The Citizen - Dec. 6,2024

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THIS WEEK 2 • History 4 • Editorials 16 • Sports 19 • Entertainment

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Friday, December 6, 2024

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Volume 40 No. 49

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DGR to go north

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

The countdown is on It’s the holidays in Huron County and that can only mean one thing: we’re into the busy, pinpoint-accurate Santa Claus parade schedule, which ensures that each community is given its own day or night to celebrate without another community encroaching on that time.

On Friday night, it was in Bruce County (though a proud Huron County ally) that Lucknow hosted its annual Santa Claus parade, bringing the Jolly Old Elf, his wife and his entourage to the masses, spreading holiday cheer throughout Lucknow and beyond. (Scott Stephenson photo)

After a lengthy, multi-years process, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has chosen the Northern Ontario communities of Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation and the Township of Ignace as the site of Canada’s deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel bundles.

Ignace was one of two remaining candidate sites for the repository, with the other being South Bruce.

However, when the local Indigenous population voted in favour of hosting the repository earlier this fall, the NWMO opted to head north for its storage needs.

Locally in South Bruce, the Indigenous population had yet to vote on the issue, slating a vote for early next year. This came after the referendum in South Bruce, which narrowly voted in favour of hosting the site.

“Canadians and Indigenous peoples have been clear that it is essential to take responsibility now, in this generation, to safely manage Canada’s used nuclear fuel for the long-term,” said the NWMO in a press release issued last week.

According to the NWMO, construction on the repository is intended to begin in 2033 with it being operational in the 2040s.

While Ignace will receive $170 million over 80 years through an agreement with the NWMO to host the site, South Bruce received $4 million after declaring itself a willing host to the site and will now see another $4 million payment after not being selected.

North Huron to join new water research project

By Scott Stephenson The Citizen On Dec. 2, North Huron Council accepted an offer to join a research project that hopes to develop a new technology that will treat groundwater contaminated with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

The project, which involves testing well water, was created by the Environmental Sciences Group (ESG) from the Royal Military College in Kingston. PFAS are colloquially known as “Forever Chemicals” because they do not easily degrade in the environment.

Adjunct professor Iris Koch presented the concept for the project to council. “The main purpose of this presentation is to make a request to North Huron Council - that’s you - to collect groundwater samples from wells in

the Township of North Huron to measure PFAS and other water chemistry parameters,” she began.

“PFAS have been detected in many environmental samples, even at sites with no previous history of PFAS use and release. They're basically everywhere. And one of the things that is still a concern for PFAS is that we don't really have good ways of remediating them….

The objective of our research project is to determine whether our technology can be used to treat groundwater contaminated with PFAS.” PFAS are used in a wide variety of products, like cosmetics, textiles and food packaging materials. Koch went on to assure council that there would be no cost to the township, and that the locations being tested would not be disclosed to the public.

The research team hopes to select

at least six sites that are potentially impacted by PFAS and collect groundwater samples from local wells. The water samples will be analyzed for PFAS and other contaminants, then treated with a combination of UV, sulfite and iodide.

“We will be able to get data that gives us better insight into the mechanisms and pathways of PFAS degradation,” she explained. “That

helps us to improve the system and actually allow it to work.

We also want to verify how well it works for groundwater specifically and then, ideally, we would like to design and implement a scaled-up groundwater treatment system someday in the near future.”

Councillor Mitch Wright wanted to know if this technology could potentially be used to treat drinking

water contaminated with PFAS, which Koch confirmed was definitely a possibility.

“We start with groundwater. The concept of it being a drinking water treatment system is ideal…. There are some things that would have to be treated in addition, to make sure that it is actually suitable for drinking water, but ideally that is the kind of thing that we’re aiming towards.”

By Shawn Loughlin

25 with a 7-0 loss to the Minto Mad Dogs, followed by a 3-3- tie with the host Wingham Ironmen on Nov. 29. The Crusaders then lost to the Goderich Sailorettes on Nov. 30 by a score of 5-0 and that was the end of their tournament.

Also over the weekend, the U9 LL team took part in the annual

Palmerston Jamboree, playing Kincardine Ainsdale, the Shallow Lake Lakers and Schomberg over the course of the day, though scores were not kept for those games.

In regular season action on Nov. 30, the U11 LL team beat the Goderich Sailors by a score of 3-2 Continued on page 3

Silver Stick tourneys continue The Citizen

After a tough start, the U11 Rep Blyth Brussels Crusaders were unable to capture glory in the annual Wingham regional Silver Stick tournament.

The team began on Monday, Nov.

PAGE 2. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024.

Thanks for the memories Glimpses of the Past with Karen Webster

H

is name was Herodotus (484 - c. 420 BCE) and he went down in history as the first historian. He lived in the Greek city of Halicarnassus and wrote The Histories, a methodical record of the Greco-Persian Wars. In China, the first historian there, Zuo Qiuming (556-451 BCE), penned an account of the spring and autumn periods.

These men, and legions afterwards, are the ones who initiated the practice of recording events for posterity. The histories that they wrote have served to inform the human race about its heritage.

There are many types of histories, other than scholarly endeavours, such as diaries, autobiographies, family trees as well as local histories, the ones that are about the communities in which you and I live.

In recalling early Huron County settlement times, the Lizars sisters, Kathleen and Robina, wrote In the Days of the Canada Company 1825-1850. Although the book was not published until 1896, it gives a peek into the social life in the 1850s and 1860s in Colborne and Goderich.

One interesting raconteur was Gavin Green, a notable Goderich resident who ran Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe. Born in 1862 and almost reaching the century mark, he lived through the early days of local settlement. He set down his copious remembrances of family life, school

days, and community activities on the backs of old calendar pages in his later years, producing The Old Log School and The Old Log House.

Through his stories, the reader is transported to an earlier time.

Not to be forgotten are the Tweedsmuir books. Women’s Institute groups have undertaken to collect and preserve the history of their area. Many researchers find these scrapbooks to be a valuable resource when compiling community history books.

Huron County has been fortunate to have an active historical society ever since its current iteration in 1964. Its purpose is “to discover, collect, preserve and perpetuate historical information related to the discovery and settlement of Huron County”. Each year, this group publishes its Notes, a valuable resource for those interested in local history. The new kid on the block is the Wingham and Area Historical Society. Though it is just a few years old, it is an active group with ambitious plans for the future.

One type of history that involves a multitude of subjects is that of a local history book. Most, but not all, local townships, towns and villages have produced books of memories.

In most cases, these local history books are the work of a committee of dedicated volunteers. Many times there are those who take the leadership role in the creation of these leaves of history.

Locally, Jeanne Perrie Kirkby

authored Morris Township, Past to Present in 1981. In her forward, she states that, “through the study and classification of facts, we are ever led to a fresh understanding of the present situation.” Three decades later, another history of the area was published under the name of A Harvest of Memories which encompassed both Morris and Turnberry Townships.

Another name of a dedicated historian is that of Marian Zinn, who was born in Kinloss in 1927 and later lived in Huron County. In her lifetime as a farmer’s wife, school board trustee and enthusiastic community volunteer, she collected newspaper clippings, funeral cards and family histories that became the nucleus of several local history books. She piloted Frontier Ways to Modern Days (1976) and From Bush Trails to Modern Tales (1980), both books about parts of Ashfield and West Wawanosh Townships.

Eventually, she worked with committees to publish Reflections of West Wawanosh (1996), A History of West Ashfield (1996), Kith and Kin of Kinloss (2003), and East Ashfield 1842- 2017 (2017).

When East Wawanosh published Wilderness to Wawanosh in 1992, Citizen newspaper founder and publisher Keith Roulston observed that, “the lights have been burning late in many East Wawanosh homes in the last week.… The book is the kind of permanent record descendants will seek a hundred

years from now.” This history was followed up in 2017 with A Snippet in Time, a beautiful pictorial celebration published at the time of the 150th anniversary of the township.

Among other historic tomes that have been produced locally are Goderich Township’s two-volume set (1984), Tuckersmith’s Memories (1985), Colborne Connections (1986), a volume enriched with the storied photographs of R.R. Sallows, Our Story - from Ainleyville to Brussels (1997), and Lucknow’s The Place we call Home (2008).

In Blyth, the 100th anniversary of the village was commemorated in A Village Portrait. Susan Street, along with her brothers Philip and David, as well as Sharon Ives, combed through newspapers and sought out folks with a long history of the village in order to produce a scrapbook type of memento. As Blyth approaches its sesquicentennial in 2027, its history from 1977 through to 2027 is being

collected by a committee of interested citizens who meet regularly to compile the many chapters. Much work is yet to be done and now is the time for local residents to submit their contributions.

Watch for announcements soon on how to add to this venture.

When Canada celebrated its centenary in 1967, there was a push in western Canada to set down on paper the memories of the pioneers.

Because the prairie provinces were settled mostly in the latter half of the 19th century, many of the original pioneers and their offspring were available in the 1960s to help record the stories of the early days. These books are available online under the heading “ourroots” a collection maintained by the University of Alberta.

Whether it is a community history book, personal biography, scrapbook, diary or a family tree, all of these endeavours help give us more than just a glimpse of the past.

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THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024. PAGE 3.

NH approves standpipe despite concerns

By Scott Stephenson The Citizen After spending several special council meetings carefully weighing the township’s future water storage options, North Huron Council decided that its best bet is to carry on with the existing plan to construct a new standpipe, rather than scrapping those plans in favour of a water tower.

At the Nov. 22 special meeting, Director of Public Works Dax McAllister presented council with a final overview of the pros and cons of both options. One of the main draws of the standpipe, according to the report, is the way in which it fits into North Huron’s existing waterscape. “The design is built on not having to add any other infrastructure into the system, as far as pressure goes. If we go bigger, there’s a concern that we would need to add pressure-reducing valves and stuff into the system that would be an additional cost to manage,” he explained.

One of the main drawbacks of going with the standpipe is its reliance on a booster pumping system to be effective when it matters most: during an emergency.

Booster pumping stations require steady maintenance to remain functional. Councillor Mitch Wright was curious as to what that would cost. “It seems like the only major downside of a standpipe is

the maintenance on the booster pumps,” he said. “Do we have any idea what the annual cost of that maintenance is?”

McAllister responded that they do not know what the annual maintenance costs would be at this point, saying, “We’re just not sure until we tender out and see what comes back - see what the pump is, see what the equipment to run it is, and then we’ll have an idea about what’s going to be needed.” He went on to explain that the current standard practice for standpipe booster station maintenance is monthly inspections, which are less effective than is desirable. “That doesn’t guarantee that, you know, when everything is failing, that it’s going to operate, because it’s not operating continuously. Equate it to your car - if you leave your car sitting in the driveway, and you only go start it for five minutes every month, you know, when you go to drive it after a year, it’s probably not going to run that good,” he admitted.

Wright also had questions about the potential construction costs associated with switching over to a water tower at this point in the process. “If we go with the water tower, we would have to do the design, which we already have in hand for the standpipe. We would have to purchase land for a water tower, but we already have it in hand for a standpipe. And, of

course, wherever the new water tower goes, there’d be the connection cost to get from that water tower to our mains, which doesn’t exist with a standpipe. So, all in, is it possible that a water tower may be two or three million dollars more than a standpipe?” he asked.

McAllister confirmed that the increase in cost could, indeed, be in the millions, but went on to point out that a water tower would have a much greater water capacity than a standpipe. “Let’s say you’ve got 2,500 cubic metres in both - you only have so much in the standpipe you can use, whereas with the water tower, you have access to the full 2,500 cubic metres at all times,” he offered. Wright countered with the thought that, with the standpipe and booster pumps, the township would actually have access to 3,000 cubic metres of water, which McAllister confirmed.

Councillor Anita van Hittersum had queries that focused on securing the future safety of North Huron and its citizens. “For the needs of the community, for fire suppression, for the expansion of the community - how long, if we choose the standpipe, until we don’t have enough water to take care of all of that?” she asked.

McAllister acknowledged that issues could arise if the township’s fire suppression needs exceeded the capacity of the proposed standpipe,

U21s heading to Lucknow Continued from page 1 and the U13 LL Crusaders lost to the Arthur Vipers, also on the road, by a score of 4-3. The U18 Rep team tied the Huron-Bruce Blizzard in Brussels at four, while the U13 Rep team lost in Goderich to the Sailors by a score of 4-1.

Games for the U11 LL, U9 LL and U15 LL teams were cancelled on Sunday, Dec. 1, but on Dec. 2,the U13 Rep team lost to the Central Perth Predators on the road by a score of 4-1. Also that night, a game between the U13 LL Crusaders and the Mitchell Meteors Black team in Mitchell was cancelled.

Back on Nov. 26, the U13 Rep Crusaders beat the Huron-Bruce Blizzard in Brussels by a score of 41 and one day earlier, the U13 LL team beat the Mid-Huron Huskies in Clinton by a score of 8-1 and the U15 LL team lost to the HuronBruce Blizzard in Blyth by a score of 4-3.

On Dec. 3, the U13 Rep team was scheduled to play the Walkerton Capitals in Brussels, followed by Dec. 4 games between the U13 LL Crusaders and the Central Perth Predators in Blyth, the U9 MD team and the Mitchell Meteors on the road and the U18 LL Crusaders and the Arthur Vipers in Blyth, but scores for those games were unavailable at press time.

Looking ahead, tonight, Dec. 6, the U21 will begin play in the U21 regional Silver Stick tournament in Lucknow, while the U8 Burgundy and White teams will host a pair of Mid-Huron Huskies teams in Brussels and the U11 Rep team will play the Central Perth Predators, also in Brussels.

The next day, the U6 team will host the Zurich Thunder in Brussels, the U8 Burgundy and White teams will play two Mitchell Meteors teams on the road and the U7 Burgundy and White teams will

play the Wallace Sabres and Howick Hornets, respectively, in Brussels.

That afternoon, the U15 LL team will play the Central Perth Predators and the U18 Rep team will play the South Bruce Blades, both in Brussels.

On Sunday, the U8 Burgundy team will play the Goderich Sailors on the road, while the U9 LL team will play the Mid-Huron Huskies in Blyth and the U11 LL Crusaders will host the Goderich Sailors, also in Blyth.

The U13 LL team will take on the Sailors in Goderich, the U18 LL team will play the Listowel

Cyclones, also on the road, and the U18 Rep Crusaders will play the Saugeen Shores Storm in Port Elgin.

On Monday, Dec. 9, the U7 Burgundy and White teams will play two Goderich Sailors teams in Blyth, the U15 Rep team will play the Lakers in Shallow Lake and the U15 LL team will host the Goderich Sailors in Blyth.

The next night, the U13 Rep team will play the Central Perth Predators and the U15 Rep team will play the AEMHA Ice Dogs, both in Brussels. Then, on Dec. 11, the U18 LL team will play the Kincardine Kinucks in Blyth.

but attempting to avoid those issues with a larger standpipe would create additional issues of its own.

“We can only go so big before we need to start introducing pressure relief valves and other things into the system to maintain that pressure. We’re trying to answer that question, but we don’t really know without trying to weigh the options... I think the proposal is 33 metres - if we went 45 metres, that might be too high, and create pressure problems in the system.”

Van Hittersum also wanted to know what would happen in the event of a fire, should the booster pump system fail. “Say if there’s a fire at the school or Hutton Heights or anywhere, would they have enough water without booster pumps to take good care of that fire?”

McAllister couldn’t guarantee that they would have enough water.

“Depending on how big, and what gets going, you know, those details I direct to Chief Kregar. A big fire, without the booster pump... you may not.”

Wright, who had spoken to North Huron’s Fire Chief before the meeting, offered his perspective on the township's firefighting capabilities. “My understanding from talking with Mr. Kregar is that one of the advantages we have as a rural and urban mix is that we have stuff like large barn fires we have to deal with, so we’ve got the tankers.

Plus, we’re used to hauling water... a purely urban municipality doesn’t necessarily have that large tanker capacity,” he pointed out.

Deputy-Reeve Kevin Falconer wanted to know about the longevity of the infrastructure that will connect to the chosen vessel. “I was wondering if you could just give a slight overview of the entire water system? If we’re putting money into a new standpipe, is there any other infrastructure to support that standpipe that may need to be

added into this one project?”

McAllister explained that the system is on the way out.

“Currently, our infrastructure is definitely aging. A lot of it is, I would say, closer to its end of life.”

He listed a number of projects that will need to be undertaken in the near future, including repairs to the Blyth well houses and SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) system updates. He offered to collect more information and bring it back to council. “Those projects are large, million-dollar projects,” McAllister conceded.

Wright put forth the motion to choose the standpipe. “It’s a known quantity... it seems it will check all the boxes, from a needs perspective,” he explained.

Falconer seconded the motion, which passed five to one, with Councillor Lonnie Whitfield choosing to withhold support.

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PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024.

Editorials & Opinions

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

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We’re all the same A recent editorial from The Sudbury Star seemed like it could have been written in any independent newspaper across the province, with just a few place names changed. The column was written as a letter to the city of Sudbury from a resident of Levack, a small community near Sudbury that had been part of the amalgamation into the united city of Greater Sudbury. In her letter, she laments the relationship that she says has become “a one-sided relationship with us begging for crumbs”.

The situations that she goes on to describe have an eerily familiar ring to them - the municipal building and garage in her community have been sold off, tennis courts given away, equipment moved to Sudbury as backups, and closing the arena is being looked at as a possible “cost-saving”.

Amalgamation has been a nearly 25-year experiment that has not gone well. Communities within a community are pitted against each other for shrinking resources. Assets that were once the pride of towns and villages, like arenas and sports fields, are now considered liabilities.

Citizens from smaller towns are expected to drive to the larger centre to access services. As this writer points out, “the road is much shorter for us to travel to Sudbury than it is for them to travel to us”.

Will amalgamation ultimately fail, or will councils and municipalities finally figure out how to divide up the pie fairly? – DS

The Good Fight A whole host of municipal politicians, many of whom call Huron County home and revel in the small square of power they maintain over whether to fly certain flags, should have had their cages rattled (and lawyers on standby) after the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal ordered that $15,000 be paid to Borderlane Pride after Emo Township Council refused to proclaim Pride Month back in 2020. The township itself will pay $10,000, while Emo Mayor Harold McQuaker will pay $5,000.

The decision takes into account some of the language used during the discussion that ended with council deciding not to fly the Pride flag in 2020. The Tribunal found that Borderland Pride was discriminated against by council. In addition, McQuaker and Emo’s CAO must complete a “Human Rights 101” training course within 30 days.

“We didn’t pursue this because of the money,” said Doug Judson, a lawyer on Borderland Pride’s Board of Directors. “We pursued it because we were treated in a discriminatory fashion by a municipal government, and municipalities have obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code not to discriminate in the provision of service.”

Simply being a good person may not be motivation enough for some to recognize everyone’s right to feel welcome in their own community, so perhaps the threat of fines may be more persuasive. The reckoning against Emo Township should give many municipalities pause and lead councillors to ask themselves if they’re serving their residents or discriminating against them when they make a decision and why. And if your personal beliefs, regardless of the reasons, openly discriminate and you use them to make decisions as an elected official, it’s clear that you’re not serving your community - you’re serving yourself. – SL

It’s happening here Ontario’s rural hospitals are in crisis, and Premier Doug Ford must be held accountable. Under his leadership, emergency rooms (ERs) across the province have faced record-breaking closures, creating dangerous barriers to healthcare access. According to a CBC analysis, one in five Ontario hospitals with ERs or urgent care centres has experienced closures since 2022, with 2024 on track to be the worst year yet.

Hospitals in Clinton, Wingham and Seaforth are among those most affected, with ERs regularly closed during critical hours. These closures stem from a chronic nursing shortage - a problem that Ford’s administration has only exacerbated. Despite announcing funding and stopgap measures, the situation continues to deteriorate. The reliance on costly agency nurses, a symptom of systemic neglect, is bleeding rural hospitals dry while doing little to ensure sustainable staffing solutions.

The numbers don’t lie. Before 2019, ER closures were “very rare,” according to Ontario’s Auditor General. Today, they have become alarmingly common, with rural communities bearing the brunt of the fallout. This abject failure is a direct result of Ford’s destructive policies, including years of underfunding, neglect of healthcare worker retention and a dismissive attitude toward public health crises.

Ford’s government claims closures have decreased, yet the majority of interruptions are now scheduled reductions to daytime-only hours, effectively stripping ERs of their core function as 24/7 access points.

These closures are not a solution; they are a surrender.

Ontarians cannot afford another term under Ford. The consequences of this mismanagement are felt every day by patients in rural areas forced to delay or forgo emergency care. It is time to end this downward spiral and elect leaders who will prioritize healthcare over spin. Ontario’s hospitals, and the communities they serve, deserve no less. – SBS

Looking Back Through the Years December 10, 1969 All area children were warmly invited to gather at Blyth Memorial Hall on the afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 13, for an enchanting meetand-greet with Santa Claus. The jolly old gentleman had notified the Blyth Lions Club of his intention to make his annual visit to the community precisely at 2 o’clock.

True to his word, he assured everyone he would arrive laden with a generous supply of treats for all the young ones in the vicinity.

Mrs. Cliff Walsh of Sarnia, formerly of Blyth, was a patient at Sarnia General Hospital, recuperating from injuries sustained in a car accident on the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 03.

The accident occurred near Strathroy, and she was initially transported to a hospital in that town. On Friday, she was transferred by ambulance to Sarnia, where she was admitted to Room 215. Hopes were high that she would recover in time to spend Christmas at home with her family.

The Blyth Lions Club Bingo $25 game prize was shared between Mrs. Pearl Tideswell and Mrs. Clarence Johnston. The jackpot, amounting to $27.25, was won by Mrs. Ivan Cook in over 60 calls.

Miss Margaret Riley of Wingham claimed the door prize.

The upcoming Saturday’s jackpot was announced to be an impressive $135.

December 7, 1977 Grace Bird, Huron County Home Economist, presented Provincial Honours certificates to Joan Hart of Cranbrook and Joan Huether of Brussels during the 4-H Achievement Day held on Saturday

in Ethel. To earn this prestigious award, members were required to complete 12 projects.

The annual meeting of the Belgrave, Blyth, and Brussels School Fair Board took place on Thursday evening at the Belgrave Community Centre. It was decided that the 1978 fair would be held on Sept. 13.

The election of officers and directors was overseen by Mrs. Janisa Coultes.

Morris Township scheduled a vote on liquor questions for April 10, as decided by the township council during a meeting on Monday.

With the 1978 International Plowing Match set to take place within the township the following September, it had been noted that requests for special permits, currently prohibited for events in the township, would likely arise.

Council also acknowledged a request from Mervin Jones of the Walton Inn. The meeting was cut short due to inclement weather, with council deciding to reconvene on Dec. 15.

December 6, 1989 At the inaugural meeting held Monday afternoon at the Education Centre, trustees of the Huron County Board of Education appointed two women to the Board’s top positions.

Dozens of excited youngsters had gathered at the Brussels Legion after the Santa Claus Parade, eagerly lining up for their turn to meet Santa. Each child received a bag of Christmas goodies, ensuring the holiday cheer was spread far and wide throughout the community.

Archie and Edna Montgomery of Blyth celebrated their golden anniversary on the weekend with an

open house held at their home.

The couple marked 50 years of marriage, having wed on Dec. 7, 1939, surrounded by family and friends who joined in honouring their remarkable milestone.

December 9, 2004 Nearly 100 attendees gathered at Beef Symposium 2004, held at the Brussels arena on Dec. 2. The event conveyed a message of cautious optimism about the future of the beef industry.

Dennis Martin, a feedlot specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, provided a comprehensive industry overview, highlighting a positive trajectory.

He noted that exports had risen by 30 per cent compared to 2003, with Canadian beef then being accepted by 41 countries. “We are moving in the right direction,” he remarked.

Regarding imports, Martin explained that Canada, as a member of the World Trade Organization, was obligated to import approximately 76,000 tons of beef annually. However, he pointed out that these import quotas had been reduced over the past year, offering further reassurance to the industry.

Abby McGavin, daughter of Brian and Shelley of the Seaforth area, collected dozens of winter outerwear items for the homeless citizens of Toronto. Through donations from family, friends, classmates and local community members, McGavin was able to gather 76 coats, 12 pairs of snowpants and a large bag filled with hats, mitts and scarves.

Abby’s heartfelt act of kindness was inspired after she travelled to Toronto to see a theatrical performance of The Lion King, one of the city’s popular productions.

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024. PAGE 5.

Other Views

Canada needs its wisest leadership

I

n the post-pandemic world, voters are angry. In country after country among the democracies, governments have been turned out, including by our neighbours in the U.S. where people seem to forget how scary Donald Trump was in his first term, even after he tried to overthrow a government that ended his first term.

Here in Canada, a recent Nanos Research poll showed the governing Liberals in third place behind the NDP and far behind the Conservatives. Because Justin Trudeau has been Prime Minister since 2015, this is not surprising, in a way, but still it makes you wonder if voters are paying any attention to the man who would replace him if an election were held today.

Writing recently in The Globe and Mail, columnist Shannon Proudfoot summed it up nicely. “As Canadians have been feeling squeezed by everyday life, Pierre Poilievre has enthusiastically blamed Justin Trudeau for every single thing that’s gone wrong in Canada and the world at large,” she wrote.

“Housing and grocery costs, drug problems, urban decay, too few houses, too many newcomers - problems that fairly land at the Prime Minister’s feet and others that don’t, the Conservative Leader accuses him of causing all of them with his ineptitude or fecklessness.”

Have Canadian voters spent any time figuring out what a government headed by Poilievre would be like? We know what he is against - anything that Trudeau is for - but what’s he for? One thing he has strongly indicated is that he will rid Canada of the carbon tax. In fact, like Donald Trump to the south, he seems to see little need to reduce the use of carbon-based fuel. This will win him popularity in fuel-producing areas of Canada, like Alberta and Saskatchewan, but in a world

Keith Roulston

From the cluttered desk in which forest fires have become an annual plague, does it really help the country?

It appears it will please voters who seem mostly concerned about what’s expensive or inconvenient, not what will make the world better for our children or grandchildren.

Somehow those days will look after themselves as we continue to drive extra miles or fly to all the exotic places in the world.

In order to combat President-Elect Trump’s pledge to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods if those countries don’t prevent exporting of drugs and refugees to the U.S., Poilievre argued, Canada needs to unleash oil and gas production and find a solution to the softwood lumber dispute, which has been a problem for so long that if it were a person, it would, Proudfoot suggests, “now be old enough to wake up creaky in the morning and wonder where the time went.”

Poilievre did suggest some proposals, Proudfoot said, such as strengthening the border and beefing up the Canadian military, “but mostly, he plunked a new title on the same tunes he’s been banging out for months.”

Is this really the leader that Canadians want to listen to day after day, one wonders?

Poilievre has done a good job pointing out failed aspects of Prime Minister Trudeau, but what would he be like as Prime Minister

himself? He could only go on blaming a former Prime Minister for a couple of weeks and then he needs to provide his own solutions, It’s hard, for instance, to imagine any solution to Trump when he becomes President.

Some of the people Trump has named as potential cabinet ministers are absurd. One imagines even people who voted for Trump thinking they didn’t know they were voting for this. To be fair, Trump gave every indication of the leader he would become, but enough voters were upset with the efforts President Joe Biden had to take to overcome the results of the pandemic that they didn’t really listen to what Trump said.

One wonders if the same thing is happening in Canada. Are voters really listening to what Trudeau and Poilievre are saying or are they so upset by all the things they’re lived with, like first pandemic restrictions and later, inflated costs, that they’ve turned totally against the government? Are voters thinking anything is better than the current government, even though they have no real idea what “anything” will mean?

Poilievre is such an unpleasant man - so negative and whiny - that it’s hard to imagine that at the end of his first government voters are going to want to re-elect him to a second term. Maybe I’m wrong. I hope so. Canada needs the best leadership it can find.

I just think as we look at the unfolding disaster south of our border, we need a cleareyed view of politics. We can’t afford weak leadership in Canada if we’re going to deal with what appears likely to be an endless stream of erratic decisions by an erratic U.S. president.

We need the wisest leadership we can find if we are going to survive the next few years. Is your choice the wisest?

That’s not a tariff - THAT’S a tariff

C

ertainly, no one could have foreseen the tidal wave of tariffs now sweeping across Huron County. But here we are, living in a world in which Warden Jamie Heffer has enacted a series of harsh and unrelenting tariffs, and Beaver Chaff simply cannot stand idly by. The time has come for us to retaliate - not with quiet resignation, but with the full force of a tariff storm that will make Heffer’s policies look like mere child’s play. Let no one say we weren’t prepared to take action when it mattered most. It’s a simple, irrefutable formula: if one side imposes tariffs, the other must balance the ledger.

Our first target - no, victim - in this necessary retaliatory measure is none other than Keith Roulston. His column, From the Cluttered Desk, sits perched precariously above Beaver Chaff, tempting fate with its overflowing clutter and, we suspect, highly evasive tax strategies. Roulston’s chaotic desk, while charming in its disorder, will now be met with a clutter of tariffs so vast that not even his most impressive piles of paper can escape. If Roulston insists on cluttering our lives with insightful thoughts and good ideas, then we shall clutter his with duties, fees and levies.

Then there is Shawn Loughlin, whose column, Shawn’s Sense, occupies the adjacent space to the right of ours. A most convenient spot, no doubt, but one that will now come with a heavy cost. Loughlin has made a serious mistake, placing his “sense” so close to our irreverent nonsense. While we acknowledge the existence of sense in some circles, it is our firm belief that too much of it can spoil the experience. Thus, we must impose a tariff on Loughlin’s column, measured in degrees of logical inconsistency. Let it be known: every sensible word will cost him. Every line of clarity will now come with a price tag. His

Scott Stephenson

Beaver Chaff Shawn’s Sense will no longer be just an informative piece; it will be a revenuegenerating vehicle, contributing to the Beaver Chaff coffers in ways Loughlin could never have imagined when he first set out to make sense of things.

Moving on, it would be remiss of us not to address the Looking Back Through the Years segment to our left. While this section might seem harmless at first glance, Beaver Chaff knows better. In reality, this nostalgic look at the past is merely an attempt to avoid the unavoidable: tariffs on everything, everywhere. We cannot, in good conscience, let such retroactive excursions go unpunished.

If you wish to look back through time, you must pay for the privilege. The years may have been gentle on our wallets before, but now, thanks to Beaver Chaff tariffs, the past will come with a hefty surcharge. We are not simply looking back; we are taxing the past.

Let the history books note: every glance back will be met with a levy of monumental proportions.

Now, the matter of Deb Sholdice, publisher of The Citizen, deserves special attention.

Sholdice, with her publisher’s pen and publisher’s influence, may have thought she could escape the reach of Beaver Chaff’s tariffs. How mistaken she is. With every issue of the paper, her publishing empire is accumulating vast and unseemly wealth that must be shared with the greater good: Beaver

Chaff. The tariff on Sholdice’s work will be expansive, all-encompassing and more relentless than any editorial policy she’s ever encountered. We are not simply charging a fee for the privilege of publishing; we are imposing a tax for the very act of being in charge. The publishing world is a business, and as we all know, in business, you pay your Beaver Chaff taxes.

And let us not forget the esteemed A Note from Betty by Betty Graber-Watson. While Graber-Watson’s musings might offer a respite from the cacophony of our world, we are afraid that even her soothing words are subject to tariff. Graber-Watson has long been a cherished figure in this community, but no one is above the law of Beaver Chaff’s tariffs.

Every note, every word she pens will now come with a surcharge, because no one can claim innocence in the face of such an overwhelming tariff regime. Her sweet notes, once a balm for our tired souls, will now come with a bitter aftertaste of unrelenting fees.

Finally, and with the utmost seriosity, Beaver Chaff must turn its attention to all of Huron County. With Heffer’s bold imposition of tariffs, we are left with no choice but to respond in kind. No longer will the good people of Huron County enjoy the illusion of safety. Heffer may have started the tariff wars with his heavy-handed policies, but it’s time to remind him that retaliation comes swift and inevitable. Every farmer’s field, every local café, every community event will now face Beaver Chaff tariffs that will make Heffer’s rates seem modest in comparison. The ripple effects of his actions are now being felt, as Huron County braces for a financial Beaver Chaff reckoning unlike any it has known before.

Look out below!

Shawn Loughlin Shawn’s Sense

Less is more

I

n the devious and sinister world of rising cost-of-living prices, with much of the focus being on the price of groceries, the even more devious and even more sinister bit of the whole debate has been shrinkflation.

This word has come about in recent years as people have begun noticing that companies are stealthily and quietly, little by little, giving us less, but charging us more. Same cereal box or bag of chips - less cereal, fewer chips. Or, the boxes are getting a bit smaller. The weight of what you’re buying - say, a box of crackers - is just a few grams lighter than it used to be and, since you’re a person and not a scale used to measure weight in a drug house, you don’t realize it, because... how could you?

This practice is front and centre as grocery prices have soared. Canadians are thinking all the time about how awful it is that grocery store chains are exploiting those who are struggling to make ends meet and, furthermore, we’re not even getting as much “stuff” for that money as we used to.

A CBS News Moneywatch investigation back in October showed that shrinkflation has affected one third of grocery items. The worst offenders, according to the news outlet’s analysis, were those selling paper products like toilet paper, facial tissues and paper towels.

As a family with two young children, I know that Jess and I feel the pinch every weekend when we do our grocery shopping. It’s expensive to feed those little people we’ve created, in addition to all that goes into keeping the two of us alive as well. Having said that, we need to buy these things. There are very few splurges in our grocery carts, so we have to simply throw up our hands and realize that, as the great Martin Scorsese foretold in The Irishman, it is what it is.

Where I find that it’s really been sticking in my craw is on the non-essential purchases. It all depends on what you define as being nonessential, but I’m talking about things that provide entertainment, like streaming services for television, movies, sports and music.

Spotify, for example, is how I listen to my music. And, as a music lover, I use it a lot. I use it all day, every day here at the office and a lot at home or in the car. I used to have a solo membership that was under $10 per month. It’s important to mention here, however, that there used to be (and maybe still is) a free version of Spotify, supported by advertising, with certain limitations. The push to pay for a premium membership with Spotify - back then - was to remove all limitations (listen to any and all songs when and in what order you want to listen to them) and be freed of advertisements.

As someone who pays his bills on the strength of advertising revenue, I am not here to cast aspersions on the role of advertising. If you pay for something with the promise of skipping advertising because you’re providing the revenue that would have otherwise been provided by advertising, you should get what you pay for. Now, with a family membership that has seen its price creep up year after year, I am paying over $21 per month for Spotify.

And, guess what? Advertising is back. So, paying double and listening to advertisements that I paid to skip is a form of shrinkflation.

The rest of streamers are following suit with services like Netflix, Disney Plus and more, with annual price increases and ad-supported versions, bringing back the exact thing they sold themselves on eliminating.

What we’re paying for is being rolled back and there’s nothing we can do about it. Our cruel corporate overlords will tell us how much we’ll get and what we’ll pay for it.

PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024.

Columnist returns from western trip A NOTE FROM BETTY

By Betty Graber Watson Call 887-9231

Here and there Representatives of Brussels were busy on the weekend as the calendar ticks closer and closer towards Christmas. Above, the Brussels Lions Club held another successful Breakfast with Santa at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre, while below, the Brussels Fall Fair Ambassador trio of Bridget McCallum, left, Emily Bieman, centre, and Sophia Blake were in Wingham for its Santa Claus parade spreading the good word about the Brussels Agricultural Society and its annual Fall Fair. (John Stephenson photos)

At the Branch

Hillier, Fischer win

By Jo-Ann McDonald The week at the Branch was fairly quiet. On Monday was the Brussels Lions Club meeting, followed on Tuesday with the Cadets and, on Thursday, a get-together for the Pipe Band to practise and the weekly dart night.

It’s a busy time of the year and the monthly meeting was cancelled so more members could attend.

The blind mixed darts had 25 players taking aim at the boards.

There was a three-way tie for first and, after the playoffs, the firstplace team was Evelyn Hillier and Bruce Fischer. Second place went to Rhonda Davis and Jeremy Glousher and in third place was the team of Pauleen Pennington, Chris Brown and Christa Badley. The high shots for the night were by Ron Gibson (124) and Jason

Wagatha (121). The group is having lots of fun and all are welcome to come out and join in.

On Friday night it was chicken burgers and fries for the pub grub and this week will be a surprise.

Watch for the menu on the Legion sign.

Next week is euchre night at the Branch. Come early and have beef on a bun. Euchre starts at 7 p.m. sharp, so be on time.

Celebrating A Special Occasion?

Advertise it in

The Citizen 519-523-4792 info@northhuron.on.ca

We’re back. Edmonton is ahead of us in terms of winters; there have been snow dumps and frigid temperatures there. So, driving home from the airport on Saturday morning, bare roads and mild temperatures were good.

Settling in with a little snow was easy; a nice setting for the outdoor Advent time on Saturday evening in front of the United Church. The words of Advent are: hope, peace, joy and love; they are the themes for this time. How we do that and with whom and for whom are what really matters at this time. Advent is the planning time for Jesus’ birthday. Years have passed and traditions change, but the message remains: we each, in our own way, offer peace, hope, joy and love to the world .

Hark, seven, and Weston, five, are growing and changing, but cards, food, balloons, cuddles and books remain current. Baking was a new event this time. Did you know if you have enough water on your hands to keep the marshmallows from sticking to them, the ability then to form them into a shape is quite unlimited? And now I know what watered-down Rice Krispie mixture tastes like. Oh, children are

worth so many laughs.

The first real snowstorm is always a reminder that we do not rule the world and that the world continues. Snow dates are always a good thing.

Our community is known for cooperation. One example of cooperation that has gone on for years is the ministers in the village working together. Joint worship services and other events, including a shared music time in holiday times, is part of this community.

So, keeping with a good tradition, come to the United Church at 7 p.m. this Sunday to start the season off right and hear a combined choir and many of your favourite carols.

Enjoy the beauty of nature and the good will around you.

Bye now. Betty GW

NEWS FROM BRUSSELS

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024. PAGE 7.

‘Citizen’ increases specials’ distribution for Dec. 13, 20 issues

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

The day of all days Blyth Friday was another success last weekend, as local merchants, artisans and volunteers came together to curate a one-of-a-kind experience in the village in contrast to the American consumerism of Black Friday. Blyth Festival Artistic Director Gil Garratt, left, indulged in some Indian food courtesy of Liz Herman, centre, and Swasthi Jugdave.

(Scott Stephenson photo)

BF Orchestra to perform

By Deb Hakkers Winter has arrived and it is certainly making up for lost time.

The snow does look beautiful and it does feel more like Christmas, but I hate driving in it!

This weekend, we have a busy weekend with my Christmas party for the school on Friday night, followed by Fred’s Jokey party on Saturday night and then Tyler (my great nephew) will be baptized on Sunday morning - the same day we’ll be celebrating Jon’s 30th birthday. The busy Christmas season has begun!

Mom continues to rehab at Huronlea. She continues to build strength standing, still working slowly toward her goal of walking.

Her next task is to be able to shift weight from one foot to the other.

She enjoyed the craft show, joining us at our table and she is enjoying all the Christmas activities at Huronlea. Fred’s mom is also enjoying all the Christmas activities Goderich Place has to offer.

This week, we wish a happy birthday to Jon Hakkers on Dec. 6; Barb Howson on Dec. 9 and John McDowell and Elaine Snell on Dec. 10. We hope everyone enjoys their special day!

A community Christmas service of lessons and carols featuring the Blyth Festival Orchestra will be held on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. at Trinity Anglican Church. Funds raised that night will benefit the Huron Women’s Shelter.

The next Legion Auxiliary euchre is set for Dec. 16. Doors open at 12:30 p.m. and the game starts at 1

p.m. The cost is $5 per person and that includes a light lunch. To sign up or to cancel, call or text Kathryn Aires at 519-895-6764.

Blyth’s Santa Claus parade is set for Saturday, Dec. 14 at 11 a.m. Be sure to get out and see Santa that day.

If there is anything special you would like to see mentioned, e-mail me at debhakkers@gmail.com or call me at 519-525-8640 (evenings only please).

Until next week, take care of yourselves and each other.

Remember to take time to enjoy the season and to also check in on those who struggle with the season, both financially and emotionally. Reach out to someone, even if it is just a call to say, “I am thinking about you!”

MAITLAND VALLEY CAMERA CLUB

Photography by Joan Perrie

As the Canada Post strike continues, now reaching into its third week, The Citizen wants to make every effort to get the newspaper into readers’ hands, especially as we publish special sections for the holidays.

So, for the Dec. 13 and Dec. 20 issues, which will include our annual Home Cooking for the Holidays and Season’s Greetings sections, respectively, North Huron Publishing will be increasing its distribution and its reach, should the strike still be ongoing.

The company’s efforts that are already in place will continue, which include posting the weekly edition of the complete newspaper on The Citizen’s website at huroncitizen.ca every week and free pick-up locations throughout the county. However, for those two special issues, North Huron Publishing will be finding additional pick-up locations in the communities of Blyth, Brussels, Seaforth, Clinton, Wingham, Goderich, Auburn and Belgrave to ensure that the newspaper is in front

of as many people as possible.

Additionally, the company will be printing more copies to ensure a robust supply for two of the biggest issues of the year.

So, in the coming weeks, keep your eyes out for The Citizen.

It shouldn’t be too difficult to find!

NEWS FROM BLYTH

Thank you to everyone who participated in Blyth Friday!

Business Boggler Scavenger Hunt Winners Mackinley Roberts is the winner of the Grand Prize.

Naomi Rowe is the winner of the Runner Up Prize.

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PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024.

Lucknow Sepoy Ranees mark 20th anniversary

A milestone The Lucknow Sepoy Ranees, a local branch of what’s known as the Red Hat Society, celebrated their 20th anniversary late last month at St. Helens Hall, just a

By Scott Stephenson The Citizen

On Nov. 20, the members of the Lucknow Sepoy Ranees (LSR) gathered together at St. Helens Hall to honour the 20th anniversary of something very special: being themselves! The Citizen stopped by this auspicious celebration and infiltrated the group’s rowdy ranks just long enough to get the inside scoop on this spirited coterie of local ladies of a certain age.

Event organizer and Founding Queen Ruth Dobrensky offered an interpretation of their collective’s ear-catching name. “Lucknow is the Sepoy town, and it means ‘soldier’

or ‘warrior,’” she explained. “And ‘Ranees’ means ‘Queen.’ So we’re the ‘Warrior Queens’ of Lucknow!”

Despite the location specificity of their ferocious moniker, not all the day’s attendees live within town limits. “Some of these ladies are arriving from the Mildmay and Walkerton and Hanover areas, and they’re joining us for lunch today.

Barb is our chef for the day, and she’s preparing a fantastic lunch for us,” Dobrensky told The Citizen.

After Barb’s celebration chicken, mashed potatoes, pie and punch, prizes and a choir-led sing-along were also on the agenda for the afternoon’s 20th anniversary bash.

The LSRs are a branch of an

short drive from their home community of Lucknow. They were happy to share their story with The Citizen and all that two decades of friendship brings with it. (Scott Stephenson photo) informal international organization known as the Red Hat Society (RHS). Dobrensky went on to spill the beans on this opposite-of-secret society’s singular, nefarious mission. “It’s the 25th anniversary of the Red Hat Ladies for all of the world, and we are all over the world. And all we’re here for is to have a good time!” she boasted joyfully. Dobrensky and the other members of the LSR are well aware of the benefits of a simple good time. “It’s about comradeship - it’s a way for people to get out and have a good time with other ladies. And sometimes we do things and invite gentlemen along as well…. It gives everybody a chance to get out and

share the day together, without worrying about the grandkids, or whatever! Just getting out there and having a good time!”

The RHS was inspired by the poem “Warning” by Jenny Joseph.

The poem’s iconic opening lines fire off the titular warning to the reader. “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple, with a red hat

which doesn’t go, and doesn't suit me,” it reads. When Joseph’s poem first debuted in 1961, it delivered a rather radical karate chop to the precious notion of the so-called “little old lady”. The narrator in “Warning” does not intend to go gently into that good night instead, she gleefully plans to spend her golden years finally breaking free from the surly bonds designed to create a proper and polite woman who fits into the space laid out for her at birth. Similarly, the women of the Red Hat Society are all finally old enough to understand what it really means to have fun and cut loose.

Of course, serving their community is still part of this society of socialites. Dobrensky listed just a few of the activities to which they’ve gotten up. “We’ve gone Christmas caroling at seniors’ residences, we’ve had daffodil teas to raise money for cancer research, and a few other things. But basically, we go out, we have dinner, or lunch. We go to movies, we go to plays, we go to singalongs. We’ve gone on mystery tours where nobody knows where we’re going, and we get a clue, and follow the clues to see where we’re going to go next - that sort of thing.

We also have events all year round.

There was a big event in September, over in Mildmay, for people from all over Ontario, and there were a couple hundred ladies there!”

Although the RHS are all about keeping it chill, there are a few strict rules they adhere to when gathering in great numbers.

“Everybody wearing red wears purple hats,” she confided. “If you’re wearing a red hat, it’s not your birthday month. If you’re wearing a purple hat, it is your birthday month!”

Presented by the Londesboro and District Lions Club

Community Paramedicine What is it? & Who is it for?

We invite you to join us at the Londesboro Lions Hall to hear how the Community Paramedics strive to help County Residents • to live their best lives • to stay in their own homes • to reduce 911 calls • to reduce Emergency Room visits • to reduce Hospital admissions The Community Paramedics will be on hand to make a presentation and answer questions about this exciting and innovative program and how it works to benefit residents in Huron County.

Tuesday, December 10th, 2024 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM Londesboro Lions Hall

HEY SNOWBIRDS! Stay up-to-date on the news at home by switching your regular subscription to our E-edition while you are away

On guard Members of the Lucknow and District Fire Department found themselves on duty on Friday night, but as participants in the community’s annual Santa Claus parade - no doubt a more relaxing shift than fighting a fire. (Scott Stephenson photo)

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

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024. PAGE 9.

NH approves arena use for Wingham mystery concert

By Scott Stephenson The Citizen

At its Dec. 2 meeting, North Huron Council decided to grant a rather intriguing request to rent the entire arena area of the Wescast Community Complex in Wingham on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025 for the purpose of hosting a concert.

While the private production company behind this proposal is promising that the event involves an artist popular enough to attract more attendees than any other

facility in the municipality can accommodate, the identity of said artist currently remains a mystery.

The arena’s ice will already be installed by Oct. 25, but the organizers already have a plan to mitigate that slippery situation they intend to place special ice surface flooring directly on the entirety of the ice surface for the duration of the concert. The production company will need access to the arena area on the evening of Friday Oct. 24 for set-

up, the full day on Saturday, and a half-day on Sunday. If the ice is damaged, additional time for repairs may be required. This does create a conflict with the schedule of groups like Wingham Minor Hockey and the Wingham Ironmen, but staff has consulted with those groups and they are willing to accommodate the show.

Councillor Mitch Wright put forth a motion to grant the rental request, saying, “I think out there in the industry either you're seen as a municipality that's flexible and

Shop Local

work with promoters to try to put on these kinds of events, or you're not really interested in that. So although this one is a little bit of an inconvenience, it could lead to summertime rentals.” He also

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pointed out that the show will likely have a positive effect on the local economy.

Deputy-Reeve Kevin Falconer seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

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PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024.

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With offices in: Blyth Brussels Goderich Linwood Seaforth & Stratford

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024. PAGE 11.

Arns is new HE chief

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

On Sunday, members of the Huron East Fire Department’s Brussels division were called out to a single-vehicle rollover on Brussels Line, just north of Walton. In the driving snow of the day, conditions were bad for drivers, though despite the damage to the vehicle in this situation, the two occupants escaped with no injuries, according to firefighters at the scene. (John Stephenson photo)

Alexanders watch daughter play for Michigan in New York PEOPLE AROUND WALTON

By Jo-Ann McDonald Call 887-6570

We can count ourselves lucky that we had almost made it to the first of December before getting our first taste of winter and boy what a taste it was. Saturday wasn’t that bad, but Sunday was a different story.

By mid-morning a car was in the ditch just past our place. Fire department, ambulance and later a tow truck arrived to rescue the person. Roads were slippery and snow-covered and the traffic was slow-going all day. I had plans to go away, but cancelled them because of the road conditions.

On Saturday night, many Walton folks made the trip to the 50th birthday party for Greg Clarke. He lives near Chepstow. Roads were good on the way there and a little slippery coming home. There was a great crowd of friends, co-workers and old friends from Walton.

Everyone enjoyed great food: wings, fries and salads prepared by some good friends. His wife Kait planned the evening. Greg’s mom Pam lives next door and dad Bruce lives in Waterloo. Great to see all and happy birthday Greg!

The Alexander family was off again to watch daughter Nicole play hockey for the University of Michigan. Mike, Susan, Sarah, Bob, Joyce Alexander, Darryl, Glenda and Amanda Morrison and friend Ryan made the trip to Niagara Falls, New York, The team played both Friday and again on Saturday. Nicole was in net for the

Friday game, but not Saturday’s.

The family enjoyed the weekend, the hockey, the visit with Nicole and their time together.

Welcome home to Merv and Donna Bauer and daughter Kim, who have been away on a fantastic Mediterranean cruise for about three weeks. The trip started by flying to Rome and spending four days in that beautiful city. They then boarded the Prima NCL cruise ship for the next 17 days. They made stops and saw the sights in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Ponta Delgado. They then headed home on the five-day crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. They had a beautiful room with a balcony on the boat, great food, wonderful weather in the high teens and even though the boat ride was sometimes a little rough, it rocked them to sleep at night! Welcome home!

It was the second deer hunt this past week and it was a very different hunt than the first one. The hunters had warm sunny days back in November and now about four feet of snow for the December hunt.

It will be too late to remind you to drive carefully as the deer will be on the move, but it is always a good practice to be aware of deer movement at dawn and dusk.

The new upgrades arrived for the main street in Brussels just in time for the snow to cover them all up.

New waste receptacles for garbage and recycling, new picnic tables at the main street arbour that are wheelchair accessible, new benches to sit and take a break and new banners for the standards - you will have to look for them and wait for the snow to go to see them or sit on them, but they look very nice.

John Lowe had a very interesting trip one night and day last week. He loaded his bus with 48 Mennonite men at 1 a.m. in the morning to head to Powasan. They were

heading to raise a barn and that they did. It was a well-organized event with everyone knowing what their job was and a successful day it was.

There were meal breaks and then it was back to work. The men were back on the bus around supper time and home to St. Helens before 11 p.m. A long, tiring day, I bet.

John reports it was very interesting to watch them work and the methods they use to accomplish the job. No big machines, just manpower.

The barn was completely enclosed when they left after a hard day’s work; something he will never forget.

Celebrating birthdays by welcoming December are Cameron Blair, Tim Dionne, Daniel Fritz, Lilly Fraser, Scott Godkin, Justin Hoegy, Curtis Wharton, Paul McCallum, Mary Bernard, Greg Bowers, Ron Godkin, Pat Langlois, Devin Bachert, Rick McDonald, Brea McDonald, Jeff Robinson, Mark Nolan, Mike Nolan and Liz Roth. Happy birthday to all.

Babies of the Year

Winter’s return

Jason Arns has been named the new Fire Chief for Huron East and the alternate Community Emergency Management Coordinator, with established Grey firefighter Steve Boyer being named the new Deputy Fire Chief.

Huron East Council passed bylaws to that effect at a meeting earlier this fall, essentially relieving former Chief Marty Bedard of his interim duties, after he returned from retirement when the municipality lost Kent Readman to another job.

There was little debate on the bylaws, which council passed near the end of its meeting that night. *** Huron East Council has decided to support the resurfacing of the Brussels pickleball courts on a 50/50 basis, but will work to obtain grants in hopes of paying for its half of the project that way.

Council made the decision facing a request to cover $7,395 of the project, with the pickleball group raising the rest of the funds.

Frank Stretton, a former Huron East Councillor and the representative for the group, spoke to council earlier in the meeting, saying the current condition of the courts are bad and that the health and safety of users was becoming an increasingly worrisome concern.

He suggested that it’s really just a matter of time until a fall results in broken bones or a more serious injury, rather than the bumps and bruises the club has been seeing.

Councillor Jeff Newell spoke in favour of paying for half of the

project. He said that the group had already raised half of the funds for the first phase of the project, which is something Huron East asks community groups to do, so he felt the group had gone above and beyond in coming to ask council for some help.

In her report to council, Director of Community Services Lissa Berard outlined about $740,000 in essential upgrades scheduled to be in her budget next year, including five projects in Brussels and two each in Seaforth and Vanastra. As a result, she said, there would be financial strain on the department and recommended that, if council wanted to assist the group with the project, it does so through potential grant opportunities.

Council approved partnering with the Brussels pickleball group without specifying where the money would come from within the existing budget. However, Chief Administrative Officer Brad McRoberts said staff would investigate grant opportunities in the hopes of receiving upper-tier assistance before using municipal funds. *** At that same meeting, acting on a report provided by staff at the request of Huron East DeputyMayor Alvin McLellan, council directed staff to prepare a report on potentially reinstating a fire board for the municipality.

McLellan asked for a report on the state of the municipality after council voted to do away with a number of committees. He hoped to learn about the status of things and if the municipality and affected Continued on page 13

2024

Don’t miss your chance for an authentic newspaper clipping for your child’s scrapbook

Join the gallery of new faces in The Citizen's baby photo display January 17, 2025 Email a jpeg of your little one born in 2024 along with a writeup which includes full name, birth date and parents' names and then call us, stop in or pay by e-transfer, credit card or mail a cheque (payable to North Huron Publishing) to prepay.

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NEWS FROM WALTON

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PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024.

From the Minister’s Study

What exactly is Advent? Rev. Todd has the answer

By Rev. JoAnn Todd, Wingham, Blyth and Seaforth Anglican Churches We are well and truly into the season of Advent. Advent is the four weeks before Christmas and celebrated in most main-line Christian denominations, in some form. So just what is Advent?

The word Advent comes from the Latin “adventus”, meaning coming or arrival. So Advent is a time of waiting and preparation, waiting and getting ready for celebrating Jesus’ coming into our lives.

The season of Advent’s a bit of a paradox, really. Even though Advent means that we await the coming of Christ again - his second coming, as it were - God in Christ is still with us. The Spirit of Christ is with us, and meets us wherever we are, and as we are - in all of our stress, in our family messes, personal issues and life challenges.

Christ’s love is a constant; we are loved, in all our flaws and failings.

That always blows my mind when I take a moment and really consider the immensity of that.

Even in my multitude of imperfections - and God knows I have my share - Jesus loves me despite and even in spite of all. We are loved, and Christ is among us.

Where else but church can you come and hear a message of unconditional love; a love that’s always there?

Jesus loves us right here and right now; while we think and talk about Christ’s second coming. We live in hope for the peace that Christ will bring when he comes again, while living in the joy of Christ’s amazing love. It’s really cool, when you put it that way, this Christian faith of ours. We live in hope for the peace that Christ will bring when he comes again, while living in the joy of Christ’s amazing love.

In our church, and many others too, you will find an Advent wreath, with four coloured candles in the wreath and a white one in the centre, in our tradition. And in each of the four Sundays of Advent we focus on one of those four aspects of our faith - hope, peace, joy and love - the four candles in the circle of the Advent Wreath.

Each Sunday of Advent we light a candle and say special prayers and sing a special hymn. We could consider the Advent wreath itself an analogy of our faith. The wreath is a circle; a circle has no beginning and no ending, symbolic of the eternal nature of God. It’s traditionally decorated with evergreen boughs, an ancient symbol of life, as

Evangelical Missionary Church

Sunday, December 8, 10:30 a.m.

2nd Sunday of Advent Pastor Mike Stanley preaching from Luke 1:57-79 "Jesus Prince of Peace"

evergreens keep their leaves and live even throughout the cold, dark and harsh time of winter. The candles bring light to the winter’s hours of darkness, each week another is lit, increasing the light the wreath brings; it’s like the closer we get to Jesus’ presence with us, the more light Jesus brings to our lives.

Then, on Christmas Eve, the Christ Candle is lit; the Christ candle in the centre of the circle, Christ in the centre of our lives, the light of the world; white represents the pure and holy nature of Jesus.

Traditionally, three candles are purple and one is pink. Purple, a royal colour, fit for a King, and also a colour traditionally used in the church to represent a time of preparation and prayer while also used in Lent. In more recent years, many Protestant churches use a deep sarum blue for Advent hangings and also in their candles, to differentiate Advent from Lent.

The Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of Hope. Christians are a people of hope; we live in hope and

with hope, that is our hallmark. “To hope is to know that the present reality will not have the last word. It is to know that God rules.”

And we live in the expectation; in the hope of Christ’s coming again. I heard a therapist on CBC Radio say that hope is the greatest therapeutic tool there is. Interesting indeed, so I got thinking about hope, and just exactly is hope? Well, I thought, it’s something on which you can hang your hat.

After that brilliant analogy, I figured I’d better look it up for a proper definition! Hope is a “desire accompanied by expectation of (something); a belief in fulfillment… (It’s) someone or something on which hopes are centred; something desired.” Well, that works for Advent, doesn’t it?

Expectation of something and someone’s coming on which our hopes are centred.

Jesus fits that bill to a T! How very appropriate to start Advent with hope. Christians are a people who have hope, who live in hope; even in those times of our lives

when we’re maybe not feeling particularly hopeful. So, just what does it mean for Christians to have hope?

Hope means more than just hanging on. It is the conscious decision to see the world in a different way than most others see it. To hope is to look through the eyes of faith to a future not determined by the oppressive circumstances of the present. To hope is to know that the present reality will not have the last word. It is to know that God rules.

Brussels Mennonite Fellowship Come worship with us Sundays at 10:00 am All are welcome

The Anglican Churches of Blyth, Seaforth and Wingham Welcome You to Sunday Service!

Trinity: 9:00 a.m. Parish of the Holy Spirit: 9:30 a.m. St. Paul’s-Trinity: 11:00 a.m.

166 Dinsley St. W, Blyth

21 Jarvis St. Seaforth 519-527-1522

revjoann@hurontel.on.ca

holyspirit@tcc.on.ca

stpauls@hurontel.on.ca

www.holyspiritseaforth.ca

www.regionalministryof hope.com

The Regional Ministry of Hope

23 John St E Wingham 519-357-4883

Join us Su unday, December 8 Mr. Bob Bra amhill will be leading us in the e 10:00 am service There will be no evening service.

Services S ervices a are re llive-streamed ive-streamed a and nd c can an b be e found found b by ys searching earching ““Blyth Blyth C Christian hristian R Reformed eformed C Church” hurch”

Service Livestreamed Sundays at 11 a.m. on our facebook page

The Regional Ministry of

BRUSSELS S

United Chu ur urch

BLYT TH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Hwy. 4, Blyth 519-523-4743 www.blythcrc.ca

2nd Sunday of Adven nt Worship Service December 8 at a 11:00 a.m.

Sunday, December 8 at 7 p.m. - Brusssels Ministerial Lessons & Carols Wednesday, December 11 ~ 4:455-7:00 p.m. - Messy Church Saturday, December 14 ~ 10-11:300 a.m. - Christmas Bake Sale All arre welcome Contact Alex at ministter.brusselsandblythuc@gmail.co y @g om Website: brusselsandblythuc.ca brusselsandblythuc b ca P.O. Box 359, Brussels ~ 519-887-6259 P.

MEL LV VILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS

Sunday, December 8, 2024

Sunday, December 8 at 10 a.m.

BMG Community Centre (upstairs room) 800 Sports Drive, Brussels Childcare and Sunday School provided for children 0 to 8 during the sermon

More details at: brusselscommunitybiblechapel.ca

NORTHERN HURON-PERTH CATHOLIC FAMILY OF PARISHES

Soup & More 2

All are welcome to visit or join with us, and to become

Join us every Friday from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. for lunch. This free meal is made possible by the munity.

Brussels churches and many volunteers working together to serve our comm All are welcome! Friday December 20/24 - Please join us as we celebrate togethher with a Christmas meal of turkey and all the trimmings!

disciples of Jesus, sharing in Christ’s mission.

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

17 Flora Street

For pastoral care concerns please call 519-524-7512 2

Wingham: Sacred Heart Sunday ~ 9:00 a.m.

220 Carling Terrace

9:30 am

On-site and online - live.huronchapel.com To talk to Pastor Mike please email pastormike@huronchapel.com

119 John’s Ave., Auburn 519-526-1131

Worship and Prayer Time Loving Fellowship Expository Preaching

9:30 a.m.

We extend a loving welcome to all to join us as Doug Sargent leads uss in worship on the second Sunday of Advent.

Refreshments and a time to visit will follow the service.

Sunday, December 8 Join us for our Christmas Eve Service on Dec. 24th at 6 pm

Christ is born in Bethlehem

Interim Pastor Elwin Garland 250 Princess St., Brussels • 519-887-6388

Blyth United Church Nursery & Sunday School during worship

It is this sense of hope, this urgent desire to know that God really is in charge of the mess that is our world and even our lives at times.

The second candle stands for peace. Jesus is the one who came to bring peace. “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:4) We read from the Old Testament Continued on page 18

“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3

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

1025 Wallace Avenue N.

The outreach program for December is Gifts with Vision.

Contact Alex at: minister.brusselsandblythuc@gmail.com Facebook: Blyth and Brussels United Churches blythunited@tcc.on.ca ~ 519-523-4224

Website: nhpc.dol.ca

Telephone: 519-357-2435

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024. PAGE 13.

BLYTH Y 519-523-4244

+XURQ7UDFWRU FRP

519-523-4311

www.ruralvoice e.ca

Blyth Firefighters’ Association make donations

Giving back The Blyth Firefighters’ Association recently donated proceeds from its annual breakfasts to six worthy local causes.

Clockwise from top left: $2,000 to the Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund, $1,000 to the Wingham oncology department, $1,000 to the North Huron Community Food Share, $2,000 to Blyth Community Betterment, $1,000 to the Blyth Kids Club and $1,000 to the Huron Residential Hospice. (Shawn Loughlin photos)

North Huron approves fees, charges for 2025

By Scott Stephenson The Citizen At a special council meeting on Nov. 22, North Huron Council kicked the festive budget season into high gear with the annual tradition of senior staff proposing updates to the township’s fees and charges bylaw for council’s consideration. Council approved the proposed changes, following a discussion that led to a few minor tweaks. The passing of the bylaw also comes along with the understanding that council will be making further amendments as additional information continues to come in from senior staff.

The proposed updates include the specific information that council added to its municipal wishlist at its Oct. 21 meeting, including clear communication of any changes in fees, the rationale for said changes, the intended outcome, and a comparator table that shows how North Huron stacks up in comparison to nearby municipalities.

According to Treasurer Chris Townes, the rationale behind all proposed changes is to better recover costs, to cover the cost of inflation and to align with the rates and fees charged by other municipalities, with the intended outcome of better recovering the actual costs of providing services while reducing the overall impact on taxation.

There are no recommended

changes to administration fees, building class fees and children’s programming; and the ability to recover the costs of self-contained breathing apparatus cylinder refills through the Fire Marque program means they will no longer require subsidization through emergency services fees.

Staff presented a few proposed changes to North Huron’s licensing fees, including increasing the cost of a civil marriage ceremony (CMC) from $350 to $375, plus licensing fees. According to the accompanying comparator table, a CMC in Howick clocks in at $425, whereas in Huron East, a civil ceremony is a mere $50. The licensing fee for food trucks on municipal property may see an increase from $105 to $150.

In the lead-up to this year’s fees and charges update, local funeral director Dayna Deans formed a delegation and spoke to council in an effort to draw its attention towards last year’s sharp increase in cemetery fees. At North Huron’s Oct. 7 meeting, she explained that, as of 2023, the winter burial fee was now being added to the standard burial fee as a surcharge for the first time, as opposed to in lieu of the standard burial fee. She also pointed out that this surcharge was now being applied to all burials, including infants and cremated remains, instead of just adult burials. Deans was also dismayed that the winter burial surcharge is now automatically applied from

Nov. 15 onwards, no matter the weather conditions. Previously, cemetery operators had the discretion to decide whether or not the winter burial fee would be applied, depending on the weather conditions. At the Oct. 7 meeting, and again at the town hall meeting in Blyth on Oct. 10, Deans urged council to address these issues during the fees and charges update.

As he presented proposed changes, Director of Public Works Dax McAllister reminded council that a staff report on the subject of winter burials is still forthcoming.

“I will note that we are bringing a report back to deal with the winter burial as part of a follow-up report to the delegation that council received previously,” he said. “That will address the winter burial, for council to make a decision on that.

But until that time, we’ve left that in.” The current proposal specifies that the $1,019.70 winter burial fee will be charged from Nov. 15 onward. It also includes a blanket increase of three per cent on all charges, and a new fee of $200 for an additional cremation interment at the same time as a regular ground interment or columbarium interment.

Councillor Mitch Wright asked McAllister about the new fee for interring additional cremated remains. “So, if we’re looking for cost recovery, I’m just wondering what the basis of that fee is? Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but I don’t

think there would be an incremental cost to do a cremation interment at the same time as a burial.”

McAllister confirmed that Wright was right - there is no additional cost associated with that particular service. “We’re just keeping our policies aligned with other cemeteries,” he explained. Reeve Paul Heffer expressed interest in staff’s upcoming winter burial fee report.

In the public works department, several changes are being proposed, including a three per cent increase on almost all charges. The lone exception is the deposit on entrance permits, which staff recommends go from $621.50 to $2,500. This draft update also advocates for the elimination of the fees and charges for equipment rentals and the sale

of aggregate materials, and the inclusion of a new charge for the repair of any damage to municipal property caused by others.

Staff’s plans for next year’s planning and site plan fees have been temporarily delayed due to a new requirement regarding the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The second draft of the fees and charges bylaw will include proposed changes to the planning and site plan fees.

Historically, changes to North Huron’s recreation and facilities fees have generated a great deal of discussion amongst the township’s taxpayers. Kelly Steiss, Director of Recreation and Children’s Services, presented this portion of the proposal.

Steiss began by Continued on page 15

Fire boards debated Continued from page 11 entities, such as the fire departments, were still getting their money’s worth and that things weren’t being missed in the wake of committees being eliminated.

McRoberts prepared a report for council saying that he didn’t feel things were being missed, but several councillors said that some community members felt like the fire boards should return. However, since the structure of the fire departments have been unified, McRoberts said, if council wanted to return to a fire board, it would

just be one fire board for the entire municipality.

Council asked McRoberts to prepare a report on the potential structure and meeting schedule for a newly-created fire board to be presented at a future meeting.

Furthermore, council directed McRoberts to inquire about having a council member sit on the local Family Health Team committee for information purposes. McRoberts said that because it’s not a committee of council, the municipality would have to make the request.

PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024.

Classified Advertisiing – RATES – s Coming events Swap shop

20 words or less only $9.00 + HST Additional words 25¢ ea. + HST

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Articles for sale GERBERS FIREWOOD SER RV VING you for over 15 years. Y Yo our number one source of quality slabwood and b d bodywood. d Delivery D li available. il bl No N Sunday calls. 519-274-1236, 519441-2085.

-------------------------------------------REPRINTS OF PHOTOS taken by Citizen photographers are available to purchase. All are in colour. 4x6 $5.00, 5x7 - $6.00, 8x10 - $10.00.

Phone to order 519-523-4792 or email info@northhuron.on.ca -------------------------------------------THE CITIZEN IS AV VA AILABLE TO purchase at these locations - Auburn Esso, Belgrave Variety Va y,, Blyth Food Market, Blyth V Vaariety, Blyth Ultramar, Brussels Foodland, Brussels Vaariety, V Clinton Convenience, Clinton Foodland, Fogal's YIG (Wingham), Seaforth Foodland, Fincher's (Goderich), Goderich Victoria St Shell, Goderich Petro-Canada Gas Bar, and The Citizen offffice in Blyth.

COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS Lessons & Carols with The Blyth Festival Orchestra. Sunday y,, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. Potluck supper to follow.

Trinity Anglican Church, 166 Dinsley St., Blyth.

Free will offffering for the Huron W Wo omen's Shelter. Everyone W Weelcome.

-------------------------------------------WINTER T TA AKE-OUT LUNCH, Tuesday Tu y,, December 17, 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Trinity Anglican Church, Blyth. A Holiday Meal of Roast Turkey, $12 per person.

Orderingg deadline: Monday y, December 16. T To o orderr call 519-5239396 or email: mcgreggor@ezlink.ca

Help wanteed PA P ART T--TIME CUSTOD DIAN needed for Blyth United Churrch starting in January 2025. Approoximately 10 hours per week (varies with seasons).

Cleaning, lawn maintenance (mower supplied), s light me repair and snow shoveling, som maintenance. Contact Dave Onn at t for further 519-525-9509, call or text details.

--------------------------------------------

A Career That Connects C Yoou With Com Y mmunity

Citizen-To-Citizen o “SW WA AP SHOP” ad Call 519-523-4792 or email: info@northhuron.on.ca

• Free ad up too 25 words, person to person only (n no businesses), items valued at $1,00 00 or less. Price must be included in yyour ad.Y Yo our ad will run three times unle ess it sells faster!

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

FOR SALE - Snow roof rake, 2 extensions, $20, free electric snow thrower. 519-482-7502 48-3 -------------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Y Yaardworks 10.5 hp/29” snowblower, 6 speed/2 speed, has reverse, electric start, used very little, asking $725.

Call 519-525-1863.

47-3 -------------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Seventy gallon fish tank and stand. Complete with Eheim 350 filtration system, heater, bubbler, light, python cleaning system. T Tw wo clown loaches and some other fish. $450., 519-440-8390.

47-3 -------------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Three pictures of old John Deere tractors, 22”x12” in one frame, $10; Patrick Roy 200 piece puzzle, never been used, $10; child’s doll, $10. Phone 519357-9467.

47-3 -------------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Vintage 8” Beaver table saw, great condition, moveable base, fence, mitre gauge and long 18 ft. heavy cord. $50 or best offffer. Please text 519887-9577.

47-3 --------------------------------------------------

Card of thanks BUCHANAN. The family of the late Kay Buchanan would like to thank everyone who sent cards, flowers, made phone calls or stopped in to convey their condolences on the passing of our mom. Special thank you to the kind and caring staffff at Huronview Home for the Aged, Clinton who took such great care of mom helping her to transition to her new home and to everyone who took the time to visit her. Special thanks to Zoey at Riverside Funeral Home for her compassion and professionalism helping make the funeral arrangements and to Pastor Les Cook for offfficiating. A big thank you to the Legion Ladies Auxiliary for providing the luncheon after the funeral. Everything y g was truly y appreciated! Mom will surely be missed.

Coming events KARA AT TE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL! SCHWEITZER'S MAR RT TIAL AR RT TS - 6 weeks plus uniform only $139.99! Taxes extra. Beginners only. Join now or give as a gift.

Special ends Jan. 4, 2025. Group classes for ages 4 to adult. Classes taught by Renshi Becky Schweitzer, 4th Degree Black Belt and 12X World Karate Champion. Location Wo at Hutton Heights Community Church - 21 Lloyd Street, Wingham.

Call 519-580-1418 or e-mail becky_schweitzer@hotmail.com www.schweitzersmartialarts.com -----------------------------------------MERR RY Y LITTLE C CHRISTMAS S S FOOD MARKET at St. Ambrose Church, Brussels, Saturday Dec. 7 from 11a.m. to 2 p.m. Bake Sale, Raffffle Draw and Lunch available.

Everyone is welcome.

HELP WA W ANTED

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

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The Citizen

By Scott Stephenson The Citizen

Concerns over untagged and loose dogs were a focal point during the regular MorrisTurnberry Council meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19, with councillors and staff debating enforcement challenges under the current animal control bylaw.

Councillor Jamie McCallum raised the issue after hearing from a resident about an untagged dog that had been involved in a biting incident. “I was just wondering how many untagged dogs does the township deal with in a year, and is this something we should look into enforcing a little bit stronger?” he asked.

Chief Building Official Kirk Livingston acknowledged the issue, pointing to plans for a door-to-door dog count. “We’ll look for dogs how many? Do they currently have tags? And we’ll have a good solid number for a count,” he said.

Livingston confirmed that the incident McCallum referenced is under investigation and has been reported to the Ontario Provincial Police.

Belgrave was identified as a hotspot for dog-related issues, with Livingston reporting multiple attacks this year. “It’s been with dogs running at large, dogs with no tags, and certainly two attacks now.

Maybe three. Three in total,” he

said. However, he admitted there are no easy solutions. “How do you tighten that down? I don’t know the answer for that.”

Councillor Sharen Zinn expressed frustration, asking, “So, these dogs can just run at large?

Like, can we do anything different to make those dogs not be running at large?” Livingston explained that, while the municipality can encourage compliance through education and enforce fines for offences, preventative measures are limited. “If we went and charged that one landowner today, and their dog was running at large again tomorrow, we could do it again. But I don’t know how you just stop it,” he said.

Zinn described the situation as “not good,” adding, “it’s not good if dogs are going around biting people and you can’t do anything about it, really.”

Livingston shared his personal experience, underscoring the potential risks. “I’ve been bit by a dog, and I tell you, it hurts. There’s a lot of pain associated with that,” he said. “Fortunately, we’ve been lucky it hasn’t been a child with severe injuries. I worry about that all the time, but I can’t stop it from happening.”

Councillor Jodi Snell suggested that stricter enforcement of fines may be the municipality’s only viable approach to addressing the issue.

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Community Corrrespondent for Clinton The Citizen is lookin ng for a community correspo ondent to he news of tell our readers all th Clinton and area.

Dogs at large in Belgrave concern M-T, Livingston

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PEOPLE AROUND BELGRAVE

By Linda Campbell Call 357-2188

On a snowy Dec. 1, the first Sunday of Advent, Rev. Colin Snyder welcomed the congregation of Knox United Church in Belgrave. He lit the first Advent candle and the congregation sang “O’ Come, O’ Come, Emmanuel” followed by the Prayer of Approach.

Scripture lessons were taken from Jeremiah 33: 14-16 and Luke 21: 25-36 and Rev. Colin’s reflection was entitled, “The End of the World As We Know It”.

This past week, Elly Dow took four bulging grocery bags filled with pop tabs to Greg Blagdon in Harriston. Though his verbal skills are limited, Greg expressed enthusiasm. Thanks to all who saved their tabs and he says to keep them coming.

The next Community Coffee Break is set for Monday, Dec. 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Belgrave Community Centre.

Please take note of the change of date.

Happy birthday to Mackenzie Wightman, who celebrated on Dec. 2. We hope you had a great day.

NEWS FROM BELGRAVE

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024. PAGE 15.

North Huron approves ’25 fees, charges Continued from page 13 reminding council about some of the changes that were made to the recreation fees during last year’s update, namely, a 25 per cent increase to basic recreation package rates, and the phasing-in of increases to aquafit memberships, swim memberships, fitness memberships, court rentals, and youth ice arena rentals with 70 per cent of the increase occurring in 2024 and the remaining 30 per cent, plus applicable COLA, occurring in 2025.

While Steiss’ proposed recreation fees for 2025 did include that 30 per cent increase, she also presented some possible changes to their plan.

“I did bring a recommendation forward,” she explained, “based on some feedback from earlier this year. As you may recall, we conducted some surveys with current users, but we also had a larger survey of people.” The purpose of the larger survey was to gain deeper insight into the wants and needs of those who do not frequent North Huron’s facilities.

“Additionally, I’ve had some feedback from members of council, based on information they have received from their constituents….

Some of that feedback indicated that there is a threshold - people are struggling to be able to pay the significant increase in fees. There is a request as well to include some student and senior rates, which the township did offer in the past.

There was quite a bit of feedback around the reintroducing of those rates, so you’ll see that in here.”

Several programs, like aquafit, are

On the move Among those making music on Saturday at Wingham’s snowy Santa Claus parade was the Seaforth and District All-Girls Marching Band - a staple of the Santa Claus parade circuit in Huron County. (John Stephenson photo)

Hullett concert pushed to Dec. 17

Well, Old Man Winter made his presence felt last weekend for sure.

Although, truth to tell, we didn’t fare nearly as badly as areas to the north of us. I expect he was just reminding us that we are in the snowbelt and can expect those streamers off the lake; that it is now December, and that we had a very fine fall.

Another reminder that we are now in December with Christmas fast approaching are the Christmas trees now for sale at Nature’s Nest.

This is a fundraising project of the Londesborough Lions Club. The trees sell out quickly, so don’t be too long stopping by and choosing yours.

The Lions Club is hosting an information afternoon on Dec. 10.

Huron County community paramedics will be on hand from 13 p.m. that day to talk about their service; what it is and who it is for.

This gathering is open to everyone in the area.

Hullett Central Public School is concentrating on the virtue of compassion this month. And, as Principal Lori Stevens points out, the school family will be demonstrating that virtue this week with a food drive to help the less

fortunate members of the community. They are combining the food drive with some spirit fun as well. On Monday, the children were to offer breakfast food and wear a winter hat; Tuesday was dry foods like pasta or cereal and wear a team jersey day; Wednesday they could wear fun socks while offering canned goods; wearing plaid was allowed when offering school snacks on Thursday. And, in spite of the weather, Friday was beach day and bring along a hygiene product.

The school will also present its annual Christmas concert by pupils in Junior Kindergarten through Grade 3/4 at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 17.

At some point in our lives, all of us will be heard to say “small but mighty”. That may be a great way to describe the White Gift Service presented at Londesborough United Church by the young folk of the Sunday school. The Sunday school has only a few children, but thanks to the dedication of Lynda Horbanuik and Erin Yantzi, classes are held each Sunday morning.

And they capably led the congregation in the service on Dec. 1.

Lynda and Erin provided the litany for the lighting of the first candle in the Advent wreath. The candle itself was lit by Elise.

The service itself, entitled “Come to Bethlehem and See”, consisted of scripture passages; familiar Christmas carols and connecting reflections. Wes and Josh delivered the scripture verses with authority and meaning and Josh expertly added the reflections, prayers and announced the hymns. During the time of offering, the children all

brought some of the white gifts forward and placed them under the Christmas tree.

The only other adult help with the presentation of the service was a small ladies choir singing “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. The children warmly greeted congregants before and after the service.

As a Christmas note, I have chosen a quote from their service.

“The word Christmas is really Christ Mass. “Christ” is the name we use in thinking of the Messiah, the Promised One for whom the world had long been waiting. The word 'mass' comes from Latin. It was used by the early Christians to designate their most holy places of worship.” So we come to our places of worship at this time of year to be close to God in worship, to thank Him for His gift to the world.

no longer recommended to see that 30 per cent increase for 2025. “The other piece of feedback we received was from some of our user groups, particularly around ice arena rentals where those user groups have a season that covers two years.”

Steiss recommends following suit with other municipalities by offering seasonal, not annual rates.

“The benefit of that is that, for example, Wingham Minor Hockey would be able to set their rates in the year, for that year.”

Wingham’s Town Hall Theatre is also facing some potential changes in its fees and charges. Staff recommends that the separate hourly fees for private and community rehearsals be consolidated into a single, $60-perhour rehearsal fee. The daily fee for a private performance would increase from $275 to $550, with the understanding that $300 from each rental would be transferred to capital reserves. For community performances, the per-day fee would go from $100 to $200. It also proposes eliminating the separate hourly charges for staff support during private and community performances in favour of a single hourly charge of $60, instead of $45 and $30, respectively.

Councillor Chris Palmer questioned whether combining the private and community fees in such a way was the right move. “I’m

wondering - should the private be kept on?” he asked. Wright suggested “for-profit” and “not-forprofit” as a possible option. He also asked for clarification on how these changes would potentially affect the township’s potential partnership with a third party that has expressed an interest in managing the theatre’s day-to-day operations.

In terms of North Huron’s water and wastewater fees, staff recommends the township begin charging for connection to the sewer system, instead of just the water system.

The proposed overall development charges rate increase for 2025 is 3.3 per cent, which would be applied in quarterly increments.

Although further information regarding things like the cemetery fees and planning and site plan fees are still forthcoming, interim Chief Administrative Officer/Clerk Carson Lamb recommended that council pass the proposed fees and charges bylaw, with the understanding that amendments can be made to the bylaw as the necessary information becomes available. A motion to do so was put forth by Wright, and seconded by Councillor Lonnie Whitfield. The motion passed four to two, with Councillors Anita van Hittersum and Ric McBurney choosing not to support the motion.

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SUDOKU Fun By The Numbers Like puzzles?

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PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024.

Sports Ironmen split weekend again as year winds down

In need of movement As November has turned to December, not much has changed for the Wingham Ironmen, as they’ll win one game and then lose the next, keeping them in the same

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen The Wingham Ironmen have split their two weekend games for the second weekend in a row, first beating the Walkerton Capitals and then falling to the Kincardine Bulldogs, both on the road.

The weekend began for the Ironmen on Friday night with an 83 victory over the Capitals in Walkerton, kicked off by back-toback Dawson Dietz goals in the first period; the first was assisted by Brett McCutcheon and Tyson Fischer at 10:34 and the second came with help from Tayt Bramhill and Logan Burnham at 15:43.

Jed Korson-Schmidt then put the Ironmen up 3-0 at 1:50 of the second period, assisted by Tanner Dietz, but the Capitals would then score two goals to cut Wingham’s lead to one. Patrick Brown scored at 3:31 of the second, assisted by Alex Grein and Andreas Alves, and then Nate Binkley scored 17 seconds later, assisted by Malcolm MacDonald and Alex Grein.

Wingham would get those two goals back, however, with Jesse Coombs scoring at 8:27 of the second period, assisted by Tanner Dietz and Brett McCutcheon, and Micah Kraayenbrink scoring 21 seconds later, assisted by Tate Berfelz and Wade Robinson.

The teams would exchange goals again before the period expired, with Aiden Stanley scoring for Walkerton at 14:56, assisted by Markus Grajnar-Ptok and Owen Troyer, and Wingham’s Jesse Coombs scoring his second goal of the game on a penalty shot at 19:47 of the second.

After that, it was all Ironmen,

with Logan Burnham scoring a power play goal just 33 seconds into the third period, assisted by Tanner Dietz, and Austin Becker scoring at 14:41, also on the power play, assisted by Tyson Fischer and Brandon Bishop.

Noah Ricci won the game for the Ironmen, stopping 40 of the 43 shots he faced, while Noah Lundgren stopped 43 of 51 shots in a losing effort for the Capitals.

The referees blew the whistle on the Ironmen six times for a total of 10 minutes, while the Capitals were handed seven infractions for a total of 22 minutes in the penalty box.

The next night, the Ironmen lost to the Kincardine Bulldogs in overtime on the road in Kincardine by a score of 5-4, despite scoring the first two goals of the game.

Jesse Coombs scored for the Ironmen just 31 seconds into the game, assisted by Dawson Dietz, followed by a Noah Bloemberg goal at 3:10 of the first period, assisted by Tate Berfelz and Brett McCutcheon.

The Bulldogs scored the next two goals to tie the game at two. First, Dustin Heipel scored at 5:38 of the first, assisted by Jordan Beisel, followed by an Aidan Yarde goal, his 13th of the season, assisted by Caeleb Bowler and Jordan Moulton on the power play at 11:54 of the first period.

Wingham’s Noah Bloemberg then scored his second goal of the game at 13:40 of the first period, assisted

by Tayt Bramhill and Tyson Fischer, but Carter Servais quickly equalized for the Bulldogs with a goal at 18:30 of the first period, assisted by Bryce Martin and Trent Houghton.

The Ironmen would then pull

place in the standings. Over the weekend, they beat the Walkerton Capitals, but lost to Kincardine. Above, they’re seen hosting the Hanover Barons. (John Stephenson photo) ahead by a goal as the high-scoring first period came to a close with Dawson Dietz scoring at 18:49, assisted by Tanner Dietz.

Caeleb Bowler then scored his 12th goal of the season for Kincardine at 19:06 of the second period, assisted by Trent Houghton and Carter Servais, on the power play to tie the game at four.

After no scoring in the third period, the game went to overtime with Carter Servais scoring his second goal of the game at 4:46 of the extra frame, assisted by Caeleb Bowler and Aidan Yarde to win the game for the Bulldogs.

Ryan Tanner started the game in the Kincardine net, playing over 13 minutes and stopping nine of the 12 shots he faced before being replaced by Rowen Cherrett, who would play the next 51 minutes, stopping 24 of the 25 shots he faced, earning the win. James Hopper stopped 36 of 41 shots and was tagged with the overtime loss for Wingham.

The Ironmen were whistled for five penalties and 10 minutes in the box, while the Bulldogs spent 12 minutes in the penalty box on six calls.

In the standings, it’s the same old story in the North Pollock Division of the Provincial Junior Hockey League, with the Ironmen still in fourth place and the top three teams staying well ahead of the rest of the table.

The Hanover Barons are in first place with 39 points and a record of 19 wins, one loss and one shootout loss, followed by the second-place Fergus Whalers with 37 points and a record of 17 wins, three losses, two overtime losses and one shootout loss and the

third-place Mount Forest Patriots with 32 points and a record of 15 wins, four losses, two overtime

losses and two shootout wins.

The Ironmen are in fourth place with a record of 11 wins, 10 losses and two overtime losses for a total of 24 points, followed by the Kincardine Bulldogs in fifth place with a record of 10 wins, 10 losses, two overtime losses and two shootout wins for a total of 22 points.

Nine points behind the Bulldogs are the Mitchell Hawks in sixth place with 13 points and a record of five wins, 11 losses, two overtime losses, one shootout win and one shootout loss.

While both have 11 points, the Walkerton Capitals are in seventh place and the Goderich Flyers are in eighth place. The Capitals have a record of five wins, 17 losses, one overtime loss and one shootout win and the Flyers have four wins, 13 losses and three shootout losses.

By the time you read this newspaper, the Ironmen will have played the Patriots in Mount Forest on Wednesday night, but a score for that game was unavailable at press time. This weekend, the Ironmen will host the Mitchell Hawks tonight, Friday, Dec. 6, followed by a game with the Goderich Flyers on the road on Saturday. Next weekend, the Kincardine Bulldogs will come to Wingham for a game on Friday, Dec. 13, followed by the Ironmen heading to Walkerton to play the Capitals on Saturday, Dec. 14.

The final two games on the Ironmen schedule for the year are in Wingham on Friday, Dec. 20 against the Mitchell Hawks and on Sunday, Dec. 22 in Fergus against the Whalers.

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THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024. PAGE 17.

Sports Heat teams heading to Exeter, Guelph for tourneys

On top On Sunday at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre, the U13 HL Huron Heat beat the St. Thomas Panthers by a score of 2-0. (John Stephenson photo)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen This weekend, four Huron Heat teams will head south to Exeter for the annual Pink on the Rink tournament, while two teams will move east to Guelph for that association’s annual tournament.

The U9 HL Heat will begin play in Exeter on Friday morning with a game against the Central Perth Predators and then tangle with the Bluewater Hawks later that afternoon, while the U9 C Heat will play the St. Marys Rock and the Lucan Irish on that first day of the tournament.

Still in Exeter, the U15 C Heat will play the Ilderton Jets before a

game with the South Bruce Blades.

Meanwhile, the U11 C Heat will play the Sarnia Lady Sting and the Wingham 86ers on Friday.

In Guelph, the U13 A team will open on Friday with games against the Ayr Rockets and the host Guelph Junior Gryphons, while the U15 A Heat, also in Guelph, will first play the host Guelph Junior Gryphons and then the Mississauga Chiefs.

On Saturday, the U9 HL Heat will play the Lucan Irish in the hopes of continuing on, while the U9 C team will play the Bluewater Hawks that morning as well. Later that day, the U9 HL team will play the Ilderton Jets and the U9 C team will play the Wingham 86ers.

Also that day, the Huron Heat will play the Bluewater Hawks in their last scheduled tournament game before the playoff rounds begin.

The U13 A Heat will play the St. Catharines Junior Badgers, the U15 A Heat will play the North Simcoe Capitals and the Ancaster Avalanche and the U15 C Heat will play the West Oxford Inferno.

In regular season action on Saturday, the U9 B Heat will play the Waterloo Ravens in Seaforth and the U11 HL Heat will play the West Oxford Inferno on the road.

The U13 HL Heat will play the Mooretown Lady Flags on the road, the U18 C Heat will play the Wolverines in Wilmot, the U15 B

Big win On Sunday at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre, the U13 B Huron Heat hosted the Mount Forest Rams and sent the visitors away on the wrong end of a 4-1 score. (John Stephenson photo)

Heat will play the Rock in St. Marys, the Senior C team will play the Wilmot Wolverines on the road and the U18 BB Heat will host the Brantford Ice Cats in Clinton.

On Sunday, the U9 B Heat will play the Roadrunners in Cambridge, while the U15 B Heat and the U7 Heat will host the Saugeen Shores Storm and the London Devilettes, respectively, both in Clinton.

In Brussels, the U13 B Heat will host the Kincardine Kinucks and the Senior C team will play Elma Logan, while the U18 C Heat will welcome the Mitchell Meteors to Seaforth. On the road, the Senior team will play the Twin Centre Hericanes and the U18 BB Heat will play the Walkerton Capitals.

On Monday, Dec. 9, the U13 C Heat will play the Twin Centre Hericanes on the road, the U18 C Heat will play the Ilderton Jets on the road on Dec. 10 and the U11 HL Heat will play the South Huron Sabres in Blyth on Dec. 13.

Also that day, the U9 HL Heat will begin play in the Meagan Byers Tournament in Mount Forest and the U18 C Heat will play in their annual Silver Stick regional tournament being held in Saugeen Shores, beginning with a game against the Kincardine Kinucks that afternoon.

Looking back, on Dec. 1, the U15 C Heat lost to the Stratford Aces on the road by a score of 3-0, the U15 A Heat lost to the Bluewater Hawks, also on the road, by a score of 8-0 and the U18 BB Heat ended their game with the Aces in Stratford in a scoreless tie.

Also that day, the U13 B Heat beat the Mount Forest Rams in Brussels by a score of 4-1 and the U13 HL team beat the St. Thomas

Panthers, also in Brussels, by a score of 2-0.

The U13 C Heat lost to Ilderton/Lucan on the road by a score of 1-0 and the U15 B Heat tied the Walkerton Capitals on the road at one and the U18 C Heat beat the London Devilettes in Seaforth by a score of 1-0. The Senior C team played Milverton in Brussels and the Senior team played Seaforth in Hensall, but scores for those games were unavailable at press time.

On Saturday, Nov. 30, the U13 A Heat beat the Windsor Wildcats on the road by a score of 1-0, the U15 A Heat lost to the South Huron Sabres by a score of 5-2, the U18 C Heat ended their game with the Wildcats in Windsor in a scoreless tie, the U15 B Heat lost to the Kincardine Kinucks, also on the road, by a score of 4-2 and the U18 BB Heat in Brantford to play the Ice Cats by a score of 3-0.

In Blyth, the U13 C Heat beat the South Huron Sabres by a score of 30 and the U11 C Heat, in Seaforth, beat the Stratford Aces by a score of 4-1. The U9 C and U9 B Heat teams played two Lambton Attack teams in Seaforth and the U9 HL Heat played the Central Perth Predators on the road, but scores for those games were not kept.

One day earlier on Nov. 29, the U11 A Heat beat the Kincardine Kinucks on the road by a score of 21, while the U15 A Heat lost to the Bluewater Hawks in Hensall by a score of 6-2. On Nov. 28, the U18 C Heat lost to the Central Perth Predators in Blyth by a score of 6-1 and the U15 C Heat lost to the St. Marys Rock in Brussels by a score of 3-1. Back on Nov. 26, the U18 BB Heat lost to the Wilmot Wolverines by a score of 4-1.

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PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024.

ers t t e L THE TO

R

TO I D E

Writer thanks retired teacher for act of kindness in Clinton

Giving back Over the weekend (in a driving snow), Eric Ross of the Brussels Legion, left, presented a cheque to the North Huron Community Food Share in Brussels from the organization to aid in its holiday food drive. Roxane Nicholson, right, from the Food Share was on hand to happily accept the most generous donation. (John Stephenson photo)

THE EDITOR, I went into Dollarama in Clinton a couple of weeks ago to purchase some goodies for my class at Huron Christian School. I had asked my principal if I could make a quick trip during recess, and he kindly agreed.

I ran into a lady from my church.

She asked why I was in such a rush, and I told her the students were at recess, and I needed to get back as quickly as possible. I gathered everything I needed for the students, and I noticed a lady in line ahead of me. She insisted I go ahead of her, but I said no. She said, “Oh no. I’m a retired teacher. I also

heard you tell your friend you had to get back to the school. I understand. You go ahead.” I thanked her, stood in line, but there was someone else with a rather large order in front of me. I kept looking at my watch, and I quickly realized I would never make it back to school before the students finished recess. I left my cart, turned to the retired teacher behind me, and said, “Thank you, but I have to return to class.”

When I returned to school, I settled the students down to eat their lunch. I immediately attempted to call Dollarama to tell them I would be happy to come by after work and pay for the items I had left behind. I had the phone in my hand. At that moment, I looked up, and our school secretary was standing at my classroom door with a large Dollarama reusable bag loaded with all of the items I had in my cart. She said, “A nice lady dropped these off for you.”

The feeling in my heart, at that moment, cannot be explained. I do not know who this kind lady is, but this was a very early Christmas gift of love. If you are the kind-hearted lady, please contact me and let me repay you. However, if you’d rather not, then please know I will pay it forward by serving someone else. I give you my word.

Cindy Norgate, Blyth.

Candles, greenery become symbolic of belief Continued from page 12 prophets like Isaiah and Micah on the second Sunday of Advent, to remind us that Jesus the Christ is the fulfillment of those ancient prophecies, part of God’s amazing plan to reconcile the world to God’s ways. It is through Christ and the ways of Christ’s teachings that humanity can find the paths to reconciliation and peace; peace within ourselves and our lives, and in the world; a reassuring message at a time when anger and war seem to become increasingly dominant around the globe.

On week three, we light the pink candle, the candle of joy, and the

change in the candle’s colour reflects our joy that Christ’s coming is nigh! In the older tradition of the church, this Sunday is known as “Gaudete” Sunday, from the Latin word for “rejoice”, used in the opening words for our Advent 3 service. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.” Philippians 4:4-5.

I suspect “Rejoice” can be shortened to “Joy”.

And the Sunday just before Christmas is the Sunday of love; the love our Creator God has for humanity in the gift of God’s son to the world; “For God loved the world so much, God gave God’s

one and only son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3: 16 We are also reminded of the message of the angels at Jesus’ birth: “Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace….”

(Luke 2.14) It’s interesting how something as simple as some candles and greenery set in a circular pattern can become a symbol of our beliefs; and how understanding what the symbolism means can enrich our understanding of our faith. You may even like to consider creating an Advent wreath for your home as a visible reminder of the hope, peace,

joy and love of Christ in the midst of the busyness of this “holiday” season.

Because, as Christians, it really is important to remember and share with others that Jesus truly is the

reason for the season, and brings us the hope, peace, joy and love we all need for ourselves, our families and friends and our world.

May you have a blessed Advent and Christmas season.

Busin ness Director ry Dave Frranken F ra k

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THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024. PAGE 19.

Entertainment & Leisure

Blyth Friday growth continues to impress samples of Indian food, a chance to contribute to a community art quilt, fire truck touching and more!

Shoppers hopped from store to store, eventually ending up at the lower floor of Memorial Hall, which had been transformed into the holiday market for the evening.

A coterie of local artisans was there with their various wares, which ran the gamut from traditional Christmas ornaments to melted vinyl records to bespoke soap.

Market organizer Kelly Stevenson of the Blyth Festival Art Gallery is quite happy with the team effort that brought the event together. “We’re so thankful to all our vendors, our busker and the gallery and community volunteers and organizations who helped us during the holiday night market,” she explained. “Events and community-minded programming would not be possible without them or without our wonderful community who comes out to these events.”

In her opinion, Blyth Friday is such a successful event because it benefits everybody involved.

“Since we started participating in Blyth Friday three years ago, I’ve

Bringing it all back home There was no need to travel far and wide on Friday night if you were looking for a good time, as it was all there for the taking in Blyth for Blyth Friday, including an artisan market by the Blyth Festival Art Gallery, spearheaded by local artist Kelly Stevenson, above. Tavia Lange, below, was one of the musicians who performed that night, which included extended hours for local businesses, a scavenger hunt, plenty of activities and even a touch-a-truck event. (Scott Stephenson photos)

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By Scott Stephenson The Citizen

A few years ago, in response to the consumerist cacophony that is “Black Friday”, the little village of Blyth put together a unique, evening shopping event that encourages go-getting gift-getters to eschew the bland battleground of the big box stores in favour of something a little more local.

Blyth Friday has grown a lot since then; it’s still the perfect place to pick up that one-of-a-kind present, but it’s also become a genuine community celebration and unofficial kick-off to the holiday season.

This year, the sprawling event was packed with family-friendly activities - tree decorating at Memorial Hall, dance lessons, buskers, cookies, a business-based scavenger hunt, a multi-room holiday night market, delicious

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heard from people who had never been in the Blyth Festival Art Gallery before, or didn’t even realize it was there, but after being introduced to the space and the committee through the holiday night markets, they have become repeat visitors throughout the rest of the year.

And that’s huge. We don’t do the market as a money maker, but as a form of community outreach.”

This year’s Blyth Friday also marked Stevenson’s launch of an art project that she’s inviting the whole town to get in on. All you need to do is acquire one of her canvas squares, draw something that matters to you, and she’ll add it to her ever-growing art quilt, which will be featured in the gallery’s 2025 Community Show. “It will bring together panels done by community members of all types, ages and skill levels showing what belonging, home and community mean to them,” she explained. “We were thrilled by the number of people who have contributed so far and will be planning for there to be more opportunities to do so - watch the Gallery’s social media for when and how you can participate.”

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PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024.

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