The
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Citizen
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Friday, April 21, 2023
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Volume 39 No. 16
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, ON N0M 1H0
Roulston inducted into HOF By Scott Stephenson The Citizen
Full S.T.E.A.M. ahead From left, Gerrit Sepers, Grade 5 student Lilly West and Karen Middleton-Meadham all participate in a workshop as part of S.T.E.A.M. Night at Hullett Central Public School in Londesborough on Thursday, April 13.
The fun, interactive and informative evening was an opportunity for families and faculty to come together to explore the subjects of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. (Scott Stephenson photo)
Huron East budget process continues By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron East Council continued the 2023 budget process on April 13, hearing about operating budget projections and a potential increase to the levy in excess of 16 per cent. Chief Administrative Officer Brad McRoberts and Director of Finance Stacy Grenier presented their report to council at the meeting, which included five-year projections for nearly 50 departments that, for the moment,
included a 16.25 per cent to the levy. That does not necessarily reflect the draft budget’s impact on the tax levy for the year, but those figures will not be presented until the next budget meeting, which has yet to be set. He did note that the municipality’s assessment base has grown due to development, which is good news for Huron East. He did note, however, that, even with the 16.25 per cent proposed increase to the levy, there is still $550,000 of unfunded capital under the fire department budget, which
needs to go towards the municipality’s portion of selfcontained breathing apparatus (SCBA) equipment for the firefighters, although McRoberts did say there is an opportunity to finance the equipment purchase over the course of between six and 10 years. McRoberts began the presentation by preaching the “conservative” nature of the budget, saying that staff members and department heads have all tried to be conservative with this year’s
Heat, 86ers triumph provincially By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen The local girls’ hockey season wrapped up over the weekend, as the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association (OWHA) held its provincial championships in the Toronto area, welcoming six Huron Heat teams and a number of other local squads in search of provincial glory... with some finding it. The Senior C Huron Heat earned provincial gold with a 5-1 win over
the Orillia Hawks in the final. The team began with a 5-0 win over the Bluewater Hawks on April 14, followed by a 4-4 draw with the Orillia Hawks later that day. The Heat then began April 15 with an 8-0 win over the Gloucester Cumberland Lady Stars, followed by a 5-4 victory over the St. Marys Storm. The team then defeated Stone Mills in the semifinals by a score of 4-1 and, ultimately, the Orillia Hawks in the finals by a score of 5-
1 to win provincial gold. The U13 C Wingham/Lucknow 86ers won their provincial bracket, defeating the Kanata Rangers in the final and going undefeated in the tournament. On April 14, the team beat the London Devilettes by a score of 61, followed by a 5-0 win over the Twin Centre Hericanes. On April 15, Wingham/Lucknow beat the Carleton Place Cyclones by a score of 3-1, followed by a 3-0 win over Continued on page 8
budget figures in what will prove to be a difficult budget year. Right off the bat, he said, 6.8 per cent of the proposed increase can be attributed to wages, while a further 2.25 per cent is due to benefits. He also detailed numerous pressures affecting this year’s budget process, such as a minimum inflationary increase of 6.5 per cent, a 15 per cent increase to insurance costs, a utility cost increase of 10 per cent, a 20-25 per cent increase to fuel costs and more. As part of the meeting, council also debated a number of expenditures that McRoberts said could perhaps wait for a year in order to bring the potential levy increase down. As a result of the meeting, staff is now working towards a 13.5 per cent increase to the levy. Council had issued an approximate goal of 12 per cent, while Councillor Bob Fisher asked if he could be so bold as to suggest a 10 per cent increase. McRoberts’ first recommendation was to use the gas tax funding to fund a road project in the budget, since the scope of the funding had Continued on page 19
It’s a great week for good news about good news - Blyth-area Renaissance man and founder of The Citizen Keith Roulston has been inducted into the Ontario Community Newspapers Association’s (OCNA) Hall of Fame. The OCNA Hall of Fame is intended to recognize and celebrate community members who’ve had a significant impact on Ontario’s local newspapers. Lucknow-native Roulston is in good company - this year’s fellow inductees include publishers Michael Atkins (Laurentian Publishing) and Abbas Homayed (Sudbury Northern Life), retired Metroland Media Group president Murray Skinner, and columnist and editor Jim Thomas of The Stouffville Sun Tribune. But who is newspaper crackerjack Keith Roulston, and why is he being honoured? The Citizen sat down with its mostlyretired founder at his charming split-level rural home to learn a bit more about the journey that has brought him to where he is today. A far cry from the popular image of the newspaper man as a Hearstian fact-manufacturer, Roulston has always believed in thinking small. His favourite kind of story? “People’s stories… interesting stories about what people are doing locally.” If you live in Huron County, Roulston has covered your fish fry, your barn fire, your local political races. He has not only been a compassionate local reporter and editor in Huron County for over 40 years, but he has also been an active participant in the community his papers have served. While Roulston’s community involvement has been the subject of many articles over the years, he never set out to make the news, just to tell it. And news wasn’t actually his first choice. “I didn’t even plan on going into journalism, I wanted to be a fighter pilot for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) originally,” he reminisced, “but when I got to the 13th grade, I didn’t have the right subjects to do that.” Roulston attended the now-closed Lucknow District High School, which did not offer the physics class required to join the RCAF - interested students would have to travel to Wingham if they wanted to learn about the properties of matter and energy. “I didn’t want to do that, so I had to decide what else to do… my mother eventually said ‘you’re Continued on page 3