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The
THIS WEEK • Editorials • Sports • Agriculture • Art
Citizen
Huron County’s most trusted independent news source Volume 38 No. 20
Thursday, May 19, 2022
$1.50 GST included
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, ON N0M 1H0
Nominees wanted, category added for ‘Citizen’ awards By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen
With precision Mike and Tori McBride were among those who spent their Saturday afternoon and evening at Auburn’s Huron Chapel for the church’s Spring Family Day. The church offered games both inside and outdoors, as well as a camp fire and hot dog roast dinner before the rain moved in later that night. (John Stephenson photo)
The time has come again to nominate someone who is making a difference in your community for North Huron Publishing’s annual Citizen of the Year Awards, which have been expanded this year. Since The Citizen began publishing in 1985, North Huron Publishing will be handing out Citizen of the Year Awards for outstanding volunteers from both the Blyth and Brussels communities. However, as the newspaper’s coverage area has continued to grow, the editorial department has received an increased number of nominations and inquiries about honouring volunteers who don’t live in Blyth, Brussels or their immediate surrounding communities. To honour one of these individuals each year, North Huron Publishing is creating a third Citizen of the Year Award to honour Huron County’s Citizen of the Year. On the Citizen of the Year nomination form, which can be found in this issue of the newspaper, there will now be three boxes available to tick. If you’d like to put forward the name of an outstanding volunteer who lives outside of the Blyth or Brussels areas, this year it’s now a possibility. Nominations are now open and will not close until Friday, Sept. 30
at the end of the day. You can fill out the nomination form included in this week’s issue of the paper (which will be reprinted often over the course of the coming months) or you can e-mail your nomination directly to Citizen Editor Shawn Loughlin at editor@northhuron.on.ca. Please include your nominee’s name and brief comments as to why you think your nominee should be the Citizen of the Year, as well as your own name and contact information. The Citizen has been handing out the awards, which celebrate volunteerism and community spirit, since 1985, the year the newspaper was founded. Last year’s winners were Huron East Councillor and prolific volunteer Zoellyn Onn in Brussels and long-time Scout leader and church volunteer David Cartwright, who was honoured posthumously just months after his untimely death. Last year’s winners will be honoured with their plaques soon. They were unfortunately delayed due to supply chain issues. Later this year, North Huron Publishing also hopes to return to an in-person event that would celebrate the winners of 2020, 2021 and 2022 after successfully launching the event in 2018 in Blyth and building upon that success in 2019 in Brussels. The Citizen encourages residents and readers to nominate someone Continued on page 3
Petition aims to ‘Save the Grey Fire Department’ By Denny Scott The Citizen Firefighters and community members are concerned about the recommendation being put forward by Huron East Chief Administrative Officer Brad McRoberts that would phase out the Grey Fire Department over the next five years. McRoberts, in a report to council for the Huron East Council meeting
scheduled for May 17, recommended that the Grey Fire Department should be, over the next five years, phased out and the fire hall sold to consolidate the fire services in Brussels in a new public works building/Huron East fire hall in Brussels. The recommendation comes after council approved considering the consolidation of the two departments, pending consultation and more detailed
costs during council’s April 5 meeting. The change could save the municipality as much as $83,000 per year over 20 years, or $1 million according to McRoberts’ original report. Over the weekend, Emily Boyer started a petition on the website change.org to save the Grey Fire Hall and avoid having it folded into the proposed Brussels location. As of Monday morning, it had
Fire Chief Gary Boyer had been told he wouldn’t be allowed to speak during the council meeting set for Tuesday night. However, In an interview with The Citizen on Monday, McRoberts addressed Boyer’s ability to address council at the meeting, saying he would be permitted to speak as a deputation, adding that had been resolved Continued on page 2
garnered over 600 signatures. Also, over the weekend, the Grey firefighters met, agreeing that they support the petition. Caitlin Gillis, whose husband is a Grey firefighter, sent a report from the firefighters’ meeting to The Citizen outlining the concerns of the firefighters and the community. Aside from the closure of the hall, the primary concern of the group, according to Gillis, was that Grey
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