The Citizen - May 24, 2024

The

THIS WEEK 4 • Editorials 8 • Sports 9 • History 10 • Munro

Citizen

Huron County’s most trusted independent news source Volume 40 No. 21

Friday, May 24, 2024

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Brussels Ball Day coming

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

Under sunny skies With the arrival of the Victoria Day long weekend comes, unofficially, the arrival of summer in Ontario. It was warm and sunny over the weekend, which meant there was plenty to see and do on the streets of Huron County, including the beginning of the Sunday Artisan

Market season in Goderich. Above, Goderich’s Autumn Ducharme was among the artists making their work available.

Ducharme’s offerings included the prints she created for the upcoming season of the Blyth Festival, marking its 50th anniversary. (Scott Stephenson photo)

CH again turns down Pride flag request

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen For the second straight year, Central Huron Council has opted not to fly the Pride flag at any of its municipal properties after a request for inclusivity from Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH).

The request, which was discussed at Tuesday night’s meeting, was filed under correspondence for council. Councillor Jennifer Cox asked that it be extracted for discussion and she recommended that council approve the requests, which included declaring June to be Pride Month and flying a Pride flag at one of the municipality’s properties.

Cox, who had supported the request when it was made last year as well, said that she felt the case that was made last year - that the municipality would be inundated with an untenable volume of flagflying requests - had not come to pass and she felt the municipality

should fly the Pride flag. She said that, as far as she knew, the municipality had not received any other flag-flying requests in that time and felt that flying the Pride flag would go a long way to showing people, specifically the very young people the municipality works so hard to attract, that the community is welcoming, open and inclusive.

She then wondered where the flag could go, stating that the municipality flies a lot of flags throughout its borders and surely one pole could be made available for a Pride flag.

Deputy-Mayor Marg Anderson then asked about Central Huron’s flag policy and Clerk Rachel Anstett told her that it declares that Central Huron fly the national, provincial and municipal flags, but that any changes could be made at the discretion of council. Anderson then asked which flag, if Central Huron was to fly the Pride flag, would come down for the month.

Staff jokingly said that decision was likely above their pay grade, but that the municipal flag likely made the most sense.

Councillor Dan Colquhoun returned to last year’s argument, asking where council would then “draw the line” in regards to flag requests, asking if council would consider flying Palestinian, Black Lives Matter or “Jewish” flags.

He rebuked Cox’s assessment of the situation, saying that people weren’t asking because council had made it very clear that it won’t do it. Central Huron flies the national, provincial and municipal flags, he said, and that’s it, so that’s why people haven’t asked. He insisted that, if council were to go ahead with flying the Pride flag, the municipality would be inundated with requests to fly other flags.

Councillor Michael Russo then said his answer would be a “solid no” on flying the flag.

Mayor Jim Ginn said that the municipality doesn’t make a habit

of “declaring” specific months, weeks or days when requested, but that he would support the declaration of Pride Month. Flying the flag, however, he would not support. That’s when he asked about the possibility of splitting the Continued on page 2

Brussels Minor Ball Day is returning on Saturday, June 1 with a full slate of games and plenty of other activities to keep everyone busy and entertained.

At 8 a.m. that day, the Black and Red T-ball teams will play one another on the village’s main diamond, followed by a 9 a.m. contest between the U7 Black and Red teams.

The U9 Black and Red teams will play one another at 10 a.m., followed by the first game with an outside opponent when the U11 Girls take on the Listowel Legends at 11:30 a.m.

At 1 p.m., the U11 Boys will play Seaforth, the U13 Girls will play the Elma Express 2 team at 2:30 p.m. and the U13 Boys will play Wingham at 4 p.m.

At 5:30 p.m., the U15 Girls will play the final youth game of the day against Seaforth before the Brussels Bangers take on the Walton Brewers at 7:30 p.m. in Huron County Fastball League regular season action.

Also that day, which serves as a fundraiser for Brussels Minor Ball, there will be a barbecue, cotton candy and visits with Pinky the Clown. The Brussels Legion will also be hosting a fish fry for dinner at the ballpark, although tickets for that dinner must be purchased in advance.

Brussels Tigers hats and visors will also be on sale throughout the day for $25 each.

As for regular season Brussels Tigers youth baseball action, the U13 Girls opened play earlier on May 13 with a game on the road against the Mitchell Hornets, which the locals won the game by a score of 19-0. Also Continued on page 8

OPP lays further charges in death Two additional individuals have now been charged in relation to a drug overdose death investigation in Huron County.

On Sept. 13, 2023, police were called to a residence in Central Huron where a 19-year-old male was found unresponsive and died at the scene. The investigation revealed the victim died as a result of an opioid overdose.

The continuing investigation, led by the Huron County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Community Street Crime Unit, the Huron County OPP Major Crime Unit, West Region OPP Regional Support Team, OPP Highway Safety Division Highway Enforcement Team, under the direction of the OPP Criminal Continued on page 3

PAGE 2. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024.

Huron’s tree species ‘catastrophically low’ says report

The winds of change Before European settlement, Huron County was awash with forest reveals results from the Forest Health Project. Erin Gouthro, a watershed cover, left, with multitudes of species. Now, forests are fragmented ecologist, shared these images at a recent meeting of the Water Protection across the county, right, with maple being the predominant species, Steering Committee in Holmesville. (Images courtesy of Erin Gouthro)

By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot The Rural Voice The number of tree species in Huron County’s forests is “catastrophically low”, reveals a condensed report of the Forest Health Project released last month.

“Most of our trees are upland and downland maples,” says Erin Gouthro, who has been working in drainage, wetland, aquatic and terrestrial management as a watershed ecologist with the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) since 2013.

“Maple trees have always historically been the dominant tree species in this watershed, but a significant drop in other species has left maples as the only prevalent tree species.”

Gouthro is currently leading a watershed-wide health assessment of the MVCA’s aquatic and terrestrial systems. Her findings were, in many ways, terrifying with regard to the future of forests in Huron County.

She shared them last month at a meeting of Huron County’s Water Protection Steering Committee Forest cover in Huron County has decreased from 16.5 per cent in 2000 to 16.09 per cent in 2020, which amounts to 57,679 total hectares of forested land. Between 2015 to 2020, 207 hectares of forested land was lost. North Maitland had the most total forest loss. Land conversion to agriculture was the leading contributor of forest loss.

Back when the country was covered with forests, they would have been multi-structural with different levels in the canopy. There would have been a “super canopy” of trees like tall white pines, which would have been so wide that you could not wrap your arms around them. Like a shelving unit in a house, all these canopy levels created complexity in the forest, something today’s forests struggle to maintain. “Our canopies are homogenized. We do not see a fourstructure canopy. Ours are twostructured.” Gouthro explained that canopy complexity and lack of it is a “broad signal” of forest health that needs to be documented to be used as a baseline for future monitoring of the county forests.

The good news is that the basal

size of trees is slightly increased, which refers to the diameter of the tree and its footprint over the landscape. Then, this good news was dampened with knowledge that the understory is getting slightly worse.

“We aren’t really sure why,” admitted Gouthro.

Regeneration is another concern.

To analyze regeneration, forest tree scientists drop a one-metre grid and identify all the tiny trees in the grid to get an idea of the future forest. It was discovered that most of these tiny trees are ash, with very few maple trees in many forests.

“I have been in maple forests with no maple regeneration,” said Gouthro. “Zero is zero. With only ash regenerating, could that mean the end of forests in Huron County?” she asked. The problem with regenerating ash is as soon as they get large enough (10 centimetres), ash borers infest the tree and kill it.

Overall, ash trees accounted for 45 per cent of all seedlings counted.

Red maple were five per cent, sugar maple was 13 per cent and black cherry accounted for four per cent.

Downed woody debris (DWD) is another issue. “It blew out the threshold,” said Gouthro. With all

the debris, will forests now emit more carbon than capturing it? This debris also forms mats, which is ideal for plants like wild raspberries, but they further block the ability of new trees to generate amongst the DWD. Looking at other forest health signals, Gouthro noted: • Spring ephemerals: (wildflowers that appear in early spring then disappear such as Trout lily, Oxalis, Hepatics and Bloodroot) are still on the landscape, which is a good sign. However, the invasive garlic mustard that thrives in disturbed areas destroys spring ephemerals • Pollinators: There are 13 species of wild bumble bees and Gouthro says some of these native bumble bee species are almost extirpated, but added more bee counts and research is being done this year to collect data Following Gouthro’s talk, the Mayor of Central Huron, Jim Ginn, said in his woodlots, he does see maple, hickory, hackberry and oak regenerating. “To me, woodlots are always changing and a maple stand does not always stay a maple stand.”

Gouthro acknowledged they did

Pride Month in CH but flag won’t fly Continued from page 1 motion and dealing with the declaration and flying of the flag separately. He also noted that Central Huron has lit its light tunnel next to town hall in rainbow colours in June before, which is “as much as anybody” has done to support Pride.

Russo then stated that he felt the municipality was already open and welcoming without having to fly flags and felt flying the Pride flag would serve as a “gateway” to other flags, similar to the point Colquhoun attempted to make.

Councillor Alison Lobb said she too was not supportive of flying the flag, calling it a “sexual orientation issue” that was none of her business.

Russo agreed, saying it shouldn’t

be council’s business either.

Anstett then called the recorded vote, requested by Ginn, and Cox, Anderson, Ginn and Councillor Everett Smith supported declaring June as Pride Month, while Colquhoun, Lobb and Russo voted against it. Councillor Adam Robinson was absent.

After seemingly splitting the issue into two votes, no one made a second motion asking the municipality to fly the Pride flag.

In response to the request for a municipal representative to attend the second-annual Huron County Pride celebration, Ginn, Anderson and Cox all stated they couldn’t attend. Council planned to ask Robinson if he could make the time to be there to represent the municipality.

see hickory and oak and other trees regenerating, but that she believes there are too few mature stands of these trees to create mass regeneration due to the “cutting pressure” they take. “Most of the woodlots I see just have a flush of ash,” she said.

It’s a signal that really worries her.

“How can we get a diversity of regeneration? Can we help it? Do we need to help it? Or is it just part of the cycle?” Gouthro said she sees some forests that are very wellmanaged in which owners replant a variety of species.

Her worry is how to educate other landowners so they can be better stewards of their forests because

logging the bush and creating an ash thicket to grow is not promising for the future health of forests.

For Gouthro, this was an important point of discussion and generated much discussion as well.

Dave Pullen, Huron County’s Forest Conservation Officer, agreed that to add diversity to a forest, there needs to be a good seed source nearby. He has seen forests with large cherry trees create an influx of cherry tree seedlings, for instance.

Pullen said for landowners concerned about the future of forests, the best thing they can do is get “good advice. Don’t sell to the first logger who comes down your Continued on page 16

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THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024. PAGE 3.

Court date set for June 14 in drug case

Around the bend The 2024 season of harness racing opened on Sunday at the Clinton Raceway with the stands full of eager horse racing fans who were happy to be back in Clinton after the long winter. (John Stephenson photo)

Continued from page 1 Investigation Branch, has culminated in charges for two additional individuals.

As a result, a 21-year-old from Kitchener has been charged under the Criminal Code (CC) and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) with: possession of a prohibited device or ammunition, section 92(2) CC - two counts; trafficking in schedule I substance cocaine, section 5(1) CDSA; possession of a schedule I substance for the purpose of trafficking - cocaine, section 5(2) CDSA; possession of a schedule I substance - cocaine, section 4(1) CDSA; possession of a schedule I substance for the purpose of trafficking -opioid (other than

heroin), section 5(2) CDSA. The accused was released from custody and is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice located in Goderich on June 14.

A 29-year-old from Waterloo, has been charged under the CDSA with: trafficking in schedule I substance opioid (other than heroin), section 5(1) and trafficking in schedule I substance - cocaine, section 5(1).

The accused was held for bail.

Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or their local police. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800222-TIPS (8477) or ontariocrimestoppers.ca, where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000.

Brussels Farmers’ Market to return next month PEOPLE AROUND WALTON

By Jo-Ann McDonald Call 887-6570

The first holiday long weekend was a great one.

Friday was a little damp in the morning, but that did not stop the diehard campers from heading to their favourite campgrounds. Then Saturday was a foggy start, but ended up as a beautiful day - hot and humid. Sunday was another gorgeous and hot day, followed by Monday.

The great weather brought out the motorcycles by the dozens as they rode by our place. We can always hear that low rumble of the bikes going by, even without a window open. There was a short time on Monday afternoon, not even half an hour, when the wind got up, the sky turned black and then it cleared as quickly as it started. We were lucky, I think.

My aim for the weekend was to sort through many boxes of stuff that was packed up when the back of the house was taken down. I made up my mind that not everything would come back in. So the recycling depot, thrift stop, ReStore and dump will all be getting visits.

Alice Martin and daughter Wendy are excited to have company this week. Son and brother Gary, with wife Kim and children Simon and Avry, are here for a visit from Chugiak, Alaska. They will be here in Brussels until June 2 creating many new memories.

Some upgrades have been made at the Walton Park and Walton Hall.

A new set of bleachers is now in place at the ballpark. Thanks to Scott McDonald for building them and to Leis Lumber for donating the risers for the bleachers.

The Walton Hall had its good, garden fairy arrive to freshen up the flower beds at the hall. They look great and I am sure we will find out who the good Samaritan is one of these days!

Our sympathies are extended to the family of Herb Kirkby. He was a former Walton “boy” who had lived many years in Woodstock. He will be missed by his wife Edith and

children Mark, Steven, Valerie, Marilyn and Tracey and their families.

He was a very accomplished artist, but found he loved teaching.

He taught at the secondary school in Woodstock for 25 years. Herb was the son of the late Frank Kirkby and brother of the late Doug Kirkby. Our condolences to the Kirkby family.

Welcome back to Mary-Ann Thompson. She has returned from a very special occasion in Langley, British Columbia. It was her grandson Reed’s first birthday.

Reed is the son of daughter Kali and Steve.

Mark your calendar for the return of the Brussels Farmers’ Market. It will be open June 7 and 21. There will be special events and fun campground games and other surprises. Come out and enjoy the market!

Nashville was a very popular destination this past weekend with three different groups heading to the south. Group number one was off for two reasons. The first reason was that Alicia McDonald attended a conference with her company, Ward and Uptigrove, where she

received her graduation diploma for completing the two-year leadership course.

Husband Scott accompanied her.

The second reason was that the year 1984 was a good year for six baby boys and one baby girl to be born and who would be friends for the next 40 years. A party in Nashville sounded like fun.

The other 24 friends joined Scott and Alicia by driving to Tennessee to gather for the weekend. The group included birthday boys Scott and Alicia, Greg Medd and Sylvia, Jason Denys and Melanie, Brian Dolmage and Jess, Darryl Houston and Jodi, Bob Smith and Tara and birthday girl Erin Blake and Chris.

More friends included Devin and Sarah Blake, Kevin and Jamie Murray, Joe and Stacey Kammerman, Robbie and Amanda McClure, Curt Schlosser and Kendal and Barry Young and Sash.

The group did a lot of walking on the main drag. Some went to the Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame, went on a bike tour and lots of clubs and bars for food and entertainment. Lots of fun for all. Happy birthday to all!

Blyth Annual Used Book Sale Trinity Anglican Church 166 Dinsley St., Blyth

May 31 & June 1 Friday, May 31 ~ 4 pm to 9 pm (no early bird sales) Saturday, June 1 ~ 9 am to 4 pm

Book Intake May 30 from 8 am to 8 pm Donate your clean, gently used books and help us preserve the past.

We regret that we cannot accept text books, encyclopedias, magazines or anything stained, dirty or torn. Please help us save the expense of dumping them!

Join us for our famous

Fill a Box box sale with Books on used books Saturday, June 1 from 2 to 4 for $10 For info contact deb@northhuron.on.ca

The second group was a bunch of young ladies heading for a bachelorette party for Kelsey Strong. They headed to Nashville and again toured downtown sites and had a great time.

The third group included Paul Ryan and Cheryl plus four more friends. They headed to Nashville area as well on their motorcycles.

They went to Loretta Lynn’s Ranch at Hurricane Hills, took the Danville Ferry and checked in on a local motorcycle ride. They had great weather and a good time.

Happy birthday to Gerry Ryan, who has celebrated 90 years young.

He had family to help celebrate, especially his seven greatgrandchildren who brought birthday cupcakes. Happy birthday Gerry!

Celebrating birthdays this past week were Dwayne Price, Ron Strome, Rachel Wilts, Macie Rose Verkley, Gerald Ryan, Valerie Shortreed, Jonah Glanville, Hailey Bachert, Alexandra Humphries, Abby McGavin Gordon, Jessica Pennington, Megan Bowles, Emma

Dalton, Darrell Dalton, Geri-Lee Godkin, Owen Jarosz, Teegan McGavin, Kaleb Wilts, Sharon Dalton, Scott McDonald, David Perrie and Beau Bowers. Happy birthday to all.

NEWS FROM WALTON

No time is so well spent!

(J.C. Ryle) Prayer is .. the mightiest weapon that God has placed in our hands, the best weapon to use in every difficulty, the surest remedy in every trouble, the key that unlocks the treasury of promises, the hand that draws forth grace and help in time of need, the silver trumpet that God commands us to sound in all our necessity, the cry He has promised always to listen to, just as a loving mother listens attentively to the cry of her child.

Be sure that no time is so well spent, as that which a man spends on his knees.

What is the reason that some believers are so much brighter and holier than others?

I believe the difference, in nineteen cases out of twenty, arises from different habits in private prayer.

I believe that those who are not eminently holy, pray little--and those who are eminently holy, pray much.

What is the cause of most backslidings?

I believe, as a general rule, one of the chief causes is neglect of private prayer.

People are backsliders on their knees, long before they backslide openly in the eyes of the world.

Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your language poor. Jesus can understand you!

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2 A Grace Gem Submitted by: Immanuel United Reformed Church, Listowel, ON 519-291-3887

PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024.

Editorials & Opinions

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

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Don’t say climate change Florida Governor Ron DeSantis passed a bill forbidding schools to provide any instruction in sexual orientation or gender identity in 2022, which quickly became known as the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

Now, in 2024, DeSantis has just signed a piece of legislation that will remove the requirement that climate change be considered when creating energy policies, despite the increasing threat from worsening hurricane seasons, unprecedented heat extremes and increasing toxic algae blooms throughout the state. The legislation will also remove references to climate change within most state laws, ban offshore wind turbines in state waters and weaken regulations on natural gas pipelines.

“The legislation I signed today [will] keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and China out of our state,” the governor said to Florida’s Voice, a DeSantis-friendly news organization.

Florida meteorologist Steve McLaughlin took to the social media platform X with a one-minute video discussing the legislation that goes into effect July 1, and the potential catastrophe that awaits the subtropical state that sits at just an average of 100 feet above sea level, at a time when the rate of global ocean level rise is accelerating.

While DeSantis and his supporters are declaring this a victory, one has to wonder - a victory over what? Deleting all references to something doesn’t defeat it. Climate change isn’t going away.

Florida has officially declared itself the state of denial. – DS

Golden boys For the first time, the Canadian national para ice hockey team has won gold on its home ice. Furthermore, the team did it with a 2-1 victory over its sworn nemesis: the United States; just the latest chapter in a cross-border rivalry that has run through the men’s and women’s national teams, World Juniors teams and even women’s soccer.

This is the team’s first gold medal in seven years and, as mentioned, with the para ice hockey world championships gold medal, this is the first time the team has won gold on home ice in its history.

And while there’s a tremendous sense of national pride for Canadians with a win like this, there is a lot of local pride for those of us living in Huron County. There’s Corbyn Smith, who hails from nearby Monkton, and then James Dunn who’s now living in the Exeter area but has been spending a lot of time in Clinton recently trying to work with Clinton’s Carson Hymers, teaching him to play.

When The Citizen reported on the training relationship between Dunn and Hymers, people like Carson’s mother Darlene and Central Huron Deputy-Mayor Marg Anderson opined that it would be great to attract Dunn’s team to Clinton for an exhibition game. Now, with gold around members’ necks and interest higher than ever, what a great fit it would be to have Canada’s heroes come to Clinton.

Congratulations boys, the country’s proud of you. – SL

Don’t be scared, be prepared Post-apocalyptic action/adventure film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga hits theatres today. Entering a cinema is a great way to temporarily stave off early-season extreme heat or to keep dry from lingering spring rains or sudden-gush deluges, as the case may be.

In a recently-released report, think-tank Policy Horizons Canada (PHC) delves into 35 hypothetical scenarios that could profoundly reshape our societal landscape. These scenarios range from threats to truth and environmental crises, to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI).

The report’s stark findings, while speculative, offer insights into the challenges that lie ahead for Canada and the world.

At the forefront of concerns is the erosion of truth in the digital age.

With misinformation and disinformation proliferating through advanced AI algorithms, the very fabric of our information ecosystems is at risk.

This trend, if left unchecked, could lead to heightened social fragmentation and a loss of public trust in essential institutions.

Environmental threats also loom large, with predictions of ecosystem collapse and extreme weather events surpassing our ability to respond effectively. The cascading impacts of biodiversity loss could jeopardize fundamental human needs, from clean air and water to food security, while natural disasters exacerbate existing vulnerabilities.

The report’s cautionary tone extends to the realm of technology, highlighting the potential for cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and the unchecked influence of billionaires shaping global policies.

The point of this report is not about succumbing to fear, but about facing challenges head-on with foresight and adaptability. As people navigate an increasingly complex and interconnected world, strategic planning, collaborative efforts and a commitment to evidence-based decision-making will be paramount in shaping a resilient future for all.

These are timely reminders. While the future remains uncertain, our ability to anticipate, adapt and innovate will ultimately determine our collective resilience and prosperity. – SBS

Looking Back Through the Years May 28, 1969 After numerous telephone calls and various efforts, the town league baseball teams were finally organized. There was no lack of enthusiasm from the young people.

However, there was a regrettable shortage of adult helpers. At that time, one man was in charge of a team, so it was hoped that some parents would occasionally step up to lend a hand. This was all done to give the kids something to do as summer arrived.

A group of Blyth citizens attended the Huron County Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, May 20 and received approval to fence off a polluted area of the public school playground affected by sewage from the school’s septic tanks.

Mrs. Phyllis Street, acting as spokesperson, reported that samples confirmed raw sewage in the area, which was soaking children’s clothes during play periods.

Hugh Radford had in his possession a broken pair of glasses someone found on Dinsley Street near the Legion Hall. The owner could claim them by contacting Hughie.

May 25, 1977 Farmers in Huron County urgently needed rain for a good crop.

“It is not a very good outlook right now,” Mike Miller of the Clinton agricultural office said.

“Lack of rain is causing a number of problems.”

The dry weather was causing poor germination in the grain and corn crops, he said, which would result in an uneven harvest.

Brussels Leo Club president Brenda McCutcheon and arena

fundraising committee chairman Jim Prior enjoyed themselves Saturday night at the Leo’s first anniversary banquet. On behalf of the club, McCutcheon presented the new arena committee with a cheque for $1,000, the result of bake sales, car washes, booths, and roller skating events sponsored by the Leos.

The 4-H Clubs again encouraged the beautification of farm entrances this year. They conducted an Entrance Gate Sign Competition, which included anything to improve the entrance to the farm, such as new fences, corner posts, flowers, or simply cleaning up.

May 24, 1989 Ida Evans was chosen as Brussels’ Citizen of the Year by a panel of Brussels area residents.

Evans was nominated by no less than four people in The Citizen’s annual contest. Her nominators praised her long years of service to many different organizations. She had worked with the Brussels, Morris and Grey catering group, Meals on Wheels, the United Church Women, the Majestic Women’s Institute, the Brussels Horticultural Society, and the Brussels Lawn Bowling Club.

She had also been a canvasser for the Cancer Society, Heart and Stroke Foundation, diabetes, and other causes.

Grey Township Council held its regular meeting on May 15, where it adopted the 1989 budget and passed a by-law establishing the 1989 mill rates. The budget for municipal purposes increased by 3.8 percent, resulting in a 2.6 percent increase in the mill rate for municipal purposes.

The first holiday of this year’s summer season was fairly

uneventful, according to the Wingham OPP detachment.

Despite a series of spot checks throughout the weekend and heavier traffic conditions, the holiday was described by a police spokesperson as “rather quiet.”

May 27, 2004 Firefighters from Blyth and Wingham were kept busy Saturday evening battling a blaze that could have proven much more costly than it did.

Blyth chief Paul Josling said firefighters had responded to a call at 8:10 p.m. A vacant barn, on property owned by Lloyd Michie had caught fire. It was fully involved by the time the trucks arrived, and firefighters worked to cover the exposures.

While the barn was a total loss, there was no damage to a house, shed and hay storage, which were, said Josling, “very close” to the blazing barn.

Last year, around mid-July, a large population of mosquitoes thrived around Brussels, causing a big nuisance to citizens. This year, the Huron County Health Unit offered some tips on how citizens should protect themselves from West Nile virus.

John Forrest, Huron East’s public works coordinator and a member of the Huron County Health Unit’s West Nile virus (WNv) advisory committee, said he had “no idea what to expect” for this season’s mosquito population.

At a recent meeting, St. John’s Lodge No. 284 GRC was awarded the Travelling Gavel for the past year. This award was given annually to the masonic lodge with the best attendance at the official visits of the DDGM to each lodge within the North Huron district.

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024. PAGE 5.

Other Views

Why are local hospitals in trouble?

S

ometimes, if you’re my age, it can seem like you’re living history all over again.

That’s the way it seems when it comes to the medical situation these days.

Way back in the 1980s, the provincial government under Premier Mike Harris proposed closing hospitals in Clinton, Durham, Chesley and other rural communities across the province, arguing they just couldn’t afford to have all the hospitals they had at the time.

The rural population was outraged and, faced with such harsh opposition, the government changed course, promising to strengthen the hospitals.

The world, of course, changes. Now, with an older population needing local care more than ever, these hospitals are in danger all over again because they can’t find enough nurses.

I’m part of a problem in the current medical system called the “Baby Boom”. After World War II, Canadian soldiers who had been overseas for years came home, and either reunited with their wives or married girlfriends and all these couples tried to make up for lost time by having kids. As my age group grew older, experts have warned for years that governments must prepare, but they haven’t.

Another change that came along since World War II was government-sponsored medicare, pioneered by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson in the 1960s. While it was headed by the federal government, medical care was a provincial responsibility and a large part of the cost was borne by provincial governments. As more and more medical miracles were developed, like my heart-valve replacement, joint replacements and whole-heart transplants, the cost of medical care soared.

Cost-conscious provincial governments have tried to react. The current Premier Doug Ford has been supporting more operations by non-

Keith Roulston

From the cluttered desk government, private clinics, with the government funding for at least part of the cost.

At the same time, Andre Pickard, health columnist for the Globe and Mail points out, the government is creating shortages because we simply don’t have enough medical professionals. The Financial Accountability Office of Ontario, projected a shortage of 33,300 nurses and personal support workers by 2027/2028.

Statistics Canada data shows there are currently 91,900 vacancies in the health sector; the bulk of those are for nurses and PSWs. A report from RBC found that Canada is currently short 16,800 doctors and, without changes in working conditions, that will rise to 43,900 by 2028.

I’ve been reading some local history recently and nearly all our smaller communities, which now often have no doctors, once had two or more. In Blyth, two of our largest older homes were once built by doctors. This was in a day when few people graduated from high school, but people like Dr. William Victor Johnston who grew up on a farm in West Wawanosh, became doctors. He was my childhood doctor in Lucknow and went on to be president of the Ontario Medical Association and the first leader of the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

Now, government assistance with tuition

makes it easier to afford university costs, but the government controls the number of people graduating.

Our medicare might be seen as part of the problem, except that it seems to be affecting the U.S. too. “The country is expected to suffer a shortage of up to 124,000 physicians in the next 12 years, according to a 2019 report from the Association of American Medical Colleges.” American Medical Association President Jesse Ehrenfeld told reporter Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech: “When people don't have access to routine primary care and preventative services (due to no physician access), they live sicker and die younger.... These are things that are only going to get worse as we put more pressure on the physician workforce.”

The U.S. healthcare industry is experiencing a severe shortage of workers at every level.

One study projects that if U.S. workforce trends continue, more than 6.5 million healthcare professionals will permanently leave their positions by 2026, while only 1.9 million will step in to replace them, leaving a national industry shortage of more than four million workers.

The bureaucracy due to government health insurance is obviously not the problem south of the border. Pay? When I graduated university, nurses in Canada made about $6,000 a year, Now they can make $100,000.

But maybe other jobs offer more by comparison. Ironically, at a time when we have smaller families, we expect to have more time to enjoy them. Doctors and nurses must work nights and weekends and be away from their children.

I’m grasping for reasons here, but we obviously have problems. We may lose local hospitals unless we find solutions quickly.

‘The Chaff’ is live in five, four, three, two...

U

h-oh, Chaff-o! The Chaff is back for another whack at the weasel. And as the Karate Kid’s Karate man used to say, “Whack on! Whack off!”

Unlike pretty much all of the others, this is a very, very special edition of The Chaff.

Ready or not; or half-ready, half-not ready; or one-third ready, one-third not ready and onethird uncertain - this The Chaff is going LIVE! Thank you for joining this very special live version of The Chaff. Anything can happen when you go live. Mistakes will be made!

Excuse us, that was supposed to read “Miztakes will be maid!” But we maid a miztake! And that’s what happens when The Chaff goes live!

You’re probably nervous about participating in a newspaper column that is happening live and unedited (despite whatever wild claims “editor” Shawn Loughlin may, recklessly, be making otherwise). Well, you should be nervous. This is not only a dangerous experiment in newspapering but it is also, quite clearly, the work of the devil. At any moment these pages may burst into flames and, as we all know, newsprint is highly flammable. You’ve been warned!

The Chaff’s established insurance provider wanted nothing to do with this live version of The Chaff. They deemed us to be uninsurable, unintelligible and utterly under-done (meat metaphor). Lucky for us, insuring The Chaff is the work of the devil! Lucifer’s Insurance Company, located in the seventh ring, stepped up to the damned plate, allowing us to holler all of our hot air out there in real time for an eternity, or what might feel like one when reading The Chaff live! Thank you to Ignatius Grimwort for the introduction.

We have a lot of wonderful things planned

Scott Stephenson The Chaff for this live-to-print edition of The Chaff.

First up is an interview with a mystery guest.

Audiences love to be surprised by an intriguing character and who is more intriguing and surprising than you?! That’s right, you are the first guest to be interviewed on The Chaff live. Please welcome ____________________________________ (Fill in your name.)

We really can’t believe we were able to book you on this live edition of The Chaff.

What were you thinking when you agreed to do this? ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ (Fill in all of the issues in your life that clouded your judgment enough to get you to this point.)

Oh, wow! What an interesting response. It sure sounds like you have a lot going on.

What is coming up next for you? ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ (Fill in your planned activities for this week.)

Fascinating! How do you do it? ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ (Fill in how you do it.)

You don’t say! Consider this gob, smacked.

This interview is going very well. Is there anything else you’d like to promote? ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ (Fill in information about a movie you have coming out, or something cool that your kid did recently.)

Holy moly! This is absolutely incredible!

Thank you for sharing all of this relevant and interesting information. The Chaff live’s livereaders are, almost certainly, eating their eyes out right now. In real time! Hip hip hooray!

Chaff Chaff charu!

Next up on The Chaff live is a musical performance by one of the area’s finest sources of community news - The Citizen!

(Use the newspaper you are holding to make various sounds like crinkling or, more subtly, folding. Try whacking it on things; try whacking it off things. Now that’s music! Eat your eyes out Nickelback!)

Well that’s just about all of the time-space we have available for this history-making live edition of The Chaff. We’d like to thank all of our very, very special guests: ____________________________________ (Fill in your name, again.), The Citizen musical-paper and the devil. Thank you also to our sponsor, Lucifer’s Insurance Company.

They’re there for all of life’s Beelzbumps!

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Shawn Loughlin Shawn’s Sense

Stand and deliver

I

f you’re like no one, you’re busy plotting out your strategy for the busy film season ahead. Whether it’s summer blockbusters or film festival darlings, there is going to be a lot to see this year and surely you want to be on top of it if you want to keep pace with all of the others (nobody) who plan out such things.

We are smack-dab in the middle of France’s Cannes Film Festival (at least I was as I wrote this), marking the unofficial start of standing ovation season. And, at the time of writing this, Furiosa was making standing ovation waves.

The Anya Taylor-Joy vehicle that serves as a sort of prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road had patrons on their feet for six minutes, according to Variety, while The Hollywood Reporter’s watches stopped at seven minutes and Deadline clocked the ovation as being “nearly eight” minutes. Controversy! Tighten it up!

So far this sounds like the longest standing ovation of the film festival season, which means that we should all be pre-booking our Furiosa tickets for when it hits regular-people movie theatres not just screenings for film critics, insiders and fancy French people.

Although, maybe it’s a bit too early to be putting all of our movie ticket eggs in one basket. The festival is just getting going, after all, and we could easily see an even longer standing ovation come out of Cannes, which of course would mean that movie’s much better.

So, now, we wait. But, seeing as how we’re all waiting here together, unsure of which movies to see based on how long people stand up and clap once they’re done, we have some time to look back at some of the other times that people stood for a long time after a movie.

Last year, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon enticed - nay, demanded - that people stand up and clap for nine minutes after its credits rolled. One writer pointed out that this enthusiastic response was made even more impressive by the fact that the movie itself neared the four-hour mark, so to have that kind of energy left means... well, surely something.

The previous year, Elvis engaged audiences for 12 minutes. That’s the same amount of time (minus some seconds on either side, I’m sure) that people stood in Cannes for The Artist.

That’s the black-and-white silent movie that would go on to win the Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director Academy Awards in 2012 - wins that I think represented the height of the rift between award-winning movies and movies that people actually watch and enjoy.

However, as we know, awards mean nothing and standing ovations mean everything, so The Artist is a triumph and if you don’t think so, you’re clearly exposing yourself as someone who has never elicited applause or standing.

The story then lists several other films I’ve neither seen nor heard of that brought about 13-, 15-, 17- and 18-minute standing ovations, but, as you probably already know, these are all JV entries. Let’s get to the heavy hitters.

Documentarian Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 roused a 20-minute standing ovation in 2004. (This is not Moore’s only appearance on this list, as Bowling for Columbine had people on their feet for 13 minutes back in 2003.)

But the granddaddy of them all is Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, which, in 2006, did it, setting the record for the longest-ever standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival at 22 minutes. That’s the length of a sitcom episode without the commercials.

And there you have it, Pan’s Labyrinth, the best movie ever made by the totally legit and not insane at all metric of standing ovations. At least until some theatre full of maniacs stands for like, an hour, later this festival season.

PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024.

Camp Menesetung offers up special breakfast fundraiser A NOTE FROM BETTY

By Betty Graber Watson Call 887-9231

A great investment The Brussels Optimist Club recently paid all of its bills and settled its accounts in regards to its annual spring dinner and auction and was able to donate $60,000 towards the creation of a new playground at North Woods Elementary School, the chosen cause for the popular and successful event. (Photo submitted)

At the Branch

Blake wins weekly ‘Ace’ draw

By Jo-Ann McDonald The past week at the Branch included the ladies’ birthday lunch on Wednesday. The ladies enjoyed a turkey and dressing casserole for their party. The birthday girls of the day included Esther McCutcheon, Isabel Wheeler and Rene Richmond.

The ladies helping celebrate with them included Dale Chesher, Nora Stephenson, Mabel Glanville, Sharon Robbins, Dona Knight, Janet Hook, Joan Bernard, Marci Bremner, Jane Hall, Edna McLellan, Merle Cousins, Audrey Cardiff, Alice Marks, Betty Cardiff,

Betty McCutcheon, Cora Alcock, Bessie Johnston and Betty Campbell. Happy birthday to all who celebrated that day.

The Catch the Ace draw was held Friday evening with Kathy, Jamie and Judy running the draw. The lucky weekly winner was Crystal Blake and she won $167. Her envelope choice was number 23 and the nine of diamonds was found.

The estimated jackpot for the next draw is $2,500. Get your tickets from all the usual stores, like McDonald Home Hardware, the Brussels Pharmacy, Brussels Variety

and, of course, at the Brussels Legion.

Brussels Ball Day is June 1, so mark your calendar. Enjoy a day of watching all age groups play the game of baseball and then enjoy fish and fries prepared by the Brussels Legion. It is a fundraiser for the local ball organization and will be available at the park. It will be pre-order tickets only for the fish dinner. Fries and poutine will also be available.

Get your tickets for the fish dinner by contacting Amanda at 519-357-7547 or Krissy at 529955-1386.

Huron East Council approves new refreshment vehicle bylaw

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Huron East Council has updated its refreshment vehicle bylaw after a first draft was presented to council back in February.

Huron East Clerk Jessica Rudy has cleaned up and updated the municipality’s refreshment vehicle bylaw, improving upon a bylaw that was exclusive to the Town of Seaforth, created in preamalgamation 1992.

Council discussed the changes at its Feb. 6 meeting and asked for a few clarifications in regards to what would be subject to the rules of the bylaw and what wouldn’t.

Rudy said the bylaw has been updated to ensure that such vehicles will keep a distance of at least 60 metres from established, bricksand-mortar businesses offering similar products, while introducing some further rules.

“The proposed bylaw has more defined parameters of use and location (placement on municipal property would require approval from council), as well as a more robust application process,” Rudy said in her report to council. “The bylaw was established to allow the refreshment vehicle to operate for a short period, as licences would be valid for a seven-day period, opposed to a seasonal/long-term use situation, i.e. one location for

the duration of the summer.”

Rudy told council that applicants will now have to submit a number of things when applying for a food truck licence, such as: application fee of $100 for use within a sevenday period; a photograph of the vehicle; copy of the registration; for a motorized vehicle, a valid safety standards certificate; proof of general liability insurance of $5 million; proof of automobile liability insurance of $2 million; proof of inspection and approval, in writing, from Huron Perth Public Health or another valid Ontario public health organization; approved mobile food service equipment self-inspection checklist from the Huron East Fire Department, and certification for any vehicle fitted with propane or natural gas.

Rudy said that while the bylaw was up for discussion at the Feb. 6 meeting, staff would be seeking final council approval at a future meeting through bylaw approval.

There was a bit of discussion among councillors in hopes that the bylaw wouldn’t restrict one-off fundraising events that involve food, like charity barbecues or the like. Rudy assured council that events such as those are not governed by the bylaw.

At that later meeting, Rudy presented an updated version of the new bylaw that included some

changes based on further consultation with the public and comments from council at the February meeting. The changes include: a definition on refrigerated bicycle carts, allowing for some variations to accommodate a smaller operation; licence validation for one year, which includes additional clauses to prevent parking in one location for longer than the life of an event and allows a food truck to attend multiple events or locations within Huron East throughout the year; an annual fee set at $350, which was the price for a licence in the previous Town of Seaforth bylaw (staff will review the fee next year); a provision for an eating establishment to authorize a refreshment vehicle to operate within 60 metres of its entrance, and fee exemptions for charitable organizations providing service to Huron East residents, non-profit organizations with charitable purposes benefiting Huron East, local churches, schools and service club events, Business Improvement Area (BIA) events and events sponsored or approved by Huron East. (The exemption applies to the fee only, as the trucks would still have to have proof of insurance, health inspection and fire checklist, per the bylaw.)

Council approved the updated bylaw with little discussion.

Here’s to Queen Victoria. Last weekend we enjoyed the holiday in many, many ways.

It was Queen Victoria, born on the 24th of May in 1819, who, in her ruling as Queen of one-fifth of the globe, saw fit to sign the British North America Act. She granted Canada independence in 1867. We celebrate the stern-faced lady with a named weekend.

Up until our Queen Elizabeth outthroned her, she held the honour of longevity as reigning monarchs. I think I could have liked the old girl - she died in 1901. But two quotes found me last week that were credited to her. “Great events make me quiet and calm, it is the trifles that irritate my nerves.” As well, “The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them.” So as you recall your weekend, thank Queen Victoria for letting us be our own country so long ago.

Holiday tents and trailers were visiting at different spots around our community. Campfires, games, food and fireworks were all part of the fun. The rain held off nicely.

Camp Menesetung was a busy spot on Sunday morning as the camp offered breakfast as a fundraiser, a chance to look about, meet the staff and welcome the camping season. The climbing wall, then archery, right after breakfast, were the popular spots with many seeing how hard it really is. Good food and good

company, all for a good cause.

If a walk about the cemetery is part of your life, you may see Lori Carter working to keep our history intact. Graveyards, and the history they hold, are Lori’s passion.

Documenting lost history, as in cemetery stones that have been buried, broken or overgrown, brings smiles to Lori when names, places and connections align. She is often seen with equally-interested friends volunteering their way through the oldest sections of our cemetery. If this work intrigues you, ask Ross Somers for details.

Graduation time is approaching and it’s time to shake your head and wonder where the years have gone as you glow with pride at the accomplishments. It did my heart good to know one dress, not the $500 kind, came from the 5R’s and she was beautiful and another was a unique garment fashioned from others available. The environment may still have hope.

Take care. Bye now.

Betty GW

NEWS FROM BRUSSELS

Brussels Legion 218 Catch the Ace Weekly Winner Winning Ticket: Crystal Blake, $167.

Envelope #23 found the 9 of Diamonds.

Next estimated jackpot is $2,500.

tizen The Ci 2024 E PHON O BO K

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by Cla

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N CLINTO GHAM ELS • • WIN RUSS TH •B • SEAFORTH • BLY RRIE URN B O U G A • • ERICH • GOD

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THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024. PAGE 7.

Friends to host dedication service at Memory Garden

A new canvas It wasn’t the usual child volunteers or hired clowns painting faces at the Blyth Festival Art Gallery’s Chalk Around the Block event on Saturday, as children had the opportunity to have their faces painted by award-winning artist Kelly Stevenson. Quite the rare opportunity, indeed. The event attracted 30 young people and has been hailed by Stevenson as a success. (Scott Stephenson photo)

The Reading Web with Cindy Norgate

S

even years ago, on May 12, I moved to Canada. It was the week before the Victoria Day long weekend. I noticed people were excited about the upcoming holiday, so I asked Jeff what the holiday was, exactly. He explained it was Queen Victoria’s birthday. In true Cindy fashion, I began to research Queen Victoria because my thinking was, “I’m in Canada, so I want to know more about this place I want to call home.”

Last week, while I was in the classroom, I asked students if they knew why we celebrate this holiday.

Some said, “It is the May 2-4 weekend,” or, “it is the long weekend.” All were true, but I shared with them that it began because it was Queen Victoria’s birthday. That provoked me to ask if they knew who she was. Most of them said they didn’t really know.

We had a great lesson on who she was and a few fun facts about her. I decided to post her photos on the board, and I noticed several students walking up to them and reading a bit of information. That made me smile.

Maybe it is because I am a history buff - I don’t know - but what I do know is that future voters need to know about the country they live in, no matter if it is Canada, the United States, or abroad. I want students to be proud to be Canadian, which is also why I thought it was a good idea to have a Canadian flag in our classroom. I’m the only one in the class that faces the flag during the playing of “O Canada”, but that’s alright. I’m setting an example by modeling.

I was happy to see students removing their hats when the anthem was played. It is a sign of respect.

My hope is that one day, they will remember the “old” teacher who made a big deal out of learning more about their country. I wish this for all North American children; that they would take an interest in the freedoms we have; not the freedoms

they feel we are lacking. I suppose this is an irritation of sorts with me, as I heard the CBC report this morning on the horror that is taking place in Haiti. Paul Hunter interviewed a poor mother who, along with her five children, are sleeping in the open air with no food and gun fire all around, so, yes, I suppose I get a bit upset when I hear complaints about the lack of freedoms we have. Having said all of this, I do realize there are still social injustices we still need to work on in order to improve them.

I am not here to start an argument.

I am not an argumentative-type individual. I am simply here to stress the importance of educating future voters and/or contributing members of our society (both in Canada and the U.S.) to be proud of where you live. Yes, we can all improve, but let’s educate our children. Educate them, so they can see how far we’ve come and situations we still need to improve upon; teaching them to make educated choices for their lives and our fellow man.

On another note, summertime activities for children are exciting! It seems there are so many ideas and events to do. As in previous issues, I want to encourage you to try to create and take advantage of teachable moments with the children in your life this summer. Now, come with me as we travel to the Wild Goose Studio here in Blyth.

I’m so excited to tell you about information that my friend, Cindy McKenna, has recently shared with me. She has put together some awesome camps for kids this summer. Spoiler alert! There may be more to come that will be announced in future editions.

“The first one is Rita Rutabaga Camp where they will create a hand painted stuffed rag Rita doll along with painting more images for Little Rita's House. This morning camp will be held July 10-12. The second one is Aug. 14-16 and is a pirate art

camp that has been a summer favourite, including mask making, maps, music, painting.”

Cindy says she will send me more information regarding future summer camps as final decisions are made.

As I leave it here for this week, I want to share an awesome book I found to share with your children while traveling. My Travel Journal: Adventure Awaits - World Travel Edition (Green): Perfect Size Vacation Diary to Draw and Write On-The-Go! By Hibicus Books (2023). It can be purchased from Amazon, and it is designed for children ages four and up. According to Amazon, this book includes areas

By Deb Hakkers What a great Victoria Day weekend! The weather was amazing! We got our back deck pressure washed and ready to go for summer. We also went to Huronlea and took Mom out for a walk on Monday. She wanted to enjoy the lovely weather and see something outside the walls of Huronlea, so we toured the grounds and went around the block. We went out in the morning because of the heat predicted for the afternoon.

This week, we wish a happy birthday to Niel Edgar on May 29.

We also wish a happy anniversary to Jeff and Michelle Nesbitt on May 29 and Ken and Dianne Siertsema on May 31. We hope everyone enjoys their special day!

The Friends of the Village of Blyth will be hosting the Memory Garden’s 22nd annual remembrance and dedication service at the garden at the end of Drummond Street on where your child can record the date, weather, flag, maps, and many other exciting activities about their summer travels. This is not only a fun idea, but it is also teaching your child various skills which will keep their mind active.

“Learning never exhausts the mind.” - Leonardo Da Vinci

Sunday, June 9 at 1:30 p.m.

At the Legion, the euchre winners for Monday, May 20 were: first, Jeanette Buker (73) and Harold McClinchey (73); second, Sharon Freeman (72) and Alice Yuill (72) and the loan hands went to Donna Walsh with four and Jim Weiler with five. Share the wealth went to Marvis Thomas, Susan Van Sickle, Alice Gamble and Pat Chatham.

The next euchre will be on Oct. 7.

Until next week take care of yourselves and each other.

NEWS FROM BLYTH

MAITLAND VALLEY CAMERA CLUB

Photography by Deb Griffey

PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024.

Sports Fastball season now underway

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

Breaking away Last week, the students at Hullett Central Public School in Londesborough took to the school’s grounds for their annual track and field meet. They were busy competing in long jump, shot put and, of course, racing. From left: Jake Salverda, Elias Archer and Casey Bolinger were among those who put their legs to the test that day. (Scott Stephenson photo)

Londesborough season starts

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen The Londesborough Legends minor baseball season is now officially underway and it promises to be another good one for the organization.

The first game of the season was scheduled for May 15, a home game for the U11 team against Seaforth, although a score for that game was unavailable at press time.

The next day, the U21 team welcomed the Wilmot Thunder to Londesborough and sent them back on the wrong end of a 12-4 score.

On May 22, the U9 team was due to play Fullarton on the road to start

their season, while the U11 team was scheduled to host Elma AA that night as well. The U13 B team was set to be on the road to play Wilmot 22 on May 23, the same night the U21 team was to host the Goderich Seahawks, but scores for those four games were unavailable at press time.

On Sunday, May 26, the U13 Girls team is scheduled to be at Bannister Park to play the Goderich Seahawks Lime team, while the U21 team will play the Innerkip Junior Eagles, also on the road.

The next night the U13 B team will host Seaforth in Londesborough, then, on May 28, the U9 team will welcome Elma BB

to Londesborough for a game.

On May 29, the U11 team will head to Shakespeare for a game, while the U13 B team will also be on the road to play Fullarton.

On May 30, the U9 team will play Elma AA in Atwood and the U13 B team will play Wilmot 33, also on the road, while the U21 team will welcome the Fullarton A’s to Londesborough that night.

Then, on the weekend of May 31 to June 2, the U13 Girls and the U21 teams will both be on the road for Mitchell Fastball Fest, their first tournaments of the season.

For more information or a full schedule, visit online at londesborominorball.com.

It’s May in Huron County and that means another Huron County Fastball League season is on the horizon - and this year a new team will be welcomed into the league.

On Wednesday night, the season opened with the new team, the Elmira U20s, hosting the Walton Brewers in Linwood. A score for that game was unavailable at press time.

Tonight, Friday, May 24, the Brussels Bangers will be in Monkton to play the Muskrats and then, on Sunday, May 26, the Mitchell Mets will be in Wroxeter to play the Rippers and Elmira will be in Belmore to play the Stingers, who always provide a tough contest, especially on their home diamond.

On Tuesday, May 28, the first local game to The Citizen’s coverage area will be played when the Walton Brewers host the defending champion Brussels Tigers with first pitch scheduled for 8 p.m.

The next night, Elmira will play its third scheduled game of the season, welcoming Mitchell to Linwood.

There are three games scheduled for Friday, May 31, all due to kick off at 8 p.m. The Walton Brewers will take on the Sebringville Sting on the road, while the Goderich Grizzlies will host the Fullarton A’s and the Belmore Stingers will travel to Monkton to take on the Muskrats.

On Saturday, June 1, the Brussels Bangers will host the Walton Brewers, beginning at 7:30 p.m., as the final game of Brussels Ball Day, the annual celebration of all things baseball in the village that has attracted plenty of players and spectators over the years.

The next day, the Sebringville Sting will host the Belmore Stingers - the first Sting-off of the season! - for a matinee beginning at

Benmiller, while the U13 Girls will host the Listowel Legends Snider team and the U17 Boys will welcome Sebringville to the village.

The next day, May 28, the U9 Black team will play Lucknow in Brussels and the U15 Girls will host the Listowel Legends. On May 29, the U11 Boys will play Wingham in Brussels, while the U11 Girls will host the Mitchell Hornets Broughton team.

After all the action of Brussels Minor Ball Day on June 1 is in the books, the U11 Girls will play the Listowel Legends Fowler team on the road on Monday, June 3. Also that day, the U7 Black team will play Ethel on the road, while the U13 Boys will host Wingham and

the U17 Boys will host the Wilmot 2 team.

The next night, June 4, the U9 Black team will play the Brussels Red team, while the U9 Red team will play the Brussels Black team and the U15 Girls will welcome the Goderich Seahawks Lime/Black team to the village.

On June 5, the U11 Boys will host Benmiller in Brussels and the U13 Girls will play the Listowel Legends Johnston team on the road.

The next night, June 6, the U11 Boys and U15 Girls will both be on the road, with the former playing Wingham and the latter playing the Elma Express 1 White team.

For more information or for a full schedule, visit the league online at brusselstigersfastball.ca.

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BRUSSELS MINOR BALL DAY Saturday, June 1

Brussels Tigers back in action Continued from page 1 that night, the U13 Boys were scheduled to play Benmiller at home in Brussels, but that game was cancelled.

Two days later, on May 15, the U13 Boys finally did play their first game of the regular season, heading to Wingham and coming back with a 7-0 win in their pockets.

On May 21, the U13 Girls were scheduled to play the Goderich Seahawks Lime team on the road, but a score for that game was unavailable at press time.

Tonight, Friday, May 24, the U15 Girls will be in Goderich to play the Seahawks Lime/Black team, followed by three Tigers games on Monday, May 27. The U13 Boys will be on the road to play

2 p.m. that afternoon.

On June 4, the Walton Brewers will play their second scheduled home game of the season, welcoming the Mitchell Mets to the community, while the Brussels Tigers will play their first home game of the season the next night, bringing the Wingham Hitmen to the village for Wingham’s first game of the season.

Then, on Friday, June 7, the Mitchell Mets will play the AW Millwrights in Milverton, the Brussels Bangers will host the Fullarton A’s and the Brussels Tigers will play the Rippers in Wroxeter.

The season will then continue with regularly-scheduled games throughout the week until early September. The final game on the regular season schedule is on Sept.

9 when the Walton Brewers, who opened the season on the road, will also close on the road, playing the Goderich Grizzlies.

Time

Age Group

Teams

8:00 am 9:00 am 10:00 am 11:30 am 1:00 pm 2:30 pm 4:00 pm 5:30 pm 7:30 pm

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Brussels Black vs. Brussels Red Brussels Black vs. Brussels Red Brussels Black vs. Brussels Red Brussels vs. Listowel Legends Brussels vs. Seaforth Brussels vs. Elma Express #2 Brussels vs. Wingham Brussels vs. Seaforth Wolverines Brussels Bangers vs. Walton Brewers

• Leo’s BBQ lunch from 10:30 - 4 pm • Clouds of Sugar Cotton Candy • Pinky the Clown from 9-11 am • Great Raffle Prizes (Grand Prize - 4 Tickets to a Jays game) • Fish Fry hosted by the Legion from 5-7 pm at the Main Diamond Pavilion (tickets ONLY available in advance) 1 piece $12, 2 pieces $18 For Fish Fry tickets or information contact: Amanda White- 519-357-7547 or Krissy Rammeloo – 519-955-1386

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024. PAGE 9.

A return to the farmhouse Glimpses of the Past with Karen Webster

B

efore we leave the farmhouse kitchen, there is another item to take a look at and that is the sewing machine. Ours was a Raymond treadle model in a wooden cabinet. Each time the foot treadle was moved up and down, it caused the needle to do likewise, thus sewing, stitch by stitch, most of our clothing.

In the summer kitchen was the washing machine. Before there was electricity, the clothes in this machine were agitated by the means of a lever on the outside that, when rocked back and forth, swirled the wash around. Then the clothes were fed through a wringer, which consisted of two wooden or hard rubber rollers, run by a crank, that squeezed the water from the clothing. Care had to be taken that hair or fingers did not get caught up in the process.

The wrung-out clothes would fall into a tub of rinse water, only to be wrung out one final time before heading to the clothesline. Ours was a long single stretch of wire located across the laneway attached to a tall post at one end and to an apple tree at the other. There was also a long prop pole with a bent spike nail at the top of it and when the clothes were pegged to the line, causing the line to sag down, this pole was pushed up under the line to keep the laundry from dragging on the lawn.

This same clothesline was handy to create our own tent by throwing Dad’s tarp over it.

We can move on to the front room, not a living room or a family room, but a front room where guests would be entertained. Most likely an additional source of heat was required and, in our case, it was an oil burner. While it was handy at warming the room up, it also emitted a heavy petroleum odour that was unpleasant to my nostrils. The top of the back of the chesterfield had an embroidered cloth on it called an antimacassar. Macassar used to be a hair dressing from the past that was favoured by many men. Even after it

went out of use, in order to protect the furniture, housewives covered up the backs and arms too of the furniture with washable items. The front room was the place most likely to find books to read.

Still exploring the farmhouse, let’s climb the wooden hill or stair steps up to the bedrooms. There were no closets in our home, just a long board attached to one wall with a series of hooks on it. The beds consisted of a frame with a headboard and footboard. Running crosswise on the frame were wooden slats that held up a metal grid work and on top of that was the mattress. I can remember sleeping on a goose feather mattress at my grandmother’s place when I wasn’t very old. I sank right down in it then she covered me up with heavy patchwork quilts that had been made of woolen materials. I felt like a prisoner!

Some homes also had a spare bedroom. When I was young, my grandmother lived with us and she used that room.

In case you think that one room has been forgotten, that of the bathroom, that would be because our home did not have one. There was an outhouse across the laneway under an old apple tree. Strangely enough, though the tree did produce apples, none of them were ever eaten. In homes without bathrooms, each bedroom would be equipped with a set of decorated crockery consisting of a basin, soap dish, pitcher and a chamber pot. This set would be housed in a washstand that would have racks on either side for hand towels. If one were to use the chamber pot on a winter’s night, a cold reception was guaranteed. This pot was sometimes referred to as a “thunder mug” because of the acoustic result of a normal bodily function.

The only heat in the upstairs, which wasn’t much, was generated through proximity to the central chimney. The windows in the house were made of wood with single-pane

glass in them. In winter, wooden storm windows were attached to the outside of the frames, but they did not provide much protection from winter’s icy blasts. Frost would decorate the glass most of the winter and, at times, could also be found on

the surface of the wallpaper. One did not linger getting dressed on winter mornings! On the other hand, summer nights could be quite stifling in the upper rooms and sometimes we escaped to an old couch on the front porch for relief.

Lastly, there was the cellar.

Because it had a cement floor and stone walls, it was the coolest place in the house. Perishables, such as milk and butter, were stored there along with rows upon rows of preserves in their glass jars.

Because a single reel push mower was the only means of keeping the grass cut, not much lawn was maintained, just a path to the barn and a small amount around the house and the windmill. The only flowers I remember my mother keeping, in a narrow band along the south side of the house, were tulips, daffodils, petunias and geraniums.

By today’s standards, the farmhouses of several decades ago might seem quite basic, but they provided us with all that we needed and gave us a good start in life.

PUBLIC NOTICE OF PESTICIDE USE Municipality of Morris-Turnberry The Municipality of Morris-Turnberry intends to control noxious weeds along the following municipal roadsides through spot spraying where noxious weeds have been identified.

Turnberry-Culross Road – Side Road 30 to London Road Versteeg Line – Turnberry-Culross Road to London Road Huron-Bruce Road – London Road to west limit Belmore Glenannon Road – Gibbons Line to Belmore Line Salem Road – B-Line Road to Belmore Line Orange Hill Road – B-Line Road to Belmore Line North Street – Gibbons Line to West Street B-Line Road – West Limit Wingham to Harriston Road Gibbons Line – Amberley Road to North Street Holmes Line – North Street to Turnberry-Culross Road Bok Line – B-Line Road to London Road McLean Line – Amberley Road to B-Line Road Gilmour Line – B-Line Road to Huron-Bruce Road Black Line – Harriston Road to Orange Hill Road Powell Line – Orange Hill Road to Howick-Turnberry Road Jeffray Line – Howick-Turnberry Road to Huron-Bruce Road Kieffer Line – Harriston Road to Howick-Turnberry Road Schiestel Line – Huron-Bruce Road South 470m Lewis Line – Glenannon Road North 590m The following locations for Wild Chervil (multi year program): Brandon Road – London Road to Clyde Line Clyde Line – Moncrieff Road to Cardiff Road Moncrieff Road – Clyde Line to Martin Line Martin Line – Moncrieff Road to Morris Road Walton Road – London Road to Brussels Line Cardiff Road – London Road to Clyde Line Clegg Line – Morris Road to Cardiff Road All locations where herbicides will be applied are in rural areas along a highway in which the public has general right of access, but the application does not include any area intended for pedestrian access nor areas where the public is invited to stop such as rest areas or picnic areas.

The Municipality of Morris Turnberry intends to control noxious weeds identified along the right-ofway locations noted above using the following pesticides under the Pest Control Products Act (Canada): • ClearView Herbicide (Registration No. 29752), containing the active ingredients: Aminopyralid, present as potassium salt, and Metsulfuron methyl.

• Hasten NT Ultra Spray Adjuvant (Registration No. 31760), containing the active ingredients: Methyl and ethyl oleate (esterified vegetable oil).

• Navius FLEX Herbicide (Registration No. 30922), containing the active ingredients: Metsulfuron – methyl and Aminocyclopyrachlor.

• Gateway Adjuvant (Registration No. 31470), containing the active ingredients: Paraffinic Oil, and Alkoxylated alcohol non-ionic surfactants.

Anyone not wishing to have the roadside adjacent to their property treated for noxious weeds should contact Mike Alcock at Morris-Turnberry 519-887-6137 ext 227.

Note: It is the responsibility of the property owner requesting no spray to contact the person listed above each calendar year prior to the application of weed spray. Property owners requesting no spray will be responsible for all noxious weeds on the road allowance adjacent to their property.

We are controlling noxious weeds under Public Works Exception of the Cosmetic Pesticides Ban for the promotion of public health or safety.

Back at the track Sunday, May 19 marked the beginning of another season of harness racing at the Clinton Raceway.

Opening day doubled as a fundraiser for Central Huron Secondary School, with plenty of students and even the (John school’s mascot in attendance to pitch in.

Stephenson photo)

Commencing May 27, 2024, weather permitting and ending approximately June 30, 2024.

For information call (Collect Calls will be accepted): Mike Alcock Steve Ford Municipality of Morris-Turnberry Green Stream Public Works Department 1-905-510-1229 519-887-6137 ext 227 Or

PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024.

World mourns loss of Huron County writer Alice Munro

Alice Munro Country Celebrated Canadian author Alice Munro spent her formative years in Wingham. Later in life, Munro returned to Huron County, settling in Clinton, to continue her work as an internationally renowned author. (Scott Stephenson photos; Courtesy photo from Verna Steffler)

By Scott Stephenson The Citizen Since the passing of literary luminary Alice Munro last week, much has been said, worldwide, about the enigmatic author behind some of the greatest short stories ever written. And many of those words have reiterated a longstanding assertion that Munro was somewhat of a recluse - after all, she didn’t even go to Stockholm to accept her Nobel Prize for Literature!

Munro is often cast as an isolated occurrence of spontaneous brilliance, a sibylline savant who sprang, fully formed, from that secret font of infinite virtuosity that births all true talent - that she existed, somehow, as nothing more than a collection of unparalleled, untouchable words.

But there are many here in Huron

County who take exception with this depiction. For them, Alice Munro was a friend, a neighbour, a volunteer and a thespian. For the people here, it has always been quite clear that Munro sprung not from some rarefied source, but from the same fertile earth that nourished her writing for so many years. She was both a living expression of her home and a woman whose deep roots fed more than perfect words her roots inspired her, time and again, to be an active participant in her community.

Munro’s death came, rather inconveniently, on a Monday, which gave The Citizen’s editor, Shawn Loughlin, little time to succinctly summarize her singular lifetime of stunning accomplishments in time for deadline on Tuesday. It was a Herculean task he accomplished with his usual unassuming aplomb -

his article is a lovely tribute to one of Huron County’s greatest citizens.

Meanwhile, I spent that deadline day making repeated calls down to the front desk of the historic Whitehall Hotel in Chicago to beg for a later check-out time so I could complete my share of that week’s articles, having just spent an unexpected night in The City of Big Shoulders on the way home from Salt Lake City, Utah, due to the whims of North America’s crumbling aviation industry.

The Whitehall, once a favoured haunt of Vincent Price, eventually did give my wife and me the heaveho, and so the rest of last week’s writing was done at the Willis Tower Shake Shack. It was there that I received a forwarded missive from The Citizen’s founder, Keith Roulston, which asked, ‘Any chance you might do something with more detail for next week?’

But what to say, that hasn’t already been said?

My wife and I had gone to Salt Lake City to experience the brilliance of an entirely different lady of letters - musician Joanna Newsom, for what turned out to be the most powerful performance of live music I have ever experienced.

The usually reserved harpist had recently experienced a great and sudden loss of her producer and friend, Steve Albini, and she shared her unprocessed grief with all those who had gathered there. She paid tribute to her friend, saying that, even though Albini had been so instrumental to so much of her work, that, on the list of reasons why he was her hero, music-related stuff didn’t even crack the top 10.

And so it was for the inhabitants of Huron County that Alice Munro

Verna Steffler

counted among her friends. Our plane out of O’Hare touched down in Toronto late on Tuesday night, the drive home took us into the bleary territory of Wednesday morning, where I found myself somehow in The Citizen office, tasked with collecting stories that illustrated the impact Munro had on a local level. Armed only with a list of leads provided by Keith, Shawn and our publisher, Deb Sholdice. I began the day tired and full of trepidation. My time was limited, and despite my admiration for her work, I had never met Munro - what if I couldn’t find anyone to talk to?

The next 24 hours were a crash course in the life of a remarkable woman. Most everyone I reached out to availed themselves to me immediately, and spoke about their friend with an eloquence and an eye for detail of which Munro herself would have approved. As I made calls and criss-crossed the county collecting these chronicles, each energetic storyteller revitalized my weary mind. There is nowhere near enough room in our little local paper for all the Alice-yarns offered

so generously by the people of Huron County in tribute to one of their own. These stories are not my words, and I consider myself to be supremely privileged to be the one to deliver them here.

Say It with Flowers By the time I made contact with Wingham-based arts advocate Verna Steffler, she’d already spoken to members of the press, including Scott Miller of CTV News, whom I wish very much was my bitter rival as we are both news guys named Scott, but is instead a very nice man and an excellent journalist. Steffler’s well of memories, however, was far from dry.

A transplant from Sarnia who arrived in Wingham in 1957, Steffler fell in love with the little town right away. It took many years, however, for her to encounter Wingham’s most famous former resident. “It all started from the Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story - that’s what it’s called now,” she began. “I had started it quite some time ago with the purpose of Continued on page 11

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024. PAGE 11.

Community remembers friend, neighbour Continued from page 10 encouraging people in our local area to write stories, and to help them - how to get published, and so on. And after about six years of that, I thought, you know, we have a storyteller right here - Alice Munro.”

Steffler may have started out by re-naming the festival in honour of Munro, but she wanted to do more.

“I’m a firm believer you should appreciate people when they’re alive, not wait until they’re dead.

And I was president of the Horticultural Society, so we decided we would do a garden. And that’s how I first got to know Alice, and know her quite well. I didn’t want to do a garden and then find out she didn’t like it.” Steffler, with help from Ross Procter, came up with concepts for the garden and made several visits to Munro’s home in Clinton to hear her thoughts on their ideas. A consensus was reached, and the Alice Munro Literary Garden on Josephine Street was born. The author also agreed to come to the opening of the garden. “Normally, she doesn’t go to these functions,” Steffler explained. When it was announced later on that Wingham’s library was to be named after Munro, she requested that Steffler attend the ceremony with her.

They would meet sometimes at Munro’s home in Clinton to talk about the garden, or whatever happened to be on their minds.

“When she moved down to Port Hope to be close to two of her daughters, I went and visited her there a few times. And that’s how I ended up collecting her desk, and her chair, and her typewriters - all kinds of memorabilia, as well as the replica of the Nobel Prize. She was quite delighted for me to take it! At the time, I was wanting to do an exhibit in the North Huron Museum.” Steffler’s plans changed, however, when the museum was permanently closed - the objects contained within are currently being deaccessioned, so the author’s priceless artifacts are now in the Huron County Museum in Goderich. “I wanted them to stay here,” Steffler explained. “If they aren’t going to be in Wingham, they’re going to be in Huron County.”

How does Steffler remember her friend, Alice Munro? “She was a very common, gracious lady. For someone who was as famous as she was, she never changed. She was always Alice. And I think that’s what I admired about her. All the honours and awards and so on - it didn’t go to her head. She just wanted to write. That was her main goal. She talked about plain people.

You can tell many places from her books that are in town here. You know what stores she talks about, and the river. All kinds of scenes in Huron County that you know very well, you see.”

Many Happy Hours, or How I Met My Munro Clinton’s own James Roy is one of the founders of the Blyth Festival - he has since moved on to more urban pastures, but was more than happy to take my call and relate his experiences with Alice Munro.

“Well,” he began, “it’s a bit of a story! After the theatre’s 1975 season, I contacted Alice, who I knew was living in Clinton, but did not know, to ask if she would write a play for the theatre. To which she said ‘No - I don’t really do that...

But, there is a TV script.’”

The script was based on one of

her short stories - “How I Met My Husband”. Munro had adapted the story into a one-hour television script at the behest of the CBC. “So I said, ‘Ok, I’ll get ahold of the CBC and ask them’ - this is long before I worked there. And they kindly hunted it up, and we did it, in ‘76. Because it was written for TV, and it was good TV writing, a scene would end and it would cut to the next scene. And that’s too abrupt for the stage - you need to kind of work into things, and work out of things, at least a bit, before you go on to the next scene.” Through workshopping the script with the cast, the beginning and ending of each scene was extended, making the show about 25 per cent longer.

Munro’s involvement didn’t end with the offering of her story adaptation, much to Roy’s delight.

“I was living in a stone house by Ball’s Bridge, which is now about to be surrounded by a gravel pit.

And across the road was a woman named Blanche Garrett. Her daughter, Rebecca, lives there now.

Blanche was a friend of Alice’s, and so she phoned up - no, of course she didn’t phone up, there was no phone at our stone house. Blanche walked over one day, and she said ‘Alice wants to meet the cast, and I would love for you to do that at my place.’”

A tea was arranged for a Sunday afternoon, and, upon arrival, the author made an unusual request.

“Alice said ‘I would like to guess who’s playing who.’ I said ‘Ok, sure.’ So she went around the room, and she nailed every single actor correctly - except for one role.”

That character was the mailman, who also happens to be the titular husband. When the correct actor was finally pointed out to her, Munro had a response that’s stuck with Roy for decades. “She said, ‘He doesn’t have any buck teeth!’

Of course, there’s no mention of buck teeth in the script at all. It was a detail I’ve always thought was in her head. And that’s how I met Alice.”

The two became friends. During the time when Roy lived in Victoria, B.C., Munro made a point of stopping in whenever she visited her daughter. “Many happy hours,” he said. “She was very humble - as a writer. She rarely talked about her writing, and certainly not her process, to hardly anybody, if anybody...She had the ability to be quite funny, in a kind of dry and ironic way. She was very much a product of Huron County.

Something I heard her say a number of times, with sort of an undercurrent of self-deprecating humour, was ‘Oh, God, I’m no good at cooking, and I cannot make a decent pie.’ She also had an amazing sense of perception. She told me a story once, about growing up, just outside the Wingham town limits. In order to go to the high school in town, her father actually bought property in Wingham, as opposed to bussing her off to another school. But when she was in public school, she used to walk to school, which was a bit of a hike through Lower Town, which was the poor part of town. And she would get cat calls and nasty remarks and wolf whistles. All of this she recalled without any particular animosity. But what got me was this - she said ‘The war came along, and all of the Lower Town boys weren’t healthy enough - none of them got accepted by the army.’ That sort of insight into the economic strata of the time I

A fond farewell Verna Steffler, left, poses for a photograph with her friend Alice Munro in 2019.

(Courtesy

photo from Verna Steffler)

thought was very, very interesting.

That’s the kind of thing that she understood that other people didn’t understand.”

What is Remembered There were rumours swirling around The Citizen office that one of Munro’s stories was based on the real life shivaree of real life, married couple Lynda and Duncan McGregor of Blyth. This was excellent news for me, as I already had an interview with Duncan McGregor scheduled for that very day in regards to his work on the upcoming period piece The Streamliners, which will be put on

by The Livery Theatre in Goderich this fall.

It was a short trip from the office to their home in Blyth. The shivaree rumours turned out to be just that rumours. But the McGregors were in no short supply of real Alice anecdotes. The two spoke together with the sort of unconscious coordination that is only found between people who have been married for more than a spell. “The one about the window is a longer story,” Duncan began. “But the short story is, I was in Stratford with my friend, Paul Ciufo - he was doing a story about one of the plays.

We were on the main street, and so we decided to have dinner. We were carrying things, so I had to sort of back in through the restaurant doors, and all of a sudden I heard ‘Duncan!’ And I turned around, and there was Alice! I said ‘Alice!

You’ve become a greeter!’ She was there with her husband, Gerry Fremlin. And this next one is a neat one, because Lynda was involved with this. They used to have gourmet dinners up in the hall. Not in the hall….”

Lynda picked up the thread without missing a stitch. “In the arena,” she said. “The Board would put on a dinner every summer, and all the board members would host it. And the thing with Alice, was that, for quite a number of years in the 1980s, she was a volunteer at the Blyth Festival. That’s where I got to know her, because I was on staff. Alice was right in there. She’d take the wheelbarrow full of….”

“Oh the wheelbarrow thing!”

Duncan exclaimed. “The people doing the dinner didn’t want alcohol. I was a volunteer, and they said, we have this really especially good grape juice. And it was! It was top-of-the-line grape juice!

Sparkling grape juice!” A volunteer was needed to sell the Festival’s fancy juice at the dinner. “Alice said, ‘I will, but I’ll need somebody to carry the wheelbarrow for me.’”

Duncan volunteered right away to be the Blyth Festival barrow boy.

“And I’m thinking - ‘she’s going to make money’. And she went around and she sold everything.”

Duncan remembers how engaged she was. “I liked her friendship how she would recognize people.

There was a day that I saw her on The Square in Goderich, and I thought, ‘Damn, I don’t have her new book!’ And so I fwipped into Fincher’s and bought it. When I came out I had the book under my arm, and there she was. And she said ‘Oh, Duncan, I’m so sorry - I told you I wasn’t going to write another book, and I have!’

Lynda remembers Munro’s engagement fondly. Whether she was donating her time or her famous lemon pie recipe to the Blyth Festival, Lynda always felt she was honouring the work the Blyth Festival was doing because she believed in it. “What was really neat for me was knowing that she

Sunday May 26 1 PM - 4 PM Listowel Memorial Park

20 activity stations to explore! [w] mvca.on.ca [e] maitland@mvca.on.ca Supported by:

had grown up here, like me. And at that point, in the ‘80s, she was already a world-renowned writer, and she came to work as a volunteer at the theatre. One of my favourite memories is her coming and working at the annual book sale, which was started in 1979. I can see, to this day, her and Gerry opening boxes of books together, moving them through one of the windows of the Lower Hall - that was such good fun. Another memory I have is a fundraising sale in either 1982 or 1983. One of the tables was selling used clothing, and I happened to be working that table with Alice that day, who had brought in a few pieces of clothing that she had worn and was donating. She said ‘I picked these up at a consignment store in Toronto.’ Well, one of those pieces, I thought, ‘you know, I’m going to keep this.’ And I still have it. Just for the story, for the memory of working with her on the tables that day.”

The Event Lives Only in Print Marian Doucette only had time to tell me a few of her favourite Alice Munro stories, as she was about to board a ferry in B.C. Perhaps her impending nautical deadline made her preternaturally succinct, or perhaps Doucette is just naturally effective at conveying Continued on page 12

PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024.

Author lauded for authenticity of her characters Continued from page 11 information. “Yesterday, I actually made the pilgrimage to Munro’s Books so I could sign the Alice book of condolences they have there,” she explained. “ I remember her speaking at the high school in Clinton, at a big community rally against censorship. I remember how eloquently and passionately she spoke about the importance of having books like Margaret Laurence’s The Diviners as part of the curriculum. I remember seeing her play, How I Met My Husband, as part of the second or third season of the Blyth Festival. I used to be a library page, and I loved checking her books in and out.”

Doucette paused for a moment. “I got to know Alice when she first moved to Clinton, in about 1973, when she first married Gerry Fremlin. Then I became a Board Member at the Festival, in 1979.

One of the very first fundraising projects we had was the used book sale... Alice would hand me the books and quickly add up the sales, and that came from her days working at Munro’s books. I would package the books and collect the money. One day, I did ask her, as we were selling a used copy of one of her books, ‘What does it feel like to see one of your books being sold for 50 cents?’ and she said, ‘Well, I got the original royalties on it, and I am glad somebody else is going to enjoy it.’ Shortly after that, someone else went through with a copy of one of her books, and, with a flourish, she opened up the cover, autographed the book, and handed it back to the man. He then bought quite a few books, and after we cashed them out, she said ‘Oh darn, that was a used bookseller, and I just increased the value of that book!’”

In the background of the crosscountry call, there was the sound of the general excitement of boat anticipation. “From 1988 to 1992, we did a number of murder mystery dinner theatre presentations, and I convinced Alice to take to the stage.

During that production, we also had one very nervous actress, who suddenly got confused with her lines, jumping about three pages forward in the script. I was seated so that I could prompt anybody, so I am madly going through to catch up to where we had jumped in the script, and I could see the director pacing the floor frantically, because we had missed the key plot as to who had committed the murder.

Little did any of us know, Alice had memorized absolutely everybody’s lines from the whole script - she was so quick at reading and memorizing things!

She improvised, dropping all the clues as to who the actual murderer was, and caught everybody right up to where we had jumped to in the script! I think my third-most favourite memory of Alice was when we did the last major capital campaign for the theatre in the early ‘90s... we thought it might be a good idea to ask Alice to be an honorary chair. I was a little hesitant to impose on her, and I wanted to be respectful of her time.

Well, I did ask and she said, ‘I’m so happy and glad that you asked me!’

And we had so much fun doing the fundraising! In fact, one time, Alice, Lynda McGregor and I had to fly on a day-turnaround flight to Ottawa to try and secure federal funding. When we got to the airport, the plane was a propeller plane. We started to get on - I got on first, and Lynda was behind me.

She hesitated, and said she didn’t want to get on a prop plane. Alice said ‘Oh, yes you do!’ and shoved Lynda right onto the plane. And all three of us had a really great trip, fundraising for a cause we all really believed in: the Blyth Festival.”

The Man Who Ran Away to Fiji I met up with Rob Bundy at The Blyth Inn, across the street from The Citizen’s office in Blyth.

Immediately upon my arrival, manager Ange Cullen complimented my recent hardhitting article about Jebediah, a wild turkey that lives in her backyard. All in a day’s work for a rural journalist.

After almost 24 hours devoted to talking about fascinating Alice Munro moments, I was still illprepared for Rob Bundy’s absolute onslaught of interesting Alice information. Their friendship began in the early ‘90s, when Munro called the office of a Goderichbased newspaper, looking for Bundy, who was the editor at that time. Surprised, he took the call.

“She said ‘Oh, Rob, I’ve seen you on stage before, and I’ve written a play for the Blyth Festival, and I’d like you to be in it, if you’d consider it.’” Bundy didn’t consider it for long - he said yes. Munro gave him the time and date of the first rehearsal, and the conversation ended. Before Bundy even had a chance to brag to his co-workers about his celebrity encounter, he received another call - from Alice Munro, again. This time, she wanted a ride to rehearsal. “And that began our relationship, driving back-and-forth to the rehearsal of this play we were doing as a fundraiser. And it did really well!

After it was done, I thought - ‘I could write a play for Blyth, as a fundraiser, in the off-season. So I wrote a play. It was a murder mystery, called Murder in the Library: The Last Chapter. Just out of professional courtesy, I sent a copy of the draft to Alice. And she called me up, and said ‘I really like the script! There’s just one problem - there’s no part for me. If you write me a part, I’ll be in it.’ So I rewrote it, with a part for her.”

The two became close. “She was a friend of mine. She’d babysit my kids. She’d come over to the house, and take them for a walk, and tell them stories, and then tell them not to tell me the stories. Alice kept her

light under a bushel - she didn’t really like fame. She was a writer.

That’s what she wanted to do.

Alice, as I knew her, was very different from the persona she put forth. I knew her as a lady who lives down the street that I had coffee and dinner with. Her fame was very different from the way she was. She was a very thoughtful person, very friendly, really funny.” Once, right after a show Bundy and Munro did together, he and his wife left for Fiji, where they stayed for a year.

While they were away, Munro’s book Open Secrets came out, and in it, there was a man who went to Fiji, for a left-handed golf tournament. When Bundy asked her if that bit was based on him, she admitted it was, and said she would back him up if he wanted to tell people. “She never would have told me, unless I asked,” he said.

The passing of time deepened their bond. “After Gerry died, the family asked me to check in on her, because none of them lived around here. So I would go over every day, and get the mail, and we’d maybe go out for lunch or something - all that stuff. We used to fight about who got more bacon on their bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. We’d spend all afternoon arguing about who got more bacon. It was just fun. She didn’t act like this famous person.”

That particular period of time with Munro was full of strange wonders. Bundy once found the author’s twin Giller Prizes nestled in the grass of her yard. When he asked about them, she said there simply wasn’t room in the house.

When she won the Nobel Prize, she declined to attend, sending Bundy instead, along with her daughter, who accepted the award on her behalf. She also shared some thoughts about writing with him.

“She used to talk about going out and picking cotton. She goes, ‘I go out in the community, I drive around, I talk to people - that’s when I pick the cotton. And when I get home. - then I make it into a sweater. And that’s the story. The people that live around here are the cotton fields. That’s where I get my material.”

Alice Munro Country I was stuck in Chicago when I found out that Alice Munro had died. I found it a fitting place to be when I heard the news, as my own miniscule version of an Alice

Munro story happened in Chicago, in 2019. My wife and I were waiting in line outside Thalia Hall, to see a performance by none other than Joanna Newsom. While waiting, we struck up an amicable conversation with an affable young Irishman named Stephen, who knew more about Newsom’s music than perhaps anybody else on the planet, and who had a disarmingly fluffy head of hair. He asked us where we lived, and when I said ‘Lucknow, Ontario’, his immediate response was ‘Oh, that’s Alice Munro Country!’ We remain friends to this day.

At the end of the workday, I went to Verna Steffler’s home in Wingham to collect a digital camera on which Steffler had preserved a never-before-seen photo of Alice that she kindly offered for this article. It gave me a chance to visit the well-appointed literary garden that bears her name. The garden is

at the height of its springtime glory - all bright and bursting with tulips and other obvious flowers.

But nestled in the grass are also little clusters of small, white starshaped flowers, planted by nobody.

These are grass lillies, of the genus Ornithogalum, which is latin for ‘bird’s milk.’ They are also known as Star of Bethlehem flowers, as they resemble the luminous celestial object that led pilgrims to the birth of Christ in the bible. In some cultures they are considered a culinary delicacy, others think of them as poisonous.

In Canada, they are considered to be an invasive species. In England in the 1930s, they were cited as a remedy to treat the loss of someone dear. However they may be seen, they are just one of the many minute details that make up Alice Munro Country, waiting to be noticed by an observant eye.

(Courtesy photo from Rob Bundy)

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The Citizen PO Box 429, Blyth, ON N0M 1H0 405 Queen Street, Blyth 519-523-4792 info@northhuron.on.ca

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024. PAGE 13.

BLYTH Y 519-523-4244

+XURQ7UDFWRU FRP

519-523-4311

www.ruralvoice e.ca

OFA critical of farm-related taxation policies

By Paul Vickers, VicePresident, Ontario Federation of Agriculture A recent membership survey by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) identified reducing farm taxes as the numberone policy priority for farmers across the province.

More than three quarters of survey respondents identified tax burden as their top concern, a sentiment that has been reinforced by the federal government’s proposed increase to Canada’s capital gains inclusion rate, which is the percentage of a capital gain that is included in a taxpayer’s income. The change was announced in the 2024 budget.

For corporations and trusts, the inclusion rate for all capital gains is proposed to increase from one-half to two-thirds. For individuals, the rate is proposed to increase to twothirds for capital gains over $250,000 after deductions and exemptions. These measures are proposed to take effect on June 25, 2024.

This is significant for farmers and farm businesses because of what it will mean for farm succession planning and the future economic viability of family farms across the province.

I’m a dairy farmer near Meaford and a vice-president with the OFA. Our family is going through a succession plan with our son, who wants to take over the farm, and these changes will definitely make this process more challenging.

We must make sure the farm is passed on to him in a way that will make it possible for him to be able to afford to take over and run the business. Having to sell assets or needing to borrow money simply to pay the increased tax burden threatens the future financial success of the farm and the ability of that next generation to make new investments into the business.

Our family is but one example of many, and this is particularly concerning at a time when a growing number of farmers are approaching retirement and farm succession planning is more important than ever.

The OFA is working closely with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and national accounting firms to fully assess these proposed changes and their impact on farms and farm business succession planning. In the meantime, farmers are encouraged to discuss the specific impacts of these changes with their

accountants to understand the personal and operational effects.

The OFA also just hosted a webinar on the topic with a national tax expert from BDO, which answers many common questions about the proposed increase; it is available to view on the OFA’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/ontariofarms.

This increase comes at a time when farmers are already feeling the burden of the federal carbon tax, which is adding significant costs to normal farm activities like grain drying and heating livestock barns and greenhouses - activities that are essential and for which there are currently no practical and feasible alternatives.

The OFA, along with the CFA and other agricultural organizations, continues to push for an easing of the federal carbon tax burden on food production.

We’ve also been advocating for other changes related to taxation, such as updating critical farm tax programs to reflect modern agriculture. One quarter of all Ontario farm businesses have chosen to incorporate, which is impacting their ability to participate in important farm tax programs like the Family Farm Exemption for Ontario Land Transfer Tax and the

Farm Property Class Tax Rebate Program, and we firmly believe the business structure a farmer chooses should not impact their eligibility for these programs.

Another is updating the provincial Development Charges Act to exempt construction of new farm buildings and structures from development charges. These fees are intended to pay for increased capital expense costs from development that causes more need for municipal services, but new farm buildings don’t generally use municipal infrastructure.

Advocacy does yield results.

Following efforts by the Ontario

Federation of Agriculture (OFA) and other organizations, the federal government last fall announced proposed changes to its Underused Housing Tax Act. This includes exempting most farm business partners from having to file a UHT return for 2023 and beyond as long as more than 90 per cent of ownership is by Canadian citizens or permanent residents, and lower penalties for non-compliance.

The OFA will continue to advocate for a taxation environment that fosters the growth and sustainability of Ontario’s agricultural sector in both the short and long term.

BRUSSELS LIVESTOCK REPORT For the week ending May 17, 2024 Total Receipts: 1,635 cattle; 867 lambs, sheep and goats Tuesday – Fed cattle sold steady.

Cows sold steady.

Thursday – Veal sold steady. Drop calves sold steady. Lambs sold on a good active trade at higher prices.

Sheep sold on a good active trade at higher prices. Goats sold on a good active trade at higher prices.

Beef Cows: $140 – $171 Good Holstein Cows: $144 – $160 up to $164 Medium Holstein Cows: $131 – $143 Bulls: $180 – $201 Carmen Scarrow of Seaforth, consigned one charolais cow that weighed 1,800 lbs. and sold for $171.

Heike Hoffman of Wroxeter, consigned three head. One holstein cow weighed 1,275 lbs. and sold for $164.

Van Nuland Holsteins of Monkton, consigned 11 head. Four holstein bob calves brought $1,200 per head.

Lambs: Under 50 lbs.: $365 – $380 up to $395 50-64 lbs.: $372.50 – $405 65-79 lbs.: $370 – $405 up to $410 80-94 lbs.: $377.50 – $399 95-109 lbs.: $382.50 – $399 110 lbs. and over: $280 – $350

Stockers: There were 1,125 stockers on offer.

Top Quality Steers: Under 400 lbs.: $292.50 – $395 400 – 499 lbs.: $437.50 – $510 500 – 599 lbs.: $422.50 – $508.50 600 – 699 lbs.: $365 – $460 up to $475 700 – 799 lbs.: $360 – $390 up to $402.50 800 – 899 lbs.: $330 – $353 up to $369 900 – 999 lbs.: $302 – $332.25 1,000 lbs. and over: $285 – $320

Sheep: $120 – $247.50 up to $292.50 Friday – Calves sold $3 - $5 higher, with grass type selling at a premium.

Yearlings sold $5 - $8 higher.

Fed Cattle: There were 110 fed cattle on offer.

Choice Fed Cattle: $242 – $252 Second Cut Fed Cattle: $228 – $241 Aged and Medium Fed Cattle: $212 – $224 Holstein Fed Cattle: $195 – $220 Joseph E. M. Martin of Lucknow, consigned four head. Three fats averaged 1,508 lbs. and sold for an average price of $250.50.

Nathan Pentland of Goderich, consigned one head. One fed steer weighed 1,465 lbs. and sold for an average price of $249.

Cows: There were 250 cows on offer.

Dave O’Rourke of Kippen, consigned one black bull that weighed 1,785 lbs. and sold for $201.

Veal: There were 115 veal and 35 bob calves on offer.

Beef Veal: Too few to establish a market Good Holsteins: $220 – $230 up to $240 SL Heavy Holsteins: $215 – $225 Heavy Holsteins: $185 – $228 Medium Holsteins: $205 – $214 Plain Holsteins: $195 – $204 Holstein Drop Calves: $685 – $1,200 / HEAD Elmer Albrecht of Kincardine, consigned five head. One veal weighed 910 lbs. and sold for $240.

Paul Pennington of Mildmay, consigned seven head. One holstein veal weighed 735 lbs. and sold for $230.

Top Quality Heifers: Tony Howe of Walkerton, consigned 25 head. Nine lambs averaged 74 lbs. and sold for an average price of $410.

Aden Gingrich of Bluevale, consigned 11 head. Ten lambs averaged 107 lbs. and sold for an average price of $399.

Goats: Meat Kids: $550 – $670 Dairy Kids: $400 – $580 Mature Bucks: $300 – $400 Mature Does: $185 – $300 Peter and Amy Vingerhoeds of Hensall, consigned seven head. Three kid goats averaged 67 lbs. and sold for an average price of $670.

Bonnie Beuerman of Dublin, consigned 10 head. Six kid goats averaged 55 lbs. and sold for an average price of $645.

Under 400 lbs.: $235 – $255 400 – 499 lbs.: $285 – $430 500 – 599 lbs.: $327.50 – $434 600 – 699 lbs.: $304 – $414 700 – 799 lbs.: $265 – $325 up to $359 800 – 899 lbs.: $275 – $322.50 up to $323 900 lbs. and over: $275 – $308.50 up to $311.50

David Collins of Ripley consigned 10 head. Seven charolais heifers averaged 638 lbs. and sold for an average price of $414.

Titus K. Hoover of Ripley, consigned 10 head. Ten charolais heifers averaged 904 lbs. and sold for an average price of $311.50.

Ken Marks of Belgrave, consigned 48 head. Five charolais heifers averaged 991 lbs. and sold for an average price of $304.50.

BRUSSELS LIVESTOCK Division of Gamble & Rogers Ltd.

UPCOMING SALES TUESDAYS

Matthew Batty of Meaford, consigned 11 head. Four black steers averaged 526 lbs. and sold for an average price of $500.

Oscar B. Bauman consigned 77 head.

Thirteen charolais cross steers averaged 913 lbs. and sold for an average price of $332.25.

Groenberg Farms of Lucknow, consigned 28 head. Eight charolais steers averaged 1,015 lbs. and sold for an average price of $320.

10:00 a.m.

Fed Cattle, Bulls & Cows

THURSDAYS

9:00 a.m. Drop Calves 10:00 a.m.Veal 11:30 a.m. Lambs, Goats & Sheep

FRIDAYS 10:00 a.m. Stockers Visit our webpage at: www.brusselslivestock.ca email us at: info@brusselslivestock.ca

Call us 519-887-6461

PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, MAY 24, 2024

Classified Advertising Card of thanks Coming events Help wanted Help wanted

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

DEADLINE 2 p.m. Tuesday Phone 519-523-4792 e-mail: info@northhuron.on.ca

Articles for sale -------------------------------------------GERBERS FIREWOOD SERVING you for over 15 years. Your number one source of quality slabwood and bodywood. Delivery available. No Sunday calls. 519-274-1236, 519441-2085.

-------------------------------------------SHADE TREES, SPRUCE, White Pine, Cedars, windbreaks and privacy hedges, Shrubs, Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Sweet & sour Cherry Trees at (Emanuel E.M. Martin) Martin's Nursery 42661 Orangehill Rd, Wroxeter ON N0G 2X0.

-------------------------------------------THE CITIZEN IS AVAILABLE TO purchase at these locations - Auburn Esso, Belgrave Variety, Blyth Food Market, Blyth Variety, Blyth Ultramar, Brussels Foodland, Brussels Variety, Clinton Convenience, Clinton Foodland, Fogal's YIG (Wingham), Wingham Mini Mart, Seaforth Foodland, Fincher's (Goderich), Goderich Victoria St Shell, Canadian Tire Gas Bar, Goderich and The Citizen office in Blyth.

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

Auction

WILLIAMS, Margaret "Jean" (March 20, 1932 - December 22, 2023). The family of Jean Williams would like to extend a huge "Thank You" to those who made her Celebration on Life on May 4th, 2024, a joyous gathering. Majors Arch and Marie Simmonds, you knew Jean well. It showed in your sermon and with the musicians and choir you gathered to honour her love for spreading the good word of the Lord through song. Thank you to the members of the Wingham Salvation Army in assisting the Majors in fulfilling Jean's wishes.

We know she and Grant were singing along. Mike Ryan -Thank You for reminding us how important friendship and faith were to Jean.

Brussels Legion Pipe Major - Jamie Mitchell, Thank You for helping us honour Jean's Scottish heritage.

Thank You to the Honour Guard from the Human Trafficking Division of the Metro Toronto Police. Jean was proud that her late husband served as Metro Police Officer for many years. Zoey Onn of Riverside Funeral Home, thank You for helping Jean's family honour her life the way she wanted. To the Legion Ladies, thank you for a wonderful lunch. You know it's good when people are going for seconds and even thirds. Your "special" sandwiches were a huge hit with Jean's great-grandchildren. To the staff & residents of Seaforth Long Term Care (S.L.T.C.), you made Jean's final few years safe and enjoyable, for that her family can't thank you enough. To the friends and extended family members, the food and flowers given at the time of Jean's passing and the monetary donations made to S.L.T.C. and the Wingham Salvation Army in memory of Jean means more to us than you will know. Family, Friends and Faith were what gave Jean great joy, and all were rejoiced in her honour. Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate Jean Williams.

Mary and Frank Stretton, Edgar and Angie Williams, Les and Brenda Williams and families.

AUBURN HORTICULTURE Society Plant Auction will be held Monday, May 27 at 7 p.m. at the Auburn Hall. Located at 44 Hardwood Line, Auburn. Donations can be dropped off at 1 p.m. on the day of the event. For more information please contact Marita Oudshoorn at 519-955-2953.

-------------------------------------------COME AND ENJOY "AN Afternoon of Music - Springing into Action" at Brussels United Church on Sunday, May 26th at 2 pm.

Featuring Darryn de Souza and Paige Ballagh, Mayfair Ukulele Band, "Irish Joe" Gahan, Marissa Fuller and the Brussels Community Choir! Your free will monetary offering will support the North Huron Community Food Share.

Sponsored by Brussels United and Melville Presbyterian Churches.

-------------------------------------------BEING A GENDER INCLUSIVE Faith Community - Join us as we explore being an inclusive and supportive Christian Community and how the Bible informs our understanding. 2 part workshop: May 22 & May 29, 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s-Trinity Anglican Church Hall, Centre Street Entrance, Wingham.

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

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Manager of Building and Planning/Chief Building Official Visit the Township of Huron-Kinloss website to view this employment opportunity. https://www.huronkinloss.com/town-hall/careers/

Join our team!

HURONWAY FARMS Looking for AZ Swine Truck Driver With 5 day work week that includes 40-50 hours.

We offer competitive wages and health care benefits. Start early morning but done by early mid-afternoon.

Experience is an asset but not required.

Contact us at 519-887-6181 or email: huronwayfarms@xplornet.ca

Services PAL Class for firearms training.

Ongoing courses available. Certified instructors. Call Greg 519-291-0507 --------------------------------------------

Your $ecret to a $uccessful Garage $ale Advertise in The Citizen 519-523-4792

CONSIGNMENT AUCTION Friday, May 31, 2024 At 9:30 AM HORSES I FARM EQUIPMENT I WAGONS I HOUSEHOLD ITEMS LOCATION: 37430 Belgrave Rd., Lucknow, ON N0G 2H0 HORSES: 5 yr. old Dutch/Stb. mare (broke); 2 - 1 yr. old Percheron geldings; 2 yr. old Belgian gelding (broke); 1 yr. old Belgian gelding; 3 yr. old Norwegian Fjord mare (broke).

FARM EQUIPMENT: Robert Bell threshing machine; MF 124 baler with motor; hay buggy; 3 - ICH corn binders (good); John Deere R manure spreader (good); NU-Line manure spreader; 1 horse spreader with cart; IHC 7 ft. grain binder; Case side rake; Cockshutt roll bar rake on steel; George White cutting box; potato planter; 2 potato diggers; 1 - horse garden scuffler; fertilizer spreader; 2F plow; round bale carrier, road grader; 7 ft. Flurry single disc; MH #14 1horse mower; Cockshutt 6 ft. mower; Brantford Big B mower; Cross corn sheller; wagon and rack on steel; NU-Line fore cart; lime drill; IHC cream separator; cattle chute with head gate; sheep crowding tub; bench-type drill press 5/8 chuck; hand crank drill press; pup air tank with gauge; Kane grain scale; 2.2 Honda engine; Toolex 20 in. planer (like new); Rockwell Delta table saw; large table saw with side arm (panel cutter); top buggy; 1 set harness, med. size; steel sheer; wagon load of shop tools and misc.; new hardware; new tack; cross bow; Red Dot scope.

MISCELLANEOUS: quilts, comforters; furniture; clocks; new toy barns.

Lots of small items still coming Jacob D. + Annie Miller With a lunch Cash or Cheque Only. No Buyers Premium stand by the local Not responsible for any accidents or loss of property.

Amish ladies

Auctioneer: James Stoll Leave a Message: 519-529-3443

“SWAP SHOP” ad

Citizen-To-Citizen Call 519-523-4792 or email: info@northhuron.on.ca FOR SALE - 150 ft. heavy duty, water resistant extension cord 12/3; can be used with 110 or 220. Make an offer; quantity of 1/2” used plywood, make an offer. Londesborough 519-5013289.

21-3 ----------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Air Care humidifier.

Model SS390DWHT. Comes with manual. New price was $190. Will take best offer. 519-357-7240 or 519-3573608. Wingham.

20-3 ----------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Complete set of World Book encyclopedia including Year Book updates from 1972 to 1996 and Science Year from 1987 to 1992.

Excellent condition; 51 books total, $35. Call Wingham 519-357-2768.

20-3 ----------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Little Tykes covered sand box shaped like a boat with steering wheel. Can be used as a small wading pool as well. $10. Call Wingham 519-357-2768 20-3 ----------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Bird Gard bird expeller speaker system in excellent condition. $200 or best offer. 519-395-4211. 20-3

FOR SALE - Chantecler rare heritage breed white chicks. Bred for Canadian climate. Asking $12 per chick. 519395-4211.

20-3 ----------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Two modern spinning wheels, one 36”, 4 shaft LeClarc floor loom, one 45”, 8 shaft counterbalanced floor loom with bench. Parts, accessories included. $400. each. 519902-4213. (Seaforth area).

20-3 ----------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Antique table top Singer sewing machine with case with extra bobbins and needles, $400. Call 519902-4213 (Seaforth area).

20-3 ----------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Four 670x15 used wide white wall tires, good tread, $200 for the set. Several car covers, $25 each.

519-526-3331.

20-3 ----------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Two brand new General all season tires, 205-60R16, $125 for the pair. 519-527-1956.

20-3 ----------------------------------------------FOR SALE - 6” Toolex jointer, used very little, $375; Torin Big Red parts cleaner, 12 gallon, $75; large barrel weight for back of a tractor, $25. Call 519-441-7217.

20-3

FOR SALE - 30” Frigidaire electric range. White with coil burners. Buttons on back panel. Good working condition. $200. or best offer. 226-2223726.

20-3 ----------------------------------------------FREE - Assortment of magazines in good shape. Look, Zoomer, Chatelaine, various cooking magazines, etc. 519357-1691.

20-3 ----------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Four Dynamo winter tires, 225/65 R17 on steel rims. Used 20,000 km., near 50% tread left. Slight checking. Rims showing some rust.

Asking $100. including rims. 519-5234711.

19-3 ----------------------------------------------FOR SALE - 26” girls blue touring bike. White walls, larger bicycle seat, kick stand and front basket included. $125. Judy 519-357-8182.

19-3 -----------------------------------------------

All word ads in The Citizen classifieds are put on our webpage at www.huroncitizen.ca

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024. PAGE 15.

Obituaries

BILL KLUMPENHOWER Suddenly and peacefully at his home in Gorrie on Friday, May 17, 2024, Bill Klumpenhower, went home to be with his Lord and Saviour at the age of 80.

The devoted husband of Tina Klumpenhower for 57 years, Bill was the cherished father of Janice and Dave Bell, Steve and Barb Klumpenhower, Julia and Dave Vander Borgh and Laurie and Trent Herbert. He was the loving opa of Danny and Madi Bell, Ben Bell, Sammy Bell, Isaac and Amanda Vander Borgh, Simon and Suzannah Vander Borgh, Johanna Vander Borgh, and Rachel, Josiah, Isaiah, Nahum, Hannah, Nehemiah, Ezekiel and Malachi Herbert and great-opa of Lachlan Bell and his sister, who is to arrive in June.

Bill was the brother of Ben Klumpenhouwer, Linda and Elmer Meinema, Betty and John vanDonkersgoed, and Henry and Kathy Klumpenhower and the brother-in-law of Jane Klumpenhouwer, Judi Klumpenhouwer, Joy Harsevoort, Ruby Klumpenhouwer, Ed Bell, John and Eileen Van de Kemp, Tim

and Betty Van de Kemp and Bert and Pam Van de Kemp.

Bill was predeceased by his parents Linus and Johanna, brothers Hendrick, John, Theo, Jerry, and Dick, sister Ann Bell, and sistersin-law Evelyn Klumpenhouwer and Gloria Van de Kemp.

Visitation was held at Gorrie Bible Fellowship on May 21. The funeral service was also held at Gorrie Bible Fellowship on May 22.

Interment will take place at Gorrie Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to Ethnos Canada would be appreciated.

Online condolences at www.mcburneyfuneralhome.com

She will be missed by her sister in-law Marg Schuster and especially missed by her furry friend Caspurr.

Irene grew up in Waterloo on the farm, met James and loved becoming a mother and raising her kids. She enjoyed going to church at Emmanuel United in Waterloo, loved to garden, read and spent many hours rug hooking. She was a kind and caring mother, wife and friend.

Cremation has taken place. A private family interment will take place at a later date.

In lieu of flowers and as expressions of sympathy, donations to One Care Home and Community Support Services would be appreciated.

Arrangements entrusted to Riverside Funeral Home, Brussels.

Condolences may be left at riversidefuneralhome.ca

By Linda Campbell Call 357-2188

Licensed Lay Worship Leader Susan Barnett was the guest speaker at Knox United Church on Sunday, May 19. After Susan welcomed the congregation the Call to Worship was read responsively and the Christ Candle was lit. The congregation sang “This is God’s Wondrous World”. The Scripture lessons were read from Psalm 104:24-34, 35B Voices United (Part two) and Acts 2:1-21.

The final hymn “Breathe on Me Breath of God”, the Commissioning Choral Blessing “Go Now in Peace” concluded the worship service.

The guest speaker for Sunday, May 26 is Jim Hess. Everyone is welcome.

Hopefully everyone enjoyed the Victoria Day weekend. The weatherman co-operated for any outdoor activities and celebrations.

John and Linda Campbell and Heilke and Doug Dann attended the birthday party in Kitchener to celebrate their grandson Jackson on his sixth birthday on Sunday, May

had to be busy working on some project or getting some chore done.

He never sat still; he was the teacher of the perfectly-piled wood pile and was a wealth of knowledge with the best stories, which he loved to tell his grandkids. His pride and joy was his wife, his family, his farm and their German Shepherds. He adored his family and would do anything for them. He will be forever missed.

Cremation has taken place. A private family service will take place at a later date.

In lieu of flowers and expressions of sympathy, donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation would be appreciated.

Condolences may be left at riversidefuneralhome.ca Arrangements entrusted to Riverside Funeral Home, Blyth.

Remembering your loved one Honour your loved one by placing their obituary in

IRENE FLORENCE TURNER (née SCHNEIDER) Irene Florence Turner, née Schneider, passed away peacefully on May 16, 2024 at Listowel Memorial Hospital in her 94th year.

Predeceased by husband James Edward and son Jeffery James, Irene is survived by son Richard and Nina Turner and daughter Jennifer Turner and Richard Kular.

The Citizen.

This is a free service provided by The Citizen. We encourage you to share the story of your loved one in a special remembrance of their life.

Cards of thanks can be placed in our classified section, starting at just $ .00.

KARL TEASDALE WHITFIELD Karl Teasdale Whitfield passed away peacefully at Huronview Home for the Aged on Monday, May 19, 2024, in his 90th year.

Beck named fair ambassador PEOPLE AROUND BELGRAVE

Predeceased by his loving wife Sandra Whitfield (2021) of 64 years. He was the father of Lonnie (Marilyn), Dale (Sharon), Kurt (Lisa) and Dean Whitfield and grandfather to Nicolle (Ryan) Cook, Nollan Whitfield, Tori Oliver (Adam Schiestel), Kellsey Whitfield (Chad Henderson), Carly (Andrew) Gubasta, Braydon Whitfield, Kendall James and Collin Whitfield. He will be missed by 13 great-grandchildren and his sister-in-law Yvonne Youngblut.

Karl was predeceased by sisters Joan Watson and Rosemarie Campbell.

Karl always had the best smile and conversation waiting for you.

He was a long-time plumber, pipefitter and farmer, working all over the province. Karl was a hard worker and loved to see the finished result from his actions. Karl always

20 alongside his family, friends, cousins and aunts and uncles.

Karen Gagne of Texas visited for a week over the Mother’s Day weekend with her mother; Arlyn Montgomery.

Joyce VanCamp, Mary Hunter’s daughter from Alberta visited with her.

Cards will be played on Friday, May 24 at 1 p.m. in the Belgrave Community Centre. Everyone is welcome.

My birthday and Donna Shaw’s birthday are both on May 29 and Ruth Gordon’s birthday is on June 2. Enjoy your day.

NEWS FROM BELGRAVE

Revel Beck, daughter of Margie and Matt Beck is the new ambassador of the Elementary School Fair, which is held in Belgrave each September. Revel is in Grade 3 and a student at Maitland River Elementary School in Wingham. She is really excited about promoting the fair at school and upcoming events.

PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024.

Radford congratulates Nesbitts on 60 years

Safe days ahead North Huron and its ratepayers are investing in citizen safety with state-of-the-art MSA G1 SCBA equipment for their fire department. John Peter, Fire Service Sales Specialist for A.J. Stone, was on hand to explain the many cutting-edge features of the township’s 30 new breathing apparatuses, which includes long-range radio capabilities, rechargeable batteries, and integrated thermal imaging cameras. The new gear is also upgradable, which will allow it to be compatible with future technologies. From left: Interim Fire Department of North Huron Chief Chad Kregar, Stone, North Huron Treasurer Chris Townes, Wingham District Chief Brad Hodgkinson, North Huron Reeve Paul Heffer, Blyth District Chief Jeff Howson and North Huron Chief Administrative Officer Dwayne Evans. (Scott Stephenson photo)

Project produces report

Looking ahead Erin Gouthro shared her outlook and expertise at a recent meeting of the Huron County Water Protection Steering Committee. (Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot photo) Continued from page 2 laneway.” The problem is that biological problems in forests are combined with a current economic pressure and that is creating a “perfect storm” as landowners log bushes or destroy them to create more farmland.

Gouthro added that having a good database is critical to the future of forests as well. “We need to take stock of where we are to elucidate trends and problems and give that information to landowners,” she said. “Monitoring and assessment also provide a foundation of

information that can be used throughout time to evaluate change across various time intervals important because forests exist at a scale that spans many human lifetimes. Data in turn becomes a kind of living memory to hand on to future generations,” states the actual report.

There was a little bit of friendly tension between Pullen and Gouthro as they debated the best approach to forest management with Gouthro finally saying “foresters need to work with ecologists because we see signals in forests that foresters do not recognize because they are not trained to see it. I love foresters and we need to work together from the ground up to work on the whole system.”

For example, new research about spring ephemerals has revealed that these tiny, disappearing flowers take up nitrogen first thing in the spring and, as they die down, they release it back into the soil for budding baby trees. “Spring ephemerals are the nursery plants for young trees,” she said.

There is much more information in the actual report, which is well worth reading for every landowner.

As part of the conclusion of the Forest Health Study report, it was stated: “If the forests in the Maitland are to have a future, thereby providing their life-giving services to our communities, our perspective must shift. We must stop thinking that whatever influence we have on forests is minor and they’ll simply grow back. The 2021/2022 forest demonstrates the opposite. Under certain disturbance regimes forests don’t grow back, rather, they transform to low-grade invasive plants that halt forest regeneration and destroy habitat for other native forest species.”

Rev. Bill McAuslan led the morning worship at Londesborough United Church on Sunday, May 19, Pentecost Sunday. Bill offered the Sacrament of Communion with the help of Helen Lyons and Joan Howatt.

Acts 2:1-21 and John 15:26 and 16:15 were the supporting scriptures, read by Brenda Radford.

Bill pointed out that in that upper room while gathered to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, they were visited by God as the Holy Spirit.

The people who heard the noise and the various languages being spoken heard the language of love in the sounds of their own language. The wind of Pentecost was the breath of God being poured out on a multiethnic community.

God was encouraging the work of the disciples, sending them prepared into all parts of the world, as it was known at that time, to make connections with all peoples and build strong communities.

Christians, disciples today, need to share the good news of God’s love also.

This coming Sunday, Rev. Aylward will be conducting the morning worship which will include a baptism.

Children of the Sunday School will meet for their last class before the summer break on Sunday, May 25. They are inviting congregants to join them following the morning service for muffins and coffee. Sunday school

will resume again in September.

The village extends congratulations and best wishes to Carl and Lena Nesbitt, who recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

Lena remarked that the small celebration they had in mind took on a life of its own and became a much larger, happy event.

On another note, your thoughts and prayers are needed currently for Allan and Barb Bosman. Al is back in hospital still dealing with the after-effects of his pneumonia and COVID-19.

Sam Dougherty received news of the death of his son, Steven, on May 9. As well as his father, Sam, and mother, Thelma, Steven leaves a wife and stepdaughter to mourn his passing. Steven was living in Kitchener at the time of his death.

Long-time village residents will remember Steven from his youth and days attending Hullett Central Public School. The village extends condolences to all members of Steven’s family.

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THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024. PAGE 17.

From the Minister’s Study

The Day of Penecost - the birthday of the church

By Pastor Alex Jebson, Blyth and Brussels United Churches Being someone who has been singing before I could talk (to quote ABBA), it’s probably no surprise to you that I often associate scripture passages or seasons of the church year with various songs or genres of music.

I feel as if one of the ways the Spirit rushes into our lives most effectively and creatively is through music. And no, it isn’t just limited to the songs we find in our hymn books. One Easter Sunday, I attempted to connect the dots between the resurrection and disco music, which people didn’t seem to appreciate - but I’ll just chalk that up to the lack of taste that others have (haha!).

In the church year, we have just celebrated the Day of Pentecost, which is often considered the “birthday” of the church (Acts 2:142). Many will be familiar with this narrative; after Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit arrived in a very dramatic fashion, with flaming tongues and people understanding different languages, and the disciples receiving a renewed sense of purpose and calling.

This Pentecost round, I have folk music stuck in my mind. Folk music is the kind of music that speaks truth to the world, that encourages people to heed the winds of change, that speaks of the human condition and what heals and breaks it. In many ways, this is the story of Pentecost. Whether in gentle whispers or whirlwinds of passion and outcries, the Spirit inspires us to be the church and disciples, often speaking through the words of poets and singers and prophets.

The folk artist that comes to mind today is Gordon Lightfoot, that voice of a generation who passed away last year. Some of you will know that Gordon Lightfoot was born and raised in the United Church, crediting his introduction to music at St. Paul’s United in Orillia as the place where he learned about singing with emotion, about laying himself bare in his music and seeking what to do next.

Sounds like a good mindset today as we celebrate the birth of the church and how we are to respond to God’s gifting of the Spirit.

We’ll reflect using my favourite song of his, “Song for a Winter’s Night”: “The lamp is burnin’ low upon my table top The snow is softly falling

The air is still in the silence of my room I hear your voice softly calling If I could only have you near To breathe a sigh or two I would be happy just to hold the hands I love On this winter night with you.”

It wasn’t a winter’s night for the Apostles. It was a late spring morning, the day of Pentecost, or the Festival of Weeks. This was a Jewish festival celebrating the end of the spring harvest season, and, for many, it was also a day of covenant renewal. A day focusing on both endings and beginnings, an anticipatory time.

But for those faithful followers of Jesus, it might as well have been the dead of night in the middle of winter. There was hardly a squeak of sound or a rustle amongst them.

The air was still, because none of them dared to talk, to sing, to hope.

Their Lord and Saviour had ascended, leaving them seemingly alone. Jesus had promised to continue being present with them, but they had yet to see it. Without their familiar, yet simultaneously spontaneous Saviour, they felt unable to plan, to work, to speak about love and justice and all the other aspects of faith he taught them.

They had the shutters fettered on the windows, not daring to let in a breeze that might disturb them from their lament and inertia. Outside, there was a festival going on, but there was also on full display the tensions and injustices and apathy that was all too common in

communities. People failing to understand one another, to help one another, focusing solely on themselves so as to avoid their relationship with God and with their neighbours. One of the apostles shuttered inside offers a near-silent prayer, a breath offered to God: “If I could only have you near….”

“The smoke is rising in the shadows overhead My glass is almost empty I read again between the lines upon the page The words of love you sent me If I could know within my heart That you were lonely too I would be happy just to hold the hands I love On this winter night with you.”

But then, the shutters are flung open. A gust of wind unlike any other. Tongues of fire, panic in the streets, a whirlwind of cacophony from a still small silence. Smoke rising in the shadows. Many want to describe the Holy Spirit as the “spirit of gentleness”, and, for many of us, that is how the Spirit has been known in our lives. But not today - today the Spirit’s forecast was a gale-force wind that shook people to their core.

Accusations of drunkenness and general fear and jealousy reared their faces, but the Spirit blew that away with a forceful reminder of God’s presence, now offered to any and all who would accept it. From a few apostles huddled together, God’s work in Christ was now set to rush through a wider group than ever before. Seemingly rushing to

Brussels Mennonite Fellowship You are invited to worship with us at Brussels Mennonite Fellowship 10:00 am Worship Service 11:00 am Co ee Time 11:15 am Sunday School for all ages Interim Pastor Elwin Garland 250 Princess St., Brussels • 519 887 6388

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

Evangelical Missionary Church

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Pastor Mike Stanley preaching on John 11, “Suffering and God’s Glory”

Worship and Prayer Time Loving Fellowship Expository Preaching

Blyth United Churrch Please join us for Holy Communion “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherrd d lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11

On-site and online - live.huronchapel.com Register for Vacation Bible Camp July 8-12! tinyurl.com/hcvbc2024

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“The fire is dying now, my lamp is growing dim The shades of night are lifting The morning light steals across my window pane Where webs of snow are drifting If I could only have you near To breathe a sigh or two I would be happy just to hold the hands I love And to be once again with you To be once again with you.”

It would be tempting to stop at the celebrations, where shades of night were lifted, where people were inspired in a reverse-Babel situation to listen to and understand one another, and to seek out God’s new thing together as a community, as the church, but the Pentecost story doesn’t end there. No sooner has the Spirit of God shaken us up and made us a community out of individuals seeking wholeness and purpose, that the winds of God send us flying elsewhere, into the world in which the Spirit is working.

Guided by the Spirit, we cannot help but to look at what steals Continued on page 18

The Regional Ministry of Hope Come Worship with Us! Trinity Anglican BLYTH 9:00 AM

St. Paul’s-Trinity Anglican WINGHAM 11:00 AM

519-357-7781 • email: revjoann@hurontel.on.ca www.regionalministryofhope.com Weekly service live-streamed at 11:00 a.m. on our Facebook page or on youtube @St. Paul’s-Trinity Anglican Church Wingham.

BRUSSELS S

U United Chu ur urch Join J oin us at at W Worship orship orship Sundayy,, May 26 Sunday, 26, 6, 9:30 a.m. pringing into Action” Come back at 2 p.m. for “Sp Community Concert C – freewill donation for North h Huron Food Share Contact Alex at ministter.brusselsandblythuc@gmail.co y @g om Website: brusselsandblythuc.ca b brusselsandblythuc ca P.O. Box 359, Brussels ~ 519-887-6259 P.

Services are live-streamed and can be found by searching n “Blyth Christian Reformed Church”

Coming Soon! Vacation Bible School, July 8 - 12th, Ages 5-12 For additional details please visit: brusselscommunitybiblechapel.ca

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\Nursery & Sunday School during worship

the ends of the earth.

It was unpredictable and unexpected. It challenged what some thought God was planning on doing. But just like the experience of the resurrection, just like their first experience of being called by Jesus, tossing aside the life they had before, just like every other time that change and death and loss seemed to rule the day, God breathed new life into the situation.

God’s Spirit had been the current of support, love and challenge that had spurred the people to set their sails and move forward for countless generations.

Peter, reading the words of the prophet Joel like reading between the lines upon the page, could see this chaotic day as a love letter from God, a promise of eternal presence, winds that would never die down.

“In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams….” (Acts 2:17)

The outreach project for May is Northern Huron Connection n Centre Contact Alex at: minister.brusselsandblythuc@gmail.com Facebook: Blyth and Brussels United Churche es blythunited@tcc.on.ca ~ 519-523-4224

MEL LV VILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS

Sunday, May 26, 2024 11:00 am - 12 noon We extend a loving welcome to all to join us as Doug Sargent leads us in worship, prayer, and praise to Godd.

Coffee, snacks, and a time for visiting will follow the servicee.

Soup & More 2 Join us every Friday from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. for lunch. This free meal is made possible by the Brussels churches and many volunteers working together to serve our community. c All are welcome!

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

PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024.

Nesbitts mark 60th anniversary with party

Milestone Carl and Lena Nesbitt recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with a small group of family members and friends. The pair has been a mainstay of Londesborough life for decades, having volunteered extensively in their community. (Photo submitted)

Earlier this month, Carl and Lena Nesbitt celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with friends and family... and good music and a barbecue.

It was on May 9, 1964 that Lena Dougherty, the daughter of Russell and Ruth of Blyth, married Carl Nesbitt, the son of John Nesbitt and Pearl Weatherhead of Beamsville.

The ceremony took place at Blyth United Church and was administered by Rev. R. Evan McLagan.

The couple’s attendants were Bonnie (Thomason) Johnstone, Vikki (Fowler) Babcock, Patricia (Dougherty) Fanson, Kim (German) Van Maele, Joseph Heffron, Sam Dougherty and Robert Nesbitt.

After a honeymoon in Northern Ontario, Carl and Lena returned to Huron County, specifically the groom’s farm on the 13th of Hullett, RR1, Blyth.

Carl worked as a Bell cable installer, a farmer and the owner of Nesbitt Construction Inc. until he sold the business in 1999. He continued to work as a backhoe operator into semi-retirement.

Meanwhile, Lena forged a career as a Bell telephone operator while also acting as a homemaker before transitioning to the world of healthcare with a job at Huronview Home for the Aged for nearly 20 years.

Lena retired from work at Huronview in 2003, while Carl semi-retired in 2010, continuing

small backhoe jobs until 2022.

They had three children together: Ronald Nesbitt, Russell Nesbitt (and his wife Kerry) and Brenda Orr (and her husband Marc). Their grandchildren are Wyatt Carey and Anna, Dalton Carey and Andrea, Ryan Nesbitt and Katlyn, and Mackenzie Nesbitt and Drake, as well as step-grandchildren Keira and Parker Orr. Over the years, Lena has appreciated her time reading, cutting the grass and over 20 years as the treasurer for the Londesborough United Church Women. Carl is a 47-year charter member of the Londesborough Lions Club. He received a Melvin Jones Fellowship in 2010 and was

named the Citizen of the Year for the Blyth area by North Huron Publishing in 2018.

The couple celebrated at Brenda and Marc Orr’s home and, in addition to the many friends and family members in attendance, special guests Joseph Heffron (Carl’s best man), Bonnie Johnstone (Lena’s Maid of Honour) and usher Sam Dougherty were all in attendance, as were family friends Connie Nesbitt, Bill Tribe and Susan Carey.

Carl and Lena’s immediate family and invited friends gathered to celebrate for a barbecue around the pool while also enjoying the musical stylings of The Lucky Charms from 4-6 p.m. that night.

Let your voice be heard Continued from page 17 beyond the window pane, now that the shutters have been blown open.

Where there is death, there will be life. Where there is doubt, there will be faith. Where there is lament, there will be comfort. The promise of Pentecost isn’t a life without care or a world without struggle, but an enduring divine presence to help guide and sustain us to be the wind beneath the wings of others.

Ultimately, the birth of the church is the birth of our discipleship. A discipleship that doesn’t fear the winds of change, but see in the winds an opportunity to love and serve others more deeply. A

discipleship that, having been granted by God a common language of love and justice found in Christ Jesus, will encourage us to speak up and speak out in faith and service.

You don’t need to be the songwriter of a generation to do so, but like the folk singers who dared to speak of truth and love and heartache and change, let your voice be heard on the wind. If you’re feeling too comfortable in your pew, too shuttered from the world, or feeling like you’re fighting the wind, maybe the Spirit of Pentecost, the Spirit of God, will be once again with you.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

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THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024. PAGE 19.

Entertainment & Leisure

St. Anne’s concert band receives gold standing 8,000 students from across the country competing at the highest level.

The 31 members of the St. Anne’s C.S.S. Concert Band performed three extremely difficult pieces and received fantastic feedback from their adjudication panel. The St. Anne’s Concert Band is made up of equal parts Junior (Grades 9 and 10) and Senior (Grades 11 and 12) students.

“I am extremely proud of what this group has accomplished. The Grade 12 students in the band started their musical journey at St. Anne’s during [the COVID-19 pandemic] - we were only able to play bucket drums and ukuleles in class. To turn around a music program in just two and a half short years of playing is remarkable. This achievement is well earned,” said Geddis.

The band played to a packed house of 350 spectators at their annual May Melodies concert earlier this month. Although their performance at Nationals wraps up the band season, there is still a lot happening in the music program at St. Anne’s as the year winds down.

Thanks to a partnership with the

Golden The St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School Concert Band from Clinton, under the direction of Josh Geddis, recently travelled to Toronto for the annual MusicFest Nationals and came with a Gold standing to brag about. The band members join their counterparts from 2017 and 2015 in earning this most prestigious accolade.

(Photo submitted)

The St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School Concert Band, under the direction of Mr. Josh Geddis, competed in MusicFest Nationals on Thursday, May 16 at the University of Toronto Faculty of

music and received a Gold Standing. The 2024 St. Anne’s Concert Band joins the 2015 and 2017 Concert Bands as National Gold Standing winners.

In order to attend this festival,

Huron Waves Music Festival, the school will host a presentation by Jowi Taylor and the Six String Nation Voyageur Guitar - an instrument made out of significant Canadian artifacts, from Wayne Gretzky’s stick to a piece of Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s canoe paddle. The school will also be hosting multiJuno Award nominee Jeremy Fisher for an end-of-the-year outdoor lunch jam.

Happy 75th, Ann! May 26th

Love, your Family

May 31st is a day to celebrate

Happy 90th Birthday Wilma Higgins

bands must qualify with a high standing at a regional competition.

The band qualified to attend at an event held at Orillia Secondary School in March. This year, the national competition featured over

Unemployment decreases In April, the unemployment rate for the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula economic region decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 3.5 per cent.

This is the lowest the unemployment rate has dipped since November of 2022.

Meanwhile, the provincial unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage point to 6.7 per cent, both unadjusted for seasonality.

In April, the region’s overall population increased by 400, whereas the labour force size increased by 1,000 and the size of the population not participating in the labour force decreased by 600.

Thus, the participation rate increased slightly by 0.2 percentage points to 60.2 per cent. The region also experienced an increase of approximately 2,000 in total

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employment size. The increase was a result of about 3,200 full-time employment gains and 1,200 parttime employment losses over the course of the month.

The number of goods-producing sector employees increased minimally by 0.2 per cent in April.

Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas experienced the biggest percentage gain (200, +10.5 per cent), followed by construction (700, +4.2 per cent).

However, agriculture experienced another loss this month (1,300, 10.8 per cent).

Employment in the servicesproducing sector increased

by 1.9 per cent in April.

With an employee increase of 800, transportation and warehousing experienced the biggest percentage gain this month (+16.0 per cent), followed by finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (400, +5.0 per cent) and educational services (300, +4.0 per cent). On the other hand, professional, scientific and technical services experienced the biggest percentage loss this month (300, -4.3 per cent), followed by information, culture and recreation (100, -2.7 per cent) and accommodation and food services (100, -1.3 per cent).

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PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024.

Soil and Crop assoc. reports a good year

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Rick Kootstra of the Huron Soil and Crop Improvement Association provided Huron County Council with the group’s annual update at a meeting of council last month, both looking back and looking ahead.

Kootstra, who serves as the organization’s farm manager at the Huronview Demonstration Farm just south of Clinton, said that progress at the farm has continued to grow and change since the first conservation projects in 2008. The association came aboard in 2014 and, in 2019, an innovative drainage demonstration installation was brought in, dramatically expanding the farm’s offerings. He said that monitoring of the yields, soil and water at the farm have continued since 2019.

In fact, he said, the innovative drainage solution through controlled drainage have enabled green planting in 2022 (soybeans) and strip tillage in 2023 (corn). He

told council that last fall the site yielded 200 bushels of dry corn, which was a pleasant surprise.

He also touched on the farm’s collaboration with the University of Guelph to further the understanding of the subsurface conditions at the farm. The association also installed a new flow meter in the past year while also donating back to the community in the form of $5,000 to the local food banks near the end of last year.

Going forward, he said the farm will continue to balance agricultural and conservation perspectives through multi-species cover crops, the management of urban stormwater for sub-irrigation in an agricultural landscape, further research and development on agricultural wetland design and function, as well as improvements to the bird and bat habitats at the site.

Council thanked Kootstra and association Chair Wim Feddes for their presentation.

Let’s get started Jalyssa Brink of Blyth and her children Aleida and Elijah were among the 30 young people who made their way to Blyth to take part in the Blyth Festival Art Gallery’s Chalk Around the Block event that took over the village’s main street on Saturday.

(John Stephenson photo)

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Street art Tallulah Loughlin of Blyth and her grandmother Lynne Mann were among those who left their mark on Blyth’s main street through the Blyth Festival Art Gallery’s Chalk Around the Block. (John Stephenson photo)

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