is because humans tend to be tribal. Originally, that just meant finding other people to share fires, food and shelter with for safety’s sake (and going to war alongside), but in modern society it means finding people with whom you have similar beliefs, which provides its own kind of safety.

For some people, that means ignoring certain people on Facebook or blocking others on Twitter. The true benefit of the internet (the free exchange of ideas), however, is then ignored or blocked and it becomes just another way for people to reinforce their own beliefs while ignoring those contrary to them.

As they’re wont to do, the big players in the digital landscape have found ways of capitalizing on that.

Take Facebook, for example. While everyone should know that, just by being on Facebook, you’ve become a commodity, what they may not know is that Facebook is helping to further insulate those echo chambers from outside ideas.

Facebook knows who you are: it knows your political leanings from the stories you click on to the images that catch your eye. It sells that information to advertisers (including the names of its users in some cases) who can then pay to have their advertisements in front of specific people.

Take something innocuous for example, like my own enjoyment of board games. Because I often shop for them, and often look at used board games through Facebook Marketplace, you can bet I’ll see advertisements for board games.

Denny Scott Denny’s Den It’s not always used quite so innocently, however, with aspects of individuals’ preferences like political leanings being sold as well.

Even Google does it, though not to the same extent. While Facebook sells people, Google sells demographic data and also uses said data to decide what it is you’re searching for.

For example, if you use a virtual private network, you can convince Google (and other websites) that you’re accessing the internet from different parts of the province, the country or even the world.

Some of the demographic-influenced searches make sense: if, for example, you search for “local newspaper” in this area, the first result is The London Free Press.

If you use the same search in Boston (or with Google thinking you’re in Boston) you get The Boston Globe and the New York Daily News.

Likewise, in Edinburgh, Scotland, you get The Guardian and a list of of newsbrands for the United Kingdom.

It goes beyond that, however, with search results in traditionally conservative areas sometimes leaning that way while areas that vote liberally provide left-leaning results.

Don’t worry - if you’re searching for something specific (say The Citizen in North Huron) you will always get that, but if you’re looking for something generic, you’re not getting the unadulterated responses. Instead, you’re getting a curated response.

Why does that matter? Well, odds are you

are reading this column in The Citizen (with a smaller, but growing number of people accessing it online) which means you’ve made a choice about where to get your news.

Because you’ve made that choice, you likely know how we report things and are content that you are getting the full picture.

However, that choice may be taken away from you if you’re searching for your news through popular search engines.

While the internet has opened all sorts of doors for those looking to research everything from local news to world events, those sources are only as good as their reliability and that can be hard to discern in this day and age.

For some things, the pre-internet ways are still best. When you put your faith in your local newspaper, television or radio reporters, you’re choosing someone you know (or can get to know) and decide whether they are reliable and trustworthy.

When you put your faith in Google’s algorithms, you’re getting something that could be, at best, filtered through your demographic taking some of your agency away, or, at worst, showing you something that only further isolates you from differing opinions. The choice is yours, when it comes to news, but that choice is easier to make if you rely on local sources.

Final Thought I have never felt that anything really mattered but the satisfaction of knowing that you stood for the things in which you believed and had done the very best you could.

– Eleanor Roosevelt

Shawn Loughlin Shawn’s Sense

The same old song

W

henever I’ve had a free moment in the past few weeks, I’ve been working my way through a re-watch of The Wire, the fabulous HBO show that is often called the greatest drama ever.

The show’s central ethos is that things don’t really tend to change, that there are systematic reasons for that lack of change and that that lack of change often has negative results on the institutions in question, their communities and, ultimately, the people.

The fresh faces of people with fresh ideas and new ways of thinking are often eschewed for more of the same people, which results in, you guessed it, more of the same.

The Wire tells the story of how systematic breakdowns at the top of organizations like a police department, the manufacturing sector, city politics, the education system and legacy media filter down and affect, for lack of a better term, the little people.

I haven’t been able to ignore the feeling of that old adage, “the more things change, the more they stay the same”, as I’ve written The Citizen’s “Looking Back Through The Years” section in the last few months.

Twenty-five years ago, federal Progressive Conservative Party leader Jean Charest was in Goderich trying to connect with Huron County residents. I was a little young to care about politics back then, but we all know now that Charest’s name has resurfaced in the news as he again seeks federal party leadership.

Charest isn’t even the only person in that race who’s given me déjà vu. Just five years ago, Patrick Brown was in Walton for the opening ceremonies of the International Plowing Match, addressing the crowd as the leader of the provincial Conservatives. Just a few months later, he would resign amid sexual assault allegations that were later shown to be false, but he’s back in the leadership picture.

The one that’s really giving me flashbacks has been the proposal by the Morris-Turnberry Council of the day to create its own fire department after a breakdown in negotiations with North Huron over fire coverage.

The inability for those warring neighbouring councils to do anything that resembles getting along is a kind of evergreen topic.

I won’t pick apart ongoing situations between the two (as tough as it is to resist an in-context reference to The Wire character of Norman Wilson, who called Baltimore Mayor Tommy Carcetti “just a weak-ass mayor of a broke-ass city”) but it’s certainly noteworthy that the turbulence between them is not new.

Back then, one drove the other to consider the monumental task of starting its own fire department from the ground up. As a result, residents feared for the future of fire coverage in their communities and Huron County Council gave some thought to a county-wide fire department - all because the two councils of the day couldn’t play nice with one another.

We’ve had more than our fair share of ripple effects from that marriage of inconvenience in recent years, so maybe it’s less of a resurgence of a prior issue and more of an issue that never really went away. Either way, reading that old news feels a lot like reading the new news.

If I’m to follow through on my comparison to The Wire, has this lack of change resulted in systemic failure? Hard to say, I suppose.

One of the best aspects of this job has always been coming in to work every day to do something new, speak to somebody new and maybe learn something new. In retrospect, maybe the subject matter of the day isn’t quite as new as it feels, like the same old house, but with a fresh coat of paint.

PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022.

Be mindful during large gatherings A NOTE FROM BETTY

By Betty Graber Watson Call 887-9231

Heads or tails While the Brussels Optimists could have just drawn a winner for their 50/50 competition at their annual spring auction, which returned on Saturday evening after a COVID-19forced hiatus, where would be the fun in that? Instead, the group played a game of Heads or Tails with the entire audience, asking participants to cover either their heads or their ‘tails’ with the winners each round chosen by the flip of a coin. The finalists were, from left: Natalie White, Jim Kraemer, Doug Chapman, Amy (Crawford) Nelder and Optimist Mike Thomas. Nelder won and donated $300 back to the auction. (Denny Scott photo)

Think happy thoughts. We need to be purposeful as we let our thoughts wander. We know that we can only control ourselves, and our children on rare occasions. So when the world seems crazy, our only vent is to think good things and stay out of the chaos. Oh yes, it can be tough, but our thoughts are where we can focus.

Large gatherings are happening and it’s nice to see activity about the village. Our social life has been hampered the past many months so it feels good to gather. Please keep in mind we share the air, so keep your mask handy if you are in close quarters. Handy means over your mouth and nose, not in your pocket.

To be safe we need to get the virus to manageable numbers, not as now, with many in our community showing various signs of infection.

Be careful.

We’re moving along in Holy Week, the reminder time of the life

of Jesus. Churches are very open this week, as each denomination celebrates the life of Jesus in their custom. We gather as people of God, and move along this week until the major miracle is celebrated, Easter morning.

Hallelujah!

Families may be gathering this week to celebrate Easter. Traditions have been smashed the past two years and now we’ll see how the new celebrations happen. We are in a new world, doing new things.

May your celebrations be joyous.

Heath is our most precious possession and when it fails, our world falls apart around us. Aging is a big push to compromised health but it happens at any age. Our job is to know ourselves and compensate when things happen. We have world class medical care and when we do what we are told, yes really, do what the medical folks say, it often works. So I’m thinking of Frank Workman and Jean Davidson as they go through the tough days of coping with a little more imbalance than they did. So keep up the good work and keep your thoughts good ones.

Hallelujah. Happy Easter. Keep your mask on and be kind.

Bye now, Betty G.W.

Battle a watershed moment for Canada

By Jo-Ann McDonald It is March, 1917 and the battle that defined the Canadian troops as a force to respect was well into the planning stages. British LieutenantGeneral Julian Byng has been ordered to take Vimy Ridge, the long and fortified feature that protected much of the industrial and mining industries in Germanoccupied France at the end of 1916.

The plan began with sending Major-General Arthur Currie , commanding the First Canadian Division, as a member of the British delegation to visit the French troops to learn how they had fought at the battle of Verdun, which included smaller infantry platoons, counterbattery preparation or the creeping

barrage to eliminate enemy guns, ahead of the advancing troops, distinct sections of machine gunners, rifle grenadiers, bombers and riflemen. The platoons could support their own advance with fire and movement.

Rehearsals, mapping and rested troops before the attack were all part of the plan.

Tactical surprise was monumental in the attack.

The plan was ready by early March and it would be the first time the four divisions of the Canadian forces would fight together. They were equipped with 863 guns in support and the new No. 106 fuse that could cut the enemy’s barbed wire. The rolling barrage would advance in 50-yard steps with

ammunition coming forward with each advance. More than a million shells would be fired before the capture of the ridge. The attack began at 5:30 a.m. on Easter Monday, April 9, with snow and sleet blowing in the Germans’ faces. A high-ranking officer described it as “the most wonderful artillery barrage ever known in the history of the world” and the enemy guns were hit with explosives and gas destroying 80 per cent of the German guns. The four divisions all had their objectives to capture and defeat the Germans and through cool and steady advancement and great courage, the advancement was successful.

The battle was a costly one for the Canadian troops, with 10,602 troops wounded and including 3,598 killed. The battle of Vimy Ridge raged on for five days, but came to be known as “the greatest thing the Canadians have been in

yet” according to a Captain Fingold. We suffered heavy losses but it was a great victory.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge mattered greatly to the Canadians.

They began the war as amateurs, but earned the respect of all and they had learned how to fight. The many platoons, battalions, brigades and divisions had done something great and had come to maturity. The Battle of Vimy Ridge turned the Canadians into some of the best Allied troops of the war.

The Brussels Cenotaph has the recorded names of 49 brave Brussels-area men who served in the First World War who were killed in action. They were not all killed in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, but some of them fought there and died and others died during the four years of war.

We remember them on this the 105th anniversary of the victory of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

At the Branch

Jackpot hits $1,400

Treats galore The Brussels Four Winds Barn hosted its first annual spring market on the weekend, which saw the structure packed with visitors. Above, Maisy and Delaney Cressman check out some doughnuts at the market.

(Denny Scott photo)

By Jo-Ann McDonald It has been quiet at the Brussels Legion Branch this past week.

Orders for the drive-thru turkey dinner are coming in. If interested, you must call 519-531-1125 as soon as possible.

The Catch the Ace draw on Friday evening was handled by Team McDonald with Jamie Mitchell and Judy Lee filling in.

The lucky weekly winner was Christine Welsh and she won $240.

Her chosen envelope was number 42 and the five of clubs was revealed. The estimated jackpot for this week will be $1,400. This Friday is Good Friday so the Branch will be closed, but the draw will go on. We invite you to watch the draw on Facebook.

Just a few reminders to save your pop cans for the Brussels Legion Cadet Corps and drop them off on Tuesdays at the front door. The Legion accepts pop tabs and started a new collection. We sent 300 pounds to the Elora Branch a few weeks ago to support the Tabs for Wheelchair Program.

New members are always welcome.

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Brussels Legion 218 Catch the Ace Weekly Winner Winning Ticket: Christine Welsh $240 Envelope #42 found the 5 of clubs Estimated jackpot for April 15 is $1400 This Friday is Good Friday so the Branch will be closed, but the draw will go on. We invite you to watch the draw on Facebook or the Brussels Legion page

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022. PAGE 7.

G2G board starts fundraising for Blyth-area tunnel

If you build it...

Goderich-to-Guelph (G2G) Rail Trail board member Chris Lee, left, spoke to the Blyth Business Improvement Area (BIA) last month about a tunnel that will be installed outside of Blyth. The tunnel will help make the trail more accessible. He said the increased ridership since the trail was layered with stone dust in 2020, shown above, was remarkable. Lee is shown with then-Huron County Warden Jim Ginn. (File photo)

By Denny Scott The Citizen

The Goderich-to-Guelph (G2G) Rail Trail board of directors is raising funds to install a tunnel under Blyth Road to make the trail more accessible.

During the Blyth Business Improvement Area (BIA) March 31 executive meeting, Chris Lee of the board broke down the plans of the group, which include approximately $3 million in projects on the trail throughout Huron County, starting with the tunnel, which is estimated to cost $465,000.

Before Lee made his presentation, BIA Chair David Sparling explained the trail currently goes up and over County Road 25 near Blyth, however that was proving to be difficult for some riders, which was leading to people using a nearby farmer’s laneway.

Sparling said the fewer obstacles the trail has, the more riders it will welcome, which means more chances for local businesses to benefit from it.

“If we’re able to connect [the trail completely], we have a path to the beach in an hour or so,” he said, with Lee later saying he can make the trip to Goderich in an hour and

a half with the current obstacles.

Sparling said that having the trail pass right by the Blyth campground is a huge opportunity for local businesses and that the BIA and its representatives “cannot underestimate” the impact of the trail.

The project includes rehabilitating a former tunnel that was at the crossing, Lee said, that was used by trains. He said the group currently has funds from Regional Tourism Organization 4 (RTO4) and is working with Huron County, because the project goes under a county road.

Lee explained the project will be handled by Huron County, though RTO4 and G2G Inc. will have a say in how the project goes forward.

County staff is currently preparing to issue tender documents with the assistance of engineering firm B.M. Ross and Associates.

“That’s the point we’re at,” Lee said. “We’re one-third of the way there in terms of funding and we have a number of grant applications out that could cover portions or all of it, but the more private donors we can bring to it, the better the case we’ll be able to make for funding.”

Lee said the BIA isn’t the first group he had spoken to, adding he

was doing live presentations on Facebook, as well as preparing crowdsourcing campaign presentations.

He said completing every change to the trail in Huron County would allow people like Blyth-area resident Julie Sawchuk, who was paralyzed from the chest down in a collision several years ago, to travel the entire trail to Goderich and back to Blyth without assistance.

He said the tunnel project is an easier start, financially, and is also a very visible project to let people know that the efforts are continuing. The other projects include a bridge of the Maitland River and repairs to the Menesetung bridge, as well as works on a drainage system.

“I can put together that $3 million on paper from funds available in the next few years,” he said. “This isn’t pie in the sky, it’s something that’s really going on.”

Lee then changed gears, discussing how the trail has developed over the past few years and how the improvements already undertaken have provided significant dividends.

He said that, last year, there were trail cameras put up between Auburn and Walton with the intent of trying to catch ATV users, who

Offer kindness to newcomers From Marilyn’s Desk

By Marilyn Craig Call 523-9318

Sympathy is extended to the family of Harvey Black, who passed away last week. Sympathy is also extended to the Haggitt family and the Somerville family in the passing of Carolyn (Haggitt) Somerville and to the family of Lloyd Machan, who passed away last week.

I have no birthdays on my list for this week, so happy birthday to those who are celebrating this coming week.

Results of the April 4 euchre are:

first, Susan Harman, 76 and Gord Haggitt, 77; second, Marie Millian, 72 and Harry Smith, 72; lone hands, Pauline McMichael, two and Mac Brooks, seven (this is not a typo, congratulations Mac) and share the wealth, Audrey Boonstoppel and Barb Howard.

As I was writing this column, the temperature was up to 13°C and trying very hard to rain. We need a warm rain to wake up the earth and wash the mud away.

Although we have lost a few of our residents in the past, we have many new people moving to Blyth.

Take a minute out of your day to say welcome to Blyth to a stranger when you meet them on the street.

It only takes a minute to say hello and ask them about their day, and that makes you feel so good.

Stay safe and have a good week.

Give someone a call to let them know you are thinking of them.

aren’t allowed on the trail.

First, Lee said there wasn’t near the number of ATV users he had feared there were, adding that anyone who says they’re allowed on the trail is wrong as the trail has been closed to motorized vehicles since 1990. “Anyone who has been on there has been trespassing,” he said.

However, those cameras showed that there are far more trail users than the organization anticipated.

He said the evidence is subjective, but, on a “normal” September day last fall, cameras captured approximately 150 trail users.

“If we’re getting that now, a year into the improvements, who knows what we’ll see if we fix things like the tunnel?” he said.

The trail has been lined with gravel dust to make it more accessible, Lee said, and that has been accomplished when considering the number of families using it, as well as the number of people using e-bikes and even mobility scooters, the latter of which is a “big deal” he said.

The project has seen great support, he said, from fundraisers and from use.

Lee also said that, over the past three years, the maps on the G2G website have been viewed one million times, showing people are interested.

Sparling said that level of engagement proves that the BIA needs to focus on getting the riders off the trail and into the downtown core of Blyth to benefit from that much traffic.

“We can’t be cavalier or casual about this, or take the ‘B’ quality option, or these people will go somewhere else,” he said.

Wonky Frog owner Cat O’Donnell agreed, saying the number of people she sees from her shop, which is just metres away from the trail, is “incredible.”

“Good weather, bad weather, it doesn’t matter, they are out there,” she said. “On a day you think no one is going to be out there, Westmoreland [Street] is full of cars and the trailhead parking is full.”

She said the visitors are polite and happy to be there, and love talking about where they came from and what they’re doing on the trail.

Lee said that makes sense as Car ing Spr Care

Deadline April 15

many families are parking in places like Blyth and walking sections of the trail then returning. He said the inclusion of the new bridge over the Maitland River near Auburn, at a cost of $1.6 million, will allow a loop to be created between that bridge and Ball’s Bridge south of the village, for people to do a loop from Blyth.

Gerrit Sepers of BRØD Bread and Pastry asked if the community could try and become more friendly to cyclists, with changes like educational signage, or modifying Queen Street for cyclists.

Sparling said one goal could be to repurpose parking on one side of the street, which would address the fear expressed by cyclists of running into an opening car door on the main street, which currently has parking on both sides of it. That wasn’t a popular option, Sparling said, because of the current lack of parking downtown.

Other members said it is important to find some way to make the downtown core safer for cyclists because, if cyclists and other users follow the trail, which bypasses the downtown, it represents a lost opportunity.

Sparling said the main takeaways from the presentation were to have Lee present to the North Huron Economic Development Committee, name someone from the Blyth BIA to the county’s cycling committee, advocate for trail connectivity to the village’s downtown and see if the municipality can add more parking spaces to the trailhead “to make it more of a hub.”

He said he had already talked to the North Huron staff about having picnic tables there to make the trailhead more welcoming.

Sparling then thanked Lee for his “tireless” support of the trail, saying that early predictions of what the trail could become have since come to pass and that people’s eyes were being opened to the opportunities offered.

Let us Wash Your Winter Coats Blyth Laundromat 191 Westmoreland St., Blyth 519-523-9687

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PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022.

Community loses several prominent members PEOPLE AROUND WALTON

By Jo-Ann McDonald Call 887-6570

Our communities in the area have suffered many sad losses this past week. The funerals for the late Darwin Ducharme and late Bev Stevenson were held in Brussels.

Darwin will be missed by his daughters Tracy and Lisa and families. He was a 38-year employee of Royal Homes and will be missed by many of his coworkers. Darwin was a loving and doting grandpa and on many a Saturday morning he would bring the grandchildren to the Walton Inn for breakfast, always patient and loving with them. He was a caring man who will be missed. Our condolences to the families.

Our sympathies are extended to the Stevenson family on the sudden loss of Bev Stevenson. The loving mother of Ron and Chris and

families, she was a wonderful and caring person, not only to her family, but to the many residents she cared for at the long-term care home in Mitchell. She worked hard to become a Registered Nurse after raising her sons and yet had time to be involved in the community. She cleaned the Institute Hall at one time and was a member of the Walton Area Sports Club. She liked to have fun and many a meeting of the Sports Club went overtime with many a good time and a lot of fun was enjoyed. She always had a smile and she will be missed by her family and friends.

Our

Full house If you were looking for anyone who lives between Walton and Ethel on Saturday night, there’s a good chance they were at the Brussels Optimist Spring Auction at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. The event was packed and helped to raise money for the proposed renovations to the structure. The group pledged $151,000 to the project and early estimates have the Optimists raising approximately one-third of that during the event. (Denny Scott photo)

condolences to all.

Our sympathies are extended to the Machan family on the passing of Lloyd Machan. He will be missed by his children June, Cathy and Scott and families. He will be remembered by his siblings Joan, Maxine, Carmen, Gail, Dale, Gord, Anne, Pat and Lawrence and families and the Shantz families.

The Walton and Winthrop areas lost a lovely woman with the passing of Carolyn Somerville. She was the wife of Paul Somerville and mother of Brad and Scott and their families and the late Craig Somerville. She was the loving grandmother of five beautiful grandchildren. She will be missed by her siblings Gord Haggitt and Evelyn Blake. Carolyn was a happy person with a smile for all. It was always a pleasure to chat with her.

She will be missed at Howson Mills where she was employed for 50 years. Our sympathies to all.

Our sympathies are extended to the family of Harvey Black. He will be missed by wife Barb and daughters Dianne and husband Chris, and Darlene and her husband Andrew McCutcheon and their families. He will be missed by his siblings Bryan and Lila. Our condolences to all.

To carry on with the not-so-great news is the rise in the COVID-19 cases and the emergence of more flu and a terrible gastric flu. Vomit and diarrhea are the symptoms and it is in the schools and very contagious. More good reasons to keep wearing your mask and maintain good hand-washing

protocols. It seems to last about 12 hours and is not fun!

I was out on the Walton mail route on Friday and there were many changes. A new hog barn, a new house, two new additions, a new shed, a barn taken down, a row of windbreak pines gone, tile drains going in, but not many new names.

A new business in P&P Pumping Services on Hullett McKillop Rd. ( I believe the former Harvey Dale Pumping business) with Brent Pryce and Bruce Pearn as the owners.

The farmers are now starting to get “in the mood” to get out on the land. Seed is ordered, fertilizer booked, machinery in the process of being checked over and greased, maybe new tires, new teeth for cultivators, fluids checked and ready to go. Another sign of spring!

Celebrating birthdays this past week were Kevin Wilbee, Marie McGavin, Heather Blake Dunbar, Shannon Craig, Cole Zwep, Katheryn Emmrich Johnston, Jack Ryan, Trevor Sutcliffe, Theresa Pryce and Leighton Williams.

Happy birthday to all.

WI marks 125th with scavenger hunt To mark the 125th anniversary of Women’s Institutes in Ontario, the provincial organization has created a province-wide scavenger hunt with the help of its member clubs.

The scavenger hunt has taken the place of a large, in-person celebration to mark the organization’s anniversary, due to the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hunt began in February and will run until November. Prizes will be awarded throughout the event, with a final prize to be presented to the winning team in December. The theme of the hunt is “Just Have Fun”.

Women’s Institute (WI) teams consist of at least one WI member and one non-member. The Walton WI has two teams taking part.

In calling for participation, Walton WI leaders said that, throughout the community, there were plenty of extraordinary plaques, halls and projects connected to the organization and that the provincial organization’s 125th anniversary would be the perfect time to highlight them.

The local branch’s first team, named W.Eyes, did some research and its February submission pertained to the early days of the recycling program in Grey Township, now a part of Huron East.

According to the team’s submission, on Sept. 21, 1988, the Walton WI president presented a report on a meeting on recycling held at the Grey Township Municipal Office, while another member reported on a recycling meeting held at the Ethel Hall. As a result, members decided to host a public meeting apart from the WI meeting to help educate members of the community about recycling.

The WI struck a committee to On the building, a plaque states handle organizing the meeting and that, “when the hall was completed worked with Grey Township on in 1921, it was the largest rolling out recycling, including community fund-raised building delivering blue boxes in the area project in North America.”

In 1925, the WI was still working and eventually hosting the WI’s to pay off the mortgage on the community information night.

Just over a year later, on Nov. 23, building, with $3,000 remaining. In 1989, during Recycling Week, the May of that year, the WI held a WI’s president was invited to the concert featuring The Sunbeam Grey Township Council meeting Concert Trio to help pay down the and presented with a Citation of debt. Admission was 35 cents for Merit certificate on behalf of the WI adults and 25 cents for children.

The Blyth WI continued to members who aided the township contribute to the wellbeing of the with the project.

The second team, named 4Ws building over the years, especially (Walton Wonder Women Wishing), when it came to projects in the submitted the WI’s work to make lower hall and kitchen, until the Blyth Memorial Community Hall a group disbanded in 1991.

“Truly, the vision of the Blyth reality over 100 years ago. The group worked with local historians Women’s Institute members to Cheryl Cronin and Karen Webster to research the hall through the Repository of Blyth History.

While many communities erected statues as cenotaphs to commemorate those who lost their lives in World War I, members of the nowdefunct Blyth WI wanted to create a “living memorial” the fallen soldiers of their community.

The group paid $300 for a piece of land on Queen Street Retired auctioneer Kevin McArter on which they picked up his metaphorical gavel for planned to build the hall, rallying support the Brussels Optimist Club’s Spring for other local Auction on Saturday, and threw in organizations, some colour commentary on the churches and private items and the bidders throughout businesses to raise the evening. (Denny Scott photo) the necessary funds.

create a ‘living memorial’, the Blyth Memorial Community Hall, within their community is a perfect example of extraordinary achievement from ordinary people,” reads the Walton WI’s submission on the hall.

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022. PAGE 9.

Londesborough Lions fundraiser ‘ducks’ for sale Denis Waitley suggests: “Happiness cannot be travelled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed.

Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.”

Some brightness after the dreary of winter has been brought to the village. Canadian flags and banners have been installed along King’s Road recently.

Allan Bosman is home and recovering nicely from his recent health emergency. Ken Hunking continues to deal with a variety of health issues currently. A call, a note and your prayers will sustain him as he works through this time.

Sad news reached the village last week. Sandy (Plant) Garnet lost her struggle, passing away on April 6.

Sandy’s family and friends could

also use your support as they deal with their loss.

Continue to pray for the peoples of war-torn Ukraine and the innocent folk of Russia.

The events of Holy Week were told at Londesborough United Church on Palm Sunday through the eyes of a public works employee. “He”, aka Licensed Lay Worship Leader Sue Barnett, told the congregation what he witnessed that week as he dealt with the aftermath of the parade into Jerusalem, the events in the temple with the moneychangers, cleaning up the room in which Jesus and the disciples held the Last Supper, and Christ’s crucifixion.

During his reflections on the time, members of the congregation, Kitty MacGregor, Joan Goodall, Sherry Postma and Brenda Radford, read pertinent scripture passages.

This worker’s comments brought the events and emotions close to the heart.

Rev. Aylward will conduct a Good Friday Service at 10 a.m. on April 15 at Knox United in Auburn.

This service is open to all. She will be offering communion for Auburn and Londesborough congregations on Easter Sunday.

Have you bought your little yellow duck yet? No I don’t mean an Easter/spring decoration. I am talking about the rubber ducks for the Londesborough Lions Club’s annual duck race. The ducks are $5 each and available from members of the club. Don’t leave it too late.

The first place duck wins $500.

Happy Easter. Stay well.

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Warmer weather

519-523-4792

Mother Nature gave students at Hullett Central Public School three of her four seasons over the past two weeks. Late in March, students were kept home from school due to winter weather, but last week, some were enjoying the sun and warmth at Hullett Central Public School in short sleeves. Early this week, more warm weather and rain rolled in.

Above, enjoying the warm weather last week, are June Bromley, left, and Griffin Vanden Bos. (Denny Scott photo)

CH revokes COVID-19 rules

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Like Huron County and many of its municipalities, Central Huron is revoking several policies related to COVID-19, including its facecovering policy, COVID-19 prevention policy and vaccination policy.

Council discussed the matter at its April 4 meeting based on a report prepared by Chief Administrative Officer Steve Doherty.

“The province and [Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH)] continue to support the easing of COVID-19related restrictions, including no longer requiring proof of vaccination or masks in most settings,” Doherty said in his report to council. “Management’s goal is to remain compliant with the direction of HPPH and/or the province, which requires remaining fluid and being able to modify our practices in keeping with the ongoing recommendations coming out of those offices. Management notes that some of our COVID-19 policies are no longer consistent with the recommendations of the HPPH and/or the province, hence the recommendation to revoke them.”

Doherty said, however, that he was recommending keeping the

municipality’s COVID-19 sick time policy active. With the virus still very active in the region, he said, the policy should remain in effect.

In addition, the allocation of additional sick days in the policy is subject to manager approval, so there will be oversight.

“Although HPPH and the province are easing restrictions, management notes that HPPH strongly recommends other COVID-19 protocols, such as daily self-assessments before attending work, maintaining good hand hygiene, staying home when feeling unwell, being vaccinated, etc., remain in place. Management also acknowledges that restrictions may have to be re-invoked if/when directed,” Doherty reported.

While Councillor Marg Anderson questioned why the sick time policy would remain in effect, Doherty said the municipality wanted to support its staff in recommending that they stay home if sick, which is consistent with COVID-19 management direction since the pandemic was declared.

The conversation then shifted to the future of council meetings, which have been held in the upper hall of the municipal office since they returned to in-person meetings in the wake of eased restrictions.

Councillor Alex Westerhout asked about moving back to council

chambers eventually and whether the municipality planned to permanently offer an electronic meeting option for those unable or unwilling to attend the meetings in person. Clerk Kerri Ann O’Rourke said that staff’s intention was to continue hybrid participation for a number of reasons.

Westerhout and Deputy-Mayor Dave Jewitt both spoke in favour of that option, saying that providing it as an option is a step in the right direction, making meetings more available to all, while Mayor Jim Ginn and others said they had mixed feelings about it, largely due to the poor internet quality in rural areas of the municipality.

Other councillors reminded them, however, that a hybrid model wouldn’t require people to attend remotely, but simply provide the option to those who want to utilize it. Those who wanted to attend meetings in person could attend.

Westerhout also tied the hybrid model into the sick time policy, saying there will be times that councillors, staff and members of the public will be feeling ill and would be advised to stay home. In that case, the hybrid model would be essential.

Council passed Doherty’s recommendations, not taking any actions in regards to changing the current hybrid meeting model.

Citizen-To-Citizen “SWAP SHOP” ad “One person’s junk is another’s treasure”

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Call 519-523-4792 or email: info@northhuron.on.ca

PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022.

International cuisine taking hold in Huron

A new way of eating Maria’s Wok n’ Dine of Seaforth is one of many international food options that has sprung up in recent years. At the restaurant, Maria Rebuldela, above, prepares Thai, Singaporean and Vietnamese dishes with the help of her husband and restaurant coowner John Staffen. (Mark Nonkes photo)

By Mark Nonkes Special to The Citizen MARIA’S WOK N’ DINE Maria Rebuldela stirs a pot of coconut milk, lemongrass, basil and chicken. “Cooking is my passion,” she says, while making soup. “I just enjoy it. Sometimes you serve 150 or 100 people, sometimes it is just a few. It doesn’t matter.” The mother of three brings her passion to the plate five days a week, offering flavours from her travels and her homeland at Maria’s Wok n’ Dine at 23 Main Street in Seaforth.

The restaurant, run by Maria and her husband John Staffen, opened in 2018 and reflects growing diversity within Huron County. Maria’s menu features Thai, Singaporean and

Vietnamese dishes, along with food from her youth in the Philippines.

Filipino food is a mix of sweet, salty and sour flavours, with dishes like kare-kare, which is beef or pork cooked with eggplant, string beans and a peanut sauce. Other Filipino staples, like adobo chicken or pork braised in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and peppercorn or tapsilog, a garlic fried rice with a mix of beef jerky and a fried egg, are also available.

The restaurant’s tables are filled with folks from Seaforth and surrounding communities, along with a growing number of temporary farm workers from the Philippines working in Huron County.

“Our lumpia, which are like spring rolls but bigger, are one of our most popular menu items. People enjoy

tasting something different,” John says.

Maria’s menu is one that reflects her own history, crossing borders, working in Hong Kong, visiting countries throughout Southeast Asia, living in Australia and China, before arriving in Canada in 2011. “My sister had already moved here and set up a restaurant in Clinton,” Maria explains. “I came to visit her and decided to stay.” John and Maria met in 2015 and married a year later.

Although Maria’s sister’s restaurant has now closed, when a former bistro came up for sale in downtown Seaforth, John and Maria stepped forward and started setting up their restaurant. Maria says that she has always been interested in cooking, an activity where she has

bonded with people from other cultures.

“On opening day, there was a lineup. People were excited,” John remembers. “They have kept coming back, even during COVID and with take-outs, we have been busy.”

There is little wonder why.

Maria’s food is freshly made, colourfully plated and offers vibrant, succulent flavours not routinely encountered. The portions are large and the prices reasonable.

Maria’s Wok n’ Dine is open for lunch and dinner from Wednesday to Sunday. More information can be found on Facebook at the page Maria’s Wok ‘n Dine or by calling 519-600-0142.

KHAWLA’S KITCHEN In Goderich, Khawla Alsajer too is showcasing the cuisine from her kitchen that she offers as a catering service or as take-out meals.

Khawla arrived in Canada as a refugee in 2016, after fleeing Syria and spending time in Lebanon.

Khawla’s link to the food and service industry spans three countries. In Syria, prior to the war, Khawla operated a market stall selling groceries and preparing food for the public, as well as cooking for parties and weddings and other events. After fighting in her homeland forced her family to leave, Khawla opened a small store selling food and candies in Lebanon.

In Canada, after learning English and finding work, Khawla turned her attention back to food. She has always enjoyed cooking and opened her business in the spring of 2021 to share a taste of her culture and journey with people in Goderich and nearby areas.

“I wanted to open my business here because it is what I have always done. I love cooking food from my home. I want to bring the feeling from that home to my new home in Canada, and I want to share that home with my new family here,” Khawla says.

Khawla’s menu can be found at her business’s Facebook page:

Khawla’s Kitchen: Authentic Syrian and Lebanese Cuisine. Food can be ordered by calling 519-955-3019 and can be picked up at 58 Anglesea Street.

WINGHAM THAIVILLE Chef Singha’s wok sizzles as he stands stoveside, stirring freshly cut broccoli and carrots before tipping a container of thick noodles and then a bowl of shrimp into the pan. Singha gently shakes the wok over the stove’s flame, adding a medley of seasoning as steam billows.

“We call it spicy noodles,” he says. “It’s one of our favourite things on the menu.”

Singha and Jan Mekkluan are the owners of Wingham Thaiville, a restaurant on Wingham’s main street that opened in March of 2019. Their restaurant features popular Thai dishes: mango salad, pad thai and sweet soy noodles, recipes that originate from their homeland.

“I’ve been cooking since I was eight years old,” Singha says.

“My parents used to go to the rice fields and leave me to take care of my younger brothers. I started making fried rice, and I grew from there.” By the time he was 12, Singha had a part-time job helping at an uncle and aunt’s noodle shop in Bangkok, a city of 9 million, famous for its intricately constructed Buddhist temples, river canals and vibrant street food scene.

After completing his education, Singha entered culinary school at age 18 and then worked in hotel kitchens as part of large kitchen teams. In 2008, he and his wife Jan moved to Canada where he was employed at Thai restaurants in Mississauga, Oakville, Brantford and Ancaster.

“In Canada, I learned to be a oneman band. In Thailand, our kitchens were always a team. In Canada, I had to do cleaning, cooking, dishes, food prep work,” Singha says. “It trained me to open my own restaurant.”

In 2018, Jan and Singha bought Continued on page 11

If you are a former business from Brussels or a family who would love to share their Brussels history, we invite you to be a part of

The Citizen’s Commemorative issue of

Brussels 150th Anniversary in the July 28 edition 1/4 page (6” wide x 6 1/4” high) . . .$187.50 + HST 1/2 page (10” wide x 7.5” high) . . . .$375.00 +HST Please note: This special pricing is for former businesses of Brussels and for families who wish to be a part of this commemorative issue.

Bringing home to Huron Khawla Alsajer prepares authentic Syrian and Lebanese cuisine out of her kitchen in Goderich, making her way to Huron County after working in the food service industry in three different countries before coming to Canada. She opened her business for catering and take-out just last year. (Mark Nonkes photo)

You send the story and photos

by July 15 and we do the rest!

Email: info@northhuron.on.ca or mail your story and photo(s) to The Citizen PO Box 429, Blyth, ON N0M 1H0 519-523-4792

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022. PAGE 11.

Bayfield, Wingham options spark food curiosity

Wingham to upgrade the restaurant, installing a new kitchen and renovating the seating area before opening in 2019. “At Wingham, we

feel at peace,” Singha says as he compares life in a small town to larger centres in which he’s lived.

He says his restaurant has sparked

curiosity from the community.

“Many people have never tried Thai food before. For most people, it’s a new thing,” Singha says.

“But people keep coming back.

Word of mouth has made people interested [in trying] something new.”

Throughout Singha and Jan’s menu, the flavours of Thailand emerge: an intricate balance of salty, sweet, sour and spicy. Additional menu items include coconut sticky rice, a Thai ginger stir-fry, a variety of curries and fried rice dishes.

Singha and Jan admit that COVID-19 shutdowns have been a challenge for their restaurant but that Friday and Saturday evenings continue to be busy. For now, they say, they remain a take-out-only restaurant.

Wingham Thaiville is located at 194 Josephine Street in Wingham.

More information about their menu can be found at https://thaiville.ca or by calling 1-519-781-7988.

BAYFIELD TANDOORI HOUSE The Bayfield Tandoori House, opened in 2021, brings the authentic taste of India to the picturesque village of Bayfield. The Ashwood Inn’s Hina and Mike Patel teamed up with Toronto-based chef Pradeep Singh to co-create a menu that featured delicacies from all the states of India. Bayfield Tandoori House captures the essence of Indian hospitality and the richness of Indian cuisine.

Hina and Mike take immense

care if he gets paid for attending the meetings, because he does it for the “betterment of the community” and not “for the money”.

Heffer said council should allow the group to continue on as it has, saying that people can attend the meeting if they see fit.

Councillor Kevin Falconer, however, felt the group should be made a committee of council, and said the name should be changed to the North Huron Community Connectors because foreign workers, who benefit from the organization, are working and

staying in all parts of North Huron, not just Wingham.

“I think it should be more of a township initiative than just a Wingham one,” he said.

After more discussion on the group, Chief Administrative Officer Dwayne Evans said that staff was seeking direction on how council and staff should be involved with this group. Specifically, he said council should decide if Seip and Heffer are attending as council representatives or community members, with the former meaning they would be entitled to an

allowance for attendance. He also said council had directed staff to limit involvement in similar organizations, and should be clear as to how staff should be involved with the connectors group.

Seip made a motion to receive the report and not appoint a council member, but directed Lockie to be in attendance at the meetings.

While council did approve it, Councillor Anita van Hittersum said that this could lead to requests from other organizations to have Lockie attend their meetings, and council should be prepared for that.

Welcome to Thaiville Chef Singha Mekkluan and his wife Jan own Wingham Thaiville and say the restaurant has sparked a lot of curiosity within the town. Singha says he has been cooking since he was eight years old and had a part-time job helping at his family’s noodle shop by the time he was 12, working with his aunt and uncle. (Mark Nonkes photo) Continued from page 10 the previous Maitland Restaurant.

While still working in another restaurant, on days off they drove to

NH staff to support Wingham Connectors

By Denny Scott The Citizen

Councillor Chris Palmer’s concerns about the amount of staff time being directed to committee meetings weren’t enough to convince his fellow council members to vote against continuing to provide staff to the Wingham and Area Community Connectors.

Denise Lockie, Community Engagement Co-ordinator for North Huron, reported that she had been attending the group’s meetings, as had Deputy-Reeve Trevor Seip and Councillor Paul Heffer. However, if council wished to be involved directly, it would be “prudent for council to pass a motion appointing a council representative to this group,” she said.

The Wingham and Area Community Connectors is a Huron County and Huron County Library initiative that seeks to bridge gaps in the communities between not only residents, but organizations.

Palmer said council should “minimize the staff time” involved in the group, and said that staff don’t have time for these kinds of projects. He then said he was directly opposed to any council members being involved.

Palmer went on to say that council should keep in mind that the group’s scope had grown beyond just Wingham to include other communities in other municipalities such as Fordwich, Lucknow and Teeswater.

Deputy-Reeve Trevor Seip said that having representation on the committee wasn’t “a substantial” ask, noting it was only for support, not money.

“This could just be a matter of getting the minutes,” he said. “The group wants to have a connection to staff to prevent duplication of services.”

Seip went on to say he doesn’t

pride featuring the tastes of their homeland. The couple moved to Canada in 2015 and purchased the Ashwood Inn in 2019, bringing with them 27 years of experience in the hospitality industry.

Despite the setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic, in the summer of 2021, Hina and Mike launched Bayfield Tandoori House, the village’s first Indian kitchen serving authentic Indian grills and curries.

In addition to signature Tandoori delicacies, the menu features some of the most loved snacks from different parts of India and a wide variety of vegan and popular Indian dishes.

The Bayfield Tandoori House will reopen in May 2022. It can be found at 34777 Bayfield River Road, with a menu available online at h t t p s : / / w w w. t h e a s h w o o d . com/menu or at by phone at 519565-4089.

FOOD REFLECTS GROWING DIVERSITY IN HURON In the 2021 Census, Huron County recorded more than 61,000 people, a population increase of more than 2,000 from the 2016 Census. Like many other parts of Canada, Huron County is seeing increases in the number of immigrants and firstgeneration Canadians settling in its communities.

“While we don’t have data from the 2021 Census yet of where people come from, we know from 2016 that there is a growing number of people from Asia, Africa and Latin America who are settling in Huron County,” said Huron’s Immigration Partnership Project Manager Kristin Crane. In 2016, Statistics Canada recorded that 4,200 people who live in Huron County were immigrants.

Sinead Cox, a local historical nonfiction author and the Curator of Engagement and Dialogue at the Huron County Museum, points to generation upon generation of immigrants moving to Huron County, bringing with them diverse languages and traditions.

“Immigrants always bring their culture with them and food is a great way to experience that culture,” Cox says.

Enjoy your home time!

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PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022.

WINTER SPORTS 2021~2022 A special thank you to all the people who submitted photos for the sports section.

Photo credit for the BBMHA Crusader Hockey Teams and the Huron Heat Teams goes to Picture Day Photography.

BBMHA Crusaders U5: Back row, from left: Trainer Samatha Cochrane, coaches Andrew Baker, Kyle Machan, Tara Smith. Middle row: Hudson Haasnoot, Quinn Baker, Jackson Needham. Front row: Vera Smith, Barrett Nurse, Logan Cochrane, Derek Wakenell, Lydia Deitner, Elijah Huhtala, Lucas Blake, Cole Rammeloo, Liam Machan.

BBMHA Crusaders U6: Back row, from left: Trainer Chris Scoff, parent rep. Tim Lee, coaches Trevor Wilson, Mark Gillis, trainer and team manager Caitlin Gillis.

Middle row: Kai Milinkovic, Jack Gahan, Logan Gross, Nash Rombouts, Tucker Wilson. Front row: Eli Csöff, Ellie Wilson, Ireland Nurse, Weston Lee, Bowey Nurse, Jack Lee, Connor White, Claire Rammeloo, Nash Gillis. Absent: Liam Rushton, Brandon Courtney, trainer Steve Rombouts.

BBMHA Crusaders U7 - Black: Back row, from left: Trainer Brad Lapp, coaches Brett Bean, Ron Abell. Middle row: Anna Lapp, Warren LaRoque. Front row: Matthew Abell, Zaden Eckert, Nixon Brown, Alex Deitner, Elise Bean, Gracelyn Howson, Lincoln Laffin.

BBMHA Crusaders U7 - Burgundy: Back row: Coach Bob Smith. Middle row: Hunter Rombouts, Sully Smith. Front row: Lexi Greidanus, Wes McDonald, Brady Toll, Harmoney Howard, Jacoby Noble, Henk Brennan, Emma Gahan.

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022. PAGE 13.

BBMHA Crusaders U9 - Rep: Back row, from left: Coach Shawn Bromley, trainer Brett Bean. Middle row: Murray Bromley, Ashlyn Greidanus, Canon Beuermann, Hudson Smith. Front: Jarrett Fleet, Kaleb Nurse, Wesley Bean, Benton Nurse, Casey Bolinger, Isla Fischer, Jetteson Broome, Carter Kellington, Katie Somers.

BBMHA Crusaders U9 - LL: Back row, from left: Coach Mike Lyons, manager Andrew Wharton, Stacey Lyons, Bren Huhtala. Middle row: Connor Lyons, Mia Hubbard-Buffinga, Avery Huhtala, Gavin Gross, Lauren Wharton. Front row: Colton Boyer, Winston Greydanus, Charlotte Greydanus, Cooper Cronin, Sawyer McCall, Parker Gingrich, Layne Milinkovic, Adalyn Campbell, Laurelei Shortreed. Absent: Scott Warwick, Shawn Warwick, coach Greg Cronin, trainer Michaela Rodger.

BBMHA Crusaders U11 - Rep: Back row, from left: Coaches Jason Kellington, Rob Johnston, trainer Graham Adams, coach Jason Fleet. Middle row: Ty Somers, Miles Adams. Front row: Cole Greidanus, Connor Kellington, Trace Boven, Blake Johnston, Lincoln Bokinger, Braxton Stryker, Lucas White, Hudson Greydanus, Joel Fleet.

BBMHA Crusaders U11 - Black: Back row, from left: Ryker Dewit, trainer Emily Boyer, coach Chris Blake, trainer Bren Huhtala, Mackenzie Gingrich. Middle row: Spencer Huhtala. Front row: Mitch White, Adel Fischer, Mason Blake, Lukas Balon, Foster Blake, Lukas Hubbard-Buffinga, Nathan Baillie, Rileigh Cox, Ethan Boyer. Absent: Coach Kris Dewit, JP Warwick.

BBMHA Crusaders U11 - Burgundy: Back row, from left: Trainer Cheryl Riegling, coaches Ty Campbell, Nate Shannon, manager Stacey Lyons. Middle row: Claire McCutcheon, Hayden Bennedict, Liam Egli, Evan Egli. Front row: Kaleb Lyons, Jesa Fischer, Jordan Shannon, Carson Lee, Warren Greidanus, Lauren Riegling, Summer Shannon, Carter Pope, Brielle Campbell.

BBMHA Crusaders U13 - Rep: Back row, from left: Trainer Chris Howson, coaches Nate Shannon, Jaxon Bromley, Jason Fleet, trainer Andrew Wharton. Middle row: Nick White, Damon Shannon, Tanner Allen, Griffin Karges, Adrian Egli, Emmitt Shortreed, Dylan Lee. Front row: Everett Cherrey, Tyson Greidanus, Carter Howson, Ayden Hallahan, Triston Piper, Will Nesbitt, Colyn Hallahan, Justin Fleet, Bo Wharton.

Congratulations to all the Teams on a successful season!

Congratulations to the Blyth/Brussels Congratulations teams on a great year!

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Brussels Optimist Club Congratulations and best wishes to all the teams on another great season of winter sports!

PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022.

BBMHA U13 LL “WOAA Winners”: Back row, from left: Manager/Trainer Rob Mason, coaches Kirk Baillie, Erin Nesbit. Middle row: Wade Baillie, Cole Mason, Jeffery Bauer, Liam Fischer, Kipp Johnston. Front row: Patrick Mahon, Wesley Marks, Ayden Hallahan, Aiden Hickey, William Wall, Will Nesbit, Colyn Hallahan, Max Logan.

BBMHA Crusaders U15 - Rep: Back row, from left: Assistant coach Brad McLean, coach Brett Fischer, trainer Ryan Baker. Middle row: Tyson Finch, Luke Fischer, Peter Albers, Jake Bromley, Taylor Wharton, Landyn Hallahan, Caleb Koch. Front row: Graham Nesbit, Quinn Cox, Boden Lyons, Louis McNichol, Jack Reigling, Dylan McLean, Jack Nicholson, Reed Fischer, Jackson Hallahan. Absent: Bryce Shortreed.

BBMHA Crusaders U15 LL: Back row, from left: Trainer Pete Albers, coach Shawn Nicholson. Middle row: Sheldon Lee, Simon Wernham, Jack Nicholson, Cohen Lammerant. Front row: Caden Mason, Peter Albers, Graham Nesbit, Quinn Cox, Louis McNichol, Jack Reigling, Reed Fischer, Brady Finch, Taylor Wharton. Absent: coach Clint Fischer, manager Beau Reigling.

BBMHA Crusaders U18 Rep: Back row, from left: Coaches Matt Bromley, Andrew McCutcheon, Brett Fischer. Middle row: Bennett Smith, Braeden MacDonald, Brett McCutcheon, Troy Coultes, Connor Dale, Griffin Marshall, Colby Dale, Liam Shortreed. Front row: Carson Bromley, Hudson Marshall, Matthew McKee, Lucas Carter, Joel Nesbit, TJ Groves, Nick McDonald, Connor Hallahan, Shea Cox, Jackson McDonald-Inglis.

BBMHA Crusaders U18 LL “WOAA Winners”: Back row: Coach John Groves.

Middle row: Brett McCutcheon, Connor Dale, Carson Bromley, Troy Coultes. Front row: TJ Groves, Lucas Carter, Sam Overholt, Keon Paola, Shea Cox, Travis Beaven, Griffin Marshall.

Huron Heat U7: Back row, from left: Coaches Dan Rathwell, Kevin Murray, Matt Chaput, Tyler VanDrunen. Middle row: Brynleigh Poppe, Ryan Courtney, Nev VanDrunen, Avaya Chaput, Nora O’Keefe. Front row: Paige McKay, Ryleigh Murray, Violet McFarlan, Julianne Jantzi, Carmen McNaughten, Aubrey McClure, Kiarra Hugill, Evyn Rathwell.

Good Work Teams!

Way to go Teams!

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wishes to congratulate all the teams on another successful season!

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022. PAGE 15.

Huron Heat Novice U9 HL: Back row, from left: Todd McCann, Kim O’Donnell.

Middle row: Alayna Carnochan, Kinlee Maize, Alyssa Walt, Hannah Grant, Hartley Newbigging, Ava Rathwell. Front row: Raya Eickmeyer, Rya Renning, Isla Greidanus, Charlise Cantelon, Chloe Pope, Ava McCann, Julia Baxter, Harper O’Donnell, Peyton Anderson.

Huron Heat U9B: Back row, from left: Dean Wood, Devon Prouse. Middle row: Emma Dalton, Milan Prouse, Sadie Wammes, Olivia Skyring, Nicola Egli. Front row: Berkley Keyser, Abby Lepelaars, Reese Watterworth, Olivia Carnochan, Makinley Bannon, Emma Wood, May O’Keefe, Sydney Prescott, Kate Meyers.

Huron Heat U11B: Back row, from left: Craig Caldwell,Scott Meyer, Stacey Prescott, Mark Calder. Middle row: Lily Livingstone, Katie Meyer, Claira Olson, Alyse Hoogenes, Reagan O’Brien. Front row: Reese DeBoer, Emily Colclough, Zoey Prescott, Cali Calder, Kylie Illmann, Emery DeJong, Jordyn Kamerman, Kirklynn Caldwell, Abby Wammes. Absent: Coach Lee Prescott.

Huron Heat Atom U11C: Back row, from left: Chris Rooseboom, Jared Carnochan, Mike Ansley, Jamie Black. Middle row: Emry DeGroot, Bree VandenHengel, Kinley Wood. Front row: Macey Sinclair, Leigha Wynja, Brea McDonald, Adele Black, Sophia Burkholder, Alexis Ansley, Nora Coleman, Breanne Carnochan, McKenna Gemmell. Absent: Manager Christy Mair, trainers Amy Burkholder, Jenny VandenHengel.

Huron Heat U13 HL: Back row, from left: Molly Bolinger, Lia Marshall, Melanie Sinclair, Charlie Grant, Shayna Dolmage, Hadley Little. Middle row: Brook Beuermann, Kayci Fielder, Stella Shepley, Annie Davidson. Front row: Goalie Emily Burkholder.

Huron Heat U13C: Back row, from left: Trainer Haley Stoll, assistant coach Mike Haggitt, head coach Shane Taylor, assistant coach/trainer Mark Stoll, manager Tina Taylor. Middle row: Harlow Keys, Lauren Kootstra, Bree Dykstra, Ella Smith.

Front row: Leah Kuntz, Ruby Taylor, Claire Cowman, Harper Phillips, Grace Stoll, Naomi Pryce, Aliya Haggitt, Mercedes Daer, Katie Rae Buttineau. Absent: Sophie Caldwell, assistant coach Ray Buttineau.

Great Season! Way to Go!

Municipality of Huron East

Always proud of our teams!

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Best Wishes to all the teams on another successful season!

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407 Queen Street Box 199 Blyth, ON N0M 1H0

519-523-4577

email: riversidefuneralhome@hotmail.com www.riversidefuneralhome.ca

PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022.

Huron Heat U15C: Back row, from left: Trainer Rachel Bedard, assistant coach Brenden Dale, Leah Dale, Casey Bernard, Olivia Lambers, Jocelyn DeJong, Hayley Davidson, Nevaeh Little, Karly Fielder, Brya Stewart, Clara DeBoer, assistant coach Chris Fielder. Middle row: Coach Gerrid Dalton, Sydney Dalton, Faith Durand, Lacey Heibein, Danika Dykstra, Elise Brady, assistant coach Bryan Durand. Front row: Ally Vogels.

Huron Heat U18C: Back row, from left: Sydney Wightman, Meg Beuttenmiller, Kailey Hallahan, Carly DeJong, Kristen Scott, Macy Tremeer, Erica Maloney, Kyleigh Burns, Liv Goodburn, Dave Burns, Glen Ditner. Middle row: Morgan Colclough, Caleigh Ditner, Abby Gemmell, Ally Riegling, Meg Fritz, Brooke Kootstra, Sydney Kolkman. Front row: Liv Wightman. Absent: Kiley Nicholson.

Blyth Junior Broomball Atoms

Blyth Junior Broomball PeeWee

Blyth Junior Broomball Bantam Boys

Blyth Junior Broomball Bantam Girls

Another Great Season - Well Done Teams!

Londesboro & District Lions Club Dumpster Rental and Service Residential & Commercial Dumpster Rental & Service R.R. #1 41403 Londesboro Road, Londesboro Jim Anderson: Cell 519-440-6007 Jason Fleet: Cell 519-525-9473

KRAEMER CONCRETE LTD.

Thanks for a great season!

From the

Jim Kraemer ~ Two Locations to Serve You! 5595 Road 130, RR 1 220 Industrial Park Dr., Brunner N0K 1C0 Brussels N0G 1H0 Congratulations

519-595-2343

Teams!

Fax: 519-595-4903

519-887-8763 Fax: 519-887-8764

Toll Free at 1-888-RING-KCL

Recreation

North Huron Recreation staff

We’re proud of all of you!

Way to go Teams!

Bernard Enterprises Authorized dealer for Central Boiler Classic Outdoor Wood Furnaces And Maxim Wood Pellet and Corn Burners Gasification units available RR #4 Brussels Carman Bernard 519-887-6405 centralboiler.com or maximheat.com

sparlings.com

Propane. Appliances. Guaranteed Service.

Best Class Wishes of on Here’ another your great fu season succ

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022. PAGE 17.

Blyth Junior Broomball Girls Midget :

Blyth Junior Broomball Boys Midget : Back row, from left:

Blyth Broomball Juvenille Girls

Blyth Broomball Juvenille Boys

Congratulations Teams!

218 Ontario St., Clinton

519-482-9392

would like to congratulate all the teams on another successful season!

HEATING • COOLING • ELECTRICAL • PLUMBING • DUCT WORK • INDOOR AIR QUALITY • REFRIGERATION • FIREPLACES

McBurney Funeral Home Ltd.

Congratulations to all the teams

Dr. Veronica Lee • Dr. Melinda Lee

Congratulations to all the Teams!

Blyth Lions Club

Congratulations to all the teams!

1-888-357-4301 • WWW.COMFORTCENTRE.COM

Congratulations to all the Teams!

. $ ( . )( ) . . '-. . "& ! %. . . .

*. . . . . . (" $#& ',&+#& . . (" $"&

256 Josephine St., Wingham 519-357-1840 2stepshoe@gmail.com

Congratulations to all the teams on a great season!

The Citizen

Funeral Director: Dayna Deans CANADIAN-INDEPENDENT Serving the funeral service needs of North Huron since 1979.

35 Patrick Street West, Wingham 519-357-1170

www.mcburneyfuneralhome.com

Brian E. Wightman Congratula t

io Teams ns on anot great sea her son!

Chartered Professional Accountant Certified General Accountant

• Personal & Corporate Tax • Accounting & Bookkeeping • Agricultural Services

405 Queen St., Blyth

Seaforth ~ 519-527-1331

519-523-4792

Email: brian@wightmancpa.ca

Congratulations

Wishing all the Teams congratulations on another great season!

Proud of all the Teams!

to all the Teams!

Fashion is our passion. Leather and Wool are our roots.

For service and quality you can trust.

Open 7 days Hwy. 4, 1 mile south of Blyth theoldmill.ca

519-523-4595

Brussels

519-887-6273

For service and quality that you can trust

PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022.

Classified Advertisements – RATES – 20 words or less only $7.00 + HST. Additional words 20¢ each + HST.

DEADLINE 4 p.m. Monday Phone 519-523-4792 e-mail: info@northhuron.on.ca

Auction

Articles for sale Articles for sale Coming events Help wanted READY MADE EASTER BASKETS! Varieties perfect for grandparents, adults and children! For more information call 519-835-0099.

Maitside Orchards, 23 Orchard Lane, Brussels.

12-4p --------------------------------------------

Auction

CLEARING AUCTION SALE Of Tractors, Backhoe, Combine, Machinery and Miscellaneous items To be held for

Fred Smith and the Late Chris Smith 2 km south of Brussels on Brussels Line (County Road 12) EM#84006

Saturday April 23, 2022 11:00 am Tractors & Backhoe: 2011 CIH MAXXUM 115 with Cab, 4WD, 8-Front Weights, 2992 HRS (purchased with 65 HRS.) 18.4 x 38 snap on duals (sell separate). 2018 Kubota M5-111 with M37 self-leveling loader and 8 FT material bucket, 880 HRS (bought new). 7FT material bucket, 7FT manure bucket with tines, bale spear, pallet forks, Fretz Welding 6 FT stone fork (attachments sell separate). 1994 CASE IH 5250, 2WD, cab, 6435 HRS (bought new). 1991 CASE IH 5140, 2WD, cab, 6185 HRS (bought new). 1994 CASE 580 Super K Backhoe, 4WD, cab, Extend-a hoe 24"and 18"buckets and front bucket with 7425 HRS (2nd owner).

Combine and Heads: 1989 CASE IH 1640, 2WD AXIAL FLOW, 2800 HRS (bought new). 1043 4 row corn head and 1020 17 FT flex head (heads sell separate).

Equipment: 2008 WIL-RICH 30 FT Excel SERIES Cultivator. 1982 WIL-RICH 20 FT cultivator. 2014 Smyth VS30 Land Roller. NH 499 center pivot Haybine. CASE IH 5100 Soybean Special 21 run Grain Drill (no fertilizer). CASE IH 5100 Grain Drill 21 run (fertilizer only), 1994 CASE IH 900 8 row corn planter, NH 790 Forage Harvester c/w 2 row corn head and hay pickup, NH 648 round baler, twine net, 2010 Hagedorn 2277 SERIES II manure spreader, horizontal beater and end gate (bought new). CASE IH 7500 VARI-WIDTH 6 furrow AUTO TRIP II plow, CASE IH 7500 VARI-WIDTH 5 furrow AUTO TRIP II plow, 22011 Weberlane 16 FT Supertilt dump trailers Model #WL14SBW on HORST Model #285 double reach running gear, 425/65R22.5 tires (bought new). 4- Uhnerferth 325 Bu. Gravity boxes on HORST Model #205 double reach running gear, 12R22.5 tires (all bought new).

Turnco gravity wagon on running gear w/ hydraulic auger (used for fertilizer). 5- 16 FT flat rack wagons on 3-double reach and 2-single reach running gear. 1991 CASE IH 600 forage blower. NH 357 mix mill.

NH 316 small sq. baler NH 256 5 bar side rake, Westfield W70-41 grain auger on transport. Brillion 10 FT grass seeder. 2017 Winpower 30KW PTO generator on trailer. Forrest King 22-ton hydraulic wood splitter on wheels. Lucknow 84D double auger 7 FT snow blower, hyd hood. Bush Hog 7 FT 3pt scraper blade. Hardy 500-gallon sprayer 35FT boom.

Dion Forage blower, MF 8FT 3pt sickle mower. Vicon 3pt wheel swath turner. CASE 2250 Mount-O-MATIC loader w/ 6FT material bucket. NH 28 FT bale elevator on transport/ electric motor. 30 FT tube bale elevator w/ ¾ HP electric motor.

Miscellaneous Items: PRONOVOST 3pt PTO cement mixer. 10 FT 4"grain auger with ¾ HP electric motor. Oil drum w/ hand pump. Misc sheets of used steel. 15- 2 FT x 8 FT 3/4"cement forms. Milk cans.

Small wagon load of farm related items.

Auctioneers Note A lineup of well cared for equipment (stored inside).

Plan to attend, be on time. Approx a 2 ½ hour sale.

All provincial and Local COVID PROTOCOLS will be in effect.

LUNCH BOOTH For More Information call Fred Smith at 519-887-6758.

To View Photos Visit billhorstauctions.com TERMS Cash or cheque with proper I.D. No debit or credit cards. No buyers' premium.

Proprietors & auctioneers not responsible for accidents, injury, or loss of purchase.

Verbal announcements take precedence over advertising.

Auctioneer Bill Horst (519) 577-0011 www.billhorstauctions.com

GERBERS FIREWOOD SERVING you for over 10 years. Your number one source of quality slabwood and bodywood. Delivery available. No Sunday calls. 519-656-2057, 519441-2085.

01-50p -------------------------------------------REPRINTS OF PHOTOS taken by Citizen photographers are available to purchase. All are in colour. 4x6 – $5.00, 5x7 – $6.00, 8x10 – $10.00. Phone to order 519523-4792 or 519-887-9114. tfn -------------------------------------------THE CITIZEN IS AVAILABLE TO purchase at these locations – Auburn Co-op, Auburn Esso, Belgrave Variety, Blyth Variety, Blyth Food Market, Blyth Ultramar, Brussels Foodland, Brussels Variety, Clinton Convenience, Clinton Foodland, Dean’s Valu-Mart in Wingham, Wingham Mini Mart, Seaforth Foodland, GT Mini Mart in Seaforth, Fincher’s in Goderich, Goderich Victoria St. Shell and The Citizen Blyth.

Card of thanks CHAMNEY. Many thanks to my family, friends and neighbours who helped celebrate my 90th birthday.

All the cards and best wishes were greatly appreciated, especially from those who said they would be back for my 100th! – Bud. 15-1p -------------------------------------------McLELLAN. We would like to thank everyone who called or shown many acts of kindness in the passing of our friend Bruce Kennedy. It helps to heal the pain. – The McLellan families.

15-1 -------------------------------------------RITCHIE, Mae Louise. Our heartfelt thanks to our friends and family for all their kindness, floral tributes, donations and sympathy cards.

Special thanks to Dr. Henderson, staff at Gilbert Hall and the staff at Huron Hospice for their care and compassion at such a difficult time.

The Blyth Legion Ladies Auxiliary who provided the lunch, we thank you. Special thanks to family members for making the day even more memorable. To so many others who give their sympathy and support, your kindness will never be forgotten. – The Ritchie family.

15-1p

Coming events SEAFORTH AGRICULTURAL Society Annual General meeting will be held on Saturday, April 23 at 8 p.m. at the Seaforth Agriplex.14-2 -------------------------------------------SUE’S FAMOUS FISH FRY – Eat In and Take Out! Friday, April 22, noon to 7 p.m. Eat In: $18 (your choice of battered or grilled white fish) and a buffet of baked potatoes, fries, dinner rolls, caesar and garden salad, coffee and tea. Homemade desserts available for $4. Take Out: $17 (battered or grilled white fish, fries or baked potato and dinner roll), 1/2 price for kids! Add $2 for caesar or garden salad. Add $2 for butter tart, $4 for cherry cheesecake.

Call 519-357-1270 to reserve your meal. We accept cash, e-transfer, credit card or debit.

15-1 --------------------------------------------

BRUSSELS 150TH HOMECOMING Flowers Fundraiser – Hanging baskets and planter pots in our Homecoming flame colours. Order

by April 21. Call Rosie Kellington at 519-531-0467. Krispie Kreme doughnuts fundraiser – $10/dozen.

Orders taken at Turning Heads and Making Waves or contact John Lowe 519-887-9799 or lowe17@bell.net.

Deadline to order April 30. Prepaid only. Pick-up for flowers and doughnuts May 5 from 3 to 8 p.m. at Kellington’s 746 Sports Drive. www.brusselshomecoming.ca 15-1 -------------------------------------------BRUSSELS UNITED CHURCH Easter Bake Sale, Saturday, April 16, 10 a.m. - noon. Lots of goodies for all. Frozen fruit pies available.

14-2 -------------------------------------------EASTER TAKE-OUT MEAL especially for you! Saturday, April 16, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Order deadline April 15. Glazed ham, creamy potatoes, carrots and peats, dinner roll, jelly salad and dessert, $18. (discount if order four dinners or more). 519-8350099, 226-971-2395. Location - 23 Orchard Lane, Brussels. Need Easter Gift Baskets? We have them for you!

14-2p

Help wanted

KRAEMER CONCRETE LTD. IS looking to hire full- and/or part-time Ready Mix Drivers for their plants in Brussels and Brunner, Ontario. A valid DZ driver’s licence required – AZ licenced would be considered an asset. We offer competitive wages and benefit package. Send résumé by fax, email or in person: fax 519595-4903, email: kraemercl@ cyg.net. Plant 1, 5595 Rd. 130, RR 1, Brunner, ON N0K 1C0; Plant 2, 220 Industrial Drive, Brussels, ON N0G 1H0.

14-3 --------------------------------------------

McCall Livestock has a

Full-time position available at their beef facility outside Brussels.

Duties include: cattle handling, weighing and feeding, skid steer work and farm maintenance jobs.

Please email Fran McCall at franmccall3@gmail.com or drop into the office at 85345 Brussels Line or call 519-887-9571

Brussels Agri Services Ltd. PO Box 119, Brussels, ON N0G 1H0 519-887-9391

FENCE INSTALLER Brussels Agri Services Ltd is an established business in the fencing industry, we have been installing farm fencing for 25 years in Southwestern Ontario. We have opportunities for advancement into a Foreman’s position with ongoing support and training.

Installer Job Responsibilities: • You have a keen eye for details.

• The ability to follow direction and work as a team.

• A self-starter who needs little supervision.

• A desire to surpass the customers’ expectations.

• Maintain our quality standards.

• Must be able to work flexible hours, Monday-Friday, March through December.

• You are comfortable working in a physical, outdoor, environment, and on your feet for the entire day.

• Heavy lifting is required.

• Must be able to follow our Fence Safe Work Procedures.

We will provide: • Overtime after 44 hours.

• A health benefits package will be available to you after the first three months of employment.

• An RRSP matching program will also be available to you • Training and certification where required • A drug and alcohol-free work environment, a safe and positive work environment.

Installer Qualifications/Skills: • Reliable • Ability to read labels, safety warnings, and guidelines • Attentive to detail and alert always to ensure safety • Able to receive and follow instructions and communicate with co-workers Education, Experience, and Licensing Requirements: • High school diploma required • Valid G licence with a clear driver’s abstract, and A restricted (AR) is an asset • Ability to safely operate various vehicles and equipment • Previous experience, especially in agriculture industry, preferred This is a full-time seasonal position. We are an equal opportunity employer. Brussels Agri Services Ltd. provides the highest quality farm fence installation in the Southwestern Ontario region.

All word ads in The Citizen classifieds are put on our webpage at www.huroncitizen.ca

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022. PAGE 19.

Classified Advertisements Help wanted Help wanted In memoriam We Are Hiring! *Registered Early Childhood Educators and Non-Qualified Staff * Must have or be able to obtain current First Aid and CPR including infant/toddler * Must be able to obtain or have a current, clean Vulnerable Sector/Criminal Reference Check Please email your résumé including cover letter to clintonchildcare@hotmail.com

DAVIDSON, Cal. In memory of a loving husband and best friend who passed away April 18, 1996.

The rolling stream of life rolls on, But still the vacant chair, Recalls the love, the voice, the smile, Of the one who once sat there.

– Still missed, love Jean.

15-1p

Service INCOME TAX PREPARATION – farm, business, personal. Stephen Thompson, 519-482-3244. 07-10b

Wanted WANTED - 20 TO 40 ACRES OF hay for beef cattle for upcoming season. Phone 519-703-2516. 15-2p

is seeking

Seasonal Box Office & Front of House staff More details available at www.blythfestival.com/employment

The Corporation of the County of Huron’s Cultural Services Department - Library Is currently accepting applications for the following position:

Temporary Full-time Summer Literacy Coordinators (Student Positions) See www.huroncounty.ca for more information regarding qualifications and the application process. Please forward letter of application and résumé in one PDF document by 4:30 p.m., April 25, 2022.

The County of Huron is an equal opportunity employer. Accessibility accommodations are available for all parts of the recruitment process.

Applicants need to make their needs known in advance. Only those individuals selected for an interview will be contacted. Information is collected solely for the purpose of job selection under the provisions of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Office Administrator, Blyth, Ontario CANENPAK is the leading provider of logistical equipment, analytical and process technology, and sustainable packaging for the Canadian craft beverage industry.

The Office Administrator will correspond with customers from every province and territory in Canada. Fluent communication skills in French and English is a must.

Responsibilities • Maintain customer relationships • Utilize common software (MS Office, QuickBooks, Shopify, CRM) • Invoice processing • Some (limited) travel within Canada may be required for industry events Additional Information • Full-time permanent position • Competitive salary and benefits package • Office in Blyth (warehouses in Toronto and Vancouver) • Some work from home opportunities may be available Submit résumé to jobs@canenpak.com Applications accepted until 17:00 22 April 2022 canenpak.com 1-877-227-2221

Thinking about quitting?

TOLL-FREE

Citizen-To-Citizen “SWAP SHOP” ad “One person’s junk is another’s treasure”

Let us help you turn that junk into $$ • Free ad up to 25 words, person to person only (no businesses), items valued at $1,000 or less. Price must be included in your ad.Your ad will run three times unless it sells faster!

• The Citizen reserves the right to limit the number of items or ads per person.

Call 519-523-4792 or email: info@northhuron.on.ca FOR SALE - mesh side rails for youngster’s bed, $20 for the pair.

Wingham, 519-357-2768.

15-3 -----------------------------------------FOR SALE - Western books collection of 63 by Zane Grey, hard and soft cover. Please leave a message 519-912-1658.

15-3 -----------------------------------------FOR SALE - peeled cedar posts, 4 - 6" tops, $8 to $12/each. Phone 519-335-3034.

15-3 -----------------------------------------FOR SALE - 195-piece set kid’s mega blocks, $15; Thor dirt bike chest/arm protector, size s/m, $100; toddler girl’s clothing 9 mo. - 2T, $1 per item. 519-357-2768. 14-3 -----------------------------------------FOR SALE - 18 cu. ft. Woods chest freezer, 65" long, $80; arborite table, 58" long x 35" wide, $30; solid wood 42" round table with two matching chairs, $80; old milk bottles (no name brand), round pint and half pint sizes, $1 each; two captain chairs from 2001 Dodge Caravan, free, 519-5234711.

14-3 ------------------------------------------

FOR SALE - 12 Barbie dolls and one Ken, $25 for the lot; 95 used comic books, Spiderman, Star Wars, Donald Duck, etc., $50; Brother electric typewriter, $40.

519-357-9249.

14-3 -----------------------------------------FOR SALE - 100 gallon fuel aluminum tank suitable for pickup truck, no pump, $100. 519-5263331.

14-3 -----------------------------------------FOR SALE - Vingt calf puller, alternate pull complete with ropes and instructions, used four times, $390; tractor upright wood splitter, 4" cylinder, 3 pt. hitch, 21" length, $750; inversion table, like new, $400. 519-357-3117.

13-3 ------------------------------------------

Neews depends endss on facts. ts. Whe Where are you our facts ts coming com ng from? ro News Media Canada is a passion ssionate advocate for the news industry. We support our mem mber m publications in their pursuit of quality journalism nalism.

Wee believe that when society has factss they can W trust, better decisions will be made.

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1-877-513-5333

All word ads in The Citizen classifieds are put on our webpage at www.huroncitizen.ca

PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022.

Delay frustrates council members

By Denny Scott The Citizen

Send more models Brussels Optimist Tyler Deitner was on hand at the Brussels Optimist Club’s spring auction on Saturday evening to show off the items for the live auction. Above, he does his best to show off a tool kit that went for hundreds of dollars. (Denny Scott photo)

An ongoing Ontario Land Tribunal Hearing is unnecessarily costing tax dollars and halting development in Morris-Turnberry, according to Councillor Jim Nelemans.

During council’s April 5 meeting, Chief Administrative Officer Trevor Hallam provided council with a report on the issue, indicating that it had been pushed back due to the appellant falling ill.

The appeal is against a decision council made to support consent application C53-21, which was set to create three residential lots, each proposed to have a single-detached dwelling, on Patrick Street in Lowertown, Wingham.

The application, made by Willem Bakker Properties, was approved by council on Oct. 19, which required amending MorrisTurnberry’s zoning bylaw.

According to Hallam’s report, the appellant, Jordan Errington, claims the site plan sent out for the project wasn’t legible and that the project

Central Huron driver faces charges Huron County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has charged a Central Huron resident with a number of criminal offences following a collision that took place last weekend.

Police say that, shortly before 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 2 Huron County OPP officers responded to a multi-vehicle collision that took place at the intersection of Base Line and Londesboro Road. Upon arrival, police learned one of the

involved drivers failed to remain at the scene. Further, while speaking with the occupants of the other involved vehicle, police were able to obtain a licence plate of the suspect vehicle and a description of the suspect driver.

The OPP report that, shortly after the collision, police attended a residence located near Bayfield whereupon they located the suspect vehicle and the accused. Upon informing the accused he was

Spirit of Skating As part of the Brussels Skating Club’s year-end celebration last month, a number of skaters were awarded with the Spirit of Skating Award for their efforts through the year. Above, coach Julia Jacobs presents Clara Albers with her medal. (Photo submitted)

under arrest, he attempted to evade the officers and resist arrest.

Officers were ultimately successful in taking the accused into custody.

Police say the accused was subsequently transported to the Huron OPP Detachment for further testing, however, the accused refused to provide breath samples as required by law.

A 48 year-old Central Huron resident has been charged with: • Dangerous Operation • Failure to Stop After Accident • Operation While Impaired • Refusal to Provide Demand • Resist Arrest.

The accused has since been released from custody with a court appearance scheduled for May 30 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Goderich.

STUNT DRIVER A Teeswater resident will be making a trip back to Huron County for a court date later this spring following a traffic stop conducted by Huron County Ontario

Provincial Police (OPP) last week.

Police say that, on Monday, April 4, at approximately 8:47 p.m., a Huron OPP officer was conducting speed enforcement patrols in Belgrave when a pickup truck was observed travelling northbound on London Road at a very high rate of speed.

The OPP report that the officer utilized a RADAR device and discovered the pickup was travelling in excess of 50 kilometres per hour over the posted 50-kilometres-per-hour speed limit.

A traffic stop was initiated and the driver was subsequently charged.

Police say a 28-year-old Teeswater resident has been charged with Perform a Stunt Speeding. The defendant will now have to attend Provincial Offences Act Court in Goderich to answer to the charge. Additionally, police report the truck involved has been impounded for 14 days and a 30-day driver's licence suspension has been applied to the driver.

would result in the destruction of natural habitat and protected wetland.

Hallam said that Errington also filed an appeal with the County of Huron regarding its approval of Consent C53-21, and that the same lawyer, Greg Stewart of Donnelly and Murphy Lawyers, is representing both Morris-Turnberry and the county.

“On Jan. 7, the municipality received notice that a virtual hearing for both appeals would be held concurrently over three days from March 23 to March 25,” Hallam said.

However, when March 23 came, Errington sent an e-mail to the case co-ordinator the morning of the hearing in which he claimed to have contracted COVID-19, resulting in the hearing being adjourned until the following day. Errington didn’t attend or advise the chair of the hearing as to his absence on March 24 or March 25.

“Efforts by the case co-ordinator to contact [Errington] following adjournment the previous day yielded no response,” Hallam reported.

In his report, Hallam went on to say that all parties will now need to work with the co-ordinator to find suitable dates, possibly in the summer.

“The chair ordered that the reconvened hearing would be peremptory on Mr. Errington, meaning that it will be held without any further opportunity for postponement,” Hallam said. “Staff will continue to provide updates as they become available.”

While council members were understanding of the delay, there was also frustration surrounding the situation.

“I’m very disappointed this has been delayed,” Deputy-Mayor Sharen Zinn said. “This is costing us money for lawyers for three days with no results. It’s very disappointing the builder won’t be able to build now until likely the fall because of the delay. This is very disappointing and costly to our taxpayers.”

Nelemans agreed, going on to say the appellant's concerns are “frivolous”.

Council received Hallam’s report on the issue.

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022. PAGE 21.

Agriculture

519-523-4311

www.ruralvoice.ca

BLYTH 519-523-4244

www.hurontractor.com

Brussels Livestock report

Lambs, sheep, goats go higher at sale

Total receipts for Brussels Livestock for the week ending April 7 were 1,865 cattle and 1,584 lambs and goats.

On Tuesday, fed steers and heifers sold fully steady. Choice steers and heifers sold $168 to $174. Second-cut cattle sold $158

to $167. Aged and medium-fed steers and heifers sold $134 to $158. Holstein steers and heifers sold $88 to $159. Cows sold actively at prices $3 to $5 higher.

O n T h u r s d a y, veal sold fully steady.

L a m b s , sheep and goats all sold higher.

On Friday, calves sold fully steady.

Ye a r l i n g s sold actively at $2 to $5 higher.

K / C McAlpine of Ailsa Craig, consigned six head.

O n e limousin s t e e r The Brussels Optimist Club has pledged $151,000 to the renovation and w e i g h e d expansion of the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre through the 1,810 lbs.

“Inspiring our Future” campaign. The club’s spring dinner and auction on and sold for Saturday night went a long way towards that goal, raising $52,000. Optimist a price of $174.

President Shawn Daw, left, is seen presenting a ceremonial cheque for the T h e r e full amount that night to Roxane Nicholson, the project’s fundraising chair. were 275 (Denny Scott photo) cows on

A big commitment

Support heard for wake park

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Central Huron Council heard plenty of support for the Bluestone Wake Park near Bayfield on April 4, as the facility’s owners have requested a site plan agreement and temporary zoning bylaw amendment to operate the facility for a three-year period.

The Huron County Planning and Development Department held a public meeting on the request at Central Huron Council’s regular April 4 meeting. Several dozen supporters of the park were in attendance and spoke about positive experiences at the park’s previous site and its importance to the community, both within and outside of Central Huron. The previous location for the park had been on Bayfield River Road under the name of Windmill Lake Wake and Eco Park.

The proposed site for the new location of the park is on Telephone Road, about five kilometres south of Holmesville, and is a former aggregate operation that is no longer licensed for extraction. It is zoned Mineral Aggregate and Extractive Resources, a zone that does not permit a wake park facility, which is why the temporary use bylaw would be necessary. If approved, it would allow the park to operate for three years while the applicant undertakes the necessary studies to establish or consider a more permanent use.

In his report to council, planner Nathan Garland said the property in question is in proximity and adjacent to several active extractive

industrial operations, residential properties, natural environment features, agricultural operations and a contractor’s yard.

He said, however, that there is no water taking or withdrawals planned for the wake park, nor would there be any gas-powered watercraft being considered for the operation.

In the planning justification report, it is proposed that the park operate outside of the aggregate operation directly to the west, owned by Teeswater Aggregates Limited, meaning it could be open from 5 p.m. to dusk on Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to dusk on weekends from May to September.

The report also outlined a number of other recommendations, including the inclusion of 89 parking spaces (updated from the 31 included in the original application), the use of portable toilets and sinks and no overnight accommodation.

“The adjacent and surrounding land uses are primarily aggregate extraction with Teeswater Aggregates located to the west, the Municipality of Central Huron’s Parr Line pit located to the east and north and the Lavis/Jennison Construction pit located to the south. A private residential property is owned to the southeast,” Garland said in his report. “The proposed wake park property and the Teeswater Aggregates property share a man-made water body created due to below-water extraction and removal of the aggregate resource. On the property owned by Teeswater Aggregates,

extraction continues to occur as per the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA) licence to extract and remove off the property.

“In review of the Teeswater Aggregates operations, blow-water extraction on their property continues, primarily via drag line with the wash plant on site servicing the concrete plant in the Town of Clinton. In discussions with the operators of the Teeswater Aggregates property, the site’s licence conditions under the ARA licence permits the extraction of aggregates on site during concurrent times with the proposed wake park operation times.”

During the presentation, Garland said that the creation of the park would not restrict Teeswater Aggregates’ ability to do work or its hours in any way. He also said that the park’s owners are proposing to be open only on weekends from May 21 to June 30 to slowly launch into the business.

Due to the seasonal nature of the business, council asked that the planning department return with a report and recommendation on the application as soon as possible.

Council asked that a report be ready for its second meeting in May and Garland said he would aim for that date, if not sooner.

Council received Garland’s report, as well as the comments of support by the many in attendance at the meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to present information and receive feedback in order for the department to make a recommendation to council, so no decision was made on the project at council’s April 4 meeting.

offer. Beef sold $98 to $127.50 with sales to $129; good holstein cows, $88 to $117; medium holstein cows, $78 to $87.

Bulls sold $98.50 to $149.

There were 150 head of veal on offer. Beef veal sold $160 to 190; good holsteins, $160 to $178 with sales to $184; SL heavy holsteins, $154 to $165; heavy holsteins, $120 to $165 with sales to $184; medium holsteins, $145 to $158; plain holsteins, $75 to $108.

Jim Maw of Forest, consigned eight head. One roan heifer weighed 865 lbs. and sold for a price of $190.

Lambs under 50 lbs. sold $427.75 to $520; 50 - 64 lbs., $458 to $476; 65 - 79 lbs., $426 to $470; 80 - 94 lbs., $347.50 to $389; 95 - 109 lbs., $364.75 to $376.50; 110 lbs. and over, $339.50 to $371.

Sheep sold $50 to $275.

Goats: billies sold $150 to $400; nannies, $100 to $250; kids: dairy $350 to $522; meat, $400 to $630.

Kent Wilson of Conn, consigned 16 head. Six kid goats averaged 50 lbs. and sold for an average price of $600. Four kid goats averaged 41 lbs. and sold for an average price of $630.

Tim Walden of Blyth, consigned 28 head. One lamb weighed 45 lbs. and sold for a price of $520.

Top quality stocker steers, 400 499 lbs. sold $230 to $250; 500 599 lbs., $222.50 to $261; 600 - 699 lbs., $219.50 to $250; 700 - 799 lbs., $204.50 to $230; 800 - 899 lbs., $193 to $201; 900 - 999 lbs., $192.75 to $201.25; 1,000 lbs. and over, $183 to $200.50.

Top quality stocker heifers, 400 499 lbs. sold $207.25 to $230; 500 -

599 lbs., $179 to $205; 600 - 699 lbs., $183.50 to $205.50; 700 - 799 lbs., $186 to $198.25; 800 - 899 lbs., $177.57 to $196; 900 lbs. and over, $164.50 to $188.

Eli Burkhart of Wallenstein, consigned 45 head. Sixteen charolais heifers averaged 882 lbs. and sold for an average price of $190.25.

Phares Brubacher of Lucknow, consigned 25 head. Thirteen charolais heifers averaged 790 lbs. and sold for an average price of $198.25.

Jason Boyd of Meaford, consigned 22 head. Fourteen gold steers averaged 790 lbs. and sold for an average price of $217.

Steve Pastoor of Kerwood, consigned 73 head. Fifteen black steers averaged 908 lbs. and sold for an average price of $201.25.

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PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022.

Obituaries Friends and family were received at Riverside Funeral Home, Brussels for visitation on Friday, April 8. Catholic Church Mass was held at St. Ambrose Catholic Church, Brussels, on Saturday, April 9. Father Ross Bartley officiated.

In lieu of flowers and as expressions of sympathy, donations to Diabetes Canada, The Canadian Mental Health Association or Big Brothers and Sisters of Canada would be appreciated.

Condolences may be left at riversidefuneralhome.ca DARWIN ANTHONY DUCHARME The family of Darwin Anthony Ducharme, of Brussels is mourning his tragic passing on March 29, 2022. We have also lost his loving partner Beverly Stevenson.

Darwin was born on June 23, 1956, at Seaforth Hospital and lived in the Brussels area all his life. He is survived by two daughters Traci Ducharme (Jared Harkness) and Lisa Ducharme (Chad Armstrong).

Darwin was the loving papa of Jadin, Conner, Anne-Marie, Emily, Morgann, and Roman. He was the cherished brother of Patricia Keffer (Larry), Bluevale; Les Ducharme (Frieda), Sherwood Park, Alberta; Sharon Berry, Stratford and Barb Laidlaw (Jerry), Atwood and the brother-in-law of Dorothea Ducharme, Brussels. He is survived by many nieces, nephews, aunt and friends.

Darwin was predeceased by his parents Urban and Margaret Ducharme (née McKenzie), brothers Oscar, Dennis, Larry, twin sister Darlene and brother-in-law Gordon Berry.

Darwin was a dedicated employee of Royal Homes for 38 years and was remarkable in his role as warehouse manager in Wingham. He enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren, siblings and friends. He pursued many interests, giving back to the community, church. He was always known for his generosity in helping people and always going the extra mile. He enjoyed his many travels and cruising – especially the Caribbean and Cuba. Darwin and Bev enjoyed snowmobiling and visiting their family and friends.

Darwin had a passion for hockey as a player for many years and was a loyal supporter of the Toronto Maple Leafs. His favourite relaxing time was watching hockey and having debates with his brother Les. He will always be remembered and hold a special place in the hearts of family and friends who loved him.

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BEVERLY JANE (née McCall) STEVENSON The Stevenson family is saddened to announce the sudden and tragic passing of our dear mother and grandma, Beverly Stevenson.

Beverly was born Feb. 27, 1953.

We are saddened by the loss of her loving partner over the last 15 years, Darwin Ducharme.

Bev was the mom of Ron (Nicole) Stevenson and Chris (Lisa) Stevenson and the grandma of Ashley Stevenson (Mitch Steadman), Brett Stevenson (Kristen Portena), Allison Stevenson, Kyle Stevenson, and Lerissa Stevenson.

She will be missed by many family members, friends, and neighbours.

Bev was predeceased by her husband Tom Stevenson, her parents Allan and Betty McCall, father-in-law Stuart Stevenson and sister-in-law Kaye Stevenson.

Bev always gave her full heart and loved without any boundaries, she brightened every situation with a smile on her face.

After raising her boys, she followed her dream and returned to school to become a registered nurse. Bev cared with compassion for many people at the long-term care facility in Mitchell for 29 years. She loved to travel south to

the Caribbean, Manitoulin Island, and all over Canada. She loved to read and listen to all types of music, and she enjoyed swimming and snowmobiling. She had a true sense of adventure and wasn’t afraid to try anything new. Bev loved taking pictures of everything, especially her grandkids, creating lasting memories which the family will now cherish. Her five grandchildren were her everything and she was a proudest grandma.

Her caring, loving nature and positive attitude will be missed by our family and community.

Friends and family were received for visitation at the Four Winds Barn in Brussels on Tuesday, April 12. The funeral service took place at the Four Winds Barn on Wednesday, April 13. Interment will be at Brussels Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers and as expressions of sympathy, donations to Huron County Victim Services would be appreciated.

Condolences may be left at riversidefuneralhome.ca

CARMAN GEORGE WHYTOCK Carman George Whytock passed away on Monday, April 4, 2022 at the Sepoy Manor, Lucknow. He was in his 85th year. Carman was born on January 26, 1938 in Culross

Township, Bruce County.

Carman was the beloved husband for over 62 years of Jean (née Parker) and the cherished father of Jack Carman (Nancy).

Carman will be fondly remembered by his grandchildren Ian (Carla), Alistair (Jenny), Andrew (Emily) and Janet, and his eight great-grandchildren Malcolm, Alec, Arthur, Elliot, Ellie, Charlotte, Anna, and Cecil. He is also survived by many members of the extended Whytock and Parker families. He will be sadly missed by them all.

Carman was predeceased by his parents, Alex and Ethel (née Bannerman) Whytock and his brothers, Everette, Lloyd, and Harold.

Visitation was held at McBurney Funeral Home in Wingham on Friday, April 8. A public funeral service was held in the funeral home chapel on Saturday, April 9, immediately followed by a committal in the Wingham Cemetery, Holmes Line.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to Haddington House Trust (Africa) or Samaritan’s Purse (Ukraine) would be appreciated.

“The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.” Psalm 121:8.

Remembering your loved one SANDRA GARNET Sandra Garnet passed away on April 6, 2022 at the age of 60 into the arms of her loving Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Sandy was the beloved wife of Brian Garnet, Blyth, mother of Jason (Angie) Bechtel, Durham; Greg (Erin) Bechtel, Ingersoll and Sean (Erica) Bechtel, Wingham and the stepmother of Kelly Garnet, Toronto and Steven Garnet, Utah.

She was the daughter of Don and Carol Plant, Londesborough and the sister of Don (Elma) Plant, Cambridge; Dave (Stacy) Plant, Nipissing and Trisha (Glenn) Ryan, Alberta. Sandy was also survived by 13 grandchildren who will miss her dearly.

Sandy was an integral part of the Central Huron community, having invested her life into the lives of so many through the Clinton and Central Huron BIA, the Huron

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County HIV/AIDS Network and the Made in Huron Artisan Market, etc.

Sandy will be missed greatly by the many whose lives she touched.

Visitation was held at Huron Chapel in Auburn on April 8 and 9.

The funeral service was held Saturday, April 9 and was followed by a private burial.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Falconer Funeral Homes, Clinton.

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022. PAGE 23.

From the Minister’s Study

The Prodigal Son story tells us a lot about God

By Rev. JoAnn Todd Trinity and St. John’s Anglican Churches A couple of weeks ago, we read the story of the prodigal son, from the Gospel of Luke. It’s one of those Bible stories that has come to be so well known, that when I looked up the word “prodigal”, the online Oxford Learners’ Dictionary even had a specific reference to the Bible story: “the/a prodigal (son): a person who leaves home and wastes their money and time on a life of pleasure, but who later is sorry about this and returns home.”

Prodigal also means “too willing to spend money or waste time, energy or materials.”

Well, those are bang-on descriptions for the younger son in the story who spent his father’s early begotten inheritance lavishly and profusely, he squanders his way through it in indulgent and reckless living. So, now he’s flat broke, having been abandoned by all of his fair-weather friends, and when famine hits the land, he’s starving.

And so, he winds up feeding pigs and even having to eat the feed he’s been hired to feed the pigs with, pig slop in essence. A Jewish boy, born and raised into a good and rich family, feeding pigs, eating pig feed; for a Jew you can’t get much lower than that – this is the Biblical equivalent to hitting rock bottom.

Eventually, “he comes to himself”, or in another translation “he comes to his senses” and realizes that the only option left to him is to go back home, plead for his father’s forgiveness and ask him for a job as a hired hand. He knows that his father is well within his rights to disown him completely, and even refuse to see him.

Now, it’s important to remember the times and the society for which this story is written. When this son asked for his inheritance while his father was still alive, he was showing absolute disregard for his father, the family name, the laws of the Jewish ways of life, and his father’s station in that community as an affluent landowner responsible for the lives of many who worked for him. For him to take that money out of the family estate would have impacted the lives of all who were a part of it, actually impacting the family business as well. The younger son completely disrespected his father in every possible way – in effect telling his father that he couldn’t wait for him to die, that the money and his desire for it was more important to him than his father, or

anyone else for that matter. And now, he has returned with absolutely nothing, his only hope for his very survival is to fall at his father’s feet and beg for forgiveness, and for a job as a labourer in the family business – and that’s assuming his father hasn’t disowned him completely and will even consent to see him.

“So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.”

Now, this would have most certainly, at the very least, raised the eyebrows of the folks who were listening to Jesus telling this story.

In real life, one would most certainly not expect this, no selfrespecting estate owner would behave in this way – running, with open arms no less, to meet the wayward, reckless and disobedient son. This son, who completely rejected his family’s honour, totally disrespected his father, should have

been rejected, renounced, not welcomed back.

You don’t need a degree in theology to understand that the father in this parable represents God. So then, what is Jesus telling us about God? What does Luke say? “While he was still far off, his father saw him….” His father must have continually been on the lookout for this lost son, if he saw him and recognized him from a great distance, watching for him, waiting for this wayward son, hoping he would return. No matter how badly we mess up our lives, no matter how hurtful or egregious our sin, God not only patiently waits for us, but is looking for us to come back when we have strayed away.

The father “… was filled with compassion…” God doesn’t hold grudges, although considering some of the things we do individually, or even corporately as humanity, even in God’s name, you’d think God certainly has a right to be angry, or be vengeful

Good Friday Communion April 15, 10:30 a.m.

Pastor Ernest Dow, “Called to Follow our Suffering Healer” (1Pet 2:13-25) Easter Sunday celebration April 17, 10:30 a.m.

Pastor Ernest Dow, “Resurrection Living: Done with Sin, Loving Deeply” (1Pet 3:21-4:11) Sunday School & Nursery during worship

In-person and online! live.huronchapel.com 119 John’s Ave., Auburn 519-526-1131

us even in our lowest of places, meets us at the place where we most need God’s love and compassion.

“Then the son said to him ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son’. But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out a robe, the best one, and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.’”

Robe, ring, sandals –these are all the things that a son of this type of Continued on page 24

Brussels Mennonite Fellowship April Message Series: “Roads of Easter” Join us Sundays at 10:00 am Masks are optional 250 Princess St., Brussels • 519­887­6388 • Pastor Ken Gazley

The Regional Ministry of Hope HOLY WEEK SERVICES: Maundy Thursday: Good Friday: Brussels: At the United Church, Trinity, Blyth 10:30 a.m. with Rev. JoAnn at 1 p.m.

Rev. JoAnn Todd, Rector Wingham: St. Paul’s Trinity, 7 p.m.

519-357-7781 EASTER SUNDAY MORNING: email: revjoann@hurontel.on.ca Holy Communion, all three churches The­Regional­Ministry­of­ Hope Trinity, Blyth 9:00 • St. Paul’s Trinity Wingham 10:30 www.regionalministryofhope.com St. John’s Brussels, 12:00

COME WORSHIP WITH US!

BRUSSELS

United Church

Sunday, April 17 at 10 a.m.

BMG Community Centre (upstairs room) 800 Sports Drive, Brussels **Please note our new location** Childcare provided for children aged 0 to 4 during the sermon

Worship and Prayer Time Loving Fellowship Expository Preaching

For additional details please visit: brusselscommunitybiblechapel.com

Good Friday worship at 9:30 a.m.

Join us for our Easter Services

Celebrate Easter with us Sunday Worship 9:30 a.m.

Friday, April 15 Good Friday Service at 10:00 am Sunday, April 17 Easter Sunday Service at 10:00 am

masks and distancing recommended

Saturday, April 16 BAKE SALE 10 a.m. to 12 Contact Alex at minister.brusselsandblythuc@gmail.com Website: brusselsandblythuc.ca P.O. Box 359, Brussels ~ 519-887-6259

MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS Indoor Worship 11:00 am every Sunday As per HPPH Unit requirements, masks are mandatory to be worn during worship services and social distancing practiced. In addition, all other meetings held in Melville require proof of double vaccination.

Evangelical Missionary Church

even! But no, this is not our God’s modus operandi; this is not our God’s way. Our God is a God of love, of care, of compassion, not a God of vengeance or retaliation.

Thanks be to God that God’s ways are not our ways!

“He ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.” This is the nature of God, a God of love for even the worst sinners. God is Almighty, but not “high and mighty”, this is a God who comes to meet us, goes out of God’s way to meet us, where we are at, meets

There will be no evening service

Services are live-streamed and can be found by searching “Blyth Christian Reformed Church”

BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen Hwy. 4, Blyth 519-523-4743 www.blythcrc.ca

THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH

OUR CHURCHES HAVE RE-OPENED. WELCOME BACK.

Brussels Soup and More 2 is cancelled until further notice.

519-357-5273

Blyth United Church Good Friday Service April 15 at 11 am Easter Sunday April 17

Sunrise service at 7:30 am outside in the garden "But if we have died with Regular service at 11 am Christ, we believe that we will also live with him." in the sanctuary (Romans 6:8) Masks recommended.

Contact Alex at: minister.brusselsandblythuc@gmail.com

Facebook: Blyth and Brussels United Churches blythunited@tcc.on.ca ~ 519-523-4224

Brussels: St. Ambrose Saturday ~ 6:00 p.m.

17 Flora Street Wingham: Sacred Heart Sunday ~ 9:00 a.m.

220 Carling Terrace Listowel: St. Joseph’s Sunday ~ 11:00 a.m.

1025 Wallace Avenue N. Facebook: Search for St. Joseph/Sacred Heart/St. Ambrose Live Sunday Mass, Sundays at 10:00 a.m.

PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022.

NH approves lease deal for museum

By Denny Scott The Citizen

Success!

Blyth Broomball recently handed out its year-end awards after another successful season. Winners in the U14 and U16 Girls division are, from left: Bridget McCallum (most improved, U14 Girls), Julia Egli (most improved, U14 Girls), Marley Gaspric (sportsmanship, U16 Girls), Camryn Logan (most improved, U16 Girls) and Kayla Cowan (most dedicated, U16 Girls). Absent were Tori Kennedy (most dedicated, U14 Girls) and Brooklyn Bromley (sportsmanship, U14 Girls). (Photo submitted)

Todd asks ‘Which son are you?’

Continued from page 23 household would wear, these are not the accessories that slaves or hired men would wear. Can you just imagine how this son would have felt, after all he did against his father, the family, the family’s business, to be reinstated as a full member of the household? When we ask the Lord’s forgiveness, we are forgiven and restored as a child of God. Even though we know we are not worthy of it, God wants us back and lovingly welcomes us back sisters and brothers of Christ.

So delighted is the father at his son’s return, that he orders the fatted calf killed. That’s a lot of meat. It takes a lot of people to eat all that. The father is throwing a village-wide celebratory party –and that is costly. Now who’s the prodigal one? God is! The love of God is so lavish, so profuse, so extravagant. God is almost reckless in God’s desire to share that love, wanting so much for us to accept God’s amazing love. No matter what, when we return to the Lord in true penitence, God is absolutely delighted and God’s love is unconditional and can be assured.

Now, let’s take a moment and consider the response of the older son. He was the responsible one, always doing his duty, working diligently for his father for years.

And his response to his wayward brother is completely the opposite of the father’s. And the elder son is hurt and ticked off at his father’s extravagant, over-the-top response to his reckless brother’s return. He

doesn’t get how or why his father would lovingly respond to his younger son’s totally reprehensible behavior. He should be punished, not welcomed, he thinks, and he’s really angry that this useless brother has a village-wide celebration given for him, but the father never even given a small party for him, the elder responsible son.

He refuses to attend the party, his heart is hardened. The elder son’s response is, dare I say it, the “normal” one, the one we’d expect him to have, and given a similar situation, the one I suspect many people would have. The younger son, if he’s accepted back at all, should be punished for his clearly sinful behaviours, not celebrated!

Honestly, I still remember the first time I heard this story as a young adult, newly returned to church. I completely understood how the older brother felt, and agreed with him! It took some time for me to wrap my head around the message. When the elder son confronts his father, the father reassures him, his standing with the father remains intact, regardless of his welcoming back the younger one. The elder still stands to inherit, “all that is mine is yours”, the father tells him. The younger one may be welcomed back and loved as a son, but he has squandered his inheritance, and has to live with the repercussions of that. What is important is that the younger son has returned; he is repentant, and

has come back. That is what is to be celebrated with great joy.

It’s interesting that the story doesn’t really have an ending, it kind of leaves us hanging, and I wonder if that was on purpose. It’s like it leaves room for us to decide who we are in the story, who we identify with, and then consider what’s in our hearts that separates us from loving like the father in our story does. Do we love prodigally?

Or are we more like the elder brother; frugal with our love, closefisted or maybe better said, hardhearted? When we’ve been emotionally hurt by someone, it makes us angry, and it’s hard to open our hearts and love the one who’s hurt us. It means we have to forgive them, and that’s not always easily done.

Sometimes it takes a major event in our lives to open a deep awareness of our need for our Creator’s love, to ask God’s forgiveness and receive the grace of God, like the younger son in our story. And when we are in deep despair, we are vulnerable; those protective walls we’ve erected to protect the soft and vulnerable part over ourselves are exposed. When we’re vulnerable, we’re open to letting in God’s love and forgiveness. But the awareness that we need God, and that God wants nothing more than a loving relationship with us, also opens us up to God’s love. This really is a good story for Lent!

I’ll leave you with this thought to ponder: who are you in this story?

Scanlon speaks at Knox church PEOPLE AROUND BELGRAVE

By Linda Campbell Call 357-2188

Sympathy is extended to June and Harry Bakker in the loss of June’s father, Lloyd Machan, who passed away on April 3. Harry and June are former residents of Belgrave.

Belated birthday wishes are extended to Ruth King, whose birthday was April 7.

The guest speaker was Murray Scanlon (United Church Licensed Lay Worship Leader) at Belgrave Knox United Church on Palm

Sunday, April 10. He read scripture from Luke 19: 28-40 that told of the Good News of Jesus. His message was entitled, “My Small View”.

The guest speaker on Sunday, April 17 is Gloria Wilbee.

Everyone is welcome.

The COVID-19 counts are on the rise so you may choose to wear a mask. Although the mandatory use of masks have been lifted, we still continue to wear ours to be on the safe side. Together we can beat the virus if we all do our part.

On Monday morning as I prepared the news it was 13°C with rain and wind and temperatures forecast for 16°C and sunny. Some of us have started to rake the lawns.

With the help of Mother Nature, it is surprising to see how they are greening up and coming back to life. We are getting anxious to get out in the garden. Have a safe and happy Easter.

North Huron Township Council has taken the next step in relocating the North Huron Museum from its current, inaccessible space to a new site at the former Wingham Rail Station.

The move, which will see some of the existing library of artifacts rehomed, moved forward on Monday, April 4 when council approved a bylaw allowing the municipality to sign a lease agreement for the space with owners Doug and Debbie Kuyvenhoven.

After some questions about specific clauses in the document, none of which were an impediment to the agreement, council approved

a motion to have Reeve Bernie Bailey and Clerk Carson Lamb sign the agreement.

The agreement will cost the municipality one dollar plus HST per year and will run until Dec. 31, 2040. It also specifies that, during the term of the lease, the site will not be used for anything other than a museum/visitor information centre, in addition to laying out the rules by which the municipality can change the site.

During previous meetings, Doug Kuyvenhoven indicated the municipality will be able to retain the land permanently after the 18year period, provided the site remains active as a museum/visitor centre. In the event that doesn’t occur, the land defaults back to the Kuyvenhovens.

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022. PAGE 25.

Asset management requires annual HE tax increase

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron East has partnered with Public Sector Digest to update the municipality’s asset management plan, hearing that council should be raising the tax rate by over four per cent every year simply to maintain its current asset complement.

Asset Management Consultant Jordan Gonda presented the company’s report to council at its April 5 meeting, which was held virtually via Zoom, speaking to a number of sectors and their value to the municipality. With the completion of the report, the municipality will be in compliance with asset management requirements that will come into effect on July 1, 2024.

The eight categories of assets contained in the plan are: road network, bridges and culverts, water network, sanitary sewer network, storm sewer network, buildings, vehicles and machinery and equipment.

The report lists the 2020 replacement costs for all municipal assets at just over $341 million, with 47 per cent of the municipality’s assets in condition that is categorized as fair or better.

“Based on assets contained within this asset management plan,

the Municipality of Huron East has an estimated funding gap of $5,531,000 annually,” Treasurer Paula Michiels said in her report to council. “The report recommends increasing tax revenues by 4.2 per cent annually over the next 20 years to achieve a sustainable level of funding for taxation-funded municipal assets.”

She also noted that, last year, council committed to a 2.1 per cent annual capital levy increase, beginning this year, meaning that the municipality would already be halfway there. She said that if council maintains a 2.1 per cent increase, as opposed to the recommended 4.2 per cent increase, the municipality wouldn’t reach a sustainable funding level until 2062 for its taxation-funded assets.

The municipality has two asset categories funded by user rates: the water and sanitary sewer networks.

The plan recommends a rate increase of 2.2 per cent and 1.3 per cent annually for the next 20 years for the water and sanitary sewer networks, respectively.

The municipality’s road network has a replacement cost of $94.6 million, meaning the sustainable funding required on an annual basis would be $3.3 million.

Sixty-five per cent of the assets in this category are in fair or better

condition and the plan recommends condition assessments on 54 per cent of the assets in the category with a goal of assessing the entire roads network every two years.

Huron East’s bridges and culverts have a replacement cost of $78.5 million and sustainable funding would equate to $1.2 million per year. Forty per cent of the assets are in fair or better condition and condition assessments have been completed on 93 per cent of the assets in this category.

Replacement cost for the water network in Huron East is $54.5 million, so $900,000 has to be raised every year to reach sustainable funding. Under a third (31 per cent) of the assets are in fair or better condition, and 95 per cent of the condition assessments have been completed.

In regards to the sanitary sewer network, the replacement costs are $49.5 million and sustainable funding would mean annually raising $750,000. Over half (53 per cent) of assets are in fair or better condition, with condition assessments being completed on 96 per cent of the assets.

The storm sewer network’s replacement costs are $9.4 million, requiring $150,000 every year to reach a sustainable funding level.

Six per cent of assets are in a fair or

better condition, with condition assessments being completed on 90 per cent of assets.

In her report, Michiels noted that a review of the storm sewer Continued on page 27

Treasure After the snow and mud cleared up, students, like Hullett Central Public School’s Elise Bean, were able to explore and find treasures like this feather. (Denny Scott

photo)

Merging fire departments will save $85,600 annually Continued from page 1 of the three separate buildings and consolidating operations into one more energy-efficient building would save $10,600 per year and there would be an increase in municipal taxation of approximately $6,300 per year from the sale of the three properties,” McRoberts said in his April 5 report. “These annual savings were not sufficient to accommodate an annual debenture for the $3,350,000 capital new building net cost (i.e. $5 million minus $750,000 from Huron County, $1,050,000 from sale of three current buildings, plus $150,000 for new building lot).”

He said that a provincial or federal grant could make the project possible, but that the county has an immediate need for EMS bays in Brussels, so the municipality couldn’t wait and hope for a grant.

McRoberts’ second, more costeffective proposal would merge the two fire departments into one, which would be housed at the Brussels fire hall after its planned renovation and expansion.

“To further explore this concept, a second version of this analysis was undertaken to consider the consolidation of the fire department operations only. The existing lot where the Brussels Fire Department is located is large enough to accommodate: the existing Brussels Fire Department operations, the Brussels Fire Department’s proposed one-and-a-half bay expansion, consolidation of the Grey Fire Department and the Brussels Fire Department and the Huron County EMS.” He estimated the building addition costs to be $2 million, saying that the net proceeds from the sale of the Grey Fire Department property and building would earn the municipality an anticipated $350,000, in addition to the county’s EMS contribution of $750,000, leaving the municipality to cover a remaining $900,000.

Furthermore, McRoberts estimated annual energy savings of $1,100, new annual taxation

revenue from the Grey Fire Department property and building at $1,500 and annualized savings from reduced fire equipment costs of $1 million over 20 years ($83,000 per year) for an annual savings of $85,600.

“Based upon the above, the consolidation of [the Brussels and Grey Fire Departments] would provide a return on investment within approximately 10 years with the remaining 10 years providing a net annual savings of approximately $85,600,” McRoberts said in his report.

If the move were to go ahead, however, McRoberts noted that the areas currently covered by the Grey Fire Department would see a reduced level of service as a result.

“Considering the project and its impact to fire service, it must be noted that the areas currently serviced by the Grey Fire Department have a higher level of service (9.8 to 14.3 kilometres) than those areas serviced by the Seaforth Fire Department (8.7 to 18.8 kilometres).

Brussels Fire Department also has a very high level of service (10 to 10.2 kilometres), but also has a much smaller service area.

By centralizing fire services in Brussels, we would change service levels at a consolidated Brussels Fire Department to an equivalent to Seaforth at 9.8 to 17.3 kilometres,” McRoberts said in his report.

“Areas serviced by the Brussels and Seaforth Fire Departments would see no change in the level of service. The areas currently serviced by Grey would see a reduced level of service, but still within the limits of service levels in other parts of Huron East. Staff would recommend an automatic aid agreement be established with the Municipality of North Perth’s Listowel Fire Department to support fire services in the area of Molesworth. This would be a relatively low cost service agreement. Huron East’s Fire Chief has been in consultation with the North Perth Fire Chief to assess

their willingness to provide this service and there is a willingness by the North Perth Fire Department to consider an agreement. An automatic aid agreement would permit both fire halls to be called to the same event and, upon Huron East’s fire service arriving, the North Perth fire services would be relieved, unless they were required to remain based upon the complexity of the event.”

McRoberts said his current analysis ended there because he wanted to gauge council’s interest in potential consolidation before he went any further.

Councillor Alvin McLellan was the first to react, saying it was a “tough one” for him to consider. He said that reducing the level of service for something so essential for a savings of just over $85,000 per year was “not selling” him on the idea. He added that he would want extensive consultation with both the firefighters involved and members of the public before any decision was made.

Mayor Bernie MacLellan echoed McLellan’s concerns, saying even the suggestion of merging the two departments was sure to be a political “hot potato” and “not popular” with some residents.

However, he said, with continued budget pressures, at some point, smaller councils like Huron East are going to have to ask themselves harder and harder questions.

McRoberts acknowledged that this will be a difficult conversation to have with some, but said that his job is to find potential savings for the municipality.

McLellan asked if either the Brussels or Grey firefighters had been consulted on the issue and Fire Chief Marty Bedard said that he hadn’t addressed the departments directly on the issue. However, he did note that McRoberts’ December report had been included in local media coverage at the time, including this possibility, so it wasn’t necessarily a surprise either.

McLellan said he would certainly want to hear from the firefighters as

to whether there was a way to make it work and that he wouldn’t be comfortable moving ahead before those discussions had taken place.

Councillor Justin Morrison said he didn’t see the harm in moving ahead with the process, knowing that council was not committing to making any changes, but just investigating the idea further.

McRoberts said Morrison was right and that by moving ahead with the project, no commitment either way was being made. All he said was that to commission concept drawings for the building would

cost the municipality between $1,000 and $5,000, just off the top of his head.

MacLellan agreed, saying that moving forward was not a “done deal” and that further consultation with the firefighters, staff and the public would be essential before any changes could be formally considered.

Council approved a motion to move forward with the concept, pending more detailed cost analysis, conceptual drawings and departmental and public consultation.

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PAGE 26. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022.

he

Letters To T

Editor

Day of Mourning, Steps for Life set

A new season The Brussels Four Winds Barn held its annual spring market on Saturday, welcoming vendors and customers to the barn for the first in-person market of the season. The event also included a photo booth for children that raised money for a local pet rescue operation. (Denny Scott photo)

As summer approaches, my thoughts turn towards the many young people who will be seeking summer employment. What will their training, if any, consist of?

What hazards will be identified in their workplaces? Who will be looking out for them? How safe will they be?

Each day in Canada, three people will die from a work-related fatality, life-altering injury or occupational disease. That’s more than 1,000 families who will be devastated by a workplace tragedy.

One of those tragedies happened to our family on Sep. 3, 2003 when our 23-year-old son John was killed at work. Was John’s death preventable? Absolutely! Was his training sufficient? Absolutely not!

Laws are in place to prevent these tragedies from happening, but are not always enforced. Some reckless employers are often allowed to carry on business without any consequences. Will your child’s employer be one of these?

April 28 has been designated as the Day of Mourning across Canada and in many countries throughout the world. Day of Mourning is a day set aside to remember those who have lost their lives, suffered a life-altering injury or been affected by an occupational disease while working.

On Sunday, May 1, many families and safety organizations across Canada will be taking part in Steps for Life, a five-kilometre walk/run to raise awareness and funds for Threads of Life. The Association for Workplace Tragedy Family Support – Threads of Life is a registered Canadian charity dedicated to supporting families who have suffered from a workplace tragedy.

If you or someone you know has been affected by an incident at work, visit www.threadsoflife.ca Marjorie Deyell.

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022. PAGE 27.

Council votes to reduce number of committees

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron East Council is considering revamping its committee structure in order to reduce the number of committees and increase efficiency for the 2022-2026 term.

Chief Administrative Officer Brad McRoberts presented his report on the issue at council’s April 5 meeting, which was held virtually via Zoom. This is an issue that McRoberts raised in a Dec. 7, 2021 report, which included 10 reviews or reports he intended to undertake in the months to follow.

The objectives of the review, he said, were to reduce the number of committees and time commitment by council members, staff and the public; to allow for an improved management structure to ensure effective and efficient leadership and management of operations of the municipality to improve service quality, safety and organizational risk; eliminate confusion and improve communication through the organization; provide efficient and effective use of municipal taxation dollars and to streamline the organization to provide the opportunity to execute decisions in a more timely fashion.

“As previously noted, the Municipality of Huron East has a very large number of committees of council. Many of these were initiated several years ago as part of new partnership agreements, capital investments in the community, or carried over as part of preamalgamated municipalities and it’s likely that a holistic review has not been undertaken recently,” McRoberts said in his report. “The number of committees is burdensome on both staff, volunteers and council’s time and time spent preparing reports and information to present, preparation of agendas, attendance at the meetings, and preparation and distribution of the meeting minutes.”

McRoberts added that the current committee structure costs the municipality over $53,000 per year

in per diems, honorariums and mileage.

After reviewing the current committee structure, McRoberts has recommended reducing the net number of committees by six and the number of council position appointments from 53 to 44. The number of committee meetings per year would be reduced from 120 to 80, McRoberts estimates and the net savings in terms of per diems and honorariums would be over $24,000, in addition to further mileage savings.

First, McRoberts suggested one Huron East Recreation Advisory Committee to replace individual recreation boards. He suggested the committee could consist of five Huron East Council members (one from each ward), one MorrisTurnberry Council member, one West Perth Council member and four Huron East residents (one from each ward with a community centre - Brussels, Seaforth and Vanastra and one at-large member).

He said the recreation boards (and centres) currently operate as “silos” without standardized rental rates and programming, so he felt one committee could help bring recreation together in Huron East.

He also suggested disbanding the municipality’s fire boards, saying the same function could be achieved by distributing a regular newsletter or a quarterly report to council and staff. He made the same recommendation for the Huron East Health Centre Management Committee and the Brussels Medical Dental Building committee, which McRoberts said were formed when the buildings were being constructed out of necessity. He suggested that the function of both medical committees could be fulfilled by a new community services manager position.

McRoberts suggested that the municipality retain other committees, such as the administration committee, the personnel committee, the water and sewer committee, the Brussels and Seaforth Community Development Trusts, and more.

For the proposed community services manager position, McRoberts suggested that it would likely cost the municipality about $100,000 per year, but that cost would be offset by nearly $25,000 per year as a result of committee savings through his recommended changes. He added that such a position will very likely be a recommendation from the municipality’s ongoing services review process, which is ongoing.

Whoever fills the position would manage all municipally-owned facilities, manage recreation programming throughout Huron East and manage parks throughout Huron East and manage departmental budgets, capital planning, procurement and revenue management and generation, supervising the building and property co-ordinator, cemetery maintenance, facility managers, daycare and building services and planning co-ordination.

“With the savings from the committee structure, we could reduce the position cost to $75,000 with the opportunity to better manage recreation facilities and parks to generate additional revenue. At $75,000, we will likely never break even, but will provide an enhanced level of service on the community services side. If we incorporate building and planning services, we may be able to use some of the building permit and planning fee revenue/surplus to offset the overall employment costs resulting in a near zero cost,” McRoberts said in his report. “The position cost could be further reduced by distributing the cost over the various centres of the position portfolio where they operate at a surplus (i.e. health centre, medical building, etc.).

[The] position would provide opportunity for innovation and progressive leadership to community services throughout Huron East (i.e. enhanced services with nominal cost).”

Deputy-Mayor Bob Fisher floated the idea of merging the community services manager position with a new economic development officer, which has sat vacant since Jan Hawley’s death last year.

McRoberts, however, strongly urged against that move, saying the two jobs demand different skill sets and require a lot of time.

Having one person attempt to do both jobs, he said, would be

setting that person up for failure.

If council were to support his suggested changes, McRoberts then outlined the next steps, which would begin with notifying partner municipalities and the committees themselves of any potential changes. He also suggested acknowledgment and appreciation for public members both formally and informally.

Councillors, however, had their own ideas for a new committee structure and, after much debate, decided to defer any official decision until next month.

Some suggested consolidating the Brussels and Seaforth recreation committees, but not including the Vanastra committee, citing the difference between the facilities.

Others suggested that the personnel and administration committees could be merged.

Several councillors, however, felt

they needed more time to think and didn’t want to make a decision either way at the April 5 meeting.

They suggested submitting suggestions to McRoberts in the coming weeks and for a subsequent report to be produced at a future meeting. Council decided that the issue would return for the first meeting of May. Councillor Joe Steffler, however, made a motion to accept McRoberts’ suggested changes as is, without any further consultation, asking for a recorded vote.

Steffler, Mayor Bernie MacLellan and Councillors Zoellyn Onn, Justin Morrison and Alvin McLellan voted in favour of accepting the changes, while Fisher and Councillors Larry McGrath, Dianne Diehl, Brenda Dalton, Ray Chartrand and Gloria Wilbee voted against it, defeating it six votes to five.

HE needs to raise millions for asset management plan Continued from page 25 network should be conducted as the “weakest category for staff confidence”, though she also noted that is “typical” for most municipalities.

Replacement costs for the municipality’s buildings are $39.8 million, requiring $800,000 per year to reach a sustainable funding level. Thirty-four per cent of assets are in fair or better condition and 100 per cent of the municipality’s building assets have been evaluated through a building condition assessment completed in 2020.

The municipality’s vehicular complement has a replacement cost of $9.3 million. In order to reach a sustainable funding level, the municipality would have to raise $450,000 per year for its vehicles.

Fifty-three per cent of assets in this category are in fair or better condition and condition assessments have been completed on 100 per cent of the municipality’s vehicles.

The municipality’s machinery and equipment replacement cost is $5.5 million. Sustainable funding

can be achieved by raising $400,000 every year. Nearly threequarters (73 per cent) of assets are in fair or better condition and condition assessments have been completed on 78 per cent of this category’s assets.

Michiels said she was presenting the report for council’s information and that ongoing costs related to the asset management plan will be included as required in future municipal budgets.

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Celebration Special A great season The Blyth Broomball league recently handed out its year-end awards and those honoured on the PeeWee team are McKenzie Shannon (most improved), left, Beckett Noble (most dedicated), right, and Rylan Brown, absent, who won the team’s sportsmanship award. (Photo submitted)

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PAGE 28. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022.

Crusaders come up short in OMHAs tournament was held in Whitby.

On Friday, the Crusaders faced off against the Aces, but were edged out 1-0. Later that day, the Grizzlies posted a 4-0 victory over the Crusaders. On Saturday, the Blackhawks claimed a 6-0 win over the Crusaders.

The Blackhawks would go on to win the tournament, claiming the top spot in the province.

By Denny Scott The Citizen

Tough weekend The Blyth Brussels U21 Crusaders triumphed in their Western Ontario Athletic Association (WOAA) championship series over the Hanover Falcons, above, but were unable to replicate that success at the Ontario Minor Hockey Association championship over the weekend, losing three straight games to end their season. (John Stephenson photo)

The Blyth Brussels U21 Crusaders’ season ended over the weekend with the squad falling short of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) championship.

Late last month the team captured the Western Ontario Athletics Association (WOAA) championship, earning the locals a berth at the OMHA finals.

The Crusaders entered the roundrobin-style tournament on the weekend against the other teams in the U21 Group 1 division, including the Thorold Blackhawks, the West Niagara Flying Aces and the Centre Hastings Grizzlies. The

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