INSIDE THIS WEEK:
THEATRE - Pg. 3
SPORTS - Pg. 8
RETIREMENT - Pg. 10
Huron County’s farmerette book to be written for stage
Blyth Brussels Atom Reps win Fort Erie tournament
Long-time MVCA employee retires after 35 years
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Volume 36 No. 2
Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Recycling changes in effect By Denny Scott The Citizen
The beautiful, snowy game With school back in session, students were happy to see some snow on the ground to make their recesses a bit more fun if they did indeed have to go back to school. Here, students at Hullett Central Public School engage in some
soccer in the field. Though normally a warm weather sport, soccer has found its footing as a winter sport in many parts of Canada. From left: Addison Hoekmeijer, Benton Nurse, Zaidyn Poelman, Kaleb Nurse, Gavin Gross and Wesley Bean. (Denny Scott photo)
Playdowns on horizon for Crusaders With playdowns on the horizon and the annual hockey season creeping towards an end, several teams from the Blyth Brussels Minor Hockey Association are keeping stride on the ice as 2020 begins. It was the Atom Rep Crusaders who had the biggest weekend, winning a tournament in Fort Erie to put an exclamation point on what has been a terrific season. (See page 8 for a full story.) On Saturday, the Atom Local League Crusaders played against the Walkerton Capitals 1 team at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre, but came out on
the wrong end of an 8-4 score. Also in Brussels, the Bantam Rep team played to a tie with the Goderich Sailors on Friday night with both teams bulging the twine three times. On Thursday, Jan. 2, the Midget Rep Crusaders took on the TCDMHA Rebels in Markdale and won by a score of 3-2. Just before the end of the year, the Blyth and District Community Centre played host to a pair of games, one a win for the home team and the other a loss. It was the Bantam Local League team that lost to the Goderich Sailors on Dec. 30 by a score of 4-2.
Earlier that day, the Atom Rep team beat the Minto Mad Dogs 5-4. Looking ahead, the PeeWee Local League team plays in Blyth on Wednesday, Jan. 8 against Zurich. On Saturday, Jan. 11, the Senior Initiation team plays the Huron Heat in Brussels, followed by the Atom Local League Crusaders taking on the South Bruce Blades Blue team at 10 a.m., also in Brussels. The Novice Rep and Novice Local League teams are both in Wingham that day to take on the Ironmen, while the PeeWee Local League team will host the AEMHA Ice Dogs 2 team at 1:30 p.m. in Brussels.
The Bantam Local League Crusaders will be in Lucknow at 2:30 p.m. to take on the HuronBruce Blizzard, while the Minor Novice (Tyke) team will play Huron-Bruce in Brussels at 4:30 p.m., followed by the Midget Local League team playing the Seaforth Stars at 6 p.m., also in Brussels. On Sunday, the Atom Local League Crusaders will be in Seaforth to play the Stars beginning at 4:30 p.m., while the PeeWee Local League team will be in Chesley to play the AEMHA Ice Dogs 1 at 6 p.m. For more information, visit blythbrusselsminorhockey.ca.
North Huron Township residents can no longer place recyclable materials curbside in plastic bags. It should be placed loose in boxes. The change, according to Public Works and Facility Director Sean McGhee, can be traced back to significant changes in the global recycling industry, including moving towards higher-quality material instead of focusing on quantity. To meet those new goals, companies like Waste Management, which collects in North Huron, are making changes. McGhee, in an interview with The Citizen, explained that the change is designed to bring North Huron’s collection policies in line with industry best practices. The end goal is that the recyclable material leaving North Huron is of the highest quality and not contaminated, otherwise its separation and collection is an exercise in futility, he said. Previously, China was a huge player in the global recycling industry, McGhee said, taking in more than one-third of the recycling materials in the world. Recently, however, the country has taken steps to reduce that amount and make sure what’s coming into the country is usable and not contaminated. Eliminating the plastic bags is a big step in reducing contaminants, McGhee said, and addresses several problems created by the bags. The most glaring problem with the bags, McGhee said, is they aren’t recycling themselves. “The bags create an operational problem,” he said. “Not only are they not recyclable, but they can clog up the recycling machines.” He said there are people employed by Waste Management who spend a significant amount of time walking around the factory to cut bags out of the machinery to fix or prevent clogs. The bags also compound contamination, McGhee said, explaining that one contaminated piece of recyclable material in a closed bag can cause cross contamination with nearly everything else in the bag. He pointed to contaminated pizza boxes as an example. In a sealed bag, the grease and food particles that contaminate the bottom portion of the box can infiltrate everything else in the bag, making the entire bag contaminated and no longer recyclable. McGhee said blue boxes can Continued on page 2