The Citizen - Aug. 20, 2020

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THIS WEEK • Awards • Editorials • Agriculture • Obituaries

Citizen

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Thursday, August 20, 2020

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Volume 36 No. 34

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COVID-19 spikes in southern Huron

By Denny Scott The Citizen

On-the-job training Several Brussels firefighters were called to go above and beyond their normal training last week when a fire broke out in a pig barn in Morris-Turnberry on St. Michael’s Road.

While the Fire Department of North Huron responded, they requested help from other departments, including Huron East’s Brussels station. The fire was brought under control

before any significant loss of structure happened. When the firefighters from Brussels arrived, they were tasked with helping Dan Egli get piglets out of the barn and into a nearby outdoor pen.

From left: Egli, Melissa Jacklin and John Groves. Out of frame is Brussels Firefighter Chris Riley, who was also part of the pigletwrangling efforts. (Denny Scott photo)

Huron and Perth Counties continue to edge towards the 100case mark in the COVID-19 pandemic and, after a rise in cases in southern Huron County, it may happen this week with 93 confirmed cases as of Monday, marking more than 10 new cases in the past week.

During a press conference on Monday, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Miriam Klassen said Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) is tracking an outbreak in southern Huron County tied to a business which she later identified as Zehr’s Country Market. Six new cases have been linked to the business, which has sites in Bayfield and Dashwood, and more are expected, Klassen said.

She said additional cases would likely be confirmed on Tuesday of this week.

The cases are tied to families connected to the Zehr’s Country Market outbreak, she said, and emergency personnel worked over the weekend to help identify as many cases as possible.

“The risk to those who visited Zehr’s Country Markets [as customers] remains low,” she said, adding people who were at the sites should self-monitor and isolate if necessary.

When asked if the Zehr’s Country Market outbreak was connected to other cases in the area, Klassen said it was related to the outbreak in Low German-speaking communities, which in itself may have been connected to migrant workers in the Continued on page 11

Two express interest in Huron Warden position

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Two men have voiced their intention to be Huron County’s next Warden, one officially and one unofficially.

At Huron County Council’s Aug. 12 meeting, Ashfield-ColborneWawanosh Mayor Glen McNeil said that after significant consultation with his family and fellow councillors, he would like to put his name forward for the position.

McNeil said that numerous councillors had asked him if he would consider running for the county’s top political spot. He began considering it and then spoke to his family, saying that with family support, someone can do anything

and without it they can do nothing.

Furthermore, McNeil called every Huron County councillor and Chief Administrative Officer Meighan Wark to gauge their feelings on him

running for the position. McNeil said if any red flags would have arisen during that consultation process, he wouldn’t have felt comfortable moving forward.

Everything he does as a Huron County councillor, McNeil said, is for the good of Huron County and he sees being Warden an extension of that body of work.

McNeil also lauded Warden Jim Ginn for his four years of service in the Warden’s chair, saying he set an example to which it will be hard for Continued on page 20

Special issues on the way from ‘Citizen’ In this week’s issue of The Citizen, you’ll find a 16-page special issue inserted celebrating the tradition of the Huron County Plowing Match. It will be the first of three such issues coming your way in the next month or so.

While this year’s match, which would have been held this week, has been cancelled due to the COVID19 pandemic, The Citizen has partnered with the Huron Plowmen’s

Association to create this special issue celebrating the organization and its decades of work in the community.

The issue included in this week’s Citizen tells some of the association’s best stories from over the years. There are past champions, past Queens and Princesses and the success of the 2017 International Plowing Match – a legacy that continues to have an impact today.

In addition, the issue looks ahead to 2021, when the association hopes to host another plowing match, an essential event for agricultural communities and those both young and young-at-heart.

In the Sept. 10 issue, The Citizen will be celebrating the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association and its annual reunion, while in the Sept. 17 issue, The Citizen will be working

with the Brussels Agricultural Society to honour the Brussels Fall Fair.

While these events may not be moving ahead in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many reasons to celebrate these important events and selfless organizations and The Citizen is proud to work with them to tell their stories.

- SL

PAGE 2. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020.

Ansley honoured with Junior Citizen Award hear all of her fellow winners’ accomplishments. They were so different, she said, with no two winners being honoured for the same outreach into their communities.

The OCNA sent the Ansleys what amounted to a “party in a box” ahead of the Zoom meeting, Katie said, filling the void of a true party held in Toronto that should have been held in April, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The box came equipped with balloons, streamers, fancy plates and flatware, snacks and several gift certificates to local businesses to ensure the Ansleys went out and enjoyed themselves just as they would have if the event would have went ahead as planned. Mikayla also received her award and a special pin from the association.

Mikayla said she thought it was very special to be honoured by the association in the manner that she was. To see her fellow winners and all they accomplished and to think of

herself as being among them, she said, made her feel pretty good.

Ansley was named one of the 12 winners across the province in January. She was nominated in November by John Stewart, representing the Blyth Lions Club.

Citizen Publisher Deb Sholdice, Editor Shawn Loughlin, North Huron Councillor Kevin Falconer and local accessibility advocate Lorie Falconer all submitted supporting documents for Ansley’s nomination.

Ansley’s foundation of kindness comes from her experiences as a very young child who had to battle a rare ocular cancer from her very earliest days. She would lose one of her eyes to the disease and most of her sight in the other, leaving her legally blind from a very early age.

Ansley then underwent 55 operations in her early years and still has vivid memories of the pain she was in at the time. Her parents had Continued on page 3

The Citizen Your Independent Huron County News Source

What an honour Mikayla Ansley of Blyth was one of 12 young Ontarians honoured last week as a winner of an Ontario Junior Citizen Award. The awards, handed out annually by the Ontario Community Newspaper Association, are presented to young people from across the province who have made a difference in their communities and beyond. Ansley was recognized for her stellar work in uniting the community with kindness. After writing an essay entitled “Kindness Matters”, she would eventually go on a whirlwind tour that involved winning the Lions Clubs International worldwide Peace Essay competition, earning her and her family a trip to Manhattan last year, and being honoured by Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson as one of the area’s outstanding citizens. (Courtesy photo)

The Citizen Blyth’s Mikayla Ansley received her Ontario Junior Citizen Award from the Ontario Community Newspaper Association (OCNA) last week as part of a special awards ceremony held online via Zoom.

Ansley was one of 12 young people from Ontario between the ages of six and 17 honoured during the video conference on Aug. 12, which included representatives from the OCNA and Elizabeth Dowdeswell, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

Dowdeswell honoured each recipient by listing their accomplishments for those in the

meeting, asking follow-up questions and thanking them for all they do in their communities.

Katie Ansley, Mikayla’s mother, said she found Dowdeswell’s opening remarks very inspiring, especially when in the context of young people being honoured for extraordinary achievements.

She said Dowdeswell acknowledged that it’s difficult for young people to understand the impact they have on the world around them, so it’s sometimes up to adults to show them that what they’re doing means a lot to their communities. Katie said she felt that was very true.

Dowdeswell spoke to Mikayla about kindness, referencing her

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essay, “Kindness Matters”, which received worldwide acclaim through Lions Clubs International. Mikayla said she responded by saying that kindness isn’t necessarily about grand gestures, but rather making the choice to be kind to your friends, neighbours and classmates every day. If anything, she said, the need for kindness on a day-to-day basis has risen in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mikayla said it was interesting to

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020. PAGE 3.

Huron Honey co-operative project progresses

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron Honey, the communitystudent partnership spearheaded by Angela Smith in Central Huron, is going full steam ahead, having harvested its first batch of honey just last week.

Smith and her crew of local young people were at the home farm of Central Huron Mayor and Huron County Warden Jim Ginn, where the bees have been housed since the project began, to harvest the honey last week.

In an interview with The Citizen, Smith, Central Huron’s community improvement co-ordinator, said the program has gone much better than she thought it would, thanks to the interest of over 10 local students.

She first proposed a pair of pilot programs for the township aimed at bettering the area from the inside out while engaging local students at the same time, many of whom had lost their summer employment prospects

due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first project has been converting some of the municipality’s flower beds into vegetable gardens with the harvest being donated to local food banks and the second has been the Huron Honey project.

She has been working with students and local experts to teach the students the ins and outs of each project. With Huron Honey, students have been taking charge of every aspect of the initiative, from naming the product to designing its label to purchasing jars and supplies to harvesting the honey.

Smith originally thought the honey could be packaged and sold in gift baskets this holiday season at the municipality’s annual ladies night fundraiser. However, that night, like so many other events, has been cancelled for the year.

She is currently working to find a way to get the honey into the hands of consumers, discussing the prospect of carrying the honey at local grocery stories and farmers’ markets. She hopes to have it on the

shelves at Foodland in Seaforth soon, as well as in other stores and markets.

Smith figures the students harvested at least 40 frames from their bees last week, estimating that’s about half of what will prove to be the final harvest. They worked with a borrowed manual extractor.

Smith said the long-term plan is to use some of the money raised to buy Huron Honey its own extractor, preferably an electric one.

Moving forward, Smith said it will be interesting to see how the program develops with students returning to school in just a matter of weeks. However, she hopes to keep the momentum of Huron Honey moving, as it has exceeded her expectations, both in terms of production and participation.

She says she’s very proud of how the program has worked and she can’t wait for locals to try the fruits of the students’ labour later this year.

For more information on the Huron Honey initiative, visit its profile on Instagram.

Junior Citizens honoured The first harvest Young people involved in the Huron Honey co-operative project in Central Huron harvested their first batch of honey last week at the home farm of Central Huron Mayor and Huron County Warden Jim Ginn. Students began work on the project months ago and they are just now enjoying the fruits of their labour. They hope to have the honey in stores and at farmers’ markets soon. (Courtesy photo)

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As if we saw two shining eyes looking on us out of the darkness!

(Thomas Guthrie, 1803-1873) “Does He not see my ways and count my every step?” Job 31:4 “A man’s ways are in full view of the LORD, and He examines all his paths.”

Proverbs 5:21

A unique celebration This year’s Ontario Junior Citizen Award winners were honoured online via Zoom this year after their awards gala in Toronto was cancelled in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blyth’s Mikayla Ansley, top right, and Brussels native Christopher Pennington, just below Ansley, were among the 12 young people honoured last week. For a full story on Pennington and his accolades, see page 6. (Courtesy photo) Continued from page 2 very real fears in those early days that they would lose their daughter to cancer, but she has not only survived, but she has thrived in the decade that has followed.

In his nomination, Stewart highlighted many of Ansley’s achievements in recent years, including winning the Lions Clubs International worldwide Peace Essay contest, which culminated in a special recitation of the speech at Lions Day at the United Nations in New York City early last year.

He also detailed Ansley’s many charitable initiatives, many of which were based out of Hullett Central Public School. Ansley has been involved in local food bank collections and a teddy bear drive for the children of Haiti, among other projects. She has also been a

regular participant and winner in local public speaking competitions sponsored by Lions Clubs International, the Royal Canadian Legion and the Avon Maitland District School Board.

Ansley has also worked extensively to improve accessibility in Huron County, most recently as a consultant with Blyth Cowbell Brewing Company, ensuring it is one of the province’s most accessible buildings.

Ansley was honoured by Lions Clubs International, receiving a standing ovation from over 1,500 Lions dignitaries from all over the world at Lions Day at the United Nations. Subsequently, North Huron declared Sunday, April 14, 2019 as Mikayla Ansley Day in conjunction with a celebration of her achievements hosted by the Blyth Lions

Club at Memorial Hall last spring.

The event was attended by nearly all of North Huron Council as well as Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb, MPP Lisa Thompson and several Lions Club dignitaries from all over the province. Earlier this month, Ansley was one of several who were named “Remarkable Citizens” by Thompson at her annual New Year’s Levée.

This is the first time The Citizen has had one of its nominees selected for the final 12 award winners in over 10 years. The last time was when Walton’s Jacob McGavin was honoured in 2008, though other local youths have been nominated from the area in recent years.

For more information on the OCNA’s Junior Citizen Awards and to read about some of the other winners from around the province, visit the OCNA online at ocna.org.

“My eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.”

Proverbs: 15:3 “My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from Me, nor is their sin concealed from My eyes.” Jeremiah 16:17 How solemn is the thought, that an invisible Being is ever at our side and watching us – recording with rapid pen each deed and word, every desire that rises, though it is to burst like a soap-bubble, and every thought that passes, though on an eagle’s wing.

We cannot shake off the presence of God! When doors are shut, and curtains drawn, and all is still, and darkest nights fills four chamber, and we are left alone with our thoughts – it might keep them pure and holy to say, as if we saw two shining eyes looking on us out of the darkness, “You, O God, see me!”

May God help you to feel yourselves at all times in His immediate presence!

How promptly then would every evil thought be banished!

What unholy deeds would be crushed in the desire, nipped in the bud, strangled in the birth!

What crimes would remain uncommitted.

How feeble would the strongest temptations prove!

What a purity, nobility, loftiness, holiness, heavenliness – would be imparted to your whole bearing and conduct!

“Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the LORD. Jeremiah 23:23-24.

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

PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020.

Editorials & Opinions

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

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How many words is it worth?

Technology has evolved since a Sony Handycam filmed the 1992 beating of Rodney King from a Los Angeles apartment building. It was the first instance of an eyewitness video of police brutality going viral. It occupied the news cycle for months, long before the internet and social media. Black leaders were convinced that this technology would create enough public awareness that police would be held accountable.

It didn’t happen and we are now decades on. Each of us now carries a high resolution miniature television station in our pocket that is capable of broadcasting live to the world through social media.

If pictures don’t lie, then video has the ability to take it to a higher level: to evoke empathy. Fleeting grainy images or a single still photograph can’t capture the callousness it requires to lean on a man’s neck for eight-and-a-half minutes. The George Floyd incident is different for both the length of the incident and the number of eyewitnesses who filmed it, including the officers’ own bodycams (the footage from them was just released). Officer Derek Chauvin continued the assault knowing full well that he was being filmed by multiple witnesses.

The stories of police brutality that people of colour have told for years are still gaining the attention of the rest of us. Can the sheer volume of uploads to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube and a host of other sites finally make a difference? – DS

Keep your friends close...

It was in The Godfather that Michael Corleone, quoting his father Vito, said it was wise to “keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” And while it’s unfair to call Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden and his newly-named running mate Kamala Harris, a senator and former attorney general, enemies, anyone who watched the party’s primaries can feel the insincerity of this marriage of convenience.

This is not to take a shot at the Biden/Harris ticket, but rather at the political system in the U.S. During the primaries, in an effort to win the party’s nomination and pave the way to potential presidency, Biden, Harris, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and others scratched and clawed at one another’s flaws, faults and shortcomings in an effort to be the last man/woman standing. Not only do these pointed criticisms go directly into the Republican playbook (and vice versa) for the upcoming election, but they seemingly turn party members into adversaries. There is no such system in Canada. While party candidates will debate one another, these events take place behind closed doors, not on live T.V. So as both Biden and Harris take turns reflecting the sun shining out of each other’s backsides towards prospective voters in the hopes of it reflecting back on them this November, one can’t help but feel their words ringing slightly hollow after the barbs exchanged earlier this year.

All of a sudden, Harris can’t imagine anyone but Biden leading the nation, while Biden, who knows something about being vice-president, thinks Harris is the absolute ideal candidate to stand by his side. There are opportunities for both in this partnership. The old, out-of-touch Biden gets younger, more diverse and more progressive with Harris by his side, while Harris steps into the on-deck circle for the presidency.

Biden/Harris may be just the ticket to knock President Donald Trump from his throne, but this system of primary debates only serves to undermine the relationship between a candidate and a running mate. – SL

We have our own race With all the political news coming out of the United States, it can be difficult for Canadians to remember that we have our own political problems, situations and news we should all really be watching. Like many other aspects of our lives, the “American” way of life tends to have undue influence in Canada, especially in entertainment and politics, and we can often overlook what’s at our front door as a nation.

Take, for example, the federal Conservative leadership race, set to wrap up later this week. The race has been anything but, according to pundits, with some people going so far as to call the situation “sleepy”.

The results of the race could be dire, however, and it’s garnering less and less attention here at home with U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies and opponents south of the border claiming top spots in the news.

Outgoing federal Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer said the party’s next leader needs to make sure everyone feels they can win the next election or else some should “give up or throw in the towel.”

After the last leadership election, Maxime Bernier, who lost to Scheer, formed a party on his own (though he was beaten in his own riding shortly after with his party winning no seats), so what happens when a winner is declared could be the start of the story, not the end.

Canadians need to be watching to make sure they know what the new leader stands for and if they should support the party or look for another option, which means turning away from the circus to the south long enough to pay attention. – JDS

Looking Back Through the Years August 25, 1999 Carali McCall, daughter of Murray and Sherry McCall of Walton was the runner-up in the Huron County Plowing Match’s Queen of the Furrow competition.

She came up just short with Amanda Denys of Kippen earning the crown.

At the match, Jason Hugill of Seaforth was the Junior Champion Plowperson, while Steven O’Rourke of Dublin was Reserve Champion.

Paul Dodds of Seaforth won the title of Senior Champion Plowperson, while Walton’s Brian McGavin was the Reserve Champion for the year.

Don McNeil of Brussels set about preserving family history in the village, cleaning up J.C. McNeil’s former service station in the north end of the village. McNeil undertook the initiative so he could host his son’s wedding ceremony and reception in the historic site.

Ruth and John Uyl of Blyth played host to the annual meeting of the Chesley Saddle Club in Blyth.

Forty-one riders made their way to the village for the meeting.

Grey Township Council adopted its tax rate for the year, which would see taxes in the township drop 2.8 per cent from the previous year.

Hullett Township Council approved a draft restructuring proposal at its Aug. 17 meeting. The plan would see Hullett and Goderich Townships join the Town of Clinton to create a newly-amalgamated municipality.

The proposal would then be forwarded to Huron County Council and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs by Sept. 1.

Cast members from Death of the Hired Man at the Blyth Festival continued their research into the world of farming with a visit to the Morris Township farm of Mike

Berretta. There, the actors received a hands-on lesson in the age-old art of stooking.

August 19, 2010 Huron East Council would have a new look in a few months with a municipal election looming.

Mayor Joe Seili said he would not seek re-election to the top job in Huron East, though some councillors declared their intention to run again, including David Blaney in the Brussels Ward.

Huron East Deputy-Mayor Bernie MacLellan declared his intention to run for the mayor’s seat after serving a number of terms as the deputymayor. At the time, MacLellan was the only person to put his name forward for the position.

To step into MacLellan’s shoes, Seaforth Ward Councillor Joe Steffler had filed his papers to be the next deputy-mayor of Huron East.

McKillop Ward Councillors Andy Flowers and Bill Siemon had both filed their papers to run for another term, as had Les Falconer in Tuckersmith and Bob Fisher in Seaforth.

Morgan Deitner was crowned the Brussels Fall Fair Ambassador. It was Jolanda Smith, the 2009 Brussels Fall Fair Ambassador, who did the honours of crowning Deitner, officially bringing Smith’s reign to an end.

In her speech, Deitner addressed the movement of “going green” and how it had changed since its inception in the 1970s.

The Blyth U18 Girls soccer team claimed a silver medal at their own year-end tournament.

Marshall Durnin of Auburn celebrated the completion of his Air Cadet training camp in Oshawa. He trained for several weeks in order to earn his Transport Canada Private

Pilot Licence and Royal Canadian Air Cadet “Wings” badge.

As part of a special event through “Taste of Huron”, Blyth native and celebrated cookbook author Erin Bolger, author of The Happy Baker: A Dater’s Guide to Emotional Baking, would be teaching some of her most popular recipes to members of the public.

The anti-wind turbine movement had established solid footing in Central Huron with Central Huron Against Turbines (CHAT), building on the foundation established by Huron East Against Turbines (HEAT), their neighbours to the east.

August 22, 2019 Huron County Council decided to move ahead with the Natural Heritage Update in principle, despite lengthy debate and significant opposition from members of the public.

Local track and field athlete Ryan Jacklin claimed three gold medals at the National Track and Field Championships, held in Nova Scotia. He also set a new national record in the under-18 five-kilogram hammer throw.

Lucy Meanwell, a member of the cast of Jumbo and The Team on the Hill at the Blyth Festival, graced the Queens Bakery to release her new poetry collection, The Last Green Thing.

Volunteers with the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association were busy preparing for the upcoming reunion, clearing several local fields for live thresher demonstrations. The farmers would clear the raw materials using an antique machine and have them ready for the reunion and its threshing demonstrations, one of the most widely attended events of the weekend.

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020. PAGE 5.

Other Views Honoured in brass, but feet of clay

D

uring the late 1960s, I and the other 3,000 students attending Ryerson Polytechnical Institute walked past the statue of Egerton Ryerson every day for three years without giving it a thought.

Oh “Eggie” might be the target of Frosh Week pranks, with a scarf in the school’s gold and blue colours wrapped around his neck, but that was about all the attention he got. I believe there was an Ontario historical plaque explaining that Ryerson was the creator of the Ontario public school system, but that was about it.

How times have changed! Not only are there 36,000 students at the school now called Ryerson University, but the man the school is named for has been redefined as evil – paint splashed on his statue and demands made that it be removed. The term “genocide” has been attached to his name because he is accused to creating the residential school system for Indigenous students which eventually became a horror story of physical and sexual abuse that caused the death of thousands of students and created physical and mental scars that still have repercussions in First Nations communities today.

So who is Egerton Ryerson – the enlightened leader who created the world-class public school system that helped build the modern Ontario of today, or the villain who designed a vicious Indigenous school system designed to erase an entire people? Well, like most of us, he was a mix of good and bad.

He was hardly a hater of Indigenous people, but he was a Christian missionary, and the unChristian actions of many missionaries (including teachers and officials at Residential schools) has blackened the reputation of Christianity. Yet in 1826/27 at the Credit Mission, located in what is now Mississauga,

Keith Roulston From the cluttered desk the young Methodist minister set out to learn Ojibway. Ryerson later explained: “I must now acquire a new language, to teach a new people.”

The case against him as a promoter of the residential school system is based on a short report he wrote in 1847 proposing boarding schools where older Indigenous male students could learn European-style agriculture. This hardly laid out a model for the torture chambers residential schools eventually became.

Demands are also being made to tear down statues of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first Prime Minister. It’s much harder to defend Macdonald against the accusations made against him for his treatment of First Nations peoples. Even one of his great accomplishments, the building of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, was accomplished by cheating Indigenous peoples out of their land.

And when it comes to accusations about residential schools, it was Macdonald who introduced the system in 1883 as a way of assimilating Indigenous peoples. He told the House of Commons: “When the school is on the reserve, the child lives with his parents who are savages; he is surrounded by savages… He is simply a savage who can read and write.”

And yet, Macdonald is still our first Prime Minister, and will be even if all his statues are

melted down and his name is removed from every school and bridge and highway. We can’t erase either the good or the bad things he did.

Ironically, it is the existence of these statues of Ryerson and Macdonald (and dozens of others), that brought about the discussions of the mistakes they, and society of their time, made. If we take down the statues do we lose the discussion of these historic errors and crimes?

We tend to make people either heroes or villains, when most are flawed human beings.

Some years ago, when CBC television held a contest for viewers to name the “greatest Canadian”, people chose Tommy Douglas, who introduced free medical care when he was Premier of Saskatchewan. Yet, when Douglas graduated from McMaster University, in his thesis he recommended several eugenic policies, including the sterilization of “mental defectives and those incurably diseased.”

Feminist heroine Nelly McClung, immortalized in the The Famous Five monument of the women who won the Persons Case at the British Privy Council, extending women’s rights, also believed in eugenics at one point. Both she and Douglas later changed their opinions, but their sins are still out there – they’re just lucky eugenics isn’t number one on the “unforgivable sins” list right now.

I suspect the statue of Egerton Ryerson will be coming down soon. I really don’t care that much – although if his name also comes off the school, I’ll feel even more ancient with a degree from a school that no longer exists.

Still, I can’t help thinking that we’ll lose an opportunity if we whitewash history. Wouldn’t it be better to continue the discussion by including information at the base of these statues of historical figures about both their good deeds and their bad?

Can I get a little bit of clarity here?

A

s a parent of a soon-to-be public elementary school student, my inbox has seen a fair number of e-mails from the Avon Maitland District School Board regarding the upcoming year and things are changing rapidly.

I’d like to say that everything being emailed to me makes me more comfortable about sending my daughter Mary Jane to her first year of Junior Kindergarten, but that simply isn’t the case and it’s no fault of the school board.

Aside from a tried, tested and effective vaccine against COVID-19, there isn’t anything that’s going to be done to ease my fears about Mary Jane going to school, even if I could convince my four-year-old daughter to wear a mask all day.

That said, the school board has put its best foot forward, as shown in a story in this week’s edition of The Citizen that shows all the efforts being taken to reduce the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak at a school.

It all seems to make sense, but I’ve noticed that other places seem to have a better grasp on things. Schools across the country are finding ways to make things work and, while I’m sure we locally have some teachers going the extra mile to make it work, it would be nice if these things would be codified.

For example, I’ve seen coverage of schools in other provinces building plexiglass bubbles to be mounted on desks so students can work without endangering or being endangered by other students.

There’s also the problem of how flexible things seem to be when we’re mere weeks away from school starting. Or maybe not weeks away, as Minister of Education Stephen Lecce said he wasn’t against phased school starts.

Maybe I’m asking a lot here, but I just want a simple, straightforward answer: when will school start and how will it look? I want to

Denny Scott Denny’s Den know so I can make the important decision whether to send Mary Jane to school, keep her home or find a way to make that work in my wife and I’s work schedules.

I’ll be honest here, I’m not entirely sold on the idea of the necessity of Junior Kindergarten, so if school didn’t start now, or even this school year for the youngest students, and instead we had to put Mary Jane back in daycare, I wouldn’t be heartbroken.

I’m also not against Junior Kindergarten.

What I’m against is the fact that we don’t have an answer. Our provincial politicians have been spending time worrying about getting the economy going without a thought as to what parents (many of whom work or own businesses) are going to do when school starts.

I’ll be the first to say I’ve been impressed by how Premier Doug Ford has handled the pandemic after bungling so many things in the months prior to it, but education seems to be his Achilles’ heel.

Before the pandemic set in, we were covering protests of his shortsightedness regarding education and he continues to have a blindspot when it comes to that particular portfolio.

Who knows, maybe putting someone with educational experience in charge of the ministry would help out? Wouldn’t that be a logical thing to do?

Instead we have a Political Science undergraduate who owns a public relations consultancy firm who is also a first-time

politician. From a ministry led by someone like that, we get ideas that lead to the one glaring flaw in the Avon Maitland District School Board’s back to school plan: transportation.

I was lucky, as a child, to go to a school that actually had no buses. Robertson Memorial Public School in Goderich was in the middle of residential development and everyone walked to school.

Mary Jane, thanks to the shortsightedness of other politicians, doesn’t have a local school to walk to and instead, will have to take a bus eventually.

However, buses that go to Hullett Central Public School in Londesborough or Maitland River Elementary School in Wingham (the two options we had to choose from for her) may not transport students only going to those schools. As a matter of fact, according to the board, “Buses… will service more than one school in most cases.”

So, in a time when we’re trying to limit interactions, we’re going to have children on one bus going to multiple schools, pretty much guaranteeing that if an outbreak happens at one school, others will be shut down, if not infected.

I don’t think I’m on my own when I say parents deserve better. Task forces should have been set up to prepare for the opening of schools, priority should have been given to programs involving children (they are the future after all) and a little bit less attention needed to be paid to getting bars reopened.

However we know that’s Ford’s priority, first and foremost. Whether it’s pushing to open the economy and leaving other, more important, issues behind or his “Buck-ABeer” fiasco, we need to be reminded that knowing enough to listen to the experts in a crisis doesn’t magically fix his flaws and doesn’t excuse the poor way education has been handled in the province.

Shawn Loughlin Shawn’s Sense

A bit of a moan

W

hen I went to journalism school at Humber College, one of my first writing teachers made it abundantly clear that you would have to have a thick skin to do this job. He was talking about receiving feedback on your writing, but he likely knew the principle was more far-reaching than that.

In that class, for example, after working on a short story for months, pouring your heart, soul and personal experiences into it, you printed up 30 copies for your teacher and classmates. They read it, critiqued it and gave you their marked-up copies. Then, as if that weren’t enough, everyone sat together and gave you their warts-and-all review of your story. Like going through surgery, it made you better, but it was tough to go through.

School teaches you how to be a reporter, but it doesn’t teach you how to navigate the waters of criticism you’ll receive that strike at your personal life, rather than your writing. Sure, you’ll have editors working to improve your writing and those conversations aren’t always pleasant, but it’s the stuff they don’t teach you in school that can really leave a mark.

Over the years, we’ve been accused of just about everything. The threat of a lawsuit feels like a monthly occurrence around here. We’ve been dressed down by police officers, politicians and firefighters. We’ve been admonished for being both too liberal and too conservative. I’ve been called a shill for this organization or that business. We’ve been banned from large local sporting events.

We’ve been accused of favouritism (some Blyth residents think the paper is all about Brussels and vice versa) and we’ve been told we pick on specific people we don’t like.

We’ve been called racist and misogynist.

We’ve been told we’ve caused irreparable damage to *insert a family, business, event* here. We’ve allegedly ruined lives. Denny was once told he “signed a child’s death warrant” by snapping a picture at a public event and he was once chased home from the scene of a collision (he didn’t actually go to his house, so this person wouldn’t know where he lived).

I once ran a Letter to the Editor that spun a simple correction into a false narrative about me purposely misleading our readers and being on the take from our local government.

Then there’s the standard stuff we all receive here at the office. We’ve been cursed at and called every variety of stupid you can conjure.

We endure this all so that you can have this bundle of paper in your hands every week, reporting on what happens in our community.

So while being a journalist in rural Ontario can mean that everyone knows your name and where to find you, being a big-time journalist is no picnic either. Whether they’re getting roughed up at U.S. President Donald Trump’s rallies or arrested by his nametag-less military goons, times are tough for them right now too.

Getting your credibility questioned is a minute-by-minute occurence on Twitter and that goes hand in hand with the death threats.

Then there are the female reporters. Whether it’s in the realm of sports reporting (where women are constantly bombarded about their looks and that they should “be in the kitchen” instead of reporting on sports) or on-the-street journalism, these brave souls get up every day knowing they’re destined to be subject to sexist behaviour from the unwashed masses.

That’s a quick installment of “Everything you wanted to know about journalism* (*But were afraid to ask)”. Next, maybe we’ll tackle being one of the most opinionated and wellinformed persons in the room working a job that dictates that you don’t have an opinion.

PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020.

Kidney Foundation work nets Pennington award

By Denny Scott The Citizen

CHRISTOPHER PENNINGTON

Former Brussels resident Christopher Pennington has been honoured with an Ontario Community Newspaper Association (OCNA) Junior Citizen Award for his work with the Kidney Foundation of Canada over the past five years.

Pennington, now 15 and living in Kincardine, started with the foundation after he was diagnosed with Henoch-Schonlein Purpura (HSP), an autoimmune disorder that results in inflammation and bleeding in small blood vessels in the skin,

joints, intestines and kidneys. It can also result in kidney damage, which for Pennington is a significant concern as he was only born with one kidney.

Pennington chose to tackle his disease head-on, becoming heavily involved with the Kidney Foundation of Canada to help himself and others find cures to kidney diseases, which impact 10 per cent of Canadians.

Pennington has continued living his life after being diagnosed, playing for the Brussels Squirts baseball team and earning provincial silver in 2016 and earning a Western

Ontario Athletics Association (WOAA) gold medal as the goaltender for the Blyth-Brussels Atom LL Crusaders in 2015.

Pennington was named honorary chair of the first Owen Sound Kidney Walk, helped to found the Goderich Kidney Walk and, through his team in those events, Christopher’s Crew, raised $60,000 to support the foundation. His team is fifth in the province for total funds raised.

Two years ago, he started an online auction which has had donations from 180 businesses since inception.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented the Kidney Walks from happening this year, Pennington and Christopher’s Crew are still contributing to the fight against kidney disease by participating in a virtual walk.

The crew also sold 246 pizza kits to raise $1,476 for the Kidney Foundation of Canada through the walk.

For more information on the OCNA Junior Citizen Awards, visit ocna.org. To follow Pennington and his team’s efforts, visit Christopher’s Crew on Facebook at facebook.com/goderichkidneywalk.

Local Legion Branch, Beef Producers plan meals A NOTE FROM BETTY

By Betty Graber Watson Call 887-9231

As we go about our lives, we can’t help thinking about how things used to be. For many incidents you shudder when you think about the number of people with whom you shared air.

Close proximity was normal and germs and viruses could fly freely.

Now our awareness of transmission of diseases has been heightened and we know how important our role is

in preventative measures. Distance, hand-washing and masks are the normal public behaviour now.

It’s pretty near a habit, I still have momentary lapses, but so far have caught myself to do the right thing at the time. Having a selection of masks makes them more pleasant wearing apparel.

We are a community that loves to eat. Tickets are available for

upcoming events. The Legion and the Huron County Beef Producers have dates ready to serve you well.

Let them know you want to support the cause.

School start-up has been a welldiscussed event these past few weeks. Like COVID-19 in our lives, our own comfort level seems to be the best way to deal with this issue; only if it directly affects you, do you even need to form an opinion.

Instead be sure to do your part in your space with the hand-washing, physical distancing and wearing a mask and supporting the decisions of those close to you. We are not here to judge the opinions of others, our own need all the attention we have.

The church service with Forest Hill United Kitchener, lunch, cards and drives continue here as our social events of the week. Ralph and Jean seem to take euchre more seriously than Joan and I, and being number people, they also keep score better.

Anyway, after spending each Sunday and Wednesday together since March, we’re impressed we still like each other. We prepare and share neat meals that we all enjoy and for me knowing the dishes are all done on Sunday and Wednesday, it’s a bonus all around.

As we move into the long-term planning for living with this virus, we need to take measured risks as we move toward increased interaction with others. Reach out and spend time with others. Visit safely. Be alert and you can go about your life in a manner that fills your needs. Enjoy these lovely days of summer.

Bye now, Betty G.W.

NEWS FROM BRUSSELS

Welcome Your New Arrival in

The Citizen

Call or email to book your ad today 519-523-4792 info@northhuron.on.ca

Reinforcements The Brussels Leo Club will continue to do bottle drives every two weeks for the rest of the summer, then scale back to once a month in the fall. The work is hard, but new members are helping out and more new members are always welcome according to club leader Zoellyn Onn. Sorting bottles are, from left: Savannah Chambers and new Leo Club members Sierra Chambers and Marley Gaspirc. (Hannah Dickie photo)

presents

KICKSTART 2020 More than 40 prizes to be won!

Tickets: $25

At the Branch

Branch pushes on with dinners

By Jo-Ann McDonald This is the last week of holidays for the Brussels Legion branch because there are busy days ahead.

The Branch is going to kick off the fish-fry season with its own drive-by fish fry this Sunday. It will be the same as last time.

You must place your meal orders

by Friday by calling 519-531-1125 or by e-mail at legion218@ezlink.ca. You must have the exact amount of money for payment. Delivery is available.

Entry will be at the back of the property via Elizabeth Street just prior to your pick-up time and then drive in, pay, pick up your meals and exit the property.

Brussels Lions Club

Only pre-ordered meals are available.

The Branch has two fish fry events booked for the following weekend in Mitchell and Goderich. All events are drive-by events for the

fundraising groups. Members wanting to help out the Branch can call the number above and volunteer to help at any of its upcoming events.

SELL IT IN THE CLASSIFIEDS! Turn those unwanted items into quick cash with a single phone call or email.

CALL 519-523-4792 or 519-887-9114 info@northhuron.on.ca To place your classified ad in

The Citizen

available from local businesses, a Brussels Lions member or online at: www.brusselslions.ca/KickStart/ Check our Facebook page for a prize list and details.

Draw to be held Friday, Sept. 4 – 4 p.m. at the Farmers’ Market at Brussels Four Winds Barn

Brussels Legion

Drive Thru

Fish Fry August 23

Served from 4:30-7 pm Seniors delivery available Orders must be pre-ordered by Friday, June 19th $ 1500 Call 519-531-1125 Correct or email the Branch at cash only legion218@ezlink.ca

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020. PAGE 7.

BCBG supports village-wide yard sale in September

By Denny Scott The Citizen

In hopes of carrying on an unwritten local tradition, the Blyth

Community Betterment Group is supporting a village-wide yard sale the weekend of Sept. 10-12.

While there isn’t an official village-wide yard sale in Blyth like

there is in other communities, many Blyth residents have held yard sales the weekend of the annual reunion of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association due to the

increased foot traffic. While the reunion is cancelled this year, the weekend of Sept. 10-12 is when the reunion would have taken place.

Patty Kellins, a member of the betterment group, spoke to The Citizen on Monday about the village-wide event.

She said the group was asked about it at the Blyth Outdoor Market, which it is running for the Blyth Business Improvement Area, and members felt it would be a good idea to keep some regularity in this “uncommon year”.

Kellins took on producing two posters which will be shared, among other places, online.

The first poster will be geared at those who want to host a yard sale with tips and tricks on how to do it safely.

“We suggest having hand sanitizer, a one-way path through and other steps to avoid bunching up,” she said.

The second poster, for yard sale ‘explorers’, encourages social distancing, sanitizing after each site and not touching items that haven’t been bought.

As a group, Kellins said, this will be the last interaction the Blyth Community Betterment Group has with the yard sale, beyond asking those hosting sales to attach a comment to the Facebook posts so people know where to visit.

As an individual, however, Kellins said she loves yard sales and has missed them very much this year.

For more information, visit the Blyth Community Betterment group on Facebook.

NEWS FROM BLYTH It All Comes Out In The Wash Blyth Laundromat 191 Westmoreland St., Blyth 519-523-9687

BLYTH LIONS CLUB

Growing

Drive Thru

The Blyth Business Improvement Area (BIA) Blyth Outdoor Market, hosted by the Blyth Community Betterment Group, continues to offer unique shopping opportunities every Thursday in the village’s downtown core. (Denny Scott photo)

Curbside pick-up established The Huron County Library is pleased to announce that as of Aug. 15, curbside service is available at all 12 branches located throughout the County, including Alice Munro in Wingham, Bayfield, Blyth, Brussels, Clinton, Exeter, Goderich, Hensall, Howick, Kirkton, Seaforth and Zurich. Hours vary from branch to branch and are regularly being

School to be a different experience From Marilyn’s Desk

By Marilyn Craig Call 523-9318

Happy birthday to Dianna Robinson, Wingham, who celebrates Aug. 25.

Here it is the middle of August, the summer is fast coming to an end and there are only three weeks left before school starts. Everyone is looking forward to meeting their old friends and maybe meeting some new friends as well. With physical distancing and wearing masks, it will make the time at school different from other years.

Don’t forget to support the Blyth Outdoor Market along the main street of Blyth every Thursday.

Stay safe and well this coming week.

adjusted to meet the public’s needs.

Visit huroncounty.ca/library for complete curbside service details.

For the health and safety of staff and patrons, curbside service is currently available by appointment only. Patrons can place holds for items by visiting the library’s online catalogue or by calling their local branch. Once items are available, staff will contact patrons to schedule a pick-up appointment.

Borrowed materials should continue to be returned through the library’s book drops, which are all now open. If patrons are unable to return borrowed items at this time, they will not incur fines. “Fine-free summer” continues until further notice. For questions or library account assistance, please contact your local branch during curbside hours.

“We appreciate everyone’s patience and support as we continue to work through the process of reopening.” said Acting Director of Cultural Services Elizabeth FrenchGibson. “We understand our patrons and community are eager to re-enter the libraries and we will focus on the safest ways to do so as we move forward.”

Offering curbside service at all Huron County Library branches is the first step towards the next stage of reopening. The Huron County Library is working to expand access to each branch, ensuring each unique library space can serve the greatest number of people in the safest ways possible. Work is currently underway to install desk shields in each branch, with the goal of opening in stages this fall for potential access to public computers and other in-branch services.

Curbside service will continue to be an available option.

As the library works to reopen its doors, patrons can still access a wide range of services, including: • Curbside service for physical materials • Staff available via phone and email to help you find the item you need • Online catalogue available 24/7 for browsing the collection and placing holds • Free parking lot WiFi available around the clock • TD Summer Reading Club activities available online for the rest of the summer through the library Facebook page or at curbside pickup • Access through the library website to a variety of online apps including CloudLibrary, Kanopy, Hoopla, Ancestry and more • Booking for the library’s community virtual meeting space through Zoom.

To stay informed of the latest updates on library services, visit www.huroncounty.ca/library, or Huron County Library on Facebook.

Drop by our office in Blyth or Brussels and check out our wonderful selection of books. We have books for all ages.

413 Queen St., Blyth 519-523-4792 541 Turnberry St., Brussels 519-887-9114

FISH FRY Friday, September 11 Advance Tickets Only!

4:00 to 7:00 p.m.

$18 per person Contact John Stewart - 519-523-4528

Good Employees are hard to find

Big Jobs Let us help Little Jobs you find Odd Jobs the ideal Even Dirty Jobs person!

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PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020.

Encourage mask-wearing to acclimatize students PEOPLE AROUND LONDESBORO

By BRENDA RADFORD Call 523-4296

It seems every week some form of the media reminds us that even here in Canada, families struggle to keep healthy food on their tables. The situation is no better around the world. New York City has come up with a unique way to help those for whom government programs just don’t provide enough help.

An activist group called Our Hearts has brightly painted and donated refrigerators across the city.

“Free Food’ is clearly painted on each of these street fridges which are plugged into restaurants, convenience stores and private homes. These friendly fridges started popping up on streets in February in response to COVID-19 issues. It quickly became apparent the need was greater than anticipated.

The goal of this group is two-fold: to reduce waste and feed the communities. No questions are asked of anyone taking advantage of the fresh healthy foods and readymade meals stocked in these refrigerators. Volunteers petition restaurants and grocery stores and state farms to donate unused and/or unsold food items and distribute them among the 14 or so units.

Proponents of the program feel access to healthy food is a step to finding wellness solutions especially

for lower income families.

Similar public fridge programs apparently exist elsewhere in the world and can be researched on Freedge.org A number of random, unrelated items came to mind this week.

Firstly I have noticed a largerthan-normal number of trees this summer affected by tent caterpillars.

Why? Is it because of this year's warmer than usual weather? And why are some trees infested while others aren’t? Where does this insect come from? Does the infestation damage the tree's growth for the next season? Certainly the caterpillars, like tomato worms, strip the tree’s leaves and unfortunately many of the tents are too high for treating or removing.

Speaking of trees, why is it that when Mother Nature lashes out in nasty storms like those we have experienced twice this summer, does she knock down beautiful, healthy shade trees? Seems to me the countryside is rife with dead and useless skeletons of trees no one would miss. These relics remind me of scenes from old westerns in which vultures are seen perching on the branches.

Another insect which has, literally, arrived on our doorsteps already this year and in large numbers is the cricket. Word is that a plant is being built in the City of London to process crickets. Deep-fried crickets are a snack food in Southeastern Asia. However this new plant will dry and crush crickets into a powder for a food additive. Seems this noisy insect is high in protein. And they are an important part of nature apparently.

Only male crickets chirp as part of

a mating ritual. My mother always said a cricket in the house is good luck and it turns out that is a folklore belief. Gifting of an ornamental cricket is not unknown and is also part of that belief. And who doesn't smile remembering Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio.

And after seeing pictures of the locust infestations in Africa, crickets don’t seem so bad.

The City of Toronto reported 30 days in July when the thermometer topped 30°C. Average summers in the city have just 16 days registering that temperature. Aren’t you glad we live in Huron County with green fields rather than all that concrete?

In spite of the bugs; and we haven’t hit fly season yet!

And yet, there has been no relief from cutting grass here. It is a weekly chore even during August when we usually see a few stretches when grass is too dry to need cutting.

I was interested in the editorial by Denny Scott in last week’s edition of The Citizen, regarding unbiased factual reporting. Then a similar comment showed up in the Toronto Star. Sometimes an issue that is reported stirs up controversy. To my way of thinking that is the purpose of such reporting – to get people talking, thinking and/or taking action. By reading about and studying both sides of things, then, and only then, can one reach an informed opinion.

Three weeks from now teachers will have joined the ranks of frontline workers as schools reopen, albeit in a changed manner. Let’s offer them encouragement and understanding. And if we are in a position to do so, try to allay the

fears of students. Each new year begins with some trepidation in the minds of our youth. This year will be even more concerning.

I heard a reasonable piece of advice worth passing on. Encourage students to start wearing a mask now - while watching T.V., reading, playing on their electronics, etc. to get used to the feeling. That way putting it on for school won’t seem so out of the ordinary.

Churches in the area are still pondering a return to services in their sanctuaries. They seem to be waiting to see how the return to school plays out.

I had a call this week asking me to note that the Hope Chapel Memorial Service, usually held at the end of August, has been cancelled for this summer.

Stay safe! Stay optimistic!

NEWS FROM LONDESBORO

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The race goes on Despite some dark skies and technological difficulties, races continued at the Clinton Raceway on Sunday and approximately $57,000 was wagered during the races. Goderich native Larry Lane’s horse Larjon Leah ran the fastest mile of the day in the second race for driver Brett Macdonald with a time 1:59. Above, a driver coasts down showing how muddy the day was. (Mark Nonkes photo)

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020. PAGE 9.

Council requests staff report on G2G funding request

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron County Council has requested a staff report on a funding request from the Goderich-toGuelph (G2G) Rail Trail after a presentation last week.

Doug Cerson and David Peacock, representing the trail organization, Goderich-to-Guelph Rail Trail Inc.,

spoke to Huron County Council via Zoom at its Aug. 12 meeting. The two men detailed the history of the trail, outlined the many improvements that have been made in recent years and requested funding from the county to continue that work.

Cerson, speaking to council, said that while the trail began thanks to the enthusiasm of volunteers and

Weekend Never Ends

local trail enthusiasts, “at the end of the day, this is a business” and there is more work to be done to ensure runners, hikers and cyclists could one day safely traverse the trail from one end to the other without any detours or blockages.

He said that while bringing the trail to the masses has been a success for the organization, one of the best results from the trail has been how inclusive it is, ensuring that it has been accessible to all people who legally use the trail properly, regardless of their differing needs.

He said how inclusive the trail is has helped to redefine it over the course of improving it.

While the grading has been completed and the stone dust has been applied, creating a smooth trail that most cyclists can ride, some projects and costs remain, Cerson said.

Cerson estimated that there is nearly $450,000 remaining in costs for the Huron County portion of the trail alone. The two major projects, he said, are the Highway 25 tunnel just outside of Blyth and a new bridge over the Maitland River in Auburn.

The tunnel on its own, Cerson said, is likely to cost $300,000 to construct, saying it is currently a very dangerous part of the trail that

needs to be corrected. He added that it made the most sense for the organization to focus on the tunnel first.

Peacock brought council up to speed as to the current state of the organization’s finances, saying there is $110,000 set aside in county and Regional Tourism Organization 4 (RTO4) funds and that the organization hopes to seek donations to match any county funds for projects moving forward.

He said he hoped council would look upon the request favorably, as the organization has cultivated a significant provincial asset that is beneficial for Huron County.

Warden Jim Ginn told the presenters that council rarely makes a decision on a funding request on the same day of the presentation and will traditionally ask for a staff report to be discussed at a future meeting.

Councillor Paul Klopp, however, said he wasn’t in favour of any further taxpayer funding for the trail.

Stick With the Classifieds.

If you’re shopping for something special, keep looking in the Classifieds.

Every week, you’ll find a great selection of listings for everything from apartments for rent to things to buy and see.

The Citizen

Local band Weekend Never Ends performed at the Wingham Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion on Saturday night. Members are, from left: Chad Kregar, Matt Train and Renny James. (Mark Nonkes photo)

Letter to the Editor Writer disagrees with roundabout proposal THE EDITOR, I am writing in response to Bernie Bailey’s response about putting a roundabout at the corner of Hwy. 4 and Blyth Road because of the latest accident. These accidents have been happening for years and years at this corner. I do not think there are any more than there have ever been.

I cannot believe that a roundabout would even be a consideration in someone’s thought process to solve this.

For starters, I do not have to be an engineer to know that there is not enough room for a roundabout.

Possibly, if you were doing a roundabout for cars only, just maybe it might work. Tractor trailers and tractors with B trains using that corner, plus the grade of the road, would cause more problems than there already is. You would have tractor trailers laying on their sides as they tried to manoeuvre that roundabout along with the trucks and huge trailers they pull on their way to the lake.

It may come as a surprise to you but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the intersection at Hwy. 4 and Blyth Road.

If you do not believe me, come sit on my porch on Blyth Road at the edge of Blyth and watch literally hundreds of vehicles going by our house everyday. When seeing many of those, we hold our breath wondering if they are going to get stopped for the corner because they are travelling at such a high rate of speed.

At the latest accident car vs. motorcycle the police had Blyth Road closed with a barricade in the middle of the road with the detour

being Morris Street. The traffic from the east was not slowing down one bit, even with seeing flashing lights of the police cars at the corner.

Several vehicles were going so fast they did not get stopped and went up past the barricade, missing the detour completely, including one tractor trailer which had to back up all the way past the barricade before it could turn onto the detour route.

If you pay attention to the police statistics over the long weekends throughout the summer, you will see that speed and inattentive driving kills.

Right now, coming from the east on Blyth Road approximately six kilometres out, you can see the flashing lights at the stop sign at the corner of Hwy. 4 and Blyth Road. At Allboro Line approximately one kilometre out there is a speed limit sign of 60 kilometres per hour and at Morris Street there is a sign warning stop sign ahead. Then there are six sets of rumble strips that we can hear inside our house and then there is the stop sign adorned with red flashing lights. Really? A roundabout?

Human error is the cause of these accidents plain and simple. And speed is the forerunner!

Brenda J Burkholder.

Have an opinion about a story or something going on in your community?

Write a Letter to the Editor and send it to editor@northhuron.on.ca

He said there have been known issues with the trail for years and council had been assured they would be rectified through volunteers and fundraising and thinks that’s how it should stay.

“Going down the road, we all have costs in our municipalities, so I won’t be supporting any new county money for the trail,” Klopp said.

He said he didn’t have a problem with the county handing over any money that had been earmarked in the budget for the trail already, but that he didn’t want to see any further funds go from the county to the trail organization.

Klopp said he saw the trail as being a provincial issue, so he encouraged Cerson and his team to speak to Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson and the provincial government for funding for future projects.

Council approved a motion asking for a staff report on the request to be presented to council at a future meeting.

PUBLIC NOTICE TELECOMMUNICATIONS TOWER Bell Mobility in accordance with its obligations under the Radiocommunications Act and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada procedure CPC-2-003 (2014), hereby notifies the residents in the vicinity of 42932 Walton Road, in Huron East, Ontario, of its intentions to develop a Telecommunications Tower at the location shown here consisting of :

x x x

75-Metre Self Support Tower 42932 Walton Road, Huron East, Ontario

Site Loca on 75-metre steel self support telecommunications tower An equipment shelter at the base, and perimeter fencing

The purpose of the proposed tower is to provide the infrastructure for carriers to improve wireless communication services in the immediate area.

Co-ordinates: 43.679939, -81.279913

ANY PERSON may make a written submission to the individuals listed below by September 22, 2020 with respect to this matter.

Bell Mobility - Contracted to: Thomas Dybowski FONTUR International Inc. 70 East Beaver Creek Rd, Unit 22 Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1J2 Fax: 886-234-7873 Email: W9215.bellmobility.info@fonturinternational.com PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that Telecommunication tower/antenna facilities are exclusively regulated by Federal legislation under the Radiocommunication Act and administered by Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED). Therefore, Provincial legislation such as the Planning Act, including zoning by-laws, does not apply to these facilities. The Municipality of Huron East can only provide comments to ISED and does not have the authority to stop the construction of a telecommunication tower/antenna facility.

Member of Parliament Contact:

Municipality of Huron East Contact:

ISED/Federal Government Contact:

The Honourable Ben Lobb, M.P.

Cathy Garrick

Southwestern Ontario District Office

30 Victoria Street North

Public Works/Building Department

4475 North Service Road, Suite 100

Goderich, ON N7A 2R6

Municipality of Huron East

Burlington, ON L7L 4X7

Phone: (519) 524-6560

72 Main Street South, PO Box 610

Phone: 1 (888) 465-6307

Email: ben.lobb@parl.gc.ca

Seaforth, ON N0K 1W0

Email:

Phone: (519) 527-1710 ext. 31

ic.spectrumswodospectrebdsoo.ic@canada.ca

Email: cgarrick@huroneast.com

PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020.

AMDSB lays out plans for school under COVID-19

By Denny Scott The Citizen The Avon Maitland District School Board has been keeping parents up to date on how school may change this year with information from both the board and other organizations.

In the most recent correspondence, the board explained what education would look like for students in the coming year depending on whether parents chose face-to-face or online education.

As part of the release, the board said a hybrid model wasn’t available at this time and families needed to be confident in their choice as “students will have very limited opportunity to switch from online learning to faceto-face learning before January, 2021.”

“If students are hoping to switch from face-to-face to online, this may be accommodated earlier but will take time and will be addressed on a case-by-case basis,” the release stated.

FACE-TO-FACE MODEL Under the face-to-face model, Early Years students (Junior Kindergarten to Grade 2) will be involved in “active play-based learning opportunities”.

“In all of our kindergarten classrooms, JK/K children will not be expected to stay at one desk all

day,” a release said. “We will be encouraging physical distancing in these classrooms as much as possible. Further details of the kindergarten program will be shared directly with… parents.”

Outdoor learning will be encouraged, the release says, and schedules will be provided to parents at the start of the school year.

Older elementary school students will be participating in “rotary” subjects where they remain in homerooms throughout the day while “rotary” teachers provide specific programming like music, art or French.

“Teachers will be wearing their personal protective equipment and no classroom will have more than four teachers coming in over the course of the week,” the report said.

In secondary schools, students will be learning via “quadmestering”, which is taking two courses at a time. In mid-November, the students will then switch courses until the end of the semester.

A new secondary school calendar is set to be released soon, including examination dates and “quadmester” switch dates, the release states.

Secondary timetables may change in some schools, according to the release. Those changes will be communicated to students and parents closer to the start of the school year.

Finally, specialized programming, like co-operative learning, technological studies, music and physical education will have “enhanced safety guidelines”, though those details will be released closer to the start of the school year, according to the report.

ONLINE MODEL Online learning will include, for elementary students, the same amount of online instructional minutes as those returning to school using the face-to-face method (300 minutes per day).

All curriculum areas are set to be taught, including French, for students between Grades 4 and Grade 8, the report said.

Online students will be expected to participate in real-time live learning every day.

“They will also participate in assigned, independent learning activities,” the release said. “This will include instruction for students as a whole class and in small groups.”

Students will be in a digital class with students from across the district, the report says, and it may be a single grade or split grade class, depending on demand.

The release states that teachers will likely not be from the student’s home school. French immersion may not be available in the online Continued on page 11

Not like that anymore Students and their parents in the Avon Maitland District School Board now have an idea of what the 2020-2021 school year will look like thanks to recent communications from the school board. The information includes how faceto-face and online learning will occur, alongside information about school transportation, which has changed to limit exposure, according to the school board. Changes to transport include limiting most students to a single pickup/drop-off location, requiring masks for students in Grade 4 and up and for drivers, twice-a-day cleaning of “hightouch areas” and seating plans. The school board encourages walking, cycling or private transportation where possible. The scenes are unlikely to play out like they did years ago, as in the above photo from 2018. (File photo)

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020. PAGE 11.

Klassen urges families to weigh education options Continued from page 10 earning model, depending on the number of students who register.

Online learning for secondary students will be done using the Avon Maitland District E-learning Centre program, which will have students participate in live learning daily, according to the release. Students will also participate in “assigned, independent learning activities.”

Students may need to change their

course selections based on what is available remotely, the release said.

TRANSPORTATION The school board also recently contacted parents about transportation, specifically buses.

In the release, it states that buses will be loaded “as normal and will service more than one school in most cases.”

“Only one pick-up/drop-off address will be allowed per student,

unless a joint custody arrangement is in place,” the report states. “This will reduce the number of contacts each student could have on a bus.”

Staff and drivers will require medical masks and eye protection, according to the release and students in Grades 4 to 12 will also require a mask, while younger students will be encouraged to wear masks.

Hand sanitizer is to be available on all buses, the release

Salesman of the year Nigel Blackwell may just have the market cornered on sales if cuteness is a factor. The young man is shown above in front of his family’s sweet corn stand on County Road 4 between Blyth and Belgrave. (Mark Nonkes photo)

says, for both driver and student use.

“High-touch areas” on buses will be cleaned twice a day, the report says, while seating plans will be established by the bus drivers and shared with the schools.

Loading and unloading of buses may change, the release says, and take longer.

Active forms of travel such as walking and cycling, as well as private transportation, is encouraged to ease pressure on transportation demand.

HPPH NOTES Finally, Dr. Miriam Klassen of Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) shared suggestions and recommendations regarding the upcoming school year in a letter to parents.

As part of the document, Klassen suggested taking all factors into account when deciding whether online or in-person learning is best for individual circumstances.

Klassen said that if children have medical vulnerabilities, it would be best to talk to a healthcare provider before making the decision.

“If your child is very medically fragile, returning to in-person school right now may not be the safest option,” she said. “For most kids, the benefits of being in school will outweigh the risks to them.”

She also said that home situations may be worth considering, especially looking at who lives with a student.

“The people at risk for severe outcomes are those who are over 70 or have chronic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease or cancer,” she said. “These people… may need extra protection if you are living together in the same household. If there is a medically fragile person in the household, you

will need to consider the risk to that person against the important benefits of sending your child to school.”

Finally, Klassen says HPPH will monitor community transmission to make decisions about face-to-face education.

In the letter, she also explained that there are measures in place to protect students and staff, including screening, isolation of sick staff or students, physical distancing, enhanced cleaning, keeping groups of students separated and using face coverings for most students and staff.

“There is no risk-free situation here,” Klassen says in the last paragraph of the letter. “Sending your child to school may increase the risk of getting COVID-19.

Keeping your kids at home may increase the risk of interrupting their social and developmental wellbeing. There is no right decision only what is right for your child and your family right now.”

She went on to say that by following measures and keeping children home when they are ill, parents will be helping to limit COVID-19 spread.

For more information, visit the AMDSB’s “Back to School” page at https://www.amdsb.ca/apps/pages/ BacktoSchool.

Has the COVID-19 pandemic led to lots of decluttering?

Sell your unwanted items through the Classifieds or The Citizen’s free Swap Shop!

Arts support unveiled Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries joined Lisa Thompson, MPP for Huron-Bruce last week, to announce over $550,000 in funding to help propel the local arts and tourism sectors in the area.

“Our sectors were hit first, the hardest and will take the longest to recover,” said MacLeod. “As our government moves forward with reopening the province, we are proud to support numerous organizations that build up our unique communities and put our tourism industry on a path to recovery.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, the government has continued to invest in Ontario’s tourism and creative sectors.

Through Community Museum Operating Grants, the Celebrate Ontario program and the Ontario

Trillium Foundation, the government has made investments to enrich local and visitor experiences, including: $205,000 for the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation; $71,830 for the Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre; 63,226 for the Huron County Museum and Historic Gaol; $80,044 for the 49th Huron Country Playhouse Theatre Festival; $60,624 for the Lucknow’s Music in the Fields; $59,500 for the Blyth Centre for the Arts; $20,659 for the Huron Waves Music Festival and $5,500 for the Port Elgin Pumpkinfest.

“Tourism, as well as sporting and cultural events, play a huge role in the local economies in HuronBruce,” said Thompson. “The supports we are announcing are especially important given the challenges we are all facing during the pandemic.”

Zehr’s cases may link to migrant workers: Klassen Continued from page 1 Windsor-Essex area.

“I don’t know that for certain, but it’s possible,” Klassen said of the connection to migrant workers.

She said COVID-19 is “severely impacting Low German communities” as well as other connected communities.

Zehr’s Country Market locations remained closed as of Monday.

Klassen said that, of the area’s 93

cases, 13 remained active on Monday, however all were selfisolating and none were hospitalized.

Currently, the HPPH is aligning its reporting practices with a new provincial program, so specifics about cases, including locations of the new cases, are temporarily unavailable, but should return later this week. For more information, visit hpph.ca.

+8521

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PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020.

County approves grant program for small businesses

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron County Council has authorized a grant agreement with the provincial and federal

governments, in partnership with the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association for a second round of Digital Main Street grants.

Brittany Wise, the county’s entrepreneur and business program

co-ordinator, presented her recommendation to Huron County Council at council’s Aug. 12 meeting, which was held online via Zoom.

The Digital Main Street – Digital

Story time As part of the art programming at Wild Goose Studio in Blyth over the weekend, some young artists took part in a story time re-enactment of the popular children’s book Where The Wild Things Are. The program is held weekly on Saturdays. (Mark Nonkes photo)

No limits on trailer park land

By Denny Scott The Citizen North Huron Township Council held a special council meeting Friday morning to discuss the findings of staff in relation to the municipallyowned Wingham Trailer Park.

On Monday, Aug. 10, during its regular council meeting, council directed staff to investigate claims from Michael Rintoul regarding the trailer park land.

Rintoul claimed the trailer park was part of land sold to the municipality by the Canadian Pacific Railway which could only be used for park purposes, which led some councillors to be worried about the legality of selling or developing the trailer park.

Clerk Carson Lamb said, during the special meeting, that wasn’t an issue. Lamb explained there was nothing on the deed for the land and, based on a legal opinion, council wasn’t bound by any rulings.

The research conducted by staff indicated that Rintoul may have found information about the adjacent Wingham Flats, which were sold with a lease that maintains the space must be used for park land.

That land includes the splash pad, community trail and a park. The municipality must maintain either park land or infrastructure on that property.

The land the trailer park is on, however, is under no such

limitations, according to Lamb.

“There are no plans or direction to redevelop [the] property with the 99year lease agreement,” Lamb said.

“Based on staff’s research, as well as information from a solicitor, it is staff’s opinion that council has the authority to amend or rescind [the bylaw controlling the use of the land] like any other.”

Lamb also advised that the Wingham Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, which operates the trailer park for the township, requested that council terminate that arrangement as of Oct. 31 instead of Dec. 31 to better align with the branch’s year-end processes.

Deputy-Reeve Trevor Seip wanted to be sure that, due to the close proximity of the two lands, they were identified separately.

“Because the river flats are basically adjacent to the trailer park… [I’m asking] are the properties considered separate?” he questioned.

Director of Recreation and Facilities Vicky Luttenberger said there was no possibility of the properties being connected as they were transferred to the municipality on two separate occasions: one in 1959 and the other in 1962. Lamb agreed, saying the legal descriptions of the properties are different.

Reeve Bernie Bailey said it was “very important to notice” that the public was given the chance to speak on the issue, but saying no one took

advantage. He also said the Legion Branch had contacted council saying a representative would “gladly sign” the document cancelling the agreement.

“They are not here disputing it,” he said. “The Legion is aware of this.”

Bailey then went on to say that anyone wishing to comment on the situation should “go directly to the [people] involved before you start.”

Councillor Chris Palmer said he was “very pleased” with the work that staff put into the issue adding he was glad council could move forward without any “horrible surprises later.”

Seip commended the group supporting keeping the trailer park, saying it was good they brought forward all the information they could find to help council make an informed decision.

“We appreciate having that information,” he said, referring to the history of the land “I’m excited we can answer these questions in an open or transparent way.”

Council adopted bylaw 49-2020, which rescinds bylaw 1326-1959 of the Town of Wingham, setting out the use of the land in question. As part of the motion adopting that bylaw, council also moved the effective date for the dissolution of the agreement for operation of the trailer park by the Wingham Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion to Oct. 31 from Dec. 31.

Deadline: August 31st

Service Squad funding was announced in June, she said, and the second intake for the program will help small, main street businesses across Ontario improve their adoption of technology to better promote themselves, sell their products and run back-office processes all online.

In her report to council, Wise said there are two aspects to the program.

First, it’s designed to provide individual businesses which complete an assessment and develop a digital plan with a grant of up to $2,500 to implement their personalized plan, while the second part is to hire dedicated people on contract with the appropriate skills and experiences that local business improvement areas (BIAs) can access and provide to their business members.

“Like in the first round of funding, BIAs and Small Business Enterprise Centres, or municipalities (or the county) on their behalf, can apply for a Digital Main Street Squad. In addition, these ‘areas’ could submit a joint application (which is what Huron County Economic Development has done) to receive a larger grant. These joint applications improve the efficiency of the grant and ensure a uniform service is delivered across the region,” Wise said in her report to council. “Huron County Economic Development managed a successful Digital Main Street – Service Squad program in 2019/2010 and has received funding to manage a second round of the project. In this successful grant application, Huron County

Economic Development brought all nine municipalities and the BIAs and chambers with them, and agreed to submit a joint application.”

Wise told council that the department received word that its application had been approved on July 30 for a total of $90,000.

Other than in-kind administration costs, Wise said the grant covers all of the costs related to delivering the program. The goal of the program, Wise said, is to work with over 350 businesses throughout the county to provide main street business owners a comprehensive guide to their digital transformation and to provide main street businesses with the digital literacy skills they need to execute their digital transformation, either through a do-it-yourself approach or being a “smart consumer” when purchasing related services.

Wise told council she had consulted with numerous BIAs, municipalities and chambers of commerce throughout the development of the program.

Council approved Wise’s recommendation, allowing the program to move forward.

Digital subscribers to The Citizen have access to the last several months of digital editions.

Check it out at huroncitizen.ca

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020. PAGE 13.

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Brussels Livestock report

Fed steers, heifers sell actively at sale Total receipts for Brussels Livestock for the week ending Aug. 14 were 1,530 cattle and 784 lambs and goats.

On Tuesday fed steers and heifers sold actively at steady prices. Choice steers and heifers sold $145 to $155 with sales to $158. Second-cut steers and heifers sold $135 to $145.

Holstein steers sold $120 to $123 with sales to $124. Cows sold on a strong active market with good beef trading $3 to $5 higher. On Thursday veal sold actively at steady prices.

Lambs sold slightly higher, sheep sold steady and goats sold lower due to the week’s decline. On Friday calves sold on a fully steady market.

Yearlings sold $5 to $10 higher with

grass cattle selling at a premium.

Larry Reinhart Jr. of Mildmay, consigned seven head. One roan heifer weighed 1,120 lbs. and sold for a price of $158.

There were 150 cows on offer.

Beef sold $92 to $102 with sales to $113; D1 and D2, $83 to $87 with sales to $95.50; D3, $78 to $82; D4, $73 to $77. Francis Walters of Mildmay, consigned nine head. Two black cows averaged 1,478 lbs. and sold for an average price of $113.

There were 175 head of veal on offer. Beef veal sold $175 to $203 with sales to $215; good holsteins, $125 to $132; SL heavy holsteins, $118 to $125; heavy holsteins, $110 to $118;

medium holsteins, $112 to $122.

Reuben S. Martin of Wallenstein, consigned seven head. One simmental heifer weighed 870 lbs. and sold for a price of $215. George Ducharme of Dashwood, consigned two head. One holstein steer weighed 800 lbs. and old for a price of $132.

Lambs, 50 - 64 lbs. sold $299 to $330; 65 - 79 lbs., $308.50 to $322; 80 - 94 lbs., $290 to $325; 95 - 109 lbs., $256 to $295; 110 lbs. and over, $261.75 to $271.

Sheep sold $150 to $225.

Goats: billies sold $150 to $350; nannies, $100 to $200; kids: meat, $340 to $400; dairy, $250 to $320.

Curtis Howe of Walkerton,

consigned 10 head. One lamb weighed 92 lbs. and sold for a price of $325. Kingsview Farms of Lucknow, consigned four head.

Three kids averaged 61 lbs. and sold for an average price of $390. Sandra Farrell of Kincardine, consigned seven head. Five kids averaged 70 lbs. and sold for an average price of $350.

Top quality stocker steers under 400 lbs. sold $226.50 to $258; 400 499 lbs., $263 to $279; 500 - 599 lbs., $224 to $243; 600 - 699 lbs., $212 to $230; 700 - 799 lbs., $198 to $217.50; 800 - 899 lbs., $199.50 to $206; 900 - 999 lbs., $186 to $197.25; 1,000 lbs. and over, $177.50 to $189.

Top quality stocker heifers, 400 499 lbs. sold $206 to $231; 500 - 599 lbs., $185 to $198; 600 - 699 lbs., $182 to $195; 700 - 799 lbs., $184 to $191; 800 - 899 lbs., $166.75 to $183.50; 900 lbs. and over, $168 to $178.

Allan Aitchison of New Liskeard, consigned 76 head. Fourteen charolais heifers averaged 775 lbs. and sold for an average price of $191. Jamie Irwin of Lucknow, consigned 15 head. Nine simmental steers averaged 914 lbs. and sold for an average price of $195.75. Butler Family Farms of Croton, consigned 73 head. Sixteen black steers averaged 778 lbs. and sold for an average price of $209.50.

OFA moves regional meetings virtual for 2020

By Louis Roesch, Director, Ontario Federation of Agriculture Regional meetings offer Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) members an opportunity to engage in discussions on the key issues and priorities impacting Ontario’s agriculture and food industry. These meetings provide a chance to vote for local leadership and representation, network with local federation directors and fellow members, and support your local agricultural community.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic protocols, this year’s OFA regional

meetings will have a new look and feel. The OFA is conducting all regional meetings across the province in a virtual format. They are being scheduled for late summer and early fall. The virtual format is to ensure we protect the health and safety of our staff, directors and members. The OFA intends to return to regular in-person regional meetings in 2021.

Hosting regional meetings in a virtual format will prepare members for the OFA’s 2020 annual general meeting in November, which will also be hosted on a virtual platform.

The virtual experience provides a new opportunity for local federations to encourage members to attend the regional meeting who may not have participated otherwise. It’s a chance to make new connections and attract new members to learn more about the federation. It’s an opportunity to engage with them and provide information on how the OFA is supporting and advocating for farm businesses in your area.

Getting involved with local federations and regional meetings is an opportunity to contribute your voice and your time to the issues that

matter most to Ontario farm businesses. These local discussions can create wider change by developing provincial-level solutions. With 51 county and regional federations across the province, there is a wealth of knowledge and experience providing grassroots input on policy and issues impacting Ontario’s farming and food sector. These federations consist of strong, local leadership that work tirelessly to make a difference at the local level and positively impact the business of farming and rural communities.

The event also includes elections of local leadership and representation, including delegates, alternates and Policy Advisory Council (PAC) members. These

positions will be representing their respective counties at the OFA’s virtual annual meeting on Nov. 23 and throughout the year at PAC meetings.

As the leading advocate for Ontario farm families and rural communities, the OFA encourages members to run for elected positions to get involved in the OFA’s work at the provincial level, bringing their concerns, suggestions and leadership to provincial discussions.

Find the date and time of the regional meeting in your area and mark your calendars. Get involved to support your agricultural community and fellow farmers.

For a full schedule of regional meetings, visit the website at ofa.on.ca/regional-meetings.

OMAFRA decision disappoints groups

All aboard Seaforth has been chosen as the location for a pilot program carried out by Fight Unemployment. According to Huron East Economic Development Officer Jan Hawley, the program aims to change minds and create a culture that will support small, local businesses.

Through workshops, support, communication and a change in culture, the program hopes to support Seaforth’s businesses and business owners in the coming months. Hawley hopes the program will find success and will be replicable throughout the county and beyond. The group officially announced the program on Aug. 11 in Seaforth. Back row, from left: Patti Hendriks, Huron East Mayor Bernie MacLellan, Hawley, Janette MacDonald and Greg Plante (MacDonald and Plante are co-founders of Fight Unemployment). Middle row, from left: Maureen Agar, Shelly Stanley and Nancy Anstett. Front row, from left: Anette Scarrow, Laurie Guichelaar, Kelly Miller and Kendra Redegeld. (Shawn Loughlin photo)

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario (CFFO) and the National Farmers Union – Ontario (NFU-O) have been informed of the decision made by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) to release the list of names of all Farm Business Registrants (FBR) in response to the freedom-of-information (FOI) request.

“As an organization, we are disappointed in the decision of OMAFRA to disclose the farm business names of FBR registrants in Ontario,” said OFA President Keith Currie. “We are concerned about the safety and security of our farm businesses and the serious risk this poses to them.”

OMAFRA has advised all three general farm organizations in the province that it intends to release the business names of FBR registrants but withhold the FBR number portion of the record. The names will be released to the person who submitted the FOI request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Ed Scharringa, President of CFFO stated that, “We believe that farm business names constitute personal

information and should therefore be protected. We are concerned that OMAFRA’s decision to release this information could lead to harm for farmers, their families and their employees.”

“Only three per cent of farmers consulted by OMAFRA agreed to the release of their information,” said Don Ciparis, NFU-O President. “This is an unacceptably low consent rate on Continued on page 14

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PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020.

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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 2010 TOYOTA MATRIX, 4 CYL., gray, 129,000 kms., four winter tires on winter rims, in the Blyth area. Call 705-385-9171, leave message. 32-4p -------------------------------------------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, Belgrave Variety, Blyth Variety, Blyth Food Market, Blyth Ultramar, Brussels Bulk & Bargains, Brussels Foodland, Brussels Variety, JR’s, Clinton Convenience, Clinton Foodland, Walton Inn, Dean’s ValuMart in Wingham, Wingham Mini Mart, Brown’s Pharmasave, Wingham. Seaforth Foodland, GT Mini Mart in Seaforth, Fincher’s in Goderich and The Citizen Blyth.

Card of thanks BEYERSBERGEN. Thank you to everyone who emailed, called, sent a card, brought food to our homes or made a donation in memory of dad/grandpa Norman McClinchey. – John, Catherine, Toni, Bryon, Daniel, Kerry and families. 34-1p -------------------------------------------COWAN. Thank you to the fire departments of Blyth, Wingham, Clinton, Brussels, Goderich and Lucknow for their response to our barn fire Monday afternoon, Aug. 10, 2020. Thank you to all the emergency responders who came to help out the firefighters. We would also like to thank everyone for their care and concern in the days that followed and for the offers and the help of clean-up. As well thank you to those who dropped off food for the families. – Chris and Barb, Tim and Julie, Jeff and Kelsey.

34-1p -------------------------------------------LANDON. My 85th birthday was a blast! So many friends and flowers. I thank my family for organizing the “Come and Go” party in Blyth. It was so good to see so many relatives and friends. The Lions Park was a perfect spot. Thank you to Emily Young for taking pictures. Thank you all again. – Jo Landon.

34-1 --------------------------------------------

Card of thanks Help wanted McCLINCHEY. I would like to thank my family, neighbours and friends for the cards, phone calls, visits and donations to Auburn Lions Club and Wingham Hospital.

Special thanks to Fred and Ruth Armstrong and Alec and Ashley Gulutzen for all their help.

Everything is appreciated. Thanks again. – Lila.

34-1p

Help wanted

BACHERT MEATS INC. IS looking for a farm worker – hogs, no experience needed, fast-paced environment, physically demanding, to start as soon as possible, $14/hr.

Contact by email: bachertmeatshiring@hotmail.com 32-4p --------------------------------------------

Services ARE YOU EXPERIENCING AN unplanned pregnancy? Are you a young parent? Do you feel overwhelmed and have questions?

We have answers and we’re here to help. Our services are free and completely confidential.

Contact Room2Grow at 519-6060046 or visit our website: www.room2grow.info e6w

Coming events

Services

HOPE CHAPEL CEMETERY Hullett Township Annual Memorial Service is cancelled for this year.

34-2p -------------------------------------------THE WINGHAM COLUMBUS Centre would like to invite you to our last Cold Plate Shortcake meal of the season on Aug 21, noon to 7:00 p.m., $20. Potato salad, mac and tuna, greek pasta and fruit salad, turkey, ham and summer sausage, pickles, dinner roll and raspberry shortcake. Orders must be made in advance, payment by credit card or etransfer to wc1@bellnet.ca Pick-up times will be scheduled and all doors will be propped open and meals with names on them in the foyer. Please call 519-357-1270, if no answer please leave a message and we will call back.

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FAXING SERVICE We can send or receive faxes for you for only $1.00 per page. The Citizen, 405 Queen St., Blyth. Phone 519523-4792. Fax 519-523-9140. tfn --------------------------------------------

The Corporation of the County of Huron’s Cultural Services, Museum and Historic Gaol Department Is currently accepting applications for: Programming Coordinator See www.huroncounty.ca for more information regarding qualifications and the application process. Please forward letter of application and resume in one PDF document by 4:30pm, Friday September 4, 2020.

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

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

Citizen-ToCitizen The Corporation of the County of Huron’s Cultural Services, Museum and Historic Gaol Department Is currently accepting applications for:

“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 FOR SALE - oval table and four chairs, $300. Table has two extra leaves, one arm chair, good condition. 519-522-1196. 34-3 ---------------------------------------FOR SALE – small oak desk 62"Lx21"Dx30.5"H, 6 drawers (2 full, 4 small), $200 or best offer.

519-357-6461 - text only. 32-3 ---------------------------------------FOR SALE – four used M&S 235/65 R16 tubeless, steel belted tires on black steel rims, $100 for the set. Call 519-524-8302. 32-3 ---------------------------------------FOR SALE – beautiful vintage functional pump organ and adjustable stool with glass claw feet, refinished walnut hardwood, $400. 519-440-1021.

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High School Student – Museum Assistant See www.huroncounty.ca for more information regarding qualifications and the application process. Please forward letter of application and resume in one PDF document by 4:30pm, Wednesday August 26, 2020.

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

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

STAYING HEALTHY BEGINS WITH YOU • • • • • • •

Be a non-smoker and avoid second-hand smoke.

Eat healthy food and limit your alcohol consumption.

Be active on a regular basis.

Be sensible in the sun.

Follow cancer screening guidelines.

Report changes in your health.

Use caution with hazardous materials.

For more information, please contact us at 1 888 939-3333 or visit www.cancer.ca.

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

www.huroncitizen.ca

519.335.3581

Groups upset by decision Continued from page 13 which to base an FOI decision.”

Although OMAFRA has chosen to withhold the FBR number information, they received expressed consent from 15 farm businesses to release both the farm business name and FBR number to the requester.

“Jointly, our farm organizations strongly oppose the release of this information as it has the potential to greatly impact the health, safety and security of our farm operations,” stated Currie.

That sentiment was echoed by a substantial number of Ontario farmers who voiced their input and concerns to OMAFRA’s Freedom of Information and Privacy Coordinator throughout the comment period. The overwhelming response from farmers was to oppose the requested disclosure of FBR information.

The process includes the right to appeal and all three general farm organizations expect to exercise that right. The OFA, along with the CFFO and the NFU-O, intend to file their own formal appeal of the decision in an effort to protect the privacy and security of all Farm Business Registrants. These farm organizations will act on behalf of Ontario farm businesses in an attempt to prevent the exposure of this information.

All requests for appeal need to be submitted through the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC). If an appeal is filed with the IPC, OMAFRA requires notice of the submission via e-mail at FOIaccess.omafra@ontario.ca. For more information about the appeal process, visit www.ipc.on.ca/accessindividuals/filing-an-appeal.

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020. PAGE 15.

Obituaries Elizabeth Hillman (née Sloman) OC, MD, LLD, FAAP, FRCP February 17, 1928 to August 9, 2020

Elizabeth Hillman (née Sloman), passed away peacefully at the home of her daughter, Dr. Alison Hillman, in Newfoundland on Aug. 9, 2020.

Her memory will be cherished by children Alison, Jamie (Joanne Scarlett), Don (Ruth Kipp), Alan, Elizabeth (Paul Coxworthy), grandchildren Adam Coxworthy and James Purvis, sister Toby Rainey and sister-in-law Elizabeth Waterston plus many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, greatnephews, friends and mentees around the world. Liz was predeceased by husband Donald, parents Cela and Fred, and siblings Bill, Joan (Reid) and Margaret.

Always a trailblazer, she became the first female president of the Medical Council of Canada in 1981.

She and her husband were appointed Officers of the Order of Canada in 1994 for having “consistently used their talents and energy to improve the welfare of children throughout the world.”

Born in Clinton, Liz spent her school years with her family in a railway car that was their home and also a mobile schoolhouse. Her parents, Fred and Cela Sloman, taught their children along with the families of trappers, miners and railway workers, many of whom were recent immigrants, as the CNR School on Wheels moved through Northern Ontario from Capreol to Foleyet. This was Liz’s only school until she entered the University of Western Ontario (UWO). Liz received the Girl Guides’ highest honour, the Gold Cord, from Lady Baden Powell, who was on a Canadian tour. When she was eight years old, Liz told her father she was going to be a doctor; she never wavered in her dream.

Liz completed her MD in 1951 and received postgraduate training at UWO, McGill, Great Ormond Street in London, Harvard, and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. While interning in Boston in 1955, she married a fellow paediatrician from Montreal, Donald Hillman. She began her professional career in 1957 at McGill University as Director of the Ambulatory Department at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Liz and Don worked as a formidable team for 51 years until Don’s death in 2006.

In 1969, the family, now including five children under 13 years old, headed to Africa, where Liz and Don spent two years at the newlyestablished medical school at the University of Nairobi and the Kenyatta National Hospital in Kenya; the family returned for another two years from 1974-1976.

After 20 years at the Montreal Children’s Hospital and McGill University, the Hillmans moved to St. John’s, Newfoundland, where Liz was professor of paediatrics at Memorial University and Director of

Ambulatory Education at the Janeway Child Health Centre. Liz and Don continued to work with the Canadian International Development Agency during the 1970s and 1980s on projects that included the Child and Maternal Education Program in Uganda; programs in primary paediatric healthcare in Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda and Kenya; and medical education in Kenya and Uganda.

From centres for international health based at McMaster and the University of Ottawa in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Hillmans helped to develop international health education for undergraduates and postgraduates, on projects in Guyana, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan, and the Philippines, Uganda, and elsewhere. Liz and Don were also pioneers in the field of telehealth, including using the internet to add international expertise and resources to medical education and care in developing countries.

During all these years, Liz’s anchor was the small cottage in the Laurentians where she spent happy summers with family and friends, and welcomed many students and colleagues. She loved cats and dogs and could – and often did – read a book a day. She was an early enthusiast and devotee of e-mail, sending encouraging messages and vivid descriptions of the world she took such joy in sharing.

The list of her awards is long and includes the CPS Alan Ross Award (1989), the Royal College James H. Graham Award (1995), the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Canadian Society for International Health (2000) and an honorary doctorate of laws degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland (2004).

After Don’s death in 2006, awards to honour the Hillmans were created at University of British Columbia, McGill, Memorial, the Canadian Paediatric Society, and the Canadian Society For International Health.

In 2011, Liz received the first Hillman-Olness Award for Lifetime Service and Lasting Contributions to Global Child Health from the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Section on International Child Health, and in 2014 she was made an Honorary Member of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. Her message to the students and doctors she mentored was a simple one: “Nothing ever turns out as you expect, and you must enjoy every minute together.” She had that same message for her friends.

Liz Hillman devoted her life to promoting the health and well-being of children and to inspiring others to do the same. In the 1970s she battled Nestlé when the corporation was promoting infant formula over breastfeeding in developing countries. This campaign led to hearings in the U.S. Senate and the World Health Organization, resulting in a new set of marketing rules.

She mentored several generations of young doctors around the world, encouraging a balance of family and professional life, often with fun and laughter. And daughter Alison followed her parents into the medical field. Liz summed up the challenge of Global Child Health work, saying: “There is always more to be done and never enough time to do it all – which is why we must teach others.”

After Don’s death, and as advancing dementia dimmed Liz’s

bright spark, family, friends and many others formed a circle of care and kindness to support her continued well-being and quiet enjoyment of life, which included travel and time at the cottage.

In honour of her late husband, Liz Hillman established the Hillman Medical Education Fund to support health education and to foster future leaders in medicine, particularly in East Africa. Donations in memory of Liz Hillman may be made to https://www.rosecharities.ca/categor y/hillman-fund/.

A celebration of Liz’s life will be held at a later date.

DIANNE “LAURA” (MACDONALD) ARNOLD On Friday, Aug. 7, 2020, Dianne “Laura” (MacDonald) Arnold passed away unexpectedly, but peacefully, in the loving care of her mother (Marie Arnold).

She was a fabulous mom to Terra (Pat) and Leon; cool grandma to Dani, Tosh (Kavin) and Delano.

Laura will also be missed by her siblings, her favourite sister Julie (Andrew), Larry (Sherry), Jeff (Carmen), Ian, her many nieces, nephews, friends, and “her ride or die” Terry. Laura was predeceased by her father Ben. From a young age, Laura had a love of the arts. She could often be seen modeling, painting production sets, or enthusiastically doodling away in a sketchbook. She enjoyed many mediums as an artist, including that of tattooing, often resulting in practising on friends and family.

Laura’s passion for food and cooking led her to start a career in hotel management. She loved a good party and sure knew how to throw one.

The travelling bug bit Laura long ago and had her backpacking through many countries and exploring the local culture, her favourite being San Pedro, Belize, where she built a home and community.

She was a motorcycle (Harley) enthusiast and was often seen riding around town with her faithful companion, Marley. They would frequently end up at the Waterloo Legion #530, where she was a proud member, for a drink and laugh.

Laura was loved by many and was a true friend to those who had the pleasure of knowing her. She was always full of life, laughter, and love. Laura shared her love of life and special talents with everyone who crossed her path and will be greatly missed.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, an invite-only visitation was held at Riverside Funeral Home on

To read recent obituaries, visit our website at huroncitizen.ca

Saturday, Aug. 15. A Legion gathering will take place at a later date at the Waterloo Legion Branch #530.

In lieu of flowers and as expressions of sympathy, donations to the Waterloo Legion Branch #530 would be appreciated.

Condolences may be left at riversidefuneralhome.ca

LAURA MARGARET (née McBurney) BARBOUR Laura Margaret (née McBurney) Barbour passed away peacefully surrounded by family at Huron Residential Hospice on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. She was in her 89th year.

Laura was a loving mom of Gary (Gundi), Gail, Cathy (Steve), Laureen and Marc (Tricia); grandmother of Nick (Cheryl), Lauren (Rhys), Olivia, Jonathan, Erin, Colin and Allyson and greatgrandmother of Ellie, Jack, Jackson and Adalyn. Laura was the sister of Grant (Mary) McBurney, sister-inlaw of Isabel (Earl) Young and Phyllis Holmes.

She was predeceased by her husband Kenneth (2006), brother Alan and in-laws Helen and Allan. She will be missed by many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Laura loved to garden. She was a long-time member of the Brussels Horticultural Society. She loved to read, you couldn’t keep enough books around to keep her busy. She was a member of the UCW, the Brussels United Church Choir and Morning Star.

Laura enjoyed baking and canning and being out on the farm. She loved her family and enjoyed all the visits from grandkids. She was a member of the Birthday Club and enjoyed the dinners at JR’s. She loved her pets, including her cats Maggie and Simba.

Cremation has taken place. A private celebration of Laura’s life will take place at the Brussels Cemetery. In lieu of flowers and as expressions of sympathy, donations to the Brussels United Church or the

Brussels Horticultural Society would be appreciated.

Cards of sympathy may be sent to Box 427, Brussels, N0G 1H0.

Condolences may be left at riversidefuneralhome.ca.

JOAN VAN DEN ASSEM Joan Van Den Assem of Blyth went to be with her Lord, peacefully at home on Friday, Aug. 14, 2020.

She was in her 77th year.

Joan was the beloved wife of the late Johannes “John” Van Den Assem and loving mother of Dylan and Mary-Ann Van Den Assem, Oscar and Elizabeth Van Den Assem, and Rebecca and Jim Siertsema.

She was the cherished Oma of Melissa, Rueben (Emily), greatgranddaughter Kayley, Caroline (Richard) Pennings, Morgan, Aidan, Courtney, Galen, and Colton Van Den Assem, Joshua, Mandy, and Chantelle (Kirk Rainey) Van Den Assem, and Joel, Annelise, Philip, and Raquelle Siertsema.

Joan was the dear sister of Mary Guetter, Margaret Kuiper, and Art and Marilyn Lazet and the sister-inlaw of Margaret Jongsma, Ann Reinsma, Alvin Wallace, Lee Van Den Assem, Nick and Nancy Van Den Assem, Ben Van Den Assem and Catherine Cornish and Rita Lazet. Joan was predeceased by Corrie Wallace, Tina and Henk Zeilstra, Tony Van Den Assem, Piet Lazet, Kees Kuiper, Piet Reinsma, and Henry Jongsma.

A funeral service was held at Blyth Union Cemetery on Tuesday, Aug. 18. Condolences may be left at www.falconerfuneralhomes.com Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Falconer Funeral Homes, Clinton.

Walk Ins Welcome SHEAR TALENT Hair Design & Tanning 45 West St., Goderich 519-524-6555

www.shear-talent.ca

STRATFORD MEMORIALS Creating Memories in Stone for Over 95 years

Wingham Memorials Distinctive memorials of lasting satisfaction produced by us to your specifications.

We are now open but by appointment only and following government recommended protocols to ensure the safety of all visitors and our staff. Please call or email us to set up an appointment.

Owned and operated by Mac and Donna Anderson Assisted by Mandy & Kaitlyn

519-357-1910 E-mail: andgranite@bellnet.ca After hours appointments available 89 North Street W., Wingham www.winghammemorials.com

519-524-8457 email: mfalconer@stratfordmemorials.com

Goderich/Clinton Michael Falconer Memorial Counsellor www.stratfordmemorials.com

PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020.

Local municipalities receive $7.7 million in funding The Ontario government, in partnership with the federal government, is delivering on its commitment to provide up to $4 billion in urgently needed one-time assistance to Ontario's 444 municipalities.

Municipalities will be provided with up to $1.6 billion as part of the first round of emergency funding under the Safe Restart Agreement.

This funding will help municipalities protect the health and well-being of the people of Ontario, while continuing to deliver critical public services, such as public transit and shelters, as the province continues down the path of renewal, growth and economic recovery.

“Municipalities in Huron-Bruce will be receiving more than $7.7 million,” announced Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson. “From my talks with local leaders, this is much needed assistance that will go a long way in helping their municipalities deliver services too.”

The full list of funds includes: Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, $189,100; Municipality of Bluewater, $330,000; Brockton, $267,100; Bruce County, $2,497,900; Central Huron, $257,900; Goderich, $221,500; Howick Township, $90,100; Huron County, $1,833,800; Huron East, $240,000; Huron-

Kinloss, $256,600; Kincardine, $376,500; Morris-Turnberry, $79,800 North Huron, $138,500; Saugeen Shores, $499,200; South Bruce, $149,300; and South Huron, $286,900 for a total of $7,714,200.

Ontario is also providing municipal service managers and Indigenous housing partners with an additional $212 million under the Social Services Relief Fund to help protect vulnerable people from COVID-19. This investment can help them protect homeless shelter staff and residents, expand rent support programming and create longer-term housing solutions. This brings the government's total Social Services Relief Fund investment provided to service managers and Indigenous program administrators to $510 million.

Through the Safe Restart Agreement with the federal government, $695 million will help municipalities address operating pressures related to the COVID-19 pandemic through the first round of emergency funding, and over $660 million will support transit systems.

The province is also providing an additional $212 million through the Social Services Relief Fund to help vulnerable people find shelter.

The details were provided on Aug. 13 by Premier Doug Ford, Rod Phillips, Minister of Finance, Kinga

Surma, Associate Minister of Transportation (GTA), and Jim McDonell, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have had the backs of our municipalities, which is why we are announcing up to $1.6 billion in critical funding today to help strengthen our communities and safely restart our economy,” said Ford. “This first round of funding will address the most urgent needs of our communities, ensuring critical services like transit and shelters are there when people need them most.”

In the Fall of 2020, Ontario’s 444 municipalities will receive $695 million in Phase 1 funding to help address municipal operating pressures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding will be allocated on a per household basis and would be shared 50/50 between upper- and lower-tier municipalities.

Up to $695 million in additional funding will be available through Phase 2 to eligible municipalities after municipalities have provided the province with information on their estimated COVID-19-related financial pressures.

Ontario is also providing municipal service managers and Indigenous housing partners with an additional $212 million under the

Social Services Relief Fund to help protect vulnerable people from COVID-19. This investment can help them protect homeless shelter staff and residents, expand rent support programming and create

longer-term housing solutions. This brings the government's total Social Services Relief Fund investment provided to service managers and Indigenous program administrators to $510 million.

Weather helps farmers PEOPLE AROUND WALTON

By Jo-Ann McDonald Call 887-6570 The crops are growing higher everyday. Heat and timely rain has created a great growing season.

Twelve-foot-high corn, four-foothigh soybeans and the white beans are over a foot high. Now we hope there is good cob growth and pod growth full of beans. The white beans will be first to harvest and they are starting to turn colour already, at least in some fields. A month or so from now, we will hopefully be at it.

We send get-well wishes to Jack Knight as he is hospital at this time.

We hope he is soon feeling better.

Celebrating birthdays this past week were Craig Hackwell, Shirley Coleman, Amanda Hoegy, Joshua Nichol, Marina Glanville, Joan er esh Thrpecial S

Deadline September 4

Perrie, Cooper Verkley, Amanda Fraser, Shayna Melady, Devin Blake, Marion Godkin, Rob McIntosh, Hayden deVos, Jim Armstrong, Susan Nichol, Andrew McDonald and Jacob Flood. Happy birthday to all.

NEWS FROM WALTON

WHO’S LOOKING AT YOU?

air ls F sse cial u r e B Sp

Deadline September 11

Put your business in front of the R I G H T eyes!

The Citizen has special interest issues coming up.

Wild art Ben Johnson was hard at work at the weekly art time at the Wild Goose Studio over the weekend. The gallery has been hosting weekly mask-making workshops, each week with a new theme. Last Saturday’s theme was the popular children’s book Where The Wild Things Are. (Mark Nonkes photo)

Your voice, Yo oic your ur co communit community mu ity, your ur ne n ws.

Fire

ty

Safe

Deadline October 2

Call or email our marketing specialists today!

519-523-4792 ads@northhuron.on.ca

t

men

ence

m Com

Deadline October 9

News Media Canada is a passionate advocate for the news industry. W Wee support our member publications in their pursuit of quality journalism.

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

newsmediacanada.ca

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020. PAGE 17.

From the Minister’s Study

How to avoid suffering in eternity: Hovius

By Jason Hovius Brussels Community Bible Chapel Here are the hidden benefits of suffering on this earth and how to avoid it in eternity…

Car bomb in Somalia kills dozens.

Increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases globally. Car bomb in Kitchener kills one. Explosion in Lebanon leaves 300,000 homeless.

Riots and protests continue in Belarus, Lebanon, United States, Hong Kong. These are just a few of the news headlines that I have read or heard just this past week. Just another normal earth week. Hard to believe there are 52 weeks of this per year. I have now lived through this for 30 years. That’s more than 1,500 weeks full of bad news.

Here in Huron County? I already disposed of last week’s newspaper, but I seem to recall a barn fire, a car accident that required an air ambulance and more COVID-19 cases in Huron and Perth Counties.

Fortunately, The Citizen has some good news stories as well.

This is aside from whatever is happening in our lives that doesn’t make the news: a bad prognosis from a doctor, financial difficulty, job loss, relationship difficulties. To say that suffering exists all around us would be an understatement.

This is where you might ask why God would allow so much suffering in this world. I don’t have all the answers, but I am glad you asked.

God created this world and called it good, and we still experience some of these good things. If God was cruel, He could just as easily have made a world without birds that sing or without a wonderful variety of foods and flavours that satisfy our hunger. But by His grace we can have friendships with other people, and we have senses like sight and hearing and speech, and we can enjoy humour, food and even, to some degree, our work.

It is important to understand that, without exception, suffering in this world is ultimately caused by mankind, to whom God has given freedom of will. By our own choice, we as a species have collectively ruined the perfect world that God created, and now we see the devastating effects of sin all around us.

Frankly, we deserve to suffer.

Perfect justice requires that every wrong ever committed must be paid for. We have earned every ounce of suffering that we experience, and more. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). In this case, “death” does not refer to a one-time event,

Evangelical Missionary Church

Watch Livestream OR Pre-register to Attend Sundays 10:30 a.m.

August 23 Pastor Ernest Dow, “Jacob’s Wrestlings Pt.3: Duped by Another Deceiver” (Gen.29:14ff) Call 519-526-1131 to pre-register for Sunday attendance (max.60) Check out our midweek virtual LifeGroups!

** Let us know how we can be praying for you / practical needs ** huronchapel.com huronchapelkids.com huronchapelyouth.com 119 John’s Ave., Auburn 519-526-1131

but to a perpetual state of being that has very real physical and emotional consequences caused by spiritual separation from God. This is hell, the only place in the universe where God’s presence is absent. Rejecters of God enter into eternity and willingly receive the wages of their sin.

So if God doesn’t create suffering, why would He allow it? Again, thanks for asking.

Firstly, this question is usually based on the assumption that suffering is bad. This is our natural reaction when we witness adversity.

However, in its typically counterintuitive way, the Bible does not have this take on the subject.

Instead, suffering is often portrayed as good for us and even a source of joy. Most importantly, it serves to bring people to repentance for their sins.

Admission of sin before God is a necessary prerequisite for forgiveness. Suffering can help us along in this. It shows us our own weakness and that we are incapable of helping ourselves.

Suffering also matures us, developing our character and making us stronger and more resilient. I have always been amazed by athletes who push their bodies to the limits in order to become faster or better in their sport. No pain, no gain. This is a picture of suffering.

It’s hard and not very fun, but it can make us better and more prepared for future challenges that come across our path.

Most people would be willing to admit that some suffering is good for us, but so much of it seems so

senseless and extreme. Just this week a three-year-old Canadian in Lebanon succumbed to her injuries as a result of the Beirut blast. We may never know the reason for God allowing that little girl to die, but I am personally called by God’s Word to trust His ways and judgment. He knows the bigger picture and all the outcomes. God is a perfect judge; those who suffer on this earth will receive recompense in eternity that will make up the difference. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25) The Bible is full of examples of people who suffered in a major way for the sake of a future promise that they only knew about vaguely. The things they experienced only drove them to cling tighter to God’s promises to them. Hebrews 11 talks about these men and women who exercised patience, despite poverty, prison and worse things because they knew there would be reward for their delayed gratification. A taste of this reward is provided for us in Revelation 21, where it tells us about a new heaven and a new earth in which there will be no longer any tears or pain or mourning. No more suffering!

Patience in suffering is not just something God asks us to practise; He Himself suffered in our stead in order to rescue us from eternal death. “For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising its shame” (Hebrews 12:2). If you are tempted to curse God, as Job’s wife did, or call Him cruel, consider how He sent His own son to this earth to suffer and bleed out for the world He

The Regional Ministry of Hope See our Facebook page 10:30 a.m. on Sundays for a live broadcast of our service.

All Anglican Churches are closed for public worship until further notice.

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

Trinity

St. John’s

BLYTH

BRUSSELS

9:00 am

12 noon

St. Paul’s Trinity

WINGHAM

COME WORSHIP WITH US!

10:30 am

Blyth United Church No Sunday Service until further notice Join Rev. Gary Clark on YouTube “Forest Hill United Church Kitchener”

** New minister coming in September ** Join us Wednesday mornings at 10 am for our “Visit in the Garden” Bring your lawn chair and enjoy a social distance visit.

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

Church Services are cancelled until further notice Video sermons available on YouTube by searching “Blyth Christian Reformed Church”

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

so loved. Christ did not shy away from suffering.

God doesn’t enjoy witnessing the pain happening all around us, and He certainly does not enjoy punishing us sinful people. “I take no pleasure in the death of the

wicked” (Ezekiel 33:11). On the contrary, He is being patient. The Bible uses the word “longsuffering” to describe God’s patience as He waits for more people to repent and come to Him before He ends history as we know it.

Getting Married?

Announce your upcoming wedding in

The Citizen Call or email to book your ad today 519-523-4792 info@northhuron.on.ca

Brussels Mennonite Fellowship “Consider the lilies of the field” (Matthew 6:28) If JESUS is concerned about flowers and birds, HE certainly cares about YOU and me.

BMF Mission = our church exists to GROW in the teachings of Jesus to LIVE by His example, and to CONNECT people to Him

Closed Until Further Notice

250 Princess St., Brussels • 519-887-6388 • Pastor Ken Gazley

BRUSSELS

United Church We are pleased to announce that in September Alexander Jebson will be our new Minister Sunday worship in our building is still on hold.

All are welcome to join virtual worship with Forest Hill United Church, Kitchener on YouTube.

Celebrate Life, be Safe, be Kind, show Love.

MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS Join us for outdoor worship at 11am on Sunday. Bring your own lawn chairs, and any drink or snack you want for fellowship time.

Weather dependent. Please continue to follow Public Health recommendations - stay home if you are at risk or showing symptoms. Search "St. Andrew's and Melville Sermon" on Youtube for the virtual worship.

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 20, 2020.

HPPH closes market

Foggy harbour Liz Allan, a member of the Maitland Valley Camera Club, which traditionally hosts its meetings in Brussels, captured this foggy scene in Wroxeter recently. (Photo courtesy of Liz Allan of the Maitland Valley Camera Club)

Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) has been working closely with the owner of Zehr’s Country Market (market and bakery) in Bayfield and as well as Zehr’s Country Market (abattoir – retail only) in Dashwood; as a precaution, HPPH has temporarily closed both locations while a public health investigation is conducted.

There have been numerous positive cases of COVID-19 associated with the Bayfield location. Based on current information, the risk to the public is low.

Anyone who was at the Bayfield Zehr’s Country Market on Aug. 6, 7, 8, 10 or 11 is encouraged to selfmonitor for symptoms of COVID19, and arrange for assessment and possibly testing if necessary. As the investigation continues there may be further updates.

“The premises owner is fully cooperative and supports the decision to temporarily close while more information is gathered,” says Dr. Miriam Klassen, Medical Officer of Health.

The Health Unit phone line has no further information or direction to share with the public at this time.

Anyone in the public who has questions about symptoms, testing or tracing for COVID-19 can visit www.hpph.ca/coronavirus or covid19.ontario.ca.

It’s important to remember that COVID-19 continues to circulate across Huron and Perth Counties, as well as in Ontario. All residents of Huron-Perth are encouraged to do the following: • If you experience symptoms of COVID-19, self-isolate and arrange for testing • Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly • Maintain physical distance of six feet/two metres from anyone not in your social circle.

• Wear a non-medical cloth face covering in indoor public spaces and in settings where physical distancing cannot be maintained.

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020. PAGE 19.

County adopts temporary work-from-home policy

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron County has now established an official work-fromhome policy in its human resources department, but it left some councillors fussy on the future of people working for the county.

Director of Human Resources Lara Vanstone presented the proposed policy to Huron County Council at its Aug. 12 meeting, which was held online via Zoom.

She told council she developed the policy with the help of the senior management team, the Huron County Transition Team, Huron Perth Public Health and Erin Thomson, the county’s safety and wellness supervisor.

After consulting with Treasurer Michael Blumhagen, Vanstone said that staff working from home could result in efficiencies at the end of the day, but having staff working from home would have to be monitored and reviewed regularly.

Vanstone did tell council, however, that the policy was not designed to be adopted permanently, but rather to help the county weather the COVID-19 storm. She suggested

reassessing things in the next 12 or 18 months.

“As the county moves through the next phase of a gradual, safe and measured reopening, current consideration regarding staff continuing to work from home was discussed through [Chief Administrative Officer Meighan Wark], senior leaders and the transition team. Through these discussions, a two-phase survey was delivered to staff across the county to better understand and plan a return-to-work strategy,” Vanstone said in her report to council. “The Phase 1 survey was sent to staff on June 11. The purpose of the questions in the Phase 1 survey was to gather how the information flow and technical requirements have been received to date; are they working for staff needs and/or where we can do better.”

Vanstone said the Phase 2 survey was then distributed on July 9 and targeted department-specific questions that asked how the workplace should look in the future.

Sixty-eight per cent of respondents said they were benefitting from a reduced commute and less travel time. Sixty-two per

cent said they were benefitting from a flexible work arrangement and 55 per cent were enjoying the “relaxed working environment” in their home offices.

She added that some staff noted that they felt more productive working from home with fewer interruptions and distractions.

However, nearly half of those surveyed said they did not have the necessary equipment to work from home, with printers, scanners and monitors being among the most popular answers for what was missing in their home offices.

The survey did note, Vanstone said, that only two per cent of those surveyed said they were having connectivity issues from their homes.

Under the Phase 2 survey, which would begin bringing people back into an office setting, respondents said they would appreciate increased levels of communication under the “new normal” and that working from home had been going well.

Returning to the office, however, raised concerns with childcare, schedule flexibility, safety protocol, a safe working environment and personal protective equipment. She

also said some who responded were concerned with sick time and COVID-19 symptoms.

In her report, Vanstone said that, according to her findings, the county has been realizing a number of savings and time efficiencies as a result of staff working from home.

She said those efficiencies and savings should continue as staff continue to work from home on a long-term basis.

She added that the county has been saving money on buying meals for employees. Between April and June, Vanstone said in her report, the county spent about $10,000 on travel and meal expenses, whereas between $15,000 and $25,000 per month is typical.

The county has also realized modest savings as a result of utilities at offices. Vanstone said that if staff continue to work from home, those costs will continue to drop gradually.

“Overall, the county could expect to generate overall efficiencies and cost savings with a work-from-home strategy. The magnitude of those savings will be based upon the continuation of remote meetings and collaboration and the overall numbers of staff being able to effectively work from home,” Vanstone said in her report.

Huron East Mayor Bernie MacLellan was concerned about productivity when staff members were working at home. With childcare being a major concern for employees, he wondered how much time are employees spending watching their children, rather than working their jobs.

North Huron Reeve Bernie Bailey also had concerns.

Since being elected in 2018 and

serving at Huron County Council, Bailey said all he had heard was about the importance of a bricksand-mortar location for the county and its employees. He cited previously-presented information that lauded the interpersonal connections between employees in an office environment, despite concerns that a multi-million-dollar building would not be practical as the world built towards remote working environments as the norm.

He said those reports and Vanstone’s current report seemed to be leading council in two completely different directions.

Wark told councillors the plan is not intended to be long-term and that it would be reviewed frequently over the next 18 to 24 months, assuring councillors it’s “not forever”.

Council approved Vanstone’s recommendation and approved the new policy.

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After 36 years of working for Huron County Wayne Higgins will be retiring August 20, 2020

Big winners After months of waiting, the Blyth Brussels Atom Rep squad was finally able to celebrate being named Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) co-champions after their postseason drive was cut short by COVID-19. Back row, from left: Coach Darryl DeRuyter, Trainer Andrew Wharton, Trainer Dwight Caldwell and Coach Archie Fleet. Middle row: Nicholas White, Bo Wharton, Dylan Lee, Damon Shannon, Triston Piper, Emmitt Shortreed, Tysen Greidanus.

Front row: Colyn Hallahan, Brett Caldwell, Ayden Hallahan, Rodney Ansley, Carter Howson, Will Nesbit, Jaxon Bromley, Justin Fleet. Absent were Everett Cherrey and Manager Alicha Hallahan. (Photo submitted)

Stay the course: county As the provincial Phase 3 reopening and summer season are well underway and life begins to look more familiar, it can become easy to slip into old habits. However, the County of Huron reminds its residents that the COVID-19 virus remains circulating in Ontario.

Following public health measures continues to be as important as ever.

“As we get comfortable in our new routines, we must not forget how we’ve witnessed COVID-19 impact other communities. Let’s use this as a reminder to maintain our spirit of looking out for one another as we live and work through this pandemic,” said Warden Jim Ginn.

“Even though it may seem tiring, I ask all residents of Huron County to remain steadfast and continue to follow the direction of public health officials.”

The County of Huron is asking all residents and visitors to continue respecting all public health

guidelines, including staying home when feeling ill, performing hand hygiene, practising physical distancing, and wearing masks or non-medical face coverings when physical distancing is not possible.

Everyday actions recommended by public health professionals can help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Warden Jim Ginn added, “I sincerely thank the people of Huron County and their continued commitment to respecting public health guidelines. I have witnessed numerous examples of personal sacrifices, and many wonderful acts of kindness in our community including changes to our ways of doing business, all in an effort to keep everyone safe and healthy.

Let’s keep up the great work.”

Stay informed on COVID-19 situation in Huron County by visiting the Huron Perth Public Health website at www.hpph.ca/coronavirus.

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PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020.

Finch, McNeil eye Warden’s chair

Go your own way Blyth’s Julie Sawchuk, front, organized a small trail experience on Saturday morning to support the Goderich Triathlon, in which she would often participate years ago. She encouraged her friends and neighbours to walk, run, roll or ride along the trail beginning in Auburn on Saturday morning. (Mark Nonkes photo)

Council approves new grant program

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron County Council has approved the creation of a new small business grant through the Huron Recovery Grant Program.

Brittany Wise, the county’s entrepreneur and business program co-ordinator, presented a report on the program to Huron County Council at its Aug. 12 meeting, which was held online via Zoom.

The program got rolling, she said, with a $15,000 grant from Community Futures Huron, allowing Huron County Economic Development to deliver the Huron Recovery Grant Program, which is a “micro-grant” program.

“This new program mirrors the existing Starter Company Plus program with a specific focus on existing businesses in Huron that

have to make significant changes to maintain operations and adapt to COVID-19 realities,” Wise said in her report to council.

Grants of up to $2,500 each will be available to eligible Huron County businesses. There will also be an opportunity for training and skills development for all applicants.

The program, Wise said, will run in tandem with the Starter Company Plus program until the Sept. 30 proposal deadline with grants being awarded during Small Business Week (Oct. 18-23, 2020).

The application deadline will be Aug. 31, followed by business coaching and training in September.

The final proposal deadline will be Sept. 30. Participants will be invited to pitch their projects from Oct. 5-12 and then the winners will be announced during Small Business Week.

Continued from page 1 anyone to live up. He added that Ginn has earned so much respect for the county and for himself as a representative both in and out of the county and it’s been his work that inspired him to run.

South Huron Mayor George Finch also expressed his interest in running for the Warden’s position, though he was less definitive about the prospects.

Finch, who noted he is a retired Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer, said he is working to get some things in order on his end, at which time he hoped to officially throw his hat into the ring as well to be the next Warden of Huron County.

He said he would know soon and would make an official announcement at council’s next meeting in September.

The Warden’s election is traditionally held at the first meeting in December every two years. The

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Just the right colour Kylie Cressman was one of a number of young people who took advantage of a mask-making workshop at the Wild Goose Studio in Blyth. This week’s theme was the beloved children’s book Where The Wild Things Are. (Mark Nonkes photo)

position used to be a one-year term until six years ago when council opted to expand it to a two-year term.

Then-Morris-Turnberry Mayor Paul Gowing was the first person to serve as Warden under the newlyestablished two-year term from 2014-2016, followed by Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn’s first term from 2016-2018.

While Ginn hadn’t necessarily planned to stay on for a second twoyear term, the large percentage of turnover in the 2018 municipal election made him feel that stability was needed at the top and he let his name stand again. He was chosen, unopposed.

Earlier this year Ginn announced he would not be seeking a third term. He said he wanted to make the announcement as early as he could to allow other councillors to get their affairs in order and contemplate taking on the position ahead of this winter.

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