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Citizen
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Friday, January 26, 2024
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Volume 40 No. 4
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Beef Producers honour Rintoul’s 59 years in Brussels By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen
An enduring presence Neil Rintoul, third from right, has been a director with the Huron County Beef Producers for 59 years. Indeed, his involvement with the organization is only two years short of the history of the group itself. He has made the
difficult decision to retire and the Beef Producers honoured him and his family at their annual meeting, held last week at the Brussels Legion, with a special something for the family farm as thanks for his years of service. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Playoffs begin for Huron Heat teams By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen The playoffs have begun for some Huron Heat teams and, for the U11 C Huron Heat, it has been a successful start. The team played its first playoff game of the season on Sunday in Clinton, hosting the St. Marys Rock C team and sending the players back on the wrong end of a 2-0 score. The playoff journey for the U11 C Heat continues on Feb. 3 with a game in Seaforth against the Lambeth Lancers C team. The U18 C Heat will begin their playoffs with a game against the Sarnia Lady Sting C team on Jan. 27 on the road, followed by another game with the Lady Sting on Feb. 4 in Seaforth. The U15 C Heat will also open their playoffs on Jan. 27 with a game against the Lambton Attack B team on the road, followed by games with the Wilmot Wolverines C team on Jan. 30 and the Chatham-Kent Crush
C team on Feb. 2, both in Seaforth. The U11 HL Heat will play their first playoff game on Jan. 27 against the Mooretown Lady Flags HL team on the road before playing them again on Feb. 3 in Seaforth and then taking on the Lucan Irish C/HL team on the road on Feb. 4. The U13 HL team will play the Ilderton Jets HL team in Goderich to begin their playoffs on Jan. 27, followed by a game with the Lucan Irish HL team in Clinton on Jan. 28, a Jan. 30 game with the Woodstock Wildcats HL team on the road, a Feb. 3 game with the Wallaceburg Lakers HL in Goderich and a Feb. 4 game with the Lucan Irish on the road. The U13 C Heat will play the St. Thomas Panthers C team in Clinton to begin their playoff journey on Jan. 28. Then, on Feb. 17, the U18 BB Huron Heat will play their first Ontario Women’s Hockey Association (OWHA) game in Clinton against the South Huron Sabres. Looking ahead in regular season action, the Senior team will play
Belmore on the road on Jan. 26. The next day, the U9 C Heat will play the Bluewater Hawks C team in Seaforth, the U9 B Heat will play the Woodstock Wildcats, also in Seaforth, and the U11 BB Heat will play the London Devilettes in Blyth. Also that day, the U15 BB Heat will play the Woodstock Wildcats on the road and the U18 BB Heat will play the Cambridge Roadrunners in Clinton. On Sunday, Jan. 28, the U11 BB Heat will play the Owen Sound Ice Hawks on the road, the U9 B Heat will play the Waterloo Ravens on the road, the U15 BB Heat will play the South Huron Sabres in Clinton and the U9 C Heat will play the South Huron Sabres in an exhibition game on the road. On Feb. 2, three Heat teams will head south to take part in the annual London Devilettes Tournament: the U13 C, U15 BB and U9 HL Heat. The U13 C team opens with games against the St. Thomas Panthers and the Mount Forest Rams on Friday, Feb. 2, followed
by a game the next day with the Owen Sound Ice Hawks. On Feb. 2, the U15 BB Heat will play the Mississauga Hurricanes and the London Devilettes followed by a game with the St. Catharines Junior Badgers the next night. The U9 HL team will first play the London Devilettes T2 662 team before taking on Parkhill, both on Feb. 2. The next day, the team will take on the London Devilettes T3 663 team and the Yellow Dragons 661 team. Looking back, the U15 BB Heat tied the London Devilettes in Clinton on Jan. 21, the U13 BB Heat tied the St. Thomas Panthers at two on the road and the U18 BB Heat lost to the Walkerton Capitals on the road by a score of 2-0. Also that day, the Senior team welcomed the Wilmot Wolverines to Hensall and the U9 B Heat played the London Devilettes in Clinton, but scores for those games were unavailable at press time. On Jan. 20, the U13 HL Heat beat the Kincardine Kinucks in Continued on page 9
After 59 years as a director with the Huron County Beef Producers, Neil Rintoul is retiring and the organization ensured that Rintoul’s decades of service were appropriately recognized at its annual general meeting, held in Brussels last week. Several long-term members of the Beef Producers spoke to Rintoul’s longevity within the organization and commitment to the local beef industry. Harvey Hoggart, a past-president and long-time advisory councillor to the Beef Farmers of Ontario, said that Rintoul’s involvement with the organization stretched back to 1965 when the Beef Producers group itself had only been in existence for two years. Not only did Hoggart laud Rintoul’s longevity within the organization, but he recognized how involved Rintoul has been since he first became a member, attending meetings, hosting producer meetings at his farm and never missing a chance to volunteer at a fundraiser for the Beef Producers. Hoggart also thanked Rintoul for being a very early voting delegate for the local organization at annual Ontario Cattlemen’s Association (now the Beef Farmers of Ontario) meetings. He also recognized that, during some of that time, Rintoul also served as an Ashfield-ColborneWawanosh Councillor and DeputyReeve (which has since been changed to mayor and deputymayor) as well as a Huron County councillor, all in addition to managing his own home beef farm. Rintoul’s family - his wife Helen and their three sons - have always been a tremendous support for him, Hoggart said, so he recognized all that they had given to the organization as well. President Bob Bennett also spoke, saying that Rintoul has been a supportive member of the organization and somewhat of a mentor now to three generations of Bennetts, dating back to his grandfather. Bennett said that, during discussions among the membership, he always found Rintoul to be insightful and wise. “You’ll always have a place here in the Huron County Beef Producers,” Bennett said to Rintoul. Ron Stevenson, a long-time member of the organization and the current southern director for the Beef Farmers of Ontario, spoke to Rintoul’s demeanour and impact on the organization and how he found it inspiring. “I don’t know the Huron County Beef Producers without Neil,” Stevenson said. He said Rintoul always Continued on page 20