The Citizen - Aug. 12, 2021

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The

THIS WEEK • Development • Editorials • Agriculture • Obituaries

Citizen

Huron County’s most trusted independent news source Volume 37 No. 32

Thursday, August 12, 2021

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Award noms. wanted

A trot to remember As the Clinton Raceway hosted its annual Vic Hayter Memorial Trot on Sunday, much to the delight of the many who turned out to watch in the stands, with recently-expanded capacity, nearly $83,000 was

pushed through the windows over the course of the 12-race card. In the end, it was Charmbo Prince who captured the $15,000 invitational trot crown for veteran driver Mike Saftic and long-time trainer John Rier. (Denny Scott photo)

The time has come to once again nominate someone for North Huron Publishing’s annual Citizen of the Year Awards, recognizing outstanding volunteers from Blyth and Brussels and their surrounding communities.

Nominations are now open and will close at the end of the day on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. You can nominate someone from your community using the nomination form found on page 11 of this issue or by e-mailing Editor Shawn Loughlin at editor@ northhuron.on.ca. Please include your nominee’s name and brief comments as to why that person should be the Citizen of the Year, as well as your own name and contact information.

The Citizen has been handing out the awards, which celebrate volunteerism and community spirit, since 1985, the year The Citizen was founded. The reigning Citizen of the Year winners are Annie Sparling for the Blyth area and the late Bob Kellington for the Brussels area, who was recognized posthumously.

The Citizen encourages residents and readers to nominate someone who has made a difference in their community and with this year going as it has, there are plenty of people Continued on page 9

NH looks to increase its development charges

By Denny Scott The Citizen Due to new and completed infrastructure projects over the last five years, North Huron Township Council will be considering some significant increases to its development charges next month.

Council will be holding a public meeting during its Sept. 7 meeting to review the changes, which could see developers looking at development charges increasing by nearly 50 per cent in some areas, though Lisa Courtney of B.M. Ross and Associates doesn’t think that will deter development in the housing-starved area.

Courtney started her presentation by covering what development charges are, highlighting the fact that they are used to pay for expanded new infrastructure necessary to provide services to new development.

She also highlighted the current development charges for single and semi-detached homes in Wingham ($5,104.38), Blyth ($2,563.56) and East Wawanosh ($1,651.26), noting

that, when charges were last considered in 2016, the council of the day decided to cut Wingham development charges by reducing the amount paid for sanitary sewage. Courtney also noted that council decided against implementing non-residential development charges.

In 2016, there were six different development charges considered, including the $1.6 million Northwest Trunk Sewer replacement project in Wingham ($1.3 million of which was eligible for development charges), the $447,232 Blyth Well project ($33,653.90 eligible for development charges), the $2 million public works facility, $3,630 in firefighter outfitting, parkland development at $40,000 per acre and $264,150 in administration costs ($23,820.47 of which was eligible) including a number of growth-related studies.

The number of projects to be considered for 2021’s development charges bylaw has increased substantially since 2016, Courtney pointed out.

She highlighted six different municipality-wide services and projects, including the new public works facility in Blyth, an additional snow plow, parkland development, trail development, a multi-use court, daycare services and growth-related studies.

Projects specific to Wingham (and thus only charged on Wingham development) include the Northwest Trunk Sewer, Josephine Street infrastructure and the Wingham standpipe. Projects specific to Blyth include the ongoing fundraising for the well and main street infrastructure.

Hutton Heights would also be designated as a special project area, Courtney said, and would see charges for sanitary sewer services, the water main extension, road infrastructure and stormwater services.

Aside from Hutton Heights, East Wawanosh developments would only be charged on the municipality-wide projects detailed above.

As a result, the per-unit charges per single and semi-detached units

are recommended to be $9,689 in Wingham, $9,550 in Blyth, $5,142 in East Wawanosh and $21,928 in Hutton Heights.

Multi-unit or townhouse charges per unit would be $6,056 in Wingham, $5,969 in Blyth, $3,214 in East Wawanosh and $13,705 in Hutton Heights with apartment costs being lower in all areas.

Courtney also provided nonresidential development charges in case North Huron Council wanted to change course from what the previous council had decided. In Wingham such developments would be charged $11.62 per square metre, while Blyth developments would be charged $8.90 per square Continued on page 9

Cases rising in H-P

By Denny Scott The Citizen After being on a downward trajectory for several weeks, the number of new cases of COVID-19 in Huron and Perth Counties jumped from two on Aug. 2 to 18 on Monday, most of which are in Perth County.

Over the past week, the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in Huron and Perth Counties jumped from 1,939 to 1,957 according to Huron Perth Public Health, a larger increase than had been seen since early last month.

In Huron County, only two new cases were reported, which saw North Huron climb from 77 to 79 cumulative confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic. Other municipalities stayed at the same levels as last week, including South Huron (156), Huron East (148), Central Huron (88), MorrisTurnberry (64), Bluewater (52), Howick (50), Ashfield-ColborneWawanosh (37) and Goderich (31).

In Perth County, seven new cases have been reported in Stratford, bringing the number of total cumulative cases for the city up to Continued on page 20

PAGE 2. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021.

Council adopts phased approach to development

A modified plan North Huron Township Council decided to go ahead with a phased approach to providing services to the Hutton Heights area south of Wingham. Council decided to start with Phase 1, shown above in blue, but extend it eastward along Crawford Street into part of the Phase 2 plan, shown in red. Council was somewhat divided on whether it would develop the land the township owns (framed in orange) or leave that to developers once the services had been run to the property, and left that decision for a later date. (B.M. Ross and Associates Limited image)

By Denny Scott The Citizen As of Monday night, North Huron Township Council has decided to start the process of running water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure into Hutton Heights in East Wawanosh to enable development in the area.

At council’s Aug. 9 meeting, members voted unanimously to proceed with running water from Wingham to the area, which will eventually service a potential 405 lots, including 21 existing, 103 in a development on land currently owned by the municipality, 101 on privately-owned developable land and 180 lots in lands that could be developed in the future.

Dale Erb and Kelly Vader of engineering firm B.M. Ross and Associates Limited presented options to council about how to proceed, including a phased approach that council would eventually modify to make sure as many developable lands as possible would be serviced as quickly as possible.

Erb and Vader told council the expenses for the project would be split into external and internal costs when considering the lots that North Huron has to sell. The external costs, or the costs to get water to the area and construct the necessary wastewater infrastructure, and develop road infrastructure in the area, will total more than $5 million. This includes running a water main from the

intersection of County Roads 4 and 86 in Wingham to the intersection of Crawford Street, the reconstruction of Crawford and Lloyd Streets in Hutton Heights, the installation of infrastructure for both stormwater and wastewater and the extension of Lloyd Street to facilitate two access intersections with the development.

Vader’s recommendation for recouping those external costs included charging not only the lots on the developable lands, but existing properties that she said could be forced, over time, to hook into the new infrastructure.

She suggested that 47 per cent of the external costs be charged to the subdivision lands, 18 per cent to the lands east of the site and eight per cent to the lands west of the site.

Existing developed lots in Hutton Heights would be responsible for eight per cent, while lands fronting on County Road 4 that could be developed would be charged five per cent. The municipal share for the project would then sit at 14 per cent.

The internal costs for the lands North Huron owns would be slightly less than $3.3 million, and be recouped through charging $33,000 per lot. Those costs include road construction, water distribution, sanitary sewers, stormwater management costs, storm sewers and electrical and utilities allowance.

Vader and Erb also presented their plans for phasing in the external portions of the project over

several years, with Phase 1A set to include running the watermain from Wingham to the Crawford and Lloyd Streets intersection, reconstructing those roads and the installation of wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, as well as reconstructing Lloyd Street from County Road 4 to the limits of North Huron’s developable land.

Under the recommended schedule, Phase 1A would cost $3.9 million and begin in spring of 2022 to be completed by fall of the same year.

Phase 1B, which would cost $170,000 and start in spring of 2023, to be completed by fall of that year, would include continuing that reconstruction further alongside the developable land in addition to more water and wastewater infrastructure.

Phase 2 would cost $1.2 million and start in 2023 or 2024 and would include the reconstruction of Crawford Street south of its intersection with Lloyd Street to further run infrastructure throughout the area.

While council was anxious to start on the external portion of the project in order to make some of the lands in Hutton Heights developable, several balked at the idea of running infrastructure for the township’s developable land.

Council members, including Reeve Bernie Bailey and Councillor Chris Palmer, said that getting the services where they need to be was one thing, but actually taking part in developing the lands wasn’t something the township should be undertaking.

“I have an uneasy feeling about how far we develop [the townshipowned land],” Palmer said. “I’m [in favour] of getting services to the door through Phases 1A and 1B, but going into the internal costs, building roads and all that... is for the next person or company that buys it as far as I’m concerned.

That’s what we’ve done in the past.”

Palmer said he was against moving forward with internal development, including the recommended action of pursuing a plan of subdivision with Huron County.

Councillor Anita van Hittersum, however, said this wasn’t a time for half measures, and said she would prefer to get everything done as soon as possible. “Housing is needed,” she said.

Vader said it was important to have a design completed for the development to help guide potential developers, or to sell off portions of the development to different developers.

“I’m not saying you would develop that, but finish the engineering design so it’s ready to be developed,” she suggested.

Councillor Paul Heffer asked what had caused prices in the project to change, and Vader explained there was more interest in the project from other developers than originally anticipated. This resulted in more potential lots to help shoulder the costs, she said, specifically highlighting parcels in Morris-Turnberry, across County Road 4 from Hutton Heights, that could tie in to the project.

Bailey eventually said he felt council wanted to proceed with Phases 1A and 1B, however he wanted to see the services run further south as he felt there were private lands that could be developed that shouldn’t have to wait.

“We have two developers ready to develop as soon as they have water, so if we can get water to those developments in [Phases] 1A and 1B and get them going, we can talk about [developing North Huronowned] lands another day,” he said, before adding he agrees with Palmer and that North Huron isn’t in the “building business”.

Staff pointed out, however, that some of the developers Bailey was Continued on page 3

Drop-in COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics

www.hpph.ca/vaccine

Tues., August 17, 4-7 pm Belmore Community Centre 91122 Belmore Line

Wed., August 18, 4-7 pm Brookside Public School 36937 Belgrave Rd., Lucknow • Age 12+ (Pfizer) • First or second doses.

• Second dose must be at least 28 days after first dose of Pfizer or Moderna.

• Bring your health card/identification.

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021. PAGE 3.

Tournament to support Shaw camp, Lions

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen This Friday, the Blyth Lions Club is moving ahead with its first-ever Charlie Shaw Memorial Golf Tournament, an event the club hopes will become an annual one.

Originally scheduled for the summer of 2020, the club’s first shot at hosting the tournament was dashed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over 25 teams are registered for the tournament, which is scheduled for Friday at Goderich Sunset Golf Club, just north of Goderich.

Proceeds will be split between improvements to the Blyth Lions Park and the District A9 Youth Exchange Camp, which also bears Shaw’s name.

While the tournament had been set to have a shotgun start, tee times have now been assigned, beginning at 11:30 a.m. that day to ensure separation between groups on the course. There also won’t be a large banquet and sit-down meal with speeches and awards as had been planned. The day will feature a box lunch, according to long-time Lion John Stewart.

Last year, the Lions hoped to honour Shaw, a long-time member of the club, with the tournament.

However, the pandemic turned plans for the tournament upside down and the club postponed the first-ever tournament until 2021.

Shaw passed away in late 2017 in

Quite the legacy The late Charlie Shaw, above, whose work with international youth exchanges on behalf of the Lions Club District A-9 led to the exchange’s youth camp being named after him, will be honoured tomorrow in a golf tournament hosted by the Blyth Lions Club. The tournament will support the Charlie Shaw Lions International Youth Camp District A-9 as well as efforts to improve the Blyth Lions Park. (File photo)

Services to be pushed east Continued from page 2 talking about would have to wait because they would be relying on infrastructure under roads that hadn’t been created yet and wouldn’t be created until later in the project.

Councillor Kevin Falconer said

that the infrastructure in Phases 1A and 1B should at least be run to the property the municipality owns so council can start addressing that project. Bailey agreed, saying that would be even closer to some of the privately-owned developable land.

Deputy-Reeve Trevor Seip,

however, pointed out the discussion was academic, without figures on how much extending Phase 1A and 1B would cost and how they would impact the other parts of the plan.

Eventually Bailey urged council to get the project started, saying that Phases 1A and 1B should proceed.

Council members agreed, with an eventual motion to receive the presentation, submit the necessary designs and applications and prepare to issue tender documents for the external works at the site including constructing infrastructure further east than the Wingham Pentecostal Church property on Lloyd Street than originally suggested to encourage development on neighbouring lands.

Advertise it in

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(James Smith) “My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand!” John 10:27-28 All of Christ’s sheep know Him, love Him and follow Him. They all somewhat possess His disposition: He was meek and humble in heart.

Are you one of Christ’s sheep? Are you following after the Good Shepherd? If so He will lead you, feed you, protect you and save you. Your person, life, comforts, and eternal safety—are committed to His care.

He loved His sheep more than His own life—He laid down His life for them!

He searches and seeks out His sheep wherever they stray.

He feeds His flock. He cares for His sheep more than for all the world beside. He feeds them in the most suitable pasture, and leads them in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

O view Jesus as your Shepherd! Expect Him to lead you, feed you, enfold you and present you to His Father with exceeding joy. Cleave to Him; let nothing tempt you to leave His feet, His flock or His fold. He will never leave you—nor will He ever forsake you.

“He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young! Isaiah 40:11

Reservations suggested.

Hannah Dignan found a break from the heat recently by taking to the equipment at Victoria Park in Goderich during a rain storm. Her mother Chrissy snapped this shot of her on the slide and shared it with The Citizen by sending it to reporter@northhuron.on.ca and you can do the same. (Photo submitted)

Celebrating A Special Occasion?

My sheep!

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

Sunday Buffet starting at 4 pm

Braving the elements

his 92nd year. At the time of his death, Shaw had been an active member of the Lions Club for over 55 years.

He served as an advisor for the village’s Leo Club and a Guiding Lion for several other area clubs during the process of their formation.

Over the course of his time with the Lions, Shaw was named a Helen Keller Fellow, a Melvin Jones Fellow, a Life Member of the Lions Foundation of Canada and a Life Member of Multiple District A Lions.

PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021.

Editorials & Opinions

Founding Publisher: Keith Roulston Publisher & President: Deb Sholdice Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Brenda Nyveld • Heather Fraser The Citizen is published 51 times a year in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $40.00/year ($38.10 + $1.90 G.S.T.) in Canada; $190.00/year in U.S.A. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited.

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The Citizen P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. N0M 1H0 N0G 1H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Phone Fax 519-523-9140 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.huroncitizen.ca Member CCNA

Member of the Ontario Press Council We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright

Two extremes With hundreds of people protesting against Alberta’s plans to end mandatory isolation periods, scale back contact tracing and limit testing, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the chief medical officer of health has now apologized for any confusion in communication but held fast to the plan.

Even with rising case counts and the second-lowest percentage of fully-vaccinated people in the country, Alberta is electing to focus on other areas of Albertans’ health, including opioid deaths. The rest of the country, especially health professionals, is waiting with bated breath to see how the experiment works out. Most other provinces are slowly lifting restrictions, while monitoring case counts and hospitalizations to ensure that vaccination numbers are high enough to protect everyone, especially those under 12 who are not yet eligible for the jab. Quebec is investigating a passport system to allow the vaccinated citizens to return to normal without worry, while protecting the unvaccinated from infection by limiting their participation in higher risk activity, while many workplaces, including the federal government, are considering mandatory vaccination policies for employees returning to workplaces.

Eventually all jurisdictions will shift to treating COVID-19 as an endemic illness that will always exist, but it is nerve-wracking to see the different ways provinces are handling it and even more confusing to watch the public respond. One group protests lockdowns while another group protests what they see as the premature lifting of restrictions. – DS

No easy answers Quietly and without much debate or fanfare, Quinn, a member of the Canadian women’s national soccer team, became the first non-binary transgender athlete to win an Olympic Medal. In this case, it was gold.

Born Rebecca Quinn, the athlete who now just goes by Quinn came out as transgender last year and now uses gender-neutral pronouns.

This is a watershed moment for the transgender community that was overshadowed by more pronounced debates about Olympians like Laurel Hubbard, a female weightlifter from New Zealand who was born male but began identifying as a woman in 2013. While Quinn is non-binary, she was born a woman and competed against other women.

The debate surrounding Hubbard has proven to be more complicated.

Though Hubbard didn’t threaten for a position on the podium, she was the topic of much debate. After the competition, the medalists were asked about Hubbard by a reporter and, after a lengthy silence, all three women politely declined to comment. Many talking heads have also weighed in, with some celebrating Hubbard as a pioneer and others mocking her inclusion, suggesting it invalidates the Olympics.

The Tokyo Olympics proved to be a watershed moment for the LGBTQ community, which, if it were an unofficial Olympic squad, would have won 32 medals - 11 golds, 12 silvers and nine bronzes.

Medal wins by Quinn and other LGBTQ athletes stirring up little or no debate shows how far the world has come in regards to acceptance.

However, the debate around Hubbard and other athletes like her is complicated and there are no easy answers. The International Olympic Committee members may have to put on their thinking caps, but international sport is trending in a more accepting direction. – SL

The foundation is there When the provincial government announced last week that it wouldn’t be requiring COVID-19 vaccines for children returning to school, and that schools would be able to resume with specific activities that hadn’t been permitted in the past 18 months, it left a lot of people scratching their heads. While some were questioning the idea of not requiring vaccinations, others were wondering how a school could be safer than other events and sites that hadn’t been allowed to open at full capacity yet. Still more were puzzled with why the provincial government wasn’t enforcing rules it already had in place.

While any kind of COVID-19 passport or vaccine requirement is still up in the air, the simple fact is that provincially-recognized schools already require specific vaccines before children are allowed into class.

While it is true that there are ways around those requirements (and those loopholes should be closed and exemptions should be based on medical reasons only), the fact is the government already requires students to be vaccinated against a number of troublesome viruses.

With this system already in place, it would be easy for the government, which keeps saying that COVID-19 vaccinations are key to controlling the spread of the virus, to add COVID-19 vaccines to the list for those old enough to safely receive them. While it’s true that children in general aren’t as affected by the virus as older individuals, there’s going to be no herd immunity to protect immunocompromised students in the schools or immunocompromised relatives.

The fact that we already have required vaccinations proves this decision is a political one and that’s the last kind of guiding light we need when dealing with pandemics and other health crises. – JDS

Looking Back Through the Years July 24, 1974 Huron County Council rejected the report of the Health Planning Task Force of Ontario (called the Mustard Report) recommending sweeping changes in healthcare services. The recommendation would have Huron County included in a healthcare district with Perth, Middlesex, Oxford and Elgin Counties, with a population of approximately 550,000 people.

A report from the Huron County Board of Health said that the Mustard Report recommendation would bring about a loss in local autonomy and confusion of existing healthcare services.

The local report also noted that other proposed districts would have smaller populations of just over 100,000 or 200,000 people, calling the proposed district that would include Huron “impractical”.

“If the district, as proposed, is implemented, Huron will barely be recognized,” the Huron board’s report stated.

Blyth Village Council was set to host a special public meeting to hear the details of a proposal to renovate Memorial Hall. The meeting would involve members of council, the project engineer and those who bid on the project.

Officials from the Huron County Health Unit and the Ontario Liquor Licencing Board said the Blyth Community Centre would not be permitted to sell food or drink without significant renovations, namely vastly larger washrooms.

According to a report from the Ministry of the Environment, both the Town of Listowel and the Village of Brussels were guilty of polluting the Middle Maitland River with “untreated municipalindustrial wastes” entering the river

through “uncontrolled municipal and industrial sewers”.

The report had been received by the Perth Federation of Agriculture and the Town of Listowel on May 28, 1974. However, according to Brussels Clerk William H. King, his office had yet to receive it.

The report surveyed water quality of the river from Listowel to just upstream from Wingham in late August and early September of 1972 in an effort to develop waste loading guidelines for Listowel and Brussels by integrating physical, chemical and biological data.

August 14, 1996 The 69th annual Huron County Plowing Match was set to be held on Aug. 22-23, taking place at the home farm of Neil and Marie McGavin, just south of Walton.

The event would begin with 4-H Achievement Day for the Huron Sodbusters, followed by the main day of competition, with classes for everyone aged 12 and up.

A new Queen of the Furrow would also be crowned, with Charlene Townsend’s reign coming to an end. She would, however, still be representing the county at the International Plowing Match, scheduled for September to be held in Haldimand-Norfolk.

More than 600 people made their way to Blyth to celebrate the village’s homecoming, which included a well-attended parade and a large balloon release from an oversized novelty birthday cake.

The event marked the 100th anniversary of the village, which attracted visitors from all over the county, as well as some from around the world.

The Mitchell Mets continued a recent run of success with a win at the Brussels Fastball Tournament.

The Mets triumphed over the Monkton Muskrats by a score of 12-10 in the gold-medal game.

The Mets reached the finals of the tournament for the fifth time in a row in 1996 and their win was the fourth time the team had captured the “A” Division title, the most of any team in tournament history.

The Blyth Festival Young Company was hard at work on its production for the year: a play about friendship with two names: Midsummer or Come and Go. The year’s Young Company consisted of 14 young people between the ages of 13 and 18. The production was written by Adam Mashman of Toronto and focused on four very different time periods, with the first one stretching all the way back to 1396, described as a medieval fairy tale about an arranged marriage.

August 11, 2011 Four young people put their names forward to compete for the title of Brussels Fall Fair Ambassador: Colleen Egger, Natalie White, Matt Cardiff and Hannah McCutcheon.

The competition was set to go ahead at the Brussels Legion on Saturday, Aug. 13.

Victory’s Heroes, a Relay for Life team comprised of F.E. Madill Secondary School students from the communities of Blyth, Brussels and Wingham, was one of 19 teams that competed in the local event, which raised over $57,000 for cancer research. Team members included Laura Peach, Jenna Zinn, Courtney Clark and Meagan Dolmage.

The Blyth U16 boys’ soccer team won the Northern Huron year-end tournament, defeating Clinton in the gold-medal game.

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021. PAGE 5.

Other Views

‘Non-news’ matters in communities

O

ne of the things that the pandemic has changed at our house is the evening routine. Pre-COVID, we used to watch the news before going to bed each night. When the news began telling endless stories of death and suffering, it seemed more conducive for a good night’s sleep to go to bed without reminders of how bleak things were.

Not that the news was ever free from sad stories. It’s just that after the pandemic hit, coverage of this one event could take up most of a newscast. Add in heat waves and forest fires and political infighting and it’s enough to give you nightmares.

Sometimes I think that the old saying that “no news is good news” has been amended by big-time news organizations to become “good news is no news”.

I suppose I had that same mindset when I graduated from journalism school way back when lead type was still used to print the news. When I came home to Midwestern Ontario to work on community newspapers, I had a pretty dim view of what was printed in those papers. Conditioned as I was by my professors and professional newspaper mentors to see “real” news as politics, crime, fires and accidents, the weekly reports of who won at the weekly euchre party or who spoke at the Lions Club meeting seemed a waste of good newsprint. I’ve changed my outlook over the years.

Over the long years I’ve come to realize that sort of local “non-news” is what makes living in a small community so interesting. It’s the reason people hang out at coffee sessions at local restaurants to hear the gossip, except that in the community newspaper there’s some level of authentication behind what gets printed.

When Jill and I bought the old Blyth Standard in 1971, we had local correspondents

Keith Roulston From the cluttered desk like Helen Stonehouse in Belgrave, Dora Shobbrook in Londesborough, Eleanor Bradnock in Auburn and Betty McCall in Walton who kept people in their villages connected through the pages of the local newspapers. I may have been a bit condescending about the space this took up, but I soon learned, through conversations with our readers when they came to pay for their subscriptions, that this was a hugely important part of the newspaper to them. By the time we began The Citizen in 1985 we hoped to keep the tradition of local correspondents alive.

It hasn’t always been easy, as long-time correspondents retired, to find replacements.

We’ve been lucky to find people like Betty Graber-Watson, Marilyn Craig, Jo-Ann McDonald, Brenda Radford and Linda Campbell to take up this under-paid responsibility but other communities that once had correspondents are now all but invisible in the pages of the newspaper.

The “professionalization” of some community newspapers has meant that such amateur news gatherers haven’t been welcomed. Some news organizations have sought to eliminate the sort of reporting that has often made community newspapers the butt of jokes among “real” journalists.

But perhaps there’s a correlation between the decline in importance to readers of community newspapers and the decision to

make local newspapers small versions of The Toronto Star or the Toronto Sun. After all, one of the alternatives to a printed newspaper is Facebook and what is the main reason many people log on to Facebook?

The very kind of person-to-person news people used to get from community correspondents.

Even in this day of worldwide media organizations, hyper-local news is still important and of interest to people. We want to know more than the official news of council meetings. We’re interested when a new business opens or a long-established business leader or professional retires and if there will be someone to replace him or her. It’s harder now, in some ways. Back when I first started covering village council meetings, they passed every building permit at council. You could report on who was putting on a new deck or – real news in those days when we feared for the future of our villages – building a new house.

Following the lead of the big-time media isn’t necessarily a path to success – either for the news outlet or society. One morning recently, Jill, who has taken to watching last night’s late-night news the next morning through the internet, shut down her computer, grumbling that all they ever covered was news that made you angry. Perhaps that’s why the politics of grievance have become so powerful, enabling politicians like Donald Trump to build loyal constituencies among people who are “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore”.

Hard news is important, allowing us to make enlightened political choices in a democracy. Still, knowing what our neighbours are doing and if the crops are good is part of what makes small towns such livable places.

Gonna race (society) to the ground

M

aybe it’s an age thing, a rural-versusnot-quite-as-rural thing, or maybe it just speaks to the kind of person that rural Ontario municipal politics attracts, but it needs to be said: I don’t get the rush to return to in-person council meetings in the area, and the rush to reopen municipal buildings.

In the past few weeks (as well as this week), The Citizen has run a number of stories about councillors wanting to push to reopen municipal offices and hold council meetings in person as COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted across the province. From the ridiculous, “It’s difficult to not be face-toface” comments to the utterly inconsequential, “I’m tired of Zoom meetings”, there are many reasons that have been provided to speed up the reopening efforts, however I’ve yet to hear of a reason that actually holds weight.

I’ll admit it – I’ve been paranoid since the pandemic first reared its ugly, transmissible head and I’ve been doing everything possible to limit my exposure to other people. It was only last week, officially two weeks since I had received my second dose of my COVID19 vaccine, that I was able to feel comfortable taking my mask off even in a wide-open public space.

Oh, and I haven’t started broadcasting 5G signals or grown any additional appendages yet as a result of the vaccine. Actually, I’m still waiting on that, I was looking forward to being a vaccine-powered superhero.

There’s a reason for my paranoia – I have family members who are immunocompromised, as well as family members who are just plain old and may face a far deadlier reaction to COVID-19 than I may. I don’t want to be the person who

Denny Scott Denny’s Den hospitalizes someone I love, or worse, passes on a disease that eventually claims their life.

There are chances that we simply have to take: we have to get groceries, we need to shop for medications and, for the parents reading who also have a full-time job, we have to send our children to day camps, daycares or overnight camps so we can get some work done.

However, there isn’t a single part of dealing with a municipality or dealing with municipal council meetings that can’t be managed through other means until we’re all sure we’re at a safe place that allows us to reopen.

Sure, Zoom meetings are a bit of a pain, especially for those living in our picturesque countryside, but between telephone integration and ever-advancing cellular internet technology, there are plenty of ways for people to participate in council meetings.

(And if you’re using another video meeting service provider for council meetings and you find problems with it, maybe it’s time to switch over to Zoom. It may not be perfect but there’s a reason it’s become popular as of late.)

As for municipal offices, some municipalities have been able to have them open by-appointment for quite some time now, so there’s no excuse for staff to be unreachable by the general public. Beyond that, there are plenty of online and telephone systems that

could allow people to easily accomplish anything with municipal staff that could be done in-person.

Like I said – maybe I feel this way because I’m a bit younger and more comfortable with technology (or to be crass, maybe I’m a bit younger and hopefully have more life to live in front of me). Or maybe politicians are just starving for some face-to-face time with other people. I mean it is hard to shake hands and kiss babies through a screen.

Whatever the reason, the drive to reopen municipal offices and return to in-person meetings seems destined to cause even higher jumps in COVID-19 case counts across Ontario than the one that happened over the weekend. In case you were like me and disconnected from the world for a while, Ontario reported 423 COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the largest number of new cases in nearly two months and nearly double that of the previous Sunday.

Like the inexplicable drive by Ontario’s government to shove kids back into schools without vaccination (you won’t often hear me saying this, but I feel bad for the teachers because of that one), the drive to a return to normalcy before we’re ready is a bad one.

Pushing the issue is just like that fun “Hold my beer” cousin at the family reunion; we all know it’s going to end up in the emergency room.

I hope I’m wrong, but these kinds of reckless actions are likely going to end up in a fourth wave and doctors and experts (you know, the people we should be listening to, not provincial politicians) are convinced a fourth wave could be devastating to our healthcare system. In my mind, opening buildings and meetings is a risk-versus-reward situation, and the reward just isn’t there.

Shawn Loughlin Shawn’s Sense

A well-earned win

A

n emerging social media trend is the “appreciation post”. Someone will just post a few pictures or videos of a musician they like or an athlete they admire for no other reason but to simply bring that person the respect and attention the poster feels they deserve. You might be able to call this a Canadian women’s national soccer team appreciation post, but in newspaper form.

I have been following this team for a few years now. My fandom really began just over 10 years ago as Christine Sinclair began rising as one of the world’s best players and the team began climbing up the world rankings.

The team qualified for its first Olympics in 2008 and made it to the quarterfinals that year.

They would then follow up with bronze medals in both 2012 and 2016 before, finally, winning gold late last week with thrilling wins over Brazil, the United States and Sweden.

And for those of us who watched the team succeed, we know there were some heartbreaking losses along the way – whether it be in the Olympics or in the Women’s World Cup – games or referee’s calls that should have gone one way, but went the other. They often came at tense moments in games against the United States, the golden child of women’s soccer, and they left us feeling a bit cheated.

But, last week, the Canadian women played extremely well and, when the situation called for luck, some of the breaks actually went the way of the Great White North and the history books were rewritten before our very eyes.

I have to say that this Olympic gold medal win was, for me, the most satisfying of my life.

Seeing how hard those women had worked for so many years, only to come up just short, was tough for many years. So, to see them finally get to where they had always wanted to go was emotional for me. It seems I’m not alone.

Nearly 4.5 million people watched the Canadian women win gold on Friday morning.

Those viewership numbers can be compared to the number of people who tune in to watch the Grey Cup and professional men’s hockey, baseball and basketball playoff games. These statistics have initiated a conversation about support for women’s sports, suggesting that perhaps Canada is ready, willing and able to support their female athletes, just as they do their men. This comes hot on the heels of a historic performance by Canadian women at the Olympics, with the ladies winning 18 of the country’s 24 medals.

I had always hoped things were different in Canada when it came to women’s sports. With very successful soccer and hockey teams, two of the biggest sports in the country, I always felt that we supported our female athletes a bit better than some of the other countries around the world. There is still ground to cover, but it seems we are doing our part for our women.

It’s hard to think of any Canadian who has done more to champion women’s sports in recent years than Christine Sinclair, the soccer team’s captain. The top scorer in all international soccer – men’s or women’s – Sinclair’s name has been known to many who know soccer for years, and she’s Canadian.

Many younger players on the team grew up watching Sinclair play and there’s no way to talk about their success without crediting Sinclair and the example she has set over the last 20 years.

The team is an inspiration for all Canadians, not just women or young girls (Blyth readers will have seen me out last week wearing my Sinclair and Jessie Fleming jerseys), and I honestly can’t express how proud I am to have them representing me and my family.

PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021.

Following Olympics was inspirational A NOTE FROM BETTY

By Betty Graber Watson Call 887-9231

A different kind of door As the Maitland Valley Camera Club has resumed in-person meetings with physical distancing and safety protocols in place, members have been tasked with taking pictures around Brussels. Above are a few of Liz Allan’s photographs of some of the fairy doors scattered around the village. (Photos courtesy of Liz Allan of the Maitland Valley Camera Club)

At the Branch

New session of ‘Ace’ draw started

By Jo-Ann McDonald Here we go! The first Catch the Ace draw was held on Friday evening and the first winner is Jane Zwep. Jane chose the number 20 envelope and when opened, the seven of hearts was revealed. Jane won $188 and the jackpot will go on. The estimated jackpot for this week will be $600. Get your tickets at McDonald Lumber, Brussels Pharmacy, Brussels Variety or at the Brussels Legion. There is still time to get in on the VIP program, so call

the Brussels Legion Branch for details.

Members of the Branch had a busy weekend with two fish fry dinners. The first one on Saturday was for the Mitchell Lions Club, which hosts the event annually.

This year, they sold tickets for 405 folks. The crew of nine Legion members working the fryers included Jamie Mitchell, Deb Ross, Chris Brown, Nancy Bridge, Rick McDonald, Jo-Ann McDonald, Mabel Glanville, Judy Lee and

Tiny entry The Brussels Fairy Door Trail has been a popular attraction for photographers, which is likely why the Maitland Valley Camera Club held a recent meeting to photograph these unique creations. (Photo courtesy of Liz Allan of the Maitland Valley Camera Club)

Murray Lowe. It was a drivethrough event and over 400 people were fed in just over two hours.

The second event was a fish fry for the Winthrop United Church.

They also had great sales and they hosted 375 folks. Some of the members of the Branch did double duty working at the Winthrop event as well. Thanks to Deb Ross, Chris Brown and Judy Lee for going both days. They were joined by Kathy Burkholder, Eric Ross, Sandra Brown, Perry and Julie Pearce.

Another job well done.

We have more events scheduled in August and September, so call the Branch for dates and to volunteer your time.

Another week of real summer weather, which is good for the folks on holidays, but not for the working crews. For the folks in the prairies, our bread basket area, the drought and extreme heat is at a crisis. Like so many of the other crises in our world we cannot imagine; cattle to destroy, bankruptcy, way of life lost. We can only imagine.

Did you watch the Olympics in awe and wonder? Even the snippets that were on the news made you aware of the flexibility of a human body and what determination, training, confidence and skill can bring to the world.

To follow the channels that showed the games was an education in timing. To watch any of the people be in sprinting, swimming,soccer or relay, it was awesome to watch. To work that hard to be number two or three by the difference of a second or less in a competition is a salute to mental health. To achieve this level of human competence takes years and a family to support the hours and years of training.

Lucknow, Listowel and London are home to our closest Olympians, and signs in those places celebrate their people. Penny Oleksiak, our swimmer, experienced a historic moment last week as she gained her seventh medal and became the most decorated Canadian Olympian.

Good work to our Canadian athletes.

The bounty of our area is on display just now as the vegetables in our gardens, our neighbours’ gardens or bought from local growers makes this month wonderful. Fresh beans, potatoes,

and tomatoes are ready for you to savour. Meal time is a celebration of our taste buds as the fresh produce is available.

Holidays are in full swing with the usual camping, cottaging and travel all being enjoyed by our people. As well, it is good to enjoy our area and all the entertainment that is here: parks, trails, the river or lake and playgrounds of many varieties. So enjoy these August days.

Remain vigilant, regarding the COVID-19 virus. Keep your distance outdoors if you do not know the vaccination status of another. It could be you who is ill next. My friend’s story (not here), a 44-year-old relative spent 75 days in hospital, near death twice, now discharged with many lingering symptoms. This virus is not selective, passage of the virus continues, so be very aware of who you spend indoor time with for the next while. Be safe. Be kind.

Bye now, Betty G.W.

NEWS FROM BRUSSELS Follow The Citizen on Facebook, Twitter or huroncitizen.ca

Brussels Legion 218 Catch the Ace Weekly Winner Winning Ticket: Jane Zwep $188 Envelope #20 found the 7 of hearts Estimated jackpot for August 13 is $600

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021. PAGE 7.

Council supports tournament at campground

By Denny Scott The Citizen

North Huron Township Council has thrown its support behind the first single special event in the municipality since the COVID-19 pandemic first started last year.

During its Monday night meeting, council voted to support a Huron County Slo-Pitch League tournament being partially held in Blyth, including the use of the Radford and Arena baseball diamonds, the Blyth Campground and three different beverage gardens at the site. Tournament attendees are being encouraged to use the campground, North Huron Recreation and Marketing Assistant DeniseLockie said, and stay in the area for the tournament.

The tournament, which is scheduled for Aug. 27-29, will be taking place on the Blyth fields in addition to fields in Brussels and Walton. The Blyth campgrounds, which surround the local baseball diamonds, will be the only site for entertainment and beverages, however.

To meet with provincial requirements, each beverage garden, according to Lockie, will have attendance capped at 100 people and will only be open to people associated with the tournament, including players and family members. She explained the public would be discouraged from attending the event, which will be a fundraiser for the Tanner Steffler Foundation and Huron Residential Hospice, to keep the number of

people attending more manageable.

The tournament is set to welcome 36 teams of 12, Lockie said, in addition to some entertainment on Friday and Saturday evening.

Lockie said she had already discovered a conflict when trying to schedule the event, in that a performance at the Blyth Festival’s Harvest Stage was set for the same time as the proposed entertainment schedule on Friday, August 27, prompting Lockie to suggest moving the entertainment back. The music will start at 9 p.m. and could run as late as 1 a.m. given the noise control bylaw exemption council approved.

While council was in favour of supporting the event, with several members saying they were excited to see this kind of activity return to

Market offers fun and food

the area, there were some concerns about how the event would be hosted.

Councillor Ric McBurney asked if campers had been told about the event, as it could have an impact on visitors’ experiences if they weren’t part of the tournament.

Lockie said that, thanks to the online booking system implemented earlier this year, advising campers of potential events at the site was easy. She said those at the site will know about the event ahead of time.

Deputy-Reeve Trevor Seip asked how the beverage garden “pods” would be controlled. Lockie explained that the public isn’t encouraged to attend the event, and that anyone entering the tents will be counted by volunteers and be required to sign documents to trace their presence at the event in case of any issues.

Director of Recreation and Facilities Vicky Luttenberger explained that wasn’t a North Huron request, but one from the provincial government. She also said that, as the first singular special event to be hosted, the specifics of the event have been difficult to “nail down”, but credited North Huron’s contact at Huron Perth Public Health for helping to plan the event.

Council supported the event, which included proclaiming it an event of municipal significance to

NEWS FROM BLYTH aid organizers in securing permissions from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and Liquor Control Board of Ontario to run the beverage gardens at the site and exempting the site from the noise bylaw until 1 a.m. on Aug. 27 and 28.

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Checking it out With special presentations from groups like the Maitland Valley Conservation Area, activities provided by local churches and meals available on demand, there’s something for everyone at the weekly Blyth Community Market on Thursdays. (Denny Scott photo)

From Marilyn’s Desk

By Marilyn Craig Call 523-9318

Happy birthday to Rhonda (Badley) Rickwood, who celebrates Aug. 12; Corine Falconer and Matthew McNichol, Aug. 13; Graham Jackson, Aug. 16 and Brenden Howson, Aug. 17. Hope everyone has a good day.

Happy anniversary to Bill and

Bernadette Andrews, Goderich, who celebrate on Aug. 17.

The Blyth Community Market is on Thursday, Aug. 12 and runs from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Come out and see what the vendors have to offer.

There is a booth for children. You can find fresh vegetables and baking, have a coffee and enjoy beef on a bun with delicious carrot cake at the Blyth United Church booth. Come out and enjoy a walk down main street and see what the vendors and merchants are offering for sale.

The Richmond clan gathered at the Blyth Lions Park on Sunday, Aug. 8 for a get-together. With only under 20 people, they were able to physically distance and catch up on

the news from within the family.

Stay safe this week and give someone a call to let them know you are thinking of them.

Correction In the Salute to the Blyth Festival issue, produced by The Citizen, United Church Minister Bob Gibson was misidentified as being a member of the Anglican Church.

This was in a story about Peter Bailey, who is writing a play about Gibson, his life and his book, called Preacher Sings the Blues for the Blyth Festival.

The Citizen apologizes for the error.

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PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021.

Water, sewer work centre deferred due to price

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Central Huron staff will be waiting at least a little while longer

for a new water and sewer work centre, as council has voted to defer the project after bids came in much higher than expected.

Central Huron Council discussed

the issue at its Aug. 3 meeting, which was held virtually via Zoom.

At that meeting, Utilities Manager Ian Koetsier recommended awarding the project to

Unveiling London-based artist Kim Wilkie, left, opened a new show at the Fashion Arts and Creative Textiles Studio (FACTS) in Blyth last week. Wilkie spoke about the inspiration for her work, some of which can be seen behind her. Above, she talks about some her recent works with locals Carl Stevenson and Annie Sparling. (Denny Scott photo)

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VandenHeuvel Structures Limited for a price of $1,466,740, including HST. The VandenHeuvel bid was the lowest of the three received, with the other two coming in just under $1.75 million and just over $1.9 million.

Councillors were astonished with how expensive the bids were and Koetsier agreed, saying the project was tendered at a time when building materials were selling for very high costs.

Just under $880,000 had been budgeted for the project. Koetsier, in his report, said that he had anticipated a 25 per cent increase due to a spike in steel prices, but that the prices eventually came in 40 per cent over the budget.

Councillor Alex Westerhout suggested that council defer the project for another year and wait for building material prices to decrease before the municipality moves ahead with the project.

Koetsier said council had been deferring the project for as long as he had been employed with the municipality and that it couldn’t be pushed much longer, saying parts of the building were “falling in” and that the department needed a new office, saying they had to be out of the current building very soon.

Councillor Dan Colquhoun agreed, saying he feared the toll another winter would take on the already-tired building.

Koetsier also said that while building material prices had decreased slightly since the record highs seen in recent months, he was hearing possibilities that they would never return to their preCOVID-19-pandemic levels again.

Councillor Michael Russo suggested demolishing the current

building and erecting a temporary trailer office in its place to bridge the gap for a short period of time in hopes that prices will go down. He didn’t have any potential price points, but he said it was an “outside-the-box” idea that council could consider.

Mayor Jim Ginn suggested that staff conduct some research on Russo’s recommendation and report back to council. Deputy-Mayor Dave Jewitt agreed, saying he knows the department needs a new building, but that he “gagged” when he saw the price tag as well and suggested deferring the project until more information could be made available.

The proposal, Koetsier said, is good until October, so council had a bit of time to conduct further research and still accept the proposal on the floor.

Council approved the deferral, with more information to be presented at a future meeting.

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021. PAGE 9.

Increases won’t deter development: Courtney Continued from page 1 metre.

East Wawanosh development charges on nonresidential projects would be charged $6.49 per square metre while Hutton Heights would see a charge of $7.24 per square metre.

While the increases were significant, Courtney said they weren’t out of line with some of North Huron’s neighbours, highlighting the single detached unit charges for several municipality and special service areas: • Kincardine: $18,077 • Huron-Kinloss - Lucknow: $4,104 • Huron-Kinloss - Ripley: $4,499 • Huron-Kinloss - Ripley (Finlay Street): $58,247 • Goderich: $2,159

• South Huron - Exeter: $4,245 • North Perth: $13,569 • North Perth (plus water and wastewater): $19,278 • Bluewater - Bayfield: $9,450 • Bluewater - Hensall: $7,618 • Bluewater - Zurich: $8,592 Courtney explained the next steps would be to take feedback from council and revise the report before presenting it on Sept. 7.

While there were comments made about how increasing the development costs could scare away developers, both Courtney and Deputy-Reeve Trevor Seip said they didn’t feel that was necessarily true.

Courtney pointed out that, if someone could build and sell a detached unit for $350,000 (which she said was low for the area), the

development charges would be less than 10 per cent of the cost.

Seip said he wished that council hadn’t cut the Wingham development charges five years ago as, given the housing crunch in Huron County, that extra $3,000 in Wingham would not have prevented potential development.

Seip pointed out that, if there was a concern with the development charges, local developers would likely attend the public meeting on Sept. 7. He said if they didn’t, the development charges obviously weren’t as concerning to them as council members may believe they are.

Council also debated the need for affordable housing, with members saying that any increase to cost, on top of the existing constraints

Back in-person North Huron Council resumed in-person meetings on Monday night, welcoming back members of the public to council meetings held in the Wingham Town Hall Theatre for the time being. (Denny Scott photo)

CH office to reopen in Sept.

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Central Huron staff is working towards a plan to open the municipality’s office in Clinton after the Labour Day long weekend in September, despite calls from councillors to open it sooner.

Council discussed the issue at its Aug. 3 meeting, which was held virtually via Zoom. Councillor Marg Anderson raised the issue, saying she had been asked when the office was going to open to the public and that she couldn’t answer the question. She added that neighbouring municipalities, like North Huron, were opening their offices to the public as well.

Chief Administrative Officer Steve Doherty said that Central Huron staff was following the direction of a recent meeting between several local

municipalities about co-ordinating their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those involved in the meeting, he said, had planned on a return to the office, at 50 per cent capacity, after Labour Day. He also noted that North Huron did not take part in that activity, which could be why that municipality had opened its office earlier than some others.

Anderson suggested that the office should be opened as soon as possible. Councillors Alison Lobb and Alex Westerhout agreed, with Westerhout suggesting Aug. 16 as a potential date on which to open the office.

Mayor Jim Ginn and DeputyMayor Dave Jewitt, however, pushed back, saying neither of them had fielded complaints from people who felt municipal service levels had been negatively affected as a result of the office not being open

$30

to the public during the pandemic.

Doherty also noted that he and the rest of the municipal staff had been working internally towards the goal of opening the office after the Labour Day weekend in September.

If council were to vote to change course and move that date up, he said there would be concerns with maintaining staffing levels at the office, with some employees taking vacation time before the office was due to open next month.

Anderson said she was fine with staying the course and aiming for an opening in early September - she just wanted to know so she could accurately answer questions if she were asked about it out in the community.

Doherty said that he and staff could certainly work towards opening the office in early September, barring any public health setbacks.

created by increased building material prices, would be difficult to encourage developers to enter into that market.

Councillor Chris Palmer advised council against offering discounts in specific wards, however, saying actions like that are “a rabbit hole” council didn’t need to go down.

Courtney had pointed out, however, that council could offer discounts on development charges through a bylaw, and some council members did say that could be used as incentive.

Reeve Bernie Bailey asked if development charges could be levied against other municipalities

Nominate leaders for ‘Citizen’ award Continued from page 1 who have stepped up and helped their neighbours and friends.

The annual Citizen of the Year Award winners are chosen from among reader nominations. Readers nominate residents who make a difference in their communities.

Those nominations are then considered by a panel of past Citizen of the Year Award winners, who then choose the year’s winner.

North Huron Publishing Inc. and The Citizen are proud to present this award annually, celebrating volunteerism and community commitment in the Blyth and Brussels communities.

Past winners of the award in the Brussels area are: Cal Krauter, 1985; Wayne Lowe, 1986; Jack Bryans, 1987; Ida Evans, 1989; Bessie Johnston, 1990; Betty Graber, 1991; George Langlois, 1992; Howard Bernard, 1993; Joanne King, 1994; Frank Thompson, 1995; Audrey Cardiff, 1996; Leona Armstrong, 1997; Neil McGavin, 1998; Beth Earl, 1999; Lyle and Alice Brothers, 2000; Nelva and Spence Scott, 2001; Jo-Ann McDonald, 2002; Kathy Bridge, 2003; Jeff and Cathy Cardiff, 2004; Clara Blake, 2005; Phyllis Mitchell, 2006; Doug McArter, 2007; Nora Stephenson and Fran Bremner, 2008; Rene Richmond, 2009; Jim Prior, 2010; Bus ty Safe

Deadline August 20

Protect your pets against rabies

Low-cost Vaccination Clinics Blyth Veterinary Services 234 Queen St. S., Blyth

Friday, August 20 | 1–4 pm Saturday, August 21 | 9 am–12 pm

St. Helen’s Community Hall

Wednesday, September 8 | 1–4 pm

85656 St. Helen’s Line No appointment needed.

In partnership with Huron Perth Public Health

Cathrine Campbell, 2011; Jim and Lois Lee, 2012; Yvonne Knight, 2013; Dave Stephenson, 2014; Sandra Cable, 2015; Jean Davidson, 2016; Elaine Armstrong, 2017, Doug Sholdice, 2018, Mary Douma in 2019 and Bob Kellington, posthumously in 2020.

Past winners of the award in the Blyth area are: Evalena Webster, 1985; Frank and Cenetta Bainton, 1986; Winona McDougall, 1987; Margaret Whyte, 1989; Simon Hallahan, 1990; Dr. Richard Street, 1991; Bill and Maxine Seers, 1992; Margaret Caldwell, 1993; Helen Gowing, 1994; Don Scrimgeour, 1995; John Stewart, 1996; Janet Amos, 1997; Betty Battye, 1998; Robb Finch, Dave Cook, Brent Scrimgeour and Doug Walker, 1999; Murray Siertsema, 2000; Charlie Shaw, 2001; Lavern Clark, 2002; Bev Blair and Thelma Johnston, 2003; Steven Sparling, 2004; Don “Barney” Stewart, 2005; Lois van Vliet, 2006; Janice Henry, 2007; Joe Hallahan, 2008; Brock and Janis Vodden, 2009; Jean Nethery, 2010; Kay Hesselwood, 2011; Steve Howson, 2012; Barbara Bosman, 2013; Marian Hallahan, 2014; Nellie Mason, 2015; Ernie Phillips, 2016; Ric McBurney, 2017, Carl Nesbitt, 2018, Jane Smyth in 2019 and Annie Sparling in 2020.

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benefitting from North Huron infrastructure and Courtney said that wasn’t possible under the provincial guidelines. Council could, however, charge a neighbouring municipality for a portion of applicable projects and, in turn, the neighbouring municipality could implement development charges to recoup those costs.

Council decided to proceed and have a draft bylaw based on Courtney’s presentation brought to its Sept. 7 council meeting. The bylaw won’t be voted on during the meeting, staff said, but will allow a chance for public feedback.

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PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021.

Seaforth market expands to include indoor space be the week before Christmas, she said, pointing to the indoor space as making that possible. After that, the market will be closed for January and early February due to weather and to allow vendors to restock after the holidays.

She said the market will then reopen indoors at the end of February or beginning of March.

For more information, look for the Seaforth Community Market on Facebook.

School set to return PEOPLE AROUND WALTON

By Jo-Ann McDonald Call 887-6570

Evolving The Seaforth Community Market is going with the flow and expanding as public health guidelines and government direction allow. After a successful period outdoors in the town, the market has now expanded its footprint into the Seaforth and District Community Centre, where organizers hope the market will remain until the end of the year, taking a short break in early 2022 before returning again in late February or early March. (Denny Scott photo)

By Denny Scott The Citizen The Seaforth Community Market has recently expanded to include an indoor space at the Seaforth and District Community Centre. This change is the latest in a number of steps to keep the market running.

Organizer Natalie Slaght explained that, due to COVID-19, the market was shut down earlier this year for the safety of not only those at the market but the host community as well. When they were allowed to open, however, she said they hit the ground running.

“As soon as we were able to open safely, we started working towards making the market a success again,” she said. “Everyone has really good spacing and each vendor is in its own designated area.”

She said the market utilizes oneway traffic through the market, which not only keeps people spaced out, but also provides more exposure for each vendor, as customers don’t just make a beeline for their favourite stalls.

Other than those changes, as well as contact tracing, offering sanitization and encouraging mask use, there haven’t been any other changes, she said.

“It’s been really good,” she said.

“We opened the doors to the indoor section once Ontario hit [Step] 3.”

Slaght said that working with Huron Perth Public Health and

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Huron East to get the market running has been great, and coming up with a “game plan” has been a great way to look at what needed to be done to make the market successful.

The market has continued to grow since it was founded several years ago, and, after starting with 10 vendors, it now averages 35 to 45, Slaght said.

“We have seasoned veterans who

have been here since we started two years ago and usually have a dozen that bounce in and out,” she said.

“Some do every other week, others come when they can. We pride ourselves on being as flexible and accommodating as possible.”

She said that steady growth is likely tied to that flexibility and the fact that the market continues to draw crowds.

The last market of the season will

The first full week of August is in the books and it begins the countdown to the start of the school year. It will be just over three weeks and the kids will be out waiting for the bus to take them to school. The kids had their last day of in-class learning on April 9, so almost five months have passed since they rode a bus to school. Learning did continue with online learning but not all children or parents coped with the new way of life. Children and parents will be glad to get back to the “norm” of going to school: getting up early, getting out of pajamas and into clothes for school, making lunches, meeting the bus (out five minutes before pick-up time), with backpacks full to overflowing with everything you need for school. Masks are going to still be required on the bus and at school for most of the time, but children will be happy to see their friends after all this time. It should

be a lively ride to school the first week!

Our congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Randy and Rileah (Devore) Zwep. The couple was wed on the farm of parents George and Jane Zwep on July 31. It was a beautiful day with a couple of brief showers, which in no way dampened the excitement of the day. Wed on the front lawn in front of about 75 family and friends, the couple was elated to have been able Continued on page 11

NEWS FROM WALTON

36th Annual Citizen of the Year Award Nominations Open Pictured from left, Citizen editor, Shawn Loughlin presenting Annie Sparling, 2020 Citizen of the Year award recipient.

There are so many people out there who do so much to improve their community.

This is your opportunity to show your appreciation for all they do.

Each year a committee chooses an outstanding citizen from each of the Blyth and area and Brussels and area communities to receive an award for contribution to the community. If you know someone you think should be honoured, please fill in the form and send it in. You may attach a longer explanation of why you think your nominee should win, if you like. If you have nominated someone before and they didn't win, we encourage you to submit again.

Emailed submissions can be sent to Shawn Loughlin at editor@northhuron.on.ca I nominate ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ as Citizen of the year for

q

Blyth & area

q

Brussels & area

I feel she/he deserves this award because ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Nomination Deadline September 30, 2021.

Name and phone number of nominator Fax: 519-523-9140 Box 429, Blyth, ON N0M 1H0 or Box 152 Brussels, ON N0G 1H0

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021. PAGE 11.

Fatal collision closes Blyth Road on the weekend Huron County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) attended the scene of a fatal motor vehicle collision that took place early Saturday morning west of Walton.

Police report that at approximately 7 a.m. on Aug. 7, Huron County OPP, Huron County Paramedic Services and the Fire Department of North Huron responded to a single motor vehicle collision located on

Blyth Road west of Walton.

The OPP says the preliminary investigation has determined a sport utility vehicle was travelling eastbound on the road when the vehicle left the roadway, entered into the south ditch and collided with a tree. Upon colliding with a tree the vehicle became fully engulfed in fire, and according to police, the driver/lone occupant

died at the scene and is yet to be identified.

The cause of the crash is currently under investigation with assistance from the West Region OPP Traffic Incident Management and Enforcement (TIME) team.

Blyth Road remained closed between Clyde Line and Brussels Line throughout the day of the collision.

Fun in the sun The Seaforth Community Market, thanks to loosening COVID-19 pandemic restrictions across the province, can now welcome shoppers to the indoor space at the Seaforth and District Community Centre as well as its established outdoor space, shown above. While the market has been running outdoors for several weeks, the indoor space wasn’t able to be utlilized until recently. (Denny Scott photo)

Vehicles stolen over weekend Continued from page 10 to increase the numbers to attend. A small intimate dinner for the family was enjoyed in the beautifully decorated shed. Navy suits for the men and soft blue dresses for the attendants were very lovely. A wonderful day for all and the couple will reside in Blyth.

Congratulations to Randy and Rileah.

Our wishes for a full and speedy recovery go to Murray McNichol.

Murray suffered a fall off the combine and was seriously injured.

He had surgery in London for broken vertebrae in his neck and has plates, nuts and bolts and stitches putting him back together again. He is now laying low at home while he heals. Speedy recovery wishes to Murray!

The vehicle thieves are at it in our area these days with both SUVs and trucks being stolen this past weekend. Matt and Meghan Ryan had their black SUV stolen during the night during the weekend and Patrick and Anne Cronin had their black truck stolen as well. The two places are only about 10 miles apart. A reminder to remember to take your keys out of your vehicles at night because you don’t know who’s out there looking for an easy steal. It doesn’t hurt to lock your vehicles as well.

Another piece of information to consider is where do you hang your vehicle keys? Many folks have them hanging just inside the entrance door or on a table inside the door; another simple quick grab for the gutsy thieves, so make sure your doors are locked. Both of these suggestions are not new to folks, but many folks are guilty of all or some of the above: keys in car, doors not locked, house not locked, keys hanging in plain view. Time to

make changes and be more careful.

The Walton ball park was in use on Saturday with a tournament played, with mostly local teams.

They had a great day.

Celebrating birthdays this past week were Bruce Godkin, Angela Huether, Kenny Huether, Adrienne

Wakabayashi, Ken Glanville, Erin Mitchell, Marie Mitchell, Laurie Grobbink, Darryl Houston, Lisa Huether, Heidi Bachert, Greg Humphries, Brian McGavin, Tina McClure, Katie Williamson Janmaat, Wendy Bachert and Taylar McKee. Happy birthday to all!

ARMED ASSAULT An incident last week in Vanastra has left a victim in hospital with serious injuries and a 25-year-old facing several charges.

Police say that, on Aug. 5 at approximately 11:40 p.m., Huron County OPP officers responded to an apartment building located on 12th Street after receiving a call about a suspect with a weapon that was causing a disturbance throughout the building.

Minutes later officers arrived on scene and took the suspect into custody. A subsequent investigation revealed the accused had assaulted two individuals in the building. One victim escaped injuries, however, the other, a 29-year-old from Huron East, remains in hospital with serious injuries.

A 25-year-old from Huron East has been charged with: Aggravated Assault, Assault with a Weapon, Mischief, Causing a Disturbance and three counts of Fail to Comply with a Probation Order.

The accused remained in custody with a court appearance scheduled for Aug. 9 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Goderich.

DOMESTIC CHARGES Huron County OPP has charged a Huron East resident with several domestic assault charges following an investigation conducted by police last week.

Police report that, on Aug. 4 at approximately 1:30 p.m., Huron OPP members responded to a residence in Brussels after receiving a call for assistance from the victim. Upon arrival, police met with the victim and the subsequent investigation revealed they were a victim of domestic assault. Police later located and arrested the accused without incident.

According to OPP, A 47-year-old from Brussels is now facing charges consisting of two counts of Assault

with a Weapon, two counts of Assault, one count of Assault Cause Bodily Harm and one count of Utter Threats.The accused has since been released from custody with an upcoming court appearance.

The OPP reminds victims of domestic violence they are not alone and encourages those facing domestic abuse to seek help from organizations like Victim Services Huron County at 519-600-4108, or, if a person is in immediate danger, they should call 911.

BREAK AND ENTER Huron County OPP continues to investigate a break, enter and theft incident that took place in Vanastra over the long weekend.

Police report that on Saturday, July 31 at approximately 11 p.m., Huron OPP officers responded to a business located on London Road to investigate a break, enter and theft in progress. Officers arrived on scene and a subsequent search revealed the suspect had cut a hole in the fence to gain entry into a secure area.

The OPP says members from the West Region OPP Emergency Response Team (ERT) and Canine unit also attended the scene to assist with the search. Despite the thorough search, the suspect was not located. A laptop was later reported as stolen.

Police report the suspect is described as a white male, with blonde hair that was wearing grey shorts, a grey top and white running shoes.

If you have any information about these incidents, contact Huron OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or 519-482-1677.

Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip online at www.p3tips.com , where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000.

Remembering your loved one Honour your loved one by placing their obituary in

The Citizen.

This is a free service provided by The Citizen. We encourage you to share the story of your loved one in a special remembrance of their life.

Cards of thanks can be placed in our classified section, starting at just $7.00.

A beauty Mary Winger Rae of the Maitland Valley Camera Club recently captured this image of a Hawthorn with her keen eye and sharp photography skills. (Photo courtesy of Mary Winger Rae of the Maitland Valley Camera Club)

PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021.

Ecobubble provides new direction for Cairas

A new way of thinking Gabe and Deborah Caira are now set up at a Blyth-area property on Harlock Line with what they’re calling The Ecobubble, an expansion of an urban garden project they began while living in Toronto. Right now, they’ve simply been sharing their bounty with neighbours and friends free of cost. (Denny Scott photo)

By Denny Scott The Citizen Several years ago Gabe and Deborah Caira looked at a property southeast of Blyth and saw their home. They also saw a space they could turn into The Ecobubble: a biologically diverse space into

which they could grow and help serve the community around them.

They purchased the property on Harlock Line, which included the former rural Hullett schoolhouse SS. No. 6. They have renovated the building and worked the lot extensively, transforming it into a space where they could live, grow

produce and, eventually, welcome visitors and teach them about their experiences.

Deborah, who grew up in the Kincardine area, and Gabe, who was born and raised in Toronto, moved to the area from Toronto.

Years ago, Deborah moved to Toronto where she met Gabe. They eventually married and lived on a small lot in the urban centre. There, they grew produce, which they shared with their neighbours and friends. After Gabe retired, however, they wanted more space to accommodate more growth.

Gabe, a retired IT professional who worked for the City of Toronto, and Deborah, who managed the Queen West Animal Hospital, turned their eyes to Huron County and discovered what would be their new home. They bought the property three years ago, but had to renovate the schoolhouse before they could move in March of 2020,

just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

The goal, Deborah said, was to create something similar in function to what they had in Toronto. At their Toronto urban garden, they welcomed a number of animals and insects that otherwise may not have been there. The same has happened at their new home, she said. With the addition of gardens, trees and a nearlyuniversal no-kill policy (with LDD moths, formerly known as gypsy moths, and insects that feed on or bite humans being exempt from the policy), she said they have created a similar biome.

Due to the permaculture practices (which focus on sustainability and biodiversity), she said, they have welcomed a plethora of new animal species, birds and insects, which all become part of their “bubble”, so she feels responsible for them.

“We’ve seen hundreds of honeybees, many different kinds of birds, owls, red chipmunks and red squirrels which we didn’t see before,” Deborah said. “We’re creating a tiny ecosystem here.”

The whole idea, Gabe said, is based on the couple liking to leave things better than they found them, and since the property was very much a blank canvas, he and Deborah were able to quickly adapt the space to provide biodiversity.

Deborah said that work will continue with 50 to 60 per cent of the grass converted into meadowlands as she works with Ontario native plants to promote growth and attract animals.

“The goal is to protect the space and to make it lush,” she said.

Gardening provides much of what the couple eats and shares, but to continue that in the winter, they needed to find a solution, the couple said.

In a serendipitous turn of events, the couple found, in their search for a greenhouse to provide year-round food, a company called Arctic Acres (arcticacres.ca) that builds geodesic dome greenhouses, giving their farm, The Ecobubble, a fittingly-shaped greenhouse that has made the couple’s half acre an even more unique spot for visitors.

Gabe said the requirements for a greenhouse that would help them become more self-sufficient included standing up to the heavy snow and high winds that sweep through the rural countryside of Huron County. Fortunately, Arctic

Acres’ geodesic domes are able to provide that.

“We built the dome in February and, within three weeks, we were eating produce out of it,” Deborah said. “Our hope is just to grow food all through the winter.”

The dome has met their needs wonderfully, Deborah said, and has been a unique experience to create and operate.

Part of the dome holds an 1,100gallon tank of water, which operates as a heatsink for the structure, Gabe said.

In the summer, it helps to cool the space, while in the winter it helps to keep it warm, and with a recentlyintroduced school of tilapia fish, the water can be used to hydrate plants throughout the winter as the fish create a healthy ecosystem in the water.

The dome has also provided a great conversation-starter with neighbours, the couple said, with Gabe adding that they’ve even been fostering new relationships between neighbours as they welcomed outdoor visitors to their property.

The greenhouse has even garnered the attention of York University in Toronto whose representatives, through Arctic Acres, contacted the Cairas about having students attend their new home. The hope is that the Cairas could share what they’ve learned, starting from scratch, and the students can learn about the project and the techniques being used and help to further the school’s green project, Project Climate Change: York University’s Climate Solutions Park.

The Cairas have welcomed a student with a deep understanding of compost, who helped around the farm, and the coordinator of the UREAL program, a workintegrated learning project at York University, who is well-versed in videography who wanted to document the site.

Deborah explained that, aside from the greenhouse, the rest of their gardens, 11 in total, follow what’s called Hugelkultur, which literally translates to hill culture.

Through chopping up a felled maple tree that was on their property, Deborah and Gabe were able to build raised gardens over top of compost pits. Using the logs of the maple tree, clippings, compost materials and even Continued on page 13

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Part of the community The Cairas have been working with a number of unique methods of improving their garden at The Ecobubble on their Harlock Line property just southeast of Blyth. Part of that project has involved an abundance of fresh produce, which they’ve been more than willing to share with their friends and neighbours. (Denny Scott photo)

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021. PAGE 13.

519-523-4311

www.ruralvoice.ca

Agriculture

BLYTH 519-523-4244

www.hurontractor.com

Brussels Livestock report

Veal sells on strong active trade at steady prices Total receipts for Brussels Livestock for the week ending Aug. 6 were 1,205 cattle and 440 lambs and goats.

On Tuesday, fed steers and heifers sold on a steady market.

Choice steers and heifers sold $154 to $162.

Second-cut cattle sold $145 to $153. Aged and medium-fed steers and heifers sold $118 to $135. Holstein steers and heifers sold $85 to $112.50. Cows sold steady.

On Thursday, veal sold on a strong active trade at steady prices.

Lambs, sheep and goats all sold steady.

On Friday, calves sold steady.

Yearlings sold actively at higher prices.

Matthew Bros. Farms of Durham, consigned 10 head. Four gold steers averaged 1,510 lbs. and sold for an average price of $162.50.

There were 225 cows on offer.

Beef sold $82 to $102 with sales to $107; good holstein cows, $83 to $97; medium holstein cows, $77 to $82; plain cows, $62 to $75.

There were 100 head of veal on offer. Beef veal sold $150 to $190 with sales to $199; good holsteins, $120 to $132; Sl heavy holsteins, $109 to $119; medium holsteins, $105 to $119.

Rueben S. Martin of Wallenstein, consigned five head. One roan heifer weighed 895 lbs. and sold for a price of $199.

John and Cheryl Bennewies of Bornholm, consigned two head. One holstein steer weighed 710 lbs. and sold for a price of $132.

Lambs under 50 lbs. sold $276.75 to $302; 50 - 64 lbs., $293 to $320; 65 - 79 lbs., $279 to $292; 80 - 94 lbs., $255 to $270; 95 - 109 lbs., $243.25 to $258; 110 lbs. and over, $232.50 to $247.

Sheep sold $150 to $250.

Goats: billies sold $150 to $350; nannies, $100 to $240; kids: meat,

$300 to $320; dairy, $250 to $280.

Brietta Bartlett of Hanover, consigned seven head. One lamb weighed 61 lbs. and sold for a price of $320.

Dennis Dietz of Mildmay, consigned four head. One kid goat weighed 83 lbs. and sold for a price of $315.

Top quality stocker steers, 400 499 lbs. sold 241 to $258; 500 - 599 lbs., $235 to $240; 600 - 699 lbs., $215.50 to $232; 700 - 799 lbs., $198.50 to $214.50; 800 - 899 lbs., $201.50 to $210; 900 - 999 lbs., $190.50 to $195; 1,000 lbs. and over, $172 to $193.

Top quality stocker heifers, 400 -

499 lbs. sold $191 to $201; 500 599 lbs., $194.50 to $201; 600 - 699 lbs., $181 to $192; 700 - 799 lbs., $156.50 to $181; 800 - 899 lbs., $157 to $171; 900 lbs. and over, $155 to $166.25.

Amos M. Bauman of Dundalk consigned six head. Five charolais steers averaged 825 lbs. and sold for an average price of $210.

Jayme Reid of Tiverton, consigned 18 head. Four limousin heifers averaged 957 lbs. and sold for an average price of $156. Six limousin steers averaged 1,006 lbs. and sold for an average price of $191.

Stressful growing season calls for self-care: Brekveld

By Peggy Brekveld, President Ontario Federation of Agriculture It seems ironic that not too long ago, I injured my foot doing what I love to do to relieve stress: walking for miles on our country sideroads.

I should have stopped when I felt the initial pain and taken a few days off. Instead, I kept going, and, after a particularly rough day, I pounded my frustrations out on the pavement instead of lightly walking them off.

When I got to the doctor’s office, the paper she gave me said this will take a few months to heal, not just days, using alternate exercise, ice, rest and stretches.

I have been embarrassed to tell others. In my mind, it shouldn’t have happened. I thought that I could just work it off, ignore it and keep on trekking. Oftentimes, that isn’t the right answer. This is true for both our physical and mental health too.

Farming is a profession of optimism and hope. We choose genetics and plant seeds with the hopefulness of reaping the rewards of our labour; but it doesn’t always work out that way. The success of our crops, livestock and farm

businesses depends on our wise management and decisions. It is also dependent on things completely out of our control, and the weather during this growing season has been relentless for some of us. Mother Nature can be our industry’s biggest friend or biggest foe as we cross our fingers and hope for favorable growing conditions.

Across the province and our industry, inclement weather threatens the livelihood of the farming community. Southwestern Ontario is struggling with an overwhelming amount of rain as heat-loving crops take on too much water. Eastern Ontario is dealing with damaging hail that causes significant crop damage.

Northwestern Ontario has reached the point of crisis with a drought that has led to crop failure, limited access to water and a feed shortage for livestock. Some farmers are being forced to make life-changing decisions.

We see and hear you. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is in your corner and wants to remind our farm members that they are not alone. This is a stressful growing

season, the outcome of which is still unknown, and we want everyone to know it’s okay not to be okay.

You, our province’s farmers, have done everything in your power to secure the success of your livestock and crops. You invested your time, money, sweat and heart into this year’s growing season. No matter the outcome, it’s imperative to remember a poor growing season is not a personal failure. The two are not mutually exclusive, nor does one growing season define you as a human being. Please be patient and kind to yourself.

Farm life is busy and as we juggle its daily demands, we often forget that the farm’s most precious resource is the people behind it.

Always remember, you are your farm’s most valuable asset. Put your well-being at the top of the priority list to ensure that you are physically and mentally healthy to continue on as a proud Ontario farmer.

When you’re tired, learn to take breaks and rest. Practise self-care by making time for the activities you enjoy, and spending time with loved ones. Self-care might seem selfish, but it is proven to help reduce burnout and ensures you

‘Soil lasagna’ aids in watering Continued from page 12 cardboard (anything that decomposes, Deborah said), the Cairas created what Gabe calls “soil lasagna” that helps gardens persist without regular watering.

“I haven’t had to water for six weeks now,” Deborah said. “The wood and other materials compost on their own and retain the water.”

The couple has also built a “glamping” space on their property featuring an outhouse-style composting toilet and a bunkie for visitors.

When it’s complete, the space will welcome visitors and friends from Toronto, students working on the aforementioned York University project and others. During the winter, Deborah says the space will be a cold cellar.

PRODUCE SHARE One of the first interactions Gabe and Deborah have had with some of the people in the area was after they

started sharing their produce.

Deborah says there is no greater feeling than feeding someone, so, when it came time to harvest their produce, she started giving it away through a farmgate stand on their property. She shared the idea online and it has really taken off.

People have been using the space and enjoying the produce, but also bringing their own and trading, Deborah said.

Gardeners often tackle their passion not out of a desire to get rich, but for the challenge, Gabe said, and the byproduct of that is having a lot of produce to share.

For now, the produce is free, but Deborah said in the winter they may need to start charging to offset the cost of growing in the greenhouse. For the meantime, however, she’s happy to share and meet people through the farmgate.

The couple said they’re blessed to be able to pursue their projects

without relying on them for a livelihood, but Gabe says, if they worked at it, they would likely be able to.

The offerings at the produce stand are varied, Deborah said, especially this year as she is experimenting to find out exactly what grows well in Huron County.

She has also found that some of the more intense storms can have damaging impacts on the property, which has led to some changes being made throughout the season.

Regardless of challenges like that, she and Gabe are enjoying being a part of the community and, with the easing of restrictions on the public due to COVID-19, they are looking forward to meeting more of their neighbours and expanding their presence in the community.

For more information, visit ecobubble.ca or e-mail the Cairas at ecobubble@ecobubble.ca

show up ready to give tasks your best effort.

If your physical and mental health allows it, offer support to those in your community that need it. If ever you’re in need of assistance, they will likely return the favour. We’re all part of the Ontario farming community and we all contribute to the greatness and success of our industry.

When it all seems too much, and you’re overwhelmed, it’s okay to ask for help. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out. There are people and resources available to help.

Remember, we’re all in this together. Lean on your community and band together to help each other through. Check in on your neighbours, friends and loved ones to see how they’re doing. A phone call or visit can make a world of a difference to someone who needs a helping hand or listening ear. We cannot control the weather, but we can control how we show up for ourselves and each other during these challenging times.

BRUSSELS LIVESTOCK Division of Gamble & Rogers Ltd.

UPCOMING SALES

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 ~ 519-523-4792 or 519-887-9114

TUESDAYS 10:00 a.m.

Fed Cattle, Bulls & Cows

THURSDAYS

9:00 a.m. Drop Calves 10:00 a.m.Veal 11:30 a.m. Lambs, Goats & Sheep

FRIDAYS

10:00 a.m. Stockers Visit our webpage at: www.brusselslivestock.ca email us at: info@brusselslivestock.ca

Call us 519-887-6461

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PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021.

Classified Advertisements – RATES – 20 words or less only $7.00 + HST. Additional words 20¢ each + HST. 50¢ will be deducted if ad is paid in advance

DEADLINE 2 p.m. Monday in Brussels 4 p.m. Monday in Blyth Phone 519-523-4792 or 519-887-9114 e-mail: info@northhuron.on.ca

Articles for sale 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.

Coming events Help wanted Help wanted Help wanted SUE’S FAMOUS FISH FRY – Take Out and Eat In, Friday, Aug. 20, noon to 7 p.m., Wingham Columbus Centre. Grilled or battered white fish or chicken fingers. Take Out - $16 (fish, fries or baked potato and a dinner roll), half price for kids! Add $1.50 for caesar salad or garden salad. Add $2 for a butter tart. Eat In - $17.50 (includes buffet style, salad, potatoes and bread, one piece of fish) and coffee or tea is included with eat in (dessert is extra). HST is included in all prices. Call 519-357-1270 to order your fish and to reserve a pick-up time. We accept cash, e-transfer or credit card or debit.

32-1

GENERAL FARM LABOUR opening on a swine and cash crop farm. Full- or part-time positions available. Clean organized work environment. Experience preferred but will train the right candidate.

Send résumés to monowayoffice@ gmail.com, Attention: Paul.

32-2 --------------------------------------------

Municipality of Morris-Turnberry HELP WANTED Full-Time Landfill / Public Works Operator The Municipality of Morris -Turnberry requires: 1 (one) Landfill / Public Works Operator – This is a full-time position with a competitive salary, comprehensive benefit package and pension plan A job description for the position is available for review on the Municipal website https://morristurnberry.ca/government/employment or at the Municipal Office.

The • • •

Help wanted CUSTODIAN WANTED Brussels United Church is inviting applications for a custodian.

Send a note/résumé to Box 359 before August 27 indicating your experience with cleaning and minor maintenance.

A job description will be shared if contacted for an interview.

Libro is Growing & Libro is Hiring Our expansion plans include a series of new hires across southwestern Ontario. Take a look. www.libro.ca/careers

Card of thanks

Do you have a passion for growing prosperity in Southwestern Ontario by transforming banking through inspiring financial happiness? We want to hear from you!

ARMSTRONG. A special thank you to Lori and Rob, Brian and Donna Lynn, John and Phyllis and their families for hosting a family gathering for our 50th Wedding Anniversary. It was such a good time and a delicious meal had by all. Also thanks to our friends and neighbours who sent flowers, cards, gifts and gift cards to us. Also thank you to everyone who sent congratulations virtually, we certainly enjoyed everything and are extremely thankful to have so many loving people in our lives and fond memories of this occasion. – Fred and Ruth Armstrong.

32-1p -------------------------------------------FOXTON. The family of Bob Foxton wish to thank the many who have helped us following the passing of Bob. The first responders and medical staff at Wingham and District Hospital for their aid and compassion. Thank you to our friends, neighbours and business community for their gifts of food, cards of sympathy, flowers, plants and donations in memory of Bob. Special thanks to Joan, Monique and Ange for their support and help in making this time less stressful. Bob had a passion for and belief in his community. He wanted it to succeed in every way possible. So many have appreciated and acknowledged his support of his home town. His words and actions impacted a great many people. Thank you to all. – The Foxtons - Marlene, Mary Beth, Mark, Murray and families. 32-1p

Libro has exciting new job opportunities in our Huron Perth region. We are currently looking to add passionately accountable full-time Owner Experience Representatives in our Clinton, Listowel and Exeter branches.

Could this be you? Are you ready to be Libro? Check out our job postings at www.libro.ca/careers.

Only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Libro is committed to fostering a safe, healthy, and inclusive work environment that inspires respect. Libro welcomes applications from persons with disabilities and accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the recruitment and selection process.

successful candidate must possess the following: Class DZ licence Ontario Secondary School Grade 12 Diploma Ability to operate and maintain motor graders and / or other heavy equipment and / or tandem trucks, is an asset.

• Experience with winter maintenance on public roads is an asset.

Please submit a Letter of Interest, résumé and a copy of driver’s abstract to: mail@morristurnberry.ca Subject Line: Equipment Operator or Attn: Equipment Operator Municipality of Morris-Turnberry PO Box 310, BRUSSELS, ON NOG 1HO

Friday, September 3, 2021, at 1 p.m.

For further information contact the undersigned: Mike Alcock, Director of Public Works Email: malcock@morristurnberry.ca We appreciate the interest of all applicants, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

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. 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

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FOR SALE - double quilt for $12; afghan (pink/white/wine) for $12.

Call Jean Jardine, 519-612-1112 (Goderich).

32-3 ------------------------------------------FOR SALE - chest freezer, 7.5 cubic feet, Woods model, excellent condition, $100. 519-357-7240 or 519-357-3608, Wingham.

32-3 ------------------------------------------FOR SALE - seasoned firewood, $80 face cord, mostly ash. Call Bill 519-528-2084, leave a message.

32-3 ------------------------------------------FOR SALE - left-handed golf clubs with bag and cart, one and three wood, five and seven irons, one putter, good starter set, $50.

519-527-1554.

32-3 ------------------------------------------FREE - to a good home, Nordheimer upright piano, with bench, good working condition.

519-527-0908.

32-3 -------------------------------------------

All word ads in The Citizen classifieds are put on our webpage at

www.huroncitizen.ca

FOR SALE - New Rival roaster oven, $25. 519-528-2284.

31-3 ------------------------------------------FOR SALE handmade cherrywood, two-piece fold-up quilt frame, 28"x36", $50; twoshelf bookcase 30"x28"x7" deep, $25. 519-606-2170.

30-3 ------------------------------------------FOR SALE - special occasion decor; milk bottles, half pints, pints and quarts with dairy names or without, $5 and up; old canning jars, clear glass or blue, many sizes; glass lantern globes, two sizes, $5 and $10; old splint wooden baskets, 6 qt., 11 qt. or bushel, $3 and up.

519-523-4711.

30-3 ------------------------------------------FOR SALE - two doll houses, $50 and $25; framed slate chalkboard, $25; Culligan water cooler, $25.

Phone 519-357-9249.

30-3 -------------------------------------------

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021. PAGE 15.

Outdoor church services set for Procter family pond on Sunday PEOPLE AROUND BELGRAVE

By Linda Campbell Call 357-2188

New friends Liz Allan, a member of the Maitland Valley Camera Club, recently captured this image of new friends getting to know each other. If you’d like to see your pictures featured in The Citizen, e-mail them to reporter@northhuron.on.ca. (Photo courtesy of Liz Allan of the Maitland Valley Camera Club)

Sincere sympathy is extended to Jim Hallahan in the loss of his wife Lorraine and to Laura and Rodney Nicholson, Shannon and Tony Billings, Patrick and Alicha Hallahan, Jamie and Laura Hallahan and Ryan Hallahan in the loss of their mother.

Belated birthday wishes are

extended to Brenton Lebold on his third birthday on Aug. 4 and to Andrew Campbell on his 49th birthday on July 30.

Birthday wishes are extended to Mike Cottrill on Aug. 12; Donelda Cottrill on Aug. 19 and Katie Cottrill on Aug. 31.

The Belgrave United Church service was held at the Belgrave pavilion on Sunday, Aug. 8. The guest speaker was Murray Scanlon.

On Sunday, Aug. 15 the church service will be held at the Procter pond, which is at the back of Ken and Lila Procter’s farm at 41094 Morris Road. It is at 11:15 a.m. with Jim Hess as the guest speaker.

Bring a lawn chair and a mask. If it is raining, the service will be held in the Belgrave United Church.

Obituaries place, Wroxeter Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to an athletic association of your choice would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy.

Online condolences may be left at www.mcburneyfuneralhome.com

AUDREY JEAN O’KRAFKA Audrey Jean O’Krafka, formerly of Bluevale, passed away at Huronlea Home for the Aged, Brussels on Monday, Aug. 2, 2021.

She was 89.

Audrey was the beloved wife of the late Tom O’Krafka who predeceased her on March 4, 2020 and the loving mom of Barry O’Krafka, Belgrave. She was the devoted grandma of Zack and Stephanie, Meaford and their daughters Alanna and Paige and son Liam, and Xav and Alex, Toronto and son Parker.

Audrey was eagerly awaiting the arrival of a fifth great-grandchild.

She will be lovingly remembered by her nieces and nephews and their families.

Audrey was predeceased by parents Harry and Ruby (Cathers) Hastie, parents-in-law Claus and Rebecca O’Krafka, sisters Evelyn Johnson and her husband Errol, Lolo Mann and her husband Ross, brother-in-law Edward O’Krafka and sister-in-law Marie Irwin and her husband Don. Audrey was a familiar and friendly face within her community, and her warm, kind-hearted and caring nature made her a great friend to many. As an avid sports fan, Audrey found joy in supporting minor sports by cheering on the local kids at the baseball diamond, rugby field and lacrosse and hockey arenas. You knew good things were happening when everyone’s favourite sports grandma was proudly tooting her air horn from the stands. Audrey was genuine and generous, and always kept a positive spirit even when facing life’s challenges. She will be greatly missed.

A private memorial to celebrate both Audrey and Tom’s lives will be held at a later date. Final resting

LOIS (WEBSTER) CHAMNEY Lois (Webster) Chamney of Wingham and formerly of Belgrave, passed away peacefully at Braemar Nursing Home on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021. She was 94.

Lois was the beloved wife of the late Stuart Chamney who predeceased her in 2017. She was the cherished mom of Diane Bridge, Port Elgin; Donna and Jim Muir, Bayfield; Barb and Kevin Pletch, Point Clark; Joyce Bloschinsky, London and Steve and Joan Chamney, Lucknow and the loving grandmother of 14 grandchildren and 27 greatgrandchildren. She was the dear sister-in-law of Gordon “Bud” Chamney, Auburn. Lois was predeceased by her parents William and Edna (Taylor) Webster, son-inlaw Warren Bridge (2017), siblings Jean and Cliff Henderson and George and Greta Webster and Stuart’s siblings Elwyn, Herman and Graham Chamney and Verna Doerr.

Visitation took place at McBurney Funeral Home, Wingham on Wednesday, Aug. 11.

A private funeral service for immediate family only will take place at the funeral home on Thursday, Aug. 12 at 11 a.m. A livestream of the funeral will be available on the McBurney Funeral Home website so you can watch safely from your home. Final resting place is at Brandon Cemetery, Belgrave.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to a charity of one’s

choice would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy.

Online condolences may be left at www.mcburneyfuneralhome.com

HELEN ADELAIDE (JOHNSTON) MACLEAN Helen Adelaide (née Johnston) MacLean passed away peacefully at Mitchell Nursing Home on Aug. 3, 2021. She was 89.

Helen was the beloved wife of the late Grant MacLean (1994) and the dear sister of Doris McKinley, the late Leona Armstrong, and the late Joan (Dwight) Campbell.

Helen was predeceased by parents Leila (Lawson) and Harvey and special companion Robert “Bob” Jewell. She is survived by brothers-in-law Jim Armstrong and Berne McKinley.

Helen was the treasured aunt of several nieces and nephews. She was loved and will be missed by many family members and friends.

Helen’s enthusiasm, faith and

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willingness to serve were an example for all who knew her. She enjoyed her many years of working at Anstett Jewellers in Clinton and Exeter. Helen’s joy for life was evident in her volunteer capacity as Knobby the Clown. The hundreds of finger puppets she made brought joy to many children around the world.

Helen led a full life and will be remembered for her positive outlook, no matter the situation.

A private family funeral service was held at Haskett Funeral Homes, Exeter on Friday, Aug. 6. Interment at Exeter Cemetery.

Donations to Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, Canadian Cancer Society or a charity of one’s choice would be appreciated.

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PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021.

Pandemic thrusts mental health into the spotlight PEOPLE AROUND LONDESBORO

By BRENDA RADFORD Call 523-4296

Licensed Lay Worship Leader (LLWL) Sue Barnett led the worship at Londesborough United Church on Sunday, Aug. 8. Her message/lesson that morning was titled “Getting Rid of Anger”. Her

supporting scripture was Ephesians 4:25 to 5: 2. In this letter to the early church in Ephesus, St. Paul exhorted them to never grieve the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the voice of God that dwells within each of us.

Like St. Paul, Mrs. Barnett challenged those gathered that morning to look both inward and outward in our relationships with others, to never harbour mean and angry thoughts and always show kindness to others. In this way God will be pleased, not aggrieved.

Sue quoted the Dalai Lama to end her message: “The true hero is one

who conquers his own anger and hatred.”

This week the two current media topics collided – mental health and the Olympics.

There has been much study, research and conversation for months now about the effect the COVID-19 pandemic has been having on the mental health of all segments of our population.

Whether it is the office worker who now works from home and manages the virtual learning of children, the women who have lost their place, perhaps permanently, in their field of work because they quit their jobs to stay home with children, the

Big day The Clinton Raceway welcomed plenty of fans on Sunday for the races of the day, which concluded with the annual Vic Hayter Memorial Trot. Neither the rain nor COVID-19 pandemic restrictions could dampen the crowd for the special event. (Denny Scott photo)

Go For The Gold held virtually

By Marita Oudshoorn On Tuesday, July 20, Huron County 4-H clubs held their annual Go For The Gold competition.

Again this year, it was held as a virtual competition using the fun gaming platform – Kahoot.

On the night of the competition, participants needed a computer to join the Zoom meeting and a second device to participate with Kahoot. Normally teams play between two and four games against each other, but with Kahoot, each member plays individually

and the four top-scoring members move on to the Region 5 competition (Huron, Perth, Bruce and Grey Counties).

The 50 questions were a combination of multiple-choice, short answer and true-or-false questions. Questions were from various 4-H manuals: red meat, bird watching, cake decorating, canine, community involvement, energy, heritage, poultry, sheep and veterinary projects. Questions were also from general media, current events and 4-H opportunities.

The four participants with the highest score who are moving on to the regional competition on Aug. 26 are Evy Verschaeve, Mercedes Prout, Paige Bruinsma and Finn Theophilopoulos. Congratulations to you all. Also participating were Cassandra and Amanda Bos. The Huron County 4-H Leaders Association would like to thank all volunteers, parents and sponsors, Hoegy’s Farm Supply in Brodhagen and Ontario Mutuals, who supported this event.

racialized workers who lost their jobs, the beauticians who had to shut down for months, the children who have missed out on the socialization of in-person schooling, the long-term-care residents and workers and seniors alone at home, there are detrimental effects on our mental health. It is estimated it will take years to fully comprehend the pandemic's overall effect on the nation’s/world’s mental health.

However, blessedly, the pandemic has brought this rather taboo issue into the limelight and has people talking about it. No one could ever have foreseen 18 months ago how far-reaching the effects of this pandemic would be in everyone’s lives. In some ways there has been a domino effect. And this doesn’t take into account the many persons who contracted the disease who are still recovering or who died as a result. But now it is being talked about openly.

Countries around the world are implementing ways to help their populations in regards to mental health issues.

The athletes that have won spots on their country’s Olympic teams have always been an example to others of the rewards that may come from hard work and dedication.

Think of the mental anguish the athletes who have been competing in Tokyo have been facing without their families there and a pandemic raging in that country. And there are scores of athletes who go home from the Olympics without a medal.

The excitement of being chosen to compete and the disappointment in a less-than-perfect performance must weigh heavily on those same athletes.

This past week we learned of a handful of these athletes who refused to participate in their slated events or media interviews because of emotional/mental problems, like American gymnast Simone Biles.

Withdrawing from several events for mental reasons must have been a very difficult decision for her, but what an example she has set for others who are struggling with similar issues.

Just going to Tokyo must have been a concern. Tokyo is rampant with COVID-19 cases, but statistics suggest the people of Tokyo had no contact with the athletes. Safety was a major concern for the IOC and the government of Japan and it seems the cases within the Olympic

Village were a result of nonvaccinated people from around the world and quarantine was immediately enforced. Proof again that vaccination works.

Our Canadian athletes did themselves proud winning medals and shattering records. What is that phrase that goes – anything you can do I can do better? The Canadian women were outstanding in Tokyo.

We have a niece in Tokyo currently working for the Olympic Broadcasting Services. I will be interested to hear her thoughts on the whole Olympic experience.

Long-time readers of this space may recall me saying some time ago, after a trip along the 401, that Henry Ford would be amazed at what has come of his invention.

And the changes have not stopped yet. Every time I found it necessary to climb up into the back of a pickup truck I struggled. Now the new models have not one, but two, steps to make this an easier thing.

Along with the advances that will have many people driving e-cars in the near future, I read that soon new cars will have a system that will keep children from being left accidentally in vehicles on hot days.

Other technology will monitor a driver for signs of distracted, impaired and fatigued driving.

Automatic braking systems and crash avoidance systems are other safety features being proposed.

Semi-trailers will come equipped with rear guards that will prevent small cars from being crushed in rear-end collisions with them.

NEWS FROM LONDESBORO

Good Employment is hard to find!

Let us help Out for a stroll Liz Allan of the Maitland Valley Camera Club recently snapped this picture of the reflecting Maitland River in Brussels during one of the club’s recent meetings, during which members strolled around Brussels finding pictures to snap. (Photo courtesy of Liz Allan of the Maitland Valley Camera Club)

Check out our classified section today

The Citizen

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021. PAGE 17.

From the Minister’s Study

Challenging the concept of the exclusive club

By Rev. Charmila Ireland Melville Presbyterian Church, Brussels I recently read a really interesting book called Wine Girl by Victoria James. It’s a memoir of how she became America’s youngest sommelier – the person who sells you wine at a really fancy restaurant. It probably wouldn’t surprise you to know that the world of high-end wine and restaurants is an exclusive one – in both senses of the word.

At virtually every point in her journey – from diners, to wine school, to higher class and ultimately Michelin-Starred restaurants – Victoria had doors closed in her face. She was made to feel unwelcome, lesser than, like she didn’t belong. The world of wine was and is a closed one, meant for those in the know, those who belonged, the elite. By the virtue of being a woman, and young to boot, many of the people in that rarified circle thought that she didn’t belong. There wasn’t a place for her.

Her story is what came to mind when I was reading Acts 10 – when Peter had a dream about eating all kinds of animals, went to Cornelius’ house (a Gentile) and baptized his entire household. This all takes place in the time after Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven. His followers are left to spread the Gospel in Judea and Samari and to the ends of the earth.

They are given the Holy Spirit, but their instructions weren’t exactly specific. They were stumbling through, trying to do the best they could.

The early Christians were human. They made mistakes. They brought their own prejudices into things. The tricky thing about a worldview is that we’re often so steeped in it – and the people around us are steeped in the same worldview – that it can be really hard to break out of it, even if it’s wrong. Part of the reason that Jesus was so revolutionary is that he challenged the standing worldviews of the day. He challenged the “that’s just the way things are” crowd.

His disciples were trying, but they weren’t always the best at it.

Peter is our example of the day.

Peter was Jewish. He was raised following the Old Testament laws, keeping kosher, making sacrifices, avoiding Gentiles, knowing that he is better than them – after all, he is one of God’s chosen people. That’s the water that he swam in, the air that he breathed. That’s just the way

things were. He was part of an exclusive club.

Then Jesus came along and knocked a whole lot of his presuppositions around, making the impossible possible. But even Jesus, who was Jewish himself, didn’t shake Peter’s notion that he was, at heart, Jewish. After all, Jesus was simply the culmination of the Jewish prophecies and their waiting – Jesus was the Messiah, the fulfillment of God’s plan. So Peter and the early disciples continued to preach to their Jewish brothers and sisters. They tried to show them that Jesus was the one they’d been waiting for. Jesus was still primarily for the Jewish; the chosen people.

Peter isn’t really shaken out of this conviction until God gives him a vision; perhaps an odd one, from our perspective. God sent Peter a vision of a sheet coming down to earth, filled with all kinds of animals. A voice told Peter to kill and eat. But Peter tells that voice, tells God, no! “Surely not, Lord!” he replies. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” Nope.

Not him. He follows the rules of his exclusive group.

This new thing – eating anything, eating unclean animals – is a bridge too far. I do find this a little humourous, since Peter has seen Jesus come back to life, has been given the power to heal a paralytic man, converts thousands with one sermon, sees the Holy Spirit come in rushing wind and tongues of flame. He’s seen all of that, done all of that... but this, eating pork, is just too far!

For him, it is. It hits at the core of who he is – Jewish. He is Jewish, and Jewish people don’t eat those foods, so he can’t. It’s part of his identity. That’s not an easy thing to change.

But God, through the vision, insists. God has to tell Peter three times, but Peter finally listens. God is instructing him, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” God’s triple persistence, is what allows Peter to finally break free of his preconceived notions. It allows him to question his own worldview and realize that God is God for everyone, not just for the

Evangelical Missionary Church

Brian Wardlaw (Ethnos Canada) “Why do we need the BELT of TRUTH?” (Eph.6:10-20)

The Regional Ministry of Hope Churches are now open for in-person worship.

Weekly service live-streamed at 10.30 a.m. on our facebook page or on youtube @St. Paul’s-Trinity Anglican Church Wingham.

Rev. JoAnn Todd, Rector 519-357-7781 email: revjoann@hurontel.on.ca The­Regional­Ministry­of­ Hope

Trinity

St. John’s

BLYTH 9:00 AM

BRUSSELS 12 NOON

St. Paul’s Trinity

WINGHAM 10:30 AM

COME WORSHIP WITH US!

BRUSSELS

No church services at Brussels United August 8th - 29th Consider joining services at nearby churches.

Pastor Sandra Cable (519-887-8267) will cover pastoral care from August 2nd-16th Contact Alex at minister.brusselsandblythuc@gmail.com Website: brusselsandblythuc.ca P.O. Box 359, Brussels ~ 519-887-6259

Sunday, August 15 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

Face masks and social distancing in effect

Brussels Mennonite Fellowship We’re Back!!!

Worshipping Jesus Together All Are Welcome

For additional details please visit: brusselscommunitybiblechapel.com

MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS

Sundays @ 10 am ­­ Face masks & social distancing in effect 250 Princess St., Brussels • 519­887­6388 • Pastor Ken Gazley

Join us for our 10:00 am and 7:30 pm livestream services.

Video services can be found by searching on YouTube “Blyth Christian Reformed Church”

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

Blyth United Church On vacation for August Stay safe. See you in September Summer outreach project The United Church Healing Fund supporting those impacted by the residential schools.

In-person and online! huronchapel.com/videos Thursdays - Check out area churches’ kids ministry at Blyth Farmers’ Market! huronchapel.com 119 John’s Ave., Auburn 519-526-1131

Jesus and join the exclusive club.

We do this today too. It feels good to belong. And for many, it feels even better if not everyone else can belong too. One metric for how good a university is ranked is not how many people they accept – but how many they reject. Their rejection rate shows how many people want to attend but can’t.

They’re special. They’re wanted.

They’re elite.

Everyone wants to feel like they belong. They’re part of something.

In Wine Girl, Victoria recounts her time working at a two-Michelin Continued on page 18

United Church

BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Sunday August 15, 10:30 am

Jewish people; that Jesus died and rose to life for all, not just for a special group. Only with God’s direct intervention was Peter able to see.

Many of the other early Christ followers were not as fortunate to have such a vision. Many still had the belief that Jesus was for the Jewish people only; God is meant for them, and no one else. Many believed that if anyone else wanted to follow Christ, they could, but first they had to become Jewish.

They had to be circumcised and start following the Old Testament laws. Only then could they follow

"Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” (Galations 6:9) Contact Alex at: minister.brusselsandblythuc@gmail.com

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

Join us for outdoor worship every Sunday at 9:30 am.

All are welcome!

Virtual worship available on Youtube at “St. Andrew’s and Melville Sermon” Brussels Soup and More 2 is cancelled until further notice.

519-357-5273

THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH

OUR CHURCHES HAVE RE-OPENED. WELCOME BACK. 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 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021.

God does not show favouritism says Ireland Continued from page 17 Star restaurant in New York – a place where politicians, celebrities and business tycoons would eat. At this particular restaurant the person who took the reservations always put the most attractive people at the tables right up against the windows.

They were pushing the image that this is the restaurant to eat at. This is the place to be. You want to be there. Of course, if you called for a reservation, you’d be waiting months if you even got one. Unless, of course, you’re in – you belong. If you eat at this restaurant, it means that you’re part of the club.

It’s one thing when a restaurant does this. It’s a whole other thing when the church does it. The church should never be an exclusive club, open only to a few. My mom once told me a story about why her family changed churches when she was growing up. Her family was quite poor. They didn’t have a lot extra. That shouldn’t matter at

church, but it did. There was a group of town ladies who all had fancy hats. Church essentially became a competition for the ladies to see who had the nicest hat.

You might recognize this as… not something Jesus ever cared about!

My grandma didn’t have a nice hat.

They didn’t have the money to spend, so she was snubbed. My grandpa, not one to suffer such things, took the entire family to one of the other churches in town. I can’t blame him. Their original church had become an exclusive club that was more concerned with being special than with following Jesus.

That’s pretty similar to where the early church was when Peter saw the vision. After Peter heard the message to kill and eat, he was left wondering if that’s all it was about – did God send him a vision just to get him to eat pork? He’s wondering if there’s something more to it. And as he is thinking

about it, some people come to get him and invite him to see Cornelius, a non-Jew who has been told by an angel to invite Peter to his home.

Peter goes to Cornelius’ house.

He tells Cornelius that he isn’t even supposed to be there. It’s against Jewish law for him to associate with Gentiles. Peter is still part of that elite group that has to follow certain rules, after all. But he’s starting to bend; he’s starting to get it. The vision was about more than just food. He tells them, “God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean…I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”

This is, quite simply, incredible!

Peter has been raised to believe that God shows favouritism. God favours His chosen people, the Jewish. They are God’s covenant people. The closed group to which entry is very difficult. And here

Peter is, saying the opposite of that!

Acknowledging what Jesus had been trying to teach him and the other disciples through his love and actions – that all are welcome in the kingdom of God. God does not show favouritism.

After preaching the Gospel to them, the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles of the household and the Jewish people who had come with Peter were astounded. Peter goes even further and proclaims that they should be baptized with water, since they have already received the Holy Spirit. Peter is putting these Gentiles on the same level as God’s chosen people. He is truly preaching to the ends of the earth.

He is opening the exclusive club up to the masses. Peter finally gets it.

Alas, it’s not so easy, because Peter was not the only disciple.

When the apostles in Judea heard that Gentiles had also received the word of God, they were quick with the criticism. “You went into the

house of uncircumcised men and ate with them!” they accurately accuse.

Peter explained his vision and what happened – how the Holy Spirit came onto the Gentiles the same way that it came onto them at Pentecost. He asks them, “if God gave them the same gift as He gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?” His questioners realize that it’s a fair point. They can’t oppose God. They raised no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.” How miraculous.

How paradigm changing.

Church should never be a place where we go to show off, a place where we show people only our beautiful side, a place where we decide who’s allowed in and who’s not. This can be hard to put into Continued on page 19

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021. PAGE 19.

Higher price of video project concerns councillors

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Several Central Huron councillors are concerned with the rising costs associated with a promotional video contract that was approved recently.

The promotional video development committee

recommended an increase to the project budget from $49,789.14, plus applicable HST, to $54,314.40 to include advertising management from Winged Whale Media, the successful bidder on the tender.

Several councillors who were already critical of the $50,000 budget for the video project said they were worried costs were

escalating for the entire project.

Mayor Jim Ginn said the increase would provide the municipality with three months of social media support to get the videos in front of people. The municipality’s social media presence, he said, is quite low and with the advertising management, the company would help to spread the word and then

train employees how to keep that momentum going moving forward.

Ginn said it was important that, if the municipality spent a significant amount of money on the project, that council do all it can to get the videos off the ground. He said it didn’t make any sense to have the videos sit on a shelf where no one can watch them.

Councillor Alex Westerhout was concerned with the expanding budget, while Councillor Marg Anderson said she was worried that this late addition of advertising management, had it been included in the original proposal, would have resulted in perhaps a different company winning the contract.

Ginn said that wasn’t the case, and that any company that included advertising management in their proposal had that element of the proposal removed to ensure an “apples to apples” comparison of the bids.

Councillor Alison Lobb said she was in favour of the increase in

spending for all the reasons Ginn stated, but that, as a member of the committee, she was under the impression that this would be a new budget item, rather than an increase to the existing budget.

Regardless, council voted to increase the budget by just under $5,000 to allow for the inclusion of advertising management.

Sudoku Solution

Kindly join us for a Come-and-Go

Bridal Shower

Bridal Shower

Dog days of summer

in honour of

KRISTA COLLISON

Marg Garniss of Wingham snapped this photo of her favourite chocolate lab, Buster recently, and titled it “And you think you have it rough?” Send your photos of your pets, children, wild animals and landscapes to reporter@northhuron.on.ca for a chance to see them in print. (Photo submitted)

(Fiancée of Taylor Prior)

08 / 17 / 21 honouring Nadine Haelzle

Following God isn’t always easy Continued from page 18 action. It can be hard to welcome everyone. People who are different from what we’re used to can make us uncomfortable. They can challenge the way that we see the world. Travelling to another country can open your eyes to new ways of doing things. Allowing everyone into our family of love and walking a mile in their shoes can do the same for us at church.

It’s hard. It was hard for Peter to change his whole way of thinking

and living. Plenty of the letters in the New Testament speak of exactly this issue – Gentiles becoming Christian without becoming Jewish – that we know it wasn’t easy for any of them. Following God isn’t always easy. Sometimes it forces us to question the assumptions upon which our very life is built. It did for the early church, making them say, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

Yes. Yes, God has.

God has given life and

Please join us for a Drive-By

forgiveness of sins to all who come to God; not just a special club, but everyone who comes to the cross.

We don’t need to follow a bunch of specific rules. We don’t need to own a fancy hat. We don’t need to be rich, perfect, beautiful or smart.

All we need to do is come to God with a desire to love and serve God. God takes care of the rest. We belong. It might feel good to belong to an exclusive club, but it feels even better to belong to an inclusive one.

A bit of a theme London artist Kim Wilkie recently opened a new exhibit at the Fashion Arts and Creative Textiles Studio (FACTS) in Blyth called Garden Patches. Above, she poses with some of the pieces that are crafted with painted canvas, clothes line and metallic thread. She explained, during the opening on Friday evening, that the pieces are a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the isolation it caused. (Denny Scott photo)

(bride of Hayden TenPas)

Sunday, August 22 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

75 Queensbury St., Brussels Registered at myregistry.com

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RETIREMENT

After 30 years, regretfully I must announce my retirement from a career which I have thoroughly enjoyed. If not for age and ‘stage’ (my back will not co­operate), I would still be working in this profession, that of which began in March, 1991 at the Whitney­Ribey Funeral Home.

In 1995, I graduated from Humber, Toronto as a fully­licensed funeral director; this 25­year milestone marked in pandemic year 2020.

I am so grateful and truly blessed to have been employed by three very fine family­owned and operated funeral homes in Seaforth; namely, Whitney­Ribey Funeral Home, McGlynn Family Funeral Home and, Haskett Funeral Homes. These business professionals, backed by their dedicated families and staff, are genuinely caring and compassionate.

As well, I am most fortunate to have worked with, for almost 19 years, my outstanding mentor and good friend, Ross Ribey (2009), and his wife, and my longtime friend, Joyce, and their family. As managing director, I continued to work alongside Joyce Ribey for another two years.

I truly value acquaintances made with co­workers throughout the years, colleagues, and business personnel in our area and beyond; and, through encounters made with cemeteries, church families, Seaforth Hospital, retirement and long­term care homes, organists, Seaforth Legion and, caterers. It has been very special and delightful working with our daughter, Charlene O'Reilly, who remains actively employed by the Haskett family.

Memories and friendships stemming from relationships with you, the Seaforth and area people within this grand community of Huron and Perth, I so cherish. Please say ‘Hi’ when we meet on the street.

Love and a big thank you to my family for your unconditional love and support throughout this journey.

– Sincerely, Ruth Townsend

PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021.

NH Council opts for pricier, mobile audio system

By Denny Scott The Citizen North Huron Township Council approved the purchase of a mobile audio system to solve acoustic problems during council meetings at the Wingham Town Hall Theatre, the temporary home for council meetings.

During council’s Monday night meeting, Clerk Carson Lamb presented council with several options to combat an issue with council, presenters and staff not being heard by staff and gallery members in the theatre.

He said council could either do nothing, as audio on the council’s broadcasted YouTube recording of meetings was fine, purchase a permanent audio set-up for the theatre, purchase a more expensive audio system that could be relocated from the theatre if council decided to change locations or rent an audio system for a period of six months.

An audio system designed for the theatre would cost between $5,000 to $6,000, Lamb said, noting the preferred vendor for any of the options was Ernie King Music as all other companies that bid on the project had come in signficantly higher on each option.

The system would include large microphones designed for stage performances and all-around audio use, a general audio mixing board

designed for “broad applications” and large speakers that wouldn’t be suited for other locations, he said.

A more mobile option, Lamb said, would cost between $10,000 and $12,000 and include desktop microphones more designed for council chambers, an “automatic activation mixer” that mutes other microphones when a speaker is given the floor, reducing unwanted feedback, and wall-mountable speakers that don’t require nearby power sources.

“If [council] proceeded with this option, the useful life of the audio system would be longer than [the permanent system] as the system would be relocatable,” Lamb said in his report. “This system could be relocated to another location once a permanent council chambers location has been determined by council.”

The final option, a six-month rental of a more advanced system with the smallest microphones of all three options and would cost $1,977.50, Lamb reported.

Lamb suggested funding the purchase through the COVID-19 relief funds provided by the provincial government as council’s move to the town hall had been precipitated by the pandemic.

Deputy-Reeve Trevor Seip, however, felt that might not be the best use of the funds, saying there may be a more dire need for those funds in the coming months. He

COVID-19 case counts spike in Huron, Perth Continued from page 1 480. Seven new cases were also reported in North Perth, bringing its cumulative total to 436. Two new cases have been reported in Perth South, bringing its cumulative total to 51. Other municipalities in the area maintained the same case counts from the previous week, including Perth East (171), West Perth (66) and St. Marys (48).

There are currently 15 active cases in Huron and Perth Counties, the highest count in three weeks.

There are two active cases in North Huron, while Perth County has active cases in North Perth (seven), Stratford (five) and Perth South (one).

There are currently no outbreaks at retirement or long-term care facilities and no community, congregate living, child care, school or workplace outbreaks.

While acquisition numbers are relatively unchanged from last week, the percentage of cases linked to close contact with existing cases has increased from 19.2 per cent to 19.5 while the percentage of cases related to household exposure dropped from 29.7 per cent to 29.

The percentage of cases regulated to outbreaks dropped from 25.3 per cent to 25 and travel exposure remains responsible for one per cent of likely acquisition while unknown vectors are responsible for 24.8 per cent of cases.

There are currently 42 people in isolation, with a total of 5,692 cumulative isolation orders since the start of the pandemic.

There are currently no hospitalized COVID-19 cases in Huron and Perth Counties and the number of COVID-19-related deaths remains at 57.

Vaccination numbers continue to climb in the area, though first-dose statistics are rising slower than fully-vaccinated numbers, which

are quickly catching up.

As of Monday, 100,201 individuals in the region have had at least one dose of a recognized COVID-19 vaccine, or 78.4 per cent, up from 77 per cent the week before. There are, as of Monday, 88,966 people in Huron and Perth Counties who are fully vaccinated, or 69.6 per cent, up from 61 per cent the week prior.

Demographic information for those with at least one recognized COVID-19 vaccine dose are as follows: • 12-17: 6,024 (63.7 per cent of eligible recipients) to 6,245 (66.1) • 18-24: 7,062 (60.6) to 7,178 (61.5) • 25-29: 5,555 (59.8) to 5,647 (60.8) • 30-39: 11,152 (63.2) to 11,321 (64.1) • 40-49: 11,726 (73) to 11,838 (73.7) • 50-59: 1,5862 (81.5) to 15,961 (82.1) • 60-69: 1,9708 (91.6) to 19,756 (91.8) • 70-79: 1,4236 (98.3) to 14,239 (98.3) • 80+8,023 (97) to 8,016 (97) Fully-vaccinated: • 12-17: 3,828 (40.5) to 4,513 (47.7) • 18-24: 5,179 (44.4) to 5,662 (48.5) • 25-29: 4,127 (44.4) to 4,469 (48.1) • 30-39: 8,755 (49.6) to 9,369 (53.1) • 40-49: 9,687 (60.3) to 10,258 (63.9) • 50-59: 13,819 (71) to 14,326 (73.7) • 60-69: 18,247 (84.8) to 18,586 (86.4) • 70-79: 13,754 (95) to 13,842 (95.6) • 80+ 7,931 (95.9) to 7,941 (96.1) For more information, visit hpph.ca.

Council agreed with Palmer and Councillor Chris Palmer asked staff if there were any other projects that could require COVID- suggested investing in the more approved the purchase of the more mobile speaker system to make sure expensive, mobile system using 19 relief funding.

Director of Finance Donna White council had what it needed COVID-19 relief funds. The system said the current COVID-19 relief regardless of whether it stayed in should be in place for the Sept. 7 council meeting, Lamb said. funding was going to be used to the theatre or moved elsewhere. offset wages and help pay for North H u r o n ’ s participation in local mass vaccination clinics. She said, with the municipal office building having opened earlier this month, there could be other expenses, but, as of the Monday night meeting, she didn’t know of any other pending expenses.

She did say that, if there was another provincial shutdown in the fall, the funds The McIntosh family will be hosting the Huron County Plowing Match would likely be on one of their family fields on Aug. 20. From left are Barbara, Dugald, gone by then.

Host family

Kirsten and Ross McIntosh.

(Denny Scott photo)

Live Life On The Veg

GROWING TASTY TROPICAL PLANTS Here’s a guide to adding interesting indoor plants to your home that also provide tasty foods like lemons, limes, kumquats, figs, olives, coffee, tea, cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate, black pepper and passion fruit. $23.95 MUSHROOMS and Other Fungi of North America Over 1,000 fullcolour photos make this the most comprehensive illustrated guide on mushrooms, and the essential resource for the amateur collector, expert mycologist and armchair naturalist. $29.95

Grow What You 300 BEST Love: 12 Food POTATO Plant Families To RECIPES Our most Change Your Life c o m m o n Gives advice on vegetable can how best to choose also be the food plants that most versatile. readers love, or can Information on and potato history discover, and varieties follows with simple methods for garden-to-table and recipes for everything from growing, including a selection of her favourite appetizers, snacks, salads, soups, seasonal recipes. The result for readers will be main courses, breads and desserts. a garden-fresh bounty for any time of the year. $27.95 $29.95 SOUPED UP THE ORGANIC Over 60 recipes GOURMET for nourishing Over 100 soups to feed delicious both body and organic recipes soul. Whether for everything you’re looking from appetizers for a way to use to soups to seasonal food, salads, meats, increase your daily intake of seafood and vegetables, or poultry, vegetarian dishes, condiments, crave the comfort only a warming bowl breads and desserts plus information of soup can bring, this book is for you. on organics. $19.95 $19.95

GROWING TASTY TROPICAL PLANTS 300 BEST POTATO RECIPES GROW WHAT YOU LOVE MUSHROOMS AND OTHER FUNGI SOUPED UP THE ORGANIC GOURMET Prices subject to change with increases in wholesale prices, postage, taxes, etc. Please refer to current issue for correct figures.

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