The Citizen - Oct. 22, 2020

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Thursday, October 22, 2020

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Volume 36 No. 43

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Hockey set to return

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

Chugging along The ice is in at local arenas and young hockey players are lacing up their skates, practising in anticipation of the 2020/2021 hockey season, which will look unlike any hockey season before it. The games will be three-on-three

within five-team bubbles to help control the spread of COVID-19.

Here, the U9 Blyth Brussels Black Crusaders were on the ice at the Blyth and District Community Centre on Saturday to sharpen their skills ahead of the impending season. (John Stephenson photo)

The Blyth Brussels Minor Hockey Association is moving ahead with a 2020/2021 season this winter, but it will look unlike any previous season due to changes driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Association President Robb Finch says there have been extensive directives for the association to cover that are aimed at limiting the potential for the spread of the coronavirus and keeping the teams’ circles as small as possible.

First, Finch said, teams are now to have a maximum of 10 players – nine skaters and a goalie. Those teams will then play the same four teams all season, essentially creating a 50-person bubble for groups of five teams. All games will be threeon-three games, similar to the newly-instituted overtime period format in the National Hockey League.

Games and practices will also be limited in the number of coaches and trainers that can be on the bench, he said, with temperatures being taken and names being recorded every time a team takes to the ice. When children come to practices or games, they can only be accompanied by one parent or guardian as well to limit the number Continued on page 10

Remembrance Day ceremonies to be closed to public

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen On direction from Huron Perth Public Health, area Remembrance Day ceremonies will not be open to the public in order to control the potential for spread of COVID-19.

Blyth Legion President Ric McBurney said his Branch still plans to move ahead with a small, private service, to ensure wreaths are laid and local veterans are honoured, but for safety reasons, members of the public will not be permitted to take part.

McBurney is planning for the ceremony to take place at Memorial Hall, but in accordance with the Huron Perth Public Health advice, the event will be closed to the public.

Furthermore, there will be no door-to-door Poppy canvass this year, also due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The situation will be the same at the Brussels Legion, according to JoAnn McDonald of the Legion, who says the services provided by the

Legion on Remembrance Day will be largely subdued this year due to the pandemic.

The Brussels Legion traditionally holds its Remembrance Day ceremony on the front lawn of the Legion Branch, welcoming hundreds of members of the public, some of whom lay wreaths on the

lawn of the Legion. All members in attendance are then asked to lay their Poppies on the wreaths.

None of that will be happening this year, though McDonald said people can feel free to lay their Poppies at the Branch on their own time after the private ceremony.

Furthermore, the Legion would

typically embark on a parade as part of its annual ceremony, moving from the Branch to one of the community’s churches for a Remembrance Day church service and a small lunch and reception.

None of these events will happen this year. That afternoon there would also be a ceremony at Huronlea

Home for the Aged which will not be moving forward this year either.

McDonald says Poppies may be for sale in local shops, but they would likely have to be individually packaged. However, the Branch has been participating in the mail-out Poppy campaign for years, so that will move ahead this year.

School, home see potential outbreaks

By Denny Scott The Citizen With a potential outbreak at a long-term care centre and a possible school outbreak, Huron and Perth Counties continue to have concerning COVID-19 situations and more confirmed cases.

Over the past week, the number of confirmed cases in Huron and Perth Counties has climbed to 140 from 136 last Monday according to Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH), however those numbers don’t include a false-positive at a long-

term care centre in the area and a potential case at a Perth County school. The new cases have been confirmed in Stratford (three) and Perth East.

During a teleconference on Monday, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Miriam Klassen reported that a positive test had been reported at Hillside Manor near Stratford, however further testing proved it to be a false positive. Earlier in the week, HPPH reported a “probable case” of COVID-19 connected to St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School in Stratford.

Klassen said that probable case is one that hasn’t been tested, however this particular individual may have been infectious while at the school.

Despite that, the situation was called low-risk for both the school community and the public at large.

No more information about the potential exposure has been provided due to privacy concerns.

As far as specific areas, Central Huron has had the highest number of cases in Huron County with 14 confirmed. Bluewater has had 13 confirmed cases. South Huron has had 10 confirmed cases. Ashfield-

Colborne-Wawanosh, Goderich and Huron East have each had three confirmed cases while North Huron and Morris-Turnberry have each had one. Howick remains without a single confirmed case.

In Perth County, Stratford has had 37 confirmed cases, the most in the county, followed by North Perth at 19. Perth East has 16 confirmed cases, Perth South has had eight and West Perth and St. Marys have had six each.

TESTING Klassen says that people from Continued on page 2

PAGE 2. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

Bailey disagrees with Morris-Turnberry report Market, out of their home since a fire destroyed the business primary building earlier this year. Due to the increased use of the home, a request was made to connect to the North Huron water system, however, North Huron turned the request down until a formalized cross-border agreement was reached with Morris-Turnberry.

“I’m disappointed in the way our staff was talked about,” Bailey said, before giving an account of events in which North Huron staff didn’t suggest the work, but instead put a stop to it when it was discovered going forward without approval.

Furthermore, he said that, if the

Starting them early As part of the Blyth Brussels Minor Hockey Association taking to the ice in recent weeks, the preschool age group got some skating practice in on Saturday morning. (John Stephenson photo)

COVID-19 tests draw travellers Continued from page 1 other districts, including Toronto, may be coming to Huron and Perth Counties to take advantage of lower COVID-19 testing wait times.

During Klassen’s bi-weekly report last Thursday, Klassen said that, from her contact with testing centres, people are coming from outside of Huron-Perth due to lower wait times for testing. She said the inverse was true as well, indicating that people from Huron and Perth counties have gone outside the area for testing.

She also said that people seem to be booking multiple appointments to get in as quickly as possible, and then not cancelling superfluous appointments, leading to more backups.

“That has been an issue I’ve heard reported from this area,” she said.

During the press conference, Klassen encouraged people to trickor-treat safely if they wanted to go out, saying candy should be prepackaged, people handing out treats should use tongs and young children should stay within their family groups to trick-or-treat.

She said anyone should stay home if they don’t feel well, not just for

Halloween celebrations but in all aspects of life.

“It’s really important we all maintain our vigilance,” she said.

“We want to continue to practise those public health measures to prevent us from getting ill and break the chains of transmission.”

exposed water pipes freeze, as Morris-Turnberry staff suggested they might if left uncovered, that will be Morris-Turnberry’s responsibility and not North Huron’s because the work is being done on Morris-Turnberry land.

Bailey said there will never be a deal with Morris-Turnberry if the situation continues this way.

“You don’t say those kinds of things in public,” he said. “It’s bullshit. I’m not happy about it.”

Bailey then went on to say that other municipalities in similar situations had flourished while their neighbours, who wouldn’t negotiate a deal for shared services, floundered as a result. He pointed to Hanover, which was negotiating to provide services with a neighbour, however those negotiations broke down. The result didn’t have a negative effect on Hanover.

“Wingham will be bustling [like Hanover],” he said.

Other council members shared Bailey’s grim outlook on the negotiations.

“It doesn’t come as a surprise to me the way this negotiation has gone,” Councillor Kevin Falconer, who sits on the negotiation committee, said. “[This is] the way they’ve gone for 15 to 20 years. It’s nothing out of the ordinary. I hope the negotiations can continue, and we can [come to] some kind of an agreement, but yelling into an empty box doesn’t do anything.”

Deputy-Reeve Trevor Seip said all the issues in the request were for Morris-Turnberry to deal with, not North Huron, and, if MorrisTurnberry Council wants to help its ratepayer, they should and not involve North Huron.

He said he feels for the Green family, who is stuck between the councils, but went on to say the issue is one for Morris-Turnberry to deal with until a deal is made.

“It doesn’t sound like MorrisTurnberry wants an agreement,” he said. “They want to use the media to make us look like the bad guy.”

Councillor Chris Palmer, however, was concerned with the allegation that North Huron staff had directed the Greens to start the process to

connect with the water and said he wanted that investigated.

Falconer disagreed, saying that if North Huron staff hadn’t stopped the work, the hook-up likely would have been completed. He then said he didn’t want to “reward bad behaviour” by approving the request, before going on to say that what was attempted was “theft of public property owned by North Huron.”

“I can’t see it any other way,” he said, adding no permission had been given.

Seip said that council needed to know if a staff member had given permission to start the project, going on to say this doesn’t need to be a combative discussion until staff get to the bottom of the issue.

Council directed staff to communicate with Morris-Turnberry regarding the situation, with Palmer asking that Chief Administrative Officer Dwayne Evans look into whether North Huron staff did give any kind of suggestion of permission to the Green family.

However you celebrate Halloween this year, we can help you!

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The Citizen North Huron Reeve Bernie Bailey has taken offence to comments made in a Morris-Turnberry staff report suggesting North Huron staff had taken actions they weren’t allowed to take.

Bailey, during Monday night’s North Huron Council meeting, made heated remarks in response to the report, which was discussed during Morris-Turnberry’s Oct. 6 meeting.

The report indicated that North Huron staff had directed the Green family, whose home is in Morris-

Turnberry, to start digging up their property to connect to North Huron services.

That flies in the face of the moratorium that North Huron Council had put on cross-border servicing until Morris-Turnberry and North Huron are able to negotiate a deal for said services.

As a result of the report, MorrisTurnberry council requested North Huron allow the Green family to hook up to the water services, but not connect to them to honour the moratorium.

The Green family has been running its business, Green’s Meat

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Take-out treat Rorie Bromley had a vehicle full of great take-out dinners from the Blyth United Church’s fundraiser meal over the weekend. Bromley had to deliver 22 meals. (John Stephenson photo)

REAL ESTATE in Huron

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 3.

Brussels fire engine being restored for Calgary museum

A new life A Ronald fire engine, built in Brussels between 1890 and 1905, is currently being restored for the Firefighters Museum of Calgary. Those working on it were recently in touch with unofficial Brussels historian Paul Nichol for some help. The project is about 85 per cent done, but those at the museum need some parts and hopefully some images of a completed engine to help them get across the finish line. The work in progress is seen above. (Courtesy photo)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen A piece of Brussels history is currently being restored in Calgary, Alberta and when it’s rehabilitated there’s a possibility it could make its way to the village of its creation.

The Firefighters Museum of Calgary has recently been in touch with unofficial Brussels historian Paul Nichol about the museum’s ongoing restoration of a Ronald fire engine, which was manufactured in Brussels.

Nichol estimates that the engine was produced between 1890 and

1905 in Brussels and those from the museum are on the hunt for parts and/or blueprints and pictures of the old engine to aid their restoration efforts.

The museum, in an effort to get in touch with people from Brussels, reached out to the Municipality of Huron East and landed with Economic Development Officer Jan Hawley, who then directed them to Nichol.

Nichol has long been a collector of all things Brussels. He even has an old picture of a Ronald engine framed in his home, which made him the perfect person to help.

Are You Born Again?

In speaking with someone from the museum working on the restoration efforts, the museum representative said there may be as many as eight of the vintage fire engines still out in the world. Nichol said he knew of two before the call from Calgary: one in a museum in Nova

Scotia and another in Winnipeg.

The story goes, Nichol said, that a Calgary firefighter with connections to the museum was on vacation in the United States when he spotted the Ronald engine in poor condition, sitting as an outdoor display piece.

The negotiations began and the engine eventually made its way to Calgary for restoration.

Nichol says the restoration is about 85 per cent complete, but museum staff are stalled, needing parts and some guidance for the historic engine.

He has been doing some research on behalf of the project, but has come up empty so far other than a few pictures in his own collection.

He’s on the hunt for parts or any documents that might aid the museum volunteers in their efforts to restore the engine.

Nichol, in discussing the machine with a museum representative from Calgary, asked about repatriating the engine to Brussels and he said there’s some hope that it might make an appearance.

He said there was discussion about bringing the engine to Brussels once it’s fully restored and housing it in its home village for maybe six months, but nothing official has been negotiated.

HISTORY Ronald Fire Engines was not founded in Brussels, but rather, the company began its life in Chatham.

In August, 1876, after a large swath of the Brussels main street was decimated by fire, J.D. Ronald of the company spoke with Brussels Village Council about fire protection in the village. However, the conversation turned at one point and council offered Ronald a $20,000 loan to entice him to move the company to Brussels.

The company was profiled in the Huron Historical Society’s Huron Historical Notes 2008, which detailed its whole story, from Ronald’s work with a Mr. Hyslop to be the first to manufacture steam fire engines in Canada to Ronald’s move to Brussels.

The machines varied in size, but they guaranteed a full head of steam from cold water within six minutes, according to the Historical Notes.

The Historical Notes also detail the composition of the engines, which were almost entirely created from raw materials in Brussels. The exceptions were suction hoses from Cleveland, boiler domes from New Jersey, head lamps and lanterns from New York and copper boiler tubes from England.

As the company began producing fire engines in Brussels, the company was making agricultural implements as well. In March of 1879, J.D. Ronald took one of his newly-created steam engines for a spin around the area, driving it to Wingham for a trial.

Soon enough, Ronald saw orders coming in, with engines heading to Dunnville, Hamilton and Ridgetown, while a new “improved buckeye mower” had been purchased by J.N. Knechtel for his farm in Brussels. Purchases would soon be made even further afield, with Ronald shipping engines to Winnipeg, Sault Ste. Marie and Vancouver.

A Ronald engine was purchased by the City of Toronto just before it hosted the World’s Fair. It would be honoured for its performance there, according to the Historical Notes.

“The Ronald engine won honours at the World’s Fair in Toronto in September, performing beyond firemen’s expectations by throwing a vertical stream over 100 feet and a horizontal stream of 225 feet,” the Notes recalled, quoting The Brussels Post.

The business was sold to E.H. Thomas of Norwich, Ontario in 1898, at which time J.D. Ronald retired after 30 years in the business.

According to the Historical Notes, the business floundered for a bit under new ownership, but was still producing new fire engines into the very early 1900s. One of the last known engines to be sold by the Brussels company went to Exeter in 1900.

Halloween Costume Contest

by J.C. Ryle Are you born again? This is one of life’s most important questions. Jesus Christ said, “Except a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

It is not enough to reply, “I belong to the church; I suppose I’m a Christian.” Thousands of nominal Christians show none of the signs of being born again which the Scriptures have given us — many listed in the First Epistle of John. (continued from last week) 2. Believing in Christ “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God” (1 John 5:1) A man who is born again, or regenerated, believes that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour who can pardon his soul — that He is the divine person appointed by God the Father for this very purpose — and beside Him, there is no Saviour at all. In himself, he sees nothing but unworthiness. But he has full confidence in Christ, and trusting in Him, He believes that his sins are all forgiven. He believes that, because he has accepted Christ’s finished work and death on the cross, he is considered righteous in God’s sight, and he may look forward to death and judgement without alarm.

He may have fears and doubts. He may sometimes tell you that he feels as if he had no faith at all. But ask him if he is willing to trust in anything instead of Christ — and see what he will say. Ask him if he will rest his hope of eternal life on his own goodness — his own works, his prayers, his minister, or his church — and listen to his reply.

What would the apostle say about you? Are you born again? (to be continued next week) A Grace Gem Submitted by: Immanuel United Reformed Church, Listowel, ON 519-492-1359

Submit a photo of yourself or your pet in your Halloween Costume for a chance to win a spooky prize!

Winners will be featured in a special photo display in the October 29 issue of The Citizen as well as on The Citizen’s website

Categories include: * Under 12 years of age * 12 years old to 18 years old * 19 years or older * Best dressed pet Photos must be submitted digitally to reporter@northhuron.on.ca or through The Citizen’s Facebook page or mail to The Citizen, PO Box 429, Blyth, ON N0M 1H0 All entries must be received by October 23 to be eligible for prizes.

Enter if you Dare!

PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

Editorials & Opinions

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

The Citizen P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. N0M 1H0 N0G 1H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Phone Fax 519-523-9140 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.huroncitizen.ca

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Without you, there is no us This month marks the 35th anniversary of the first issue of The Citizen. Back in 1985, visionary community members Keith and Jill Roulston worked with the late Sheila Richards to sell shares for a newspaper that would cover the communities of Blyth, Brussels and others. The response was overwhelming and that spirit continues today with the support The Citizen sees from community members, sponsors and readers, as well as through provincial and national award wins.

The need was there – both villages had been without a newspaper for several years – and when The Citizen was mailed out, people realized what they had been missing. Now, 35 years later, the Roulstons have stepped back, enjoying a well-earned retirement, but there is a new team in place working to preserve the continuum of The Citizen’s principles, producing a newspaper week after week that continues to see growth.

While the staff works hard to create this newspaper every week, the success story of The Citizen is that of its community members and ardent supporters. Those who first bought shares into this unique and visionary project. Those who have worked for The Citizen over the years, propelling its mandate forward. Those who subscribe – whether it’s your first year or your 35th – and those who run to local stores to get their paper even earlier. The advertisers who see value in supporting The Citizen and aligning their brand with a trusted community-owned news source. The community members who have trusted us with your stories for all these years. As Keith has said, The Citizen is fortunate to have earned the trust of the community. That is a delicate relationship, because it is very easy to lose it and you do that by cutting corners.

Thank you to everyone who has made The Citizen what it was in 1985, what it continues to be today and what it will be in the future. – SL

The great debate In the final days of the campaign before the U.S. presidential election, the White House has thrown its lot in with a group of scientists behind the Great Barrington Declaration, a proposal developed and signed at the American Institute for Economic Research in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The theory, put forward by a group of scientists funded by a libertarian think-tank part of a Koch-funded network, argues that authorities should allow COVID-19 to spread uncontrollably through young healthy people while protecting the vulnerable. Allegedly, this would allow a population to reach “herd immunity” without the need for a vaccine, which would ultimately protect the vulnerable.

Now many doctors and infectious disease specialists, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, have come out attacking the declaration as ridiculous and dangerous. The science behind the herd immunity concept is based on vaccination rates, not infection. In addition, protecting vulnerable populations is not as easy as the declaration would have us think. In Canada, we have seen long-term care residences ravaged once the infection slips past their defences, leading to otherwise healthy individuals losing their battle with COVID19. Not enough is known yet about the virus to determine who is vulnerable, what the long-term effects are or if immunity after infection is even likely. The White House and President Donald Trump seem eager to back a theory which promotes their agenda of keeping the economy fully open while minimizing the true risk to the public.

Everyone is eager to live their pre-pandemic life. The Great Barrington Declaration sounds like permission for most of us to do just that, but are you willing to bet your life that you’re one of the herd and not one of vulnerable? – DS

Letters Policy The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor.

Letters must be signed and should include a daytime telephone number for the purpose of verification only.

Letters that are not signed will not be printed.

Submissions may be edited for length, clarity and content, using fair comment as our guideline. The Citizen reserves the right to refuse any letter on the basis of unfair bias, prejudice or inaccuracy. Letters can only be printed as space allows.

Looking Back Through the Years October 24, 1963 Work was progressing at the Brussels arena in preparation for the new artificial ice and the installation of associated equipment. The hope was that enough work would have been completed so that the cement floor could be laid in two weeks.

An open house to celebrate the launch of Peter Hemingway’s new chiropractic office was well received by the community in Listowel.

The Majestic Women’s Institute was in the final stages of sponsoring a dessert course for those in the community to take.

October 20, 1971 Morris Township Council endorsed the Huron County Official Plan, as it had been presented to Huron County Council on Sept. 23.

Once it was approved by the county’s lower-tier councils, it would then be forwarded to the Minister of Municipal Affairs for approval.

Blyth’s Radford Construction was awarded the Morris Township snow removal contract for the coming winter.

Sixty residents had signed up to take part in the big walkathon to benefit Blyth Minor Sports.

The 10-mile trip would begin at noon on Oct. 23 just southeast of Walton and end at the Legion in Blyth. There would be prizes for the youngest and oldest participants who made it to the finish line.

Several young Blyth hockey players were ready to put their skills to work on behalf of the Clinton Junior Mustangs, including Robert Cook and Gord Riley, both of whom were back for their second years.

Cook was also slated to serve as the team’s captain.

Rick German and Wayne and Bill McDougall were all newcomers to

the Clinton system. They would be put to the test soon, with two home games scheduled for the coming week. First the Mustangs would take on Lambeth on Oct. 22, followed by a Sunday night game against Exeter.

October 27, 1999 In a letter to Blyth Village Council, Morris Township Council stated that it had withdrawn from amalgamation and restructuring talks with Turnberry Township, asking to attend the next planning meeting for the North Huron group, which consisted of Blyth, Wingham and East Wawanosh.

Blyth Reeve Mason Bailey said he had spoken with Morris Reeve Bert Elliott earlier in the day and found that restructuring talks between the two townships had not gone well.

Brussels firefighters and town employees would have some extra help this Halloween, with Mary Stretton founding the “Citizen on Patrol” mobile watch unit for Halloween weekend.

Firefighters had recalled difficult Halloweens in the past and welcomed the assistance, saying the presence has been a deterrent.

With a steadily growing congregation, Huron Chapel Evangelical Missionary Church in Auburn was looking to the future with the purchase of an eight-acre parcel of land in Auburn. To celebrate, the church held a special tented service at the site on Oct. 17.

In The Citizen, Huron Chapel’s Rev. Dave Wood was pictured next to a tall wooden cross which marked the site as the church’s future home.

October 21, 2010 With the municipal election looming, several all-candidates meetings were held throughout the

area, including meetings for Huron East, Morris-Turnberry, North Huron and Central Huron.

The issue of economics was crucial to many of the debates, with ratepayers wanting to see more businesses in their downtown cores, increasing the tax base in order to further share the burden.

Rev. Gary Clark of Blyth United Church dedicated a new garden at the church in a special ceremony on Oct. 17. While Clark said the garden was designed to be comfortable for those spending time there, it also contained a time capsule to be opened by future generations.

Blyth Councillor Brock Vodden said North Huron should negotiate a “better deal” with the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association for use of the Blyth Campground. He said the $2,400 the municipality received annually from the organization felt too low, but did add that he supported the association.

Recreation and Facilities Director Pat Newson explained to Vodden that the land had been donated to the township by the association, so any revenue from the arrangement should be viewed as a bonus.

While Vodden insisted that the township should be seeing a better return, Councillor James Campbell said he didn’t feel it was a road that council should be going down.

“We don’t want to open this can of worms. The Threshers donated a lot to the community and bring a lot of people in,” Campbell said.

The Blyth Station House had been renovated just in time to be included as a Doors Open landmark in Blyth thanks to its new owners, Peter and Sarah Gusso. It was one of two locations opening its doors for the event, joining Memorial Hall, home of the Blyth Festival.

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 5.

Other Views It could (and did) happen here

W

hen the FBI recently revealed they had arrested 13 men in a plot to kidnap and assassinate Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, many Americans probably wondered “can this be happening here?” That’s certainly how Canadians felt 50 years ago when a similar plot resulted in the October Crisis.

Unlike the Michigan right-wing militias who quietly prepared for their horrendous crime, the FLQ terrorists already had a high profile in Canada. For years they’d been blowing up mailboxes and conducting other attention-getting symbolic acts in their attempt to separate Quebec from the rest of Canada.

Things changed in a stunning way on Oct. 5, 1970 when the group kidnapped British Trade Commissioner James Cross in Montreal.

They demanded the release of 23 “political prisoners” who had been arrested for earlier crimes, $500,000 in gold, broadcast and publication of the FLQ Manifesto, and an aircraft to fly the kidnappers to Cuba or Algeria.

The federal government, under Pierre Trudeau, and the Quebec government of Premier Robert Bourassa agreed they’d jointly make decisions. They did go along with the demands as far at having the FLQ Manifesto published in several newspapers and broadcast on French-language radio stations.

If the two governments were trying to buy time, it didn’t work. On Oct. 10, 1970 a different FLQ cell kidnapped Quebec’s Minister of Labour, Pierre Laporte.

After that, things began to move faster.

Trudeau sent the army to guard Ottawa on Oct. 12. On Oct. 15, the Quebec government invited the Canadian army into Quebec to help local police.

Keith Roulston From the cluttered desk On Oct. 16, came the still-controversial invoking of the War Measures Act by Prime Minister Trudeau, allowing search, arrest and imprisonment of anyone suspected of being part of the plot. Hundreds were arrested, nearly all later released. When a reporter asked how far Trudeau was willing to go to root out the FLQ he answered “just watch me”.

Even for Canadians outside Quebec, there was a sense of disbelief about the whole thing because it was happening, after all, in Quebec, where bizarre things had been happening for years. But on Oct. 17, we were jolted into reality when TV stations broadcast the discovery of the body of Laporte in the trunk of a car parked at the airport in Saint-Hubert, Quebec.

Like most Canadians, I was horrified by what was taking place across the Ottawa River from my home province. Any sense of distance, however, had already been erased.

As a very young editor of the Clinton NewsRecord, I visited Canadian Forces Base Clinton several days a week. Although the base’s closure had already been announced, winding things down would last several years. I was accustomed to wheeling up to the base guardhouse, waving a cheery hello to the guard, then driving on to the officers club or wherever the event I was covering was being held.

But one day in mid-October, I braked to a

rapid halt when there was already a car stopped in front of me, being inspected by an armed guard. My own car got the same treatment after the other car was waved ahead. The October Crisis wasn’t something happening a province away, anymore.

On top of all this, on Oct. 13, our eldest daughter Christina was born. As a new parent, we had to wonder what kind of world we were bringing this innocent child into.

Fifty years later, it’s hard to realize how long the whole crisis dragged on as police hunted the terrorists. The hiding place where James Cross was held was finally discovered on Dec. 4. After two months in captivity he had lost weight but claimed he hadn’t been physically abused. The next day five FLQ terrorists were flown to exile in Cuba. On Dec. 28, several other FLQ members were arrested and charged with kidnapping and murder.

One thing that’s strikingly different between Canada’s October Crisis and the plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer is the reaction of the two countries’ leadership.

Pierre Trudeau was accused of using the sledgehammer of the War Measures Act to crack a peanut. After all, 435 of the 497 arrested were released. Yet right or wrong, the back of violent terrorism in Quebec was broken.

Compare that to the strange leadership of U.S. President Donald Trump who has made light of the plot against Whitmer. Just last week in a speech in Michigan, he criticized her for COVID-19 restrictions to try to save lives. When his audience shouted “lock her up”, he simply smiled and said “lock them all up.” Rather than break the back of the Wolverine Watchmen and other right-wing militias, he seemed to give them attention and support.

Municipal Politics: step up or shut up

P

oliticians have lots of different backgrounds. While some politicians dabble in public relations or commercial endeavours before running for office, others consistently run business into bankruptcy after inheriting millions. Some, however, started out sitting in front of a computer (or with a pen and paper in hand) as journalists.

From the outside, some might think it’s easy to see why it happens. Journalists have to sit and cover meetings week after week, year after year, until they likely know the rules just as well, if not better than the politicians.

In every level of politics it’s easy to find some poor lost souls who used to be journalists who have joined the dark side.

Why the dark side? Well, we’ve seen what happens to journalists who have become politicians. At best, they’re quiet and do next to nothing because they know exactly how limited individual politicians are in their ability to effectively make changes. At worst we get senators embroiled in scandals because they thought no one would find out they broke the rules. They should know better than most that those kinds of transgressions always come to light. Despite that, there is some ineffable reason these journalists and retired journalists keep switching sides from those who tell the truth to those who spin it.

I’m not saying that I’ll never follow that path. Heck, once upon a time, I thought I’d try to follow in the footsteps of my greatgrandfather, Senator William Golding. He was a municipal councillor and Mayor of Seaforth, member of the House of Commons for Huron South and Huron-Perth and eventually was named to the Senate. It’s not that I haven’t thought of throwing my hat in the political ring, it’s just that, after watching so many journalists fall off of that path, I’ve begun to wonder if answering the call to the dark side is worth it.

Denny Scott Denny’s Den Take, for example, North Huron and MorrisTurnberry and the ever-present cross-border servicing discussion. You couldn’t pay me enough to be on either side of that discussion.

North Huron Township Council is trying to protect and invest in the municipal water systems that exist in Blyth and Wingham while Morris-Turnberry is trying to get the least expensive servicing options for its ratepayers. Unfortunately, those two very reasonable goals appear to be exclusive.

Having reasonable reasons at odds with each other is a detriment to both councils, and it means that situations like the one unfolding surrounding Green’s Meat Market can drag on for weeks, months or even years.

For those unaware, Green’s Meat Market is a well-known butcher, slaughterhouse and retail operation. It’s an agricultural staple of the area located in Morris-Turnberry on the border of North Huron. The business’ primary structure, however, burned earlier this year.

While the location has relied on a private septic system and private well, the destruction of the building resulted in the Green family home, located nearby, being used as the business office. Due to the increased presence of people at the site, the Green family looked to hook into the North Huron water system, which abuts their property.

North Huron and Morris-Turnberry councils, however, were at an impasse with cross-border servicing and North Huron had issued a moratorium on answering any such

requests until the issue could be resolved.

The issue is more complicated than what I’m presenting here. For example, there are reports that North Huron staff directed the Green family to start installing the infrastructure for the hook-up, leading to a potential wasted investment if the issue between the councils is never resolved.

Despite the intricacies of the situation, everyone seems to have their two cents about it and many people are casting shade at North Huron Council for not helping out the agricultural business.

However, it’s not as simple as North Huron simply agreeing to help out the company. To do so would be going back on a moratorium that was put in place for a good reason: to prevent any one-off hook-ups that are different from the municipalities’ eventual agreement.

There are plenty of customers of the North Huron water system who aren’t in North Huron. While they may pay more than North Huron residents, they’re also sheltered from any over-run in infrastructure expenses being paid for through taxation if reserves prove insufficient. Morris-Turnberry Council members rightfully don't want to pay more than necessary into infrastructure that isn’t controlled or owned by their municipality.

Despite how complicated it is, many people have said North Huron should just let Green’s hook into the system for the benefit of everyone involved, despite the precedent that sets. If you’re one of those folks, I’ll say to you the same thing that’s said whenever a decision made by a council is disputed: put your name on the ballot next time.

Last election nearly saw many acclamations as a result of people not wanting to be involved. If you know better than the people making decisions, feel free to try and take their jobs, just don’t be surprised if one or two of them give it to you willingly.

Shawn Loughlin Shawn’s Sense

Legacy media indeed

T

his week, we’ve chosen to celebrate the 35th anniversary of The Citizen, the newspaper I’ve been a part of for the last 14 years, first as a reporter under Bonnie Gropp and then as the editor for just over the last 10 years. For me, The Citizen represents many things I’ve always wanted and a number of things I didn’t know I wanted in my life.

I didn’t know what to think of The Citizen at first. I began covering local events and was welcomed warmly by the community (everyone knew who I was before I knew who they were). In those early months, I remember being approached on the street by people who just sought to welcome me to the community and wish me well. One of them was Sheila Richards, who I later found was one of the cofounders of The Citizen. She and I spoke on Robbie Burns Night at the Brussels Legion.

From there, I grew to love the communities I covered, not viewing them as a stopover to another destination, but as a place to build something special. Whether it was a life of my own, a family of my own or a product I could be proud to give to the community every week, I saw an opportunity here in Huron County.

When Bonnie left, I was at a crossroads. I wasn’t sure how I would work with her replacement, while at the same time I didn’t feel qualified to be her replacement. I wanted to, but I didn’t know if I could. Then-Publisher Keith Roulston didn’t either. He hunted around, but didn’t find the perfect candidate, so we cobbled things together for a few weeks, hiring Denny on as a reporter. I was able to show Keith I was capable of leading the editorial direction of The Citizen and he would eventually name me the editor.

Since then I’m proud to say we’ve become a regular at provincial and national awards ceremonies, building upon a great history of winning awards through the 1980s and 1990s.

We’ve been honoured at the provincial level several times, but what fills me with the most pride is when The Citizen was named the best newspaper in Canada in its circulation class in 2016 after finishing second the previous year.

That all traces back to a day in September of 2006 when I sat down with Bonnie and Keith and worked to put my best foot forward. It was a big move for me, but I knew I needed it.

Now that I’ve learned more about the media industry and I’ve seen the changes it has undergone in the last 14 years, I can’t be more grateful to have found a place at The Citizen.

I am proud of what we do here every week.

Not only am I proud of what The Citizen does in the community, but I’m also proud to be part of an organization like ours. Community shareholders own The Citizen and we, as an editorial department, are not beholden to them.

We aren’t told to write good stories about someone or bad stories about someone else.

Our political leanings aren’t dictated to us and, while people may not always see eye-to-eye with what’s in our pages every week, they can’t point to an agenda or being in anyone’s pocket – though people are always trying.

Unless we’re talking about reporters like Bob Woodward or Anderson Cooper, our kind are often most comfortable in the background, taking our pictures and writing our stories.

Because of that, it’s easy to overlook the impact of an organization like The Citizen.

But we are here and we have been for 35 years, telling our community’s stories, standing up for our neighbours and friends, celebrating the good and documenting the bad, working to better our communities, educating and, above all, keeping readers informed at a time when credible facts are needed more than ever.

PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

Brussels Girl Guides to resume meetings outdoors

By Denny Scott The Citizen The 1st Brussels Girl Guides group will be meeting this year,

however, due to COVID-19 there are going to be some significant changes to how Sparks, Brownies, Guides, Pathfinders and Rangers will operate.

Last week Mady Deitner, the leader of the local groups, explained to The Citizen that there is an arearated approach to making sure members of the well-known

Game on After a week of intense practices, Blyth Brussels Minor Hockey games start this week with the U18 Burgundy and U18 White teams taking to the ice against each other tonight, Oct. 22, in Brussels. Next week, games continue in the U18 league with the Black and Burgundy squads facing off on Monday in Blyth and the White and Black squads playing Wednesday in Brussels. Above, the U11 squad practiced recently in Brussels. (John Stephenson photo)

organization stay safe. She explained that the local area, like the rest of Canada, is considered in the outdoor stage: one step above being dictated to have only virtual meetings. Specifically, the group is allowed to meet either outdoors or in a pavilion with at least two sides open.

Girl Guides of Canada has set out six different stages, ranging from virtual meetings only to allowing groups to travel together, Deitner said, pointing to an extensive document put out by the organization. Stages may also be broken down into more specific groupings, Deitner said, with Brussels being part of an Outdoor Stage 2 grouping.

Outdoor Stage 2 rules allow “green and yellow” activities, according to the document, which are activities that allow for distancing. Physical distancing must be recognized under the classification and adults must wear masks while members are encouraged to. “Pods”, or smaller units within the group, aren’t required, and the maximum size of gatherings is limited to one Girl Guides unit. Food and drink sharing isn’t permitted, washrooms are limited to one person at a time for every two toilets and pick-up and drop-off must be done outside, according to the document. No overnight activities or travel may take place and no singing is allowed.

The document, which is available online, follows scientific data that

points to masks and physical distancing as deterrents to transmission, on top of transmission being less likely to occur outdoors.

The document states that, as of right now, Girl Guides in all provinces are meeting outdoors. The document also states that these rules will be frequently reviewed by Girl Guides of Canada.

Having outdoor meetings could be a challenge, Deitner said, especially with how early darkness is setting in and the coming coldness of winter.

Right now, the group is meeting at the pavilion at the Brussels Conservation area on Monday evenings, but that could change if Girl Guides of Canada dictates it, or the weather becomes inhospitable.

If that does happen, Deitner said, there will be options, including having leaders drop off packages of materials for the weekly online meetings so the members can still participate in activities.

The club will only be able to participate in specific activities, Deitner said, limiting how much this year will look like previous years.

The club has seen a reduction in numbers, she said, due to the pandemic, but meetings are happening and the group will welcome new or returning members.

For more information, visit the Girl Guides of Canada at girlguides.ca where registration options are available.

The ‘Famous Five’ did important work A NOTE FROM BETTY

By Betty Graber Watson Call 887-9231 This time of year is a good reminder of our connection to the food that we eat. Seeing the raw material leave the ground, moved to the next place and watching the land being prepared for the next season, we remember. As harvest from the fields moves in the wagons and trucks to the next spot on the food chain, we see. We need to be very thankful for the fields, the farmers’

knowledge, their tenacity and love of the land that we encounter each growing season. Farmers are very busy just now. We are aware and grateful for their effort that connects and feeds the world, so give a cheery wave as you approach the tractors in action.

Growing up with brothers and raising sons, it never entered my mind that I was not equal to the male section of the world. But in our world, that attitude is not always taken. Increasing awareness of poor treatment and those who allow it to happen, is a problem. We need to remember, all the human race came from the same materials and we share the same body materials with apes. Your DNA will confirm that.

Superiority is an attitude, and when left unchecked it causes grief to those around. Many examples

come to mind when undeserved power causes hell for many. We also know that when we see, say and do nothing, the injustice continues. We to be need enlightened, if we are not aware that certain groups are treated poorly.

Looking back, we remember that Oct. 18, 1929, the work of the Famous Five was recognized by Canada’s highest court. Oh good heavens, women were really people.

The Canadian ladies: Murphy, Parlby, McClung, McKinney and Edwards saw injustice and, over many years, broke down attitudes.

It was not easy, but they won “Persons Day” in court and that was only a start. Today we still see people as less than us. Work still needs done and only we can do it.

We need to be educated on how we see and talk about others, often in a

hurtful manner. So here’s to the Famous Five and may we be courageous enough to do the work that really will make all persons equal.

Keep up the good work of recognizing that COVID-19 rules right now and our job is to adjust our way of living to this newest bug. It’s a lot like staying healthy, keep things simple and just do it. So rest, eat well, exercise, wear your mask, keep your distance and wash your hands lots and lots and lots.

Bye now, Betty G.W.

NEWS FROM BRUSSELS

Brussels Legion 218 Catch the Ace Weekly Winner Winning Ticket: Wendy Marks $254 Envelope #2 found the 5 of hearts Estimated jackpot for October 23 is $7,200

At the Branch

‘Ace’ draw jackpot tops $7,500

By Jo-Ann McDonald It is the middle of October, so Comrades have another couple of weeks to get in to the Brussels Legion Branch and pay their dues and get in on the early bird draw for October. You can win your next year’s dues as a prize. There is one more chance in the month of November to win, so be an early bird and drop in or send your dues to Box 128, Brussels.

The fall is also the time for joining the Royal Canadian Legion. Joining the Legion is done for a variety of reasons. At one time, a relationship to a veteran was part of the criteria to join, but is no longer a requirement.

Joining the Legion can be because of the respect we all need to show to those who served their country that

we live in today. Joining the Legion may be because of the support Legions provide for veterans past, present and for the future. Joining the Legion may be to be part of the largest volunteer organization in Canada. Joining the Legion may be to become active in and for the community. Joining the Legion may be to meet new people. Whatever the reason may be, you are welcome to drop in, ask questions and become a member of the Royal Canadian Legion and Branch 218.

The Catch the Ace draw was held Friday evening with Andy, Nanci and Jo-Ann in charge. The weekly winner was Wendy Marks and she won $254. She chose envelope number two and the five of hearts was revealed. The estimated jackpot for next week, Oct. 23, will be

$7,500. This will be week 22, so that means there are only eight weeks left in the life of the licence. Get your tickets today from McDonald’s Home Hardware, Brussels Variety, Brussels Pharmacy or the Brussels Legion.

Follow The Citizen online for #ThrowbackThursday photos, breaking news, editorials, obituaries and in-depth coverage of local events

BRUSSELSFALLFAIR.CA

Winners of our Decorating Contest Ag Colours: Farm: Business: Animals: Harvest: Unique:

Nora Stephenson Neil & Marie Mitchell Murray's Barber Shop Lori Vader Crystal Blake & Dwayne VanRavenswaay Hilary & Steve Machan

2020 Gift Basket Raffle Winners Handy Tool: Good Housekeeping: Travelers: Baking: Big Surprise: Roast Dinner:

Terri Gray, Brussels Marlene Fischer, Brussels Sheila Prescott, Brussels Jill McLellan, Donegal Abi Corbett, Brussels Rae Smith, Brussels

Thank you to The Fours Winds for allowing the Society to sell tickets each week during the Farmers’ Market. Thank you to the Brussels Citizen office for both displaying our baskets and selling tickets.

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 7.

Governing body postpones 2020-2021 broomball

By Denny Scott The Citizen

Not this year Blyth Junior Broomball teams will not be taking to the ice this year after the Federation of Broomball Associations of Ontario declared that, prior to a meeting in November, no sanctioned events would take place. Other organizers, like senior teams, may decide to go ahead, however the junior teams won’t, according to organizers. (File photo)

Blyth United collecting for Saugeen First Nation church From Marilyn’s Desk

far to see Mother Nature at work.

If you have the time this week, why not call someone you haven’t

talked to in a while just to say hello and brighten their day and yours.

Stay safe and have a good week.

By Marilyn Craig Call 523-9318

Happy birthday to Cliff Snell who celebrates Oct. 22; Kennan MacDonald, Oct. 23; Carson Lee, Oct. 24, John Nesbit and Chad Haggitt, Oct. 25; Matt Bromley, Belgrave, Oct. 26 and Dave Craig, Oct. 28. Happy birthday everyone and hope you have a good day.

Happy anniversary to Mac and Brenda Brooks who celebrate Oct. 24.

Blyth United Church is collecting donations for Wesley United Church to help them rebuild their church that was destroyed by a fire earlier this summer. If you wish to donate to this cause, please send your donation to Blyth United Church, PO Box 400, Blyth, ON N0M 1H0 and the staff will send it on.

When I looked at the weather forecast on Sunday, it said it was going to rain most of the day but as you know Mother Nature often changes her mind and up until now on Monday the sun has been shining and it is a beautiful fall day. I hope that you took a drive through the countryside last week to see the colour of the trees in their glory.

We are lucky in this part of the country that we do not have to go

While the Blyth Junior Broomball organization has postponed all games for the season, representative BJ Cullen says the decision wasn’t made by the group.

He said that, while the announcement on the local group’s website says the executive decided to postpone the season, it would be more accurate to say that decision was made by the Federation of Broomball Associations of Ontario (FBAO), who decided not to sanction any events until after a meeting in November.

“The communication with [the FBAO] was very poor,” Cullen told The Citizen. “We were trying to go ahead all along.”

He said, through the summer, the Blyth organization was communicating with the FBAO to try and get an idea of how broomball could go ahead.

“We were asking about our guidelines from the FBAO,” he said.

“There was no communication until Aug. 24.”

At that time, Cullen said the group had decided to postpone the season until the end of September. When Sept. 24 rolled around, the FBAO said there would be no broomball activities sanctioned this year, effectively cancelling the 2020-2021 season.

“They’re going to meet again at the end of November, but that will be too late to try and organize anything,” Cullen said. “That’s where we’re sitting.”

Local adult broomball leagues have gone ahead with a season, Cullen said, but with younger players and liability, he said the Blyth executive couldn’t see a season happening without

a governing body and insurance.

“We’ll have to wait and see for next year,” he said.

While players, parents and the Blyth Junior Broomball executive are all disappointed, Cullen said he thinks most people understand.

“I haven’t heard of anyone being upset,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”

He also said the decision will have an impact on North Huron, as the local group represented a significant portion of the ice rentals for the Blyth and District Community Centre.

“We wanted to move forward for everyone’s sake, but we’re not able to,” he said.

NEWS FROM BLYTH Broken Dryer?

Blyth Laundromat 191 Westmoreland St., Blyth 519-523-9687

TOWNSHIP OF NORTH HURON BY-LAW NO. 64-2019 REGULATION AND CONTROL OF TRAFFIC PART IV - OVERNIGHT PARKING – WINTER MONTHS Between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. no motor vehicle shall be parked on any or all streets or roadways or municipal parking lots of the Township of North Huron, between the months of November 1 to May 1.

Violators will be fined and will be required to bear the cost of having their vehicle towed away. The owner of any such parked vehicle will be liable for any damage to the said vehicle or to snow removal equipment.

PART IV – GENERAL STOPPING PARKING REGULATION No person shall park, or stop a vehicle on any street other than a oneway street, unless on the right hand side of the street, having regard for the direction in which the vehicle had been proceeding, and unless the right front and right rear wheels or runners of the vehicle are parallel to and distant respectively not more than thirty (30) centimeters from the edge of the roadway, without stopping or parking over a sidewalk or footpath or over any part of the highway where grass has grown or which is not intended for the use of vehicles.

PART IV – OVER DESIGNATED TIME LIMITS No person shall park a vehicle where traffic control signs to that effect are situated on any road at the and between the limits set out for a longer period of time than that set out on the traffic control sign.

Two-Hour Maximum Parking 9:00 a.m.— 6:00 p.m. Monday — Friday inclusive Josephine Street, Wingham, Amberley Road (Highway #86) to North Street/ B Line Road (both sides).

Queen Street, Blyth, North Street to Blyth Road 25 (both sides).

New additions Orr Insurance recently donated some trees to the Blyth Lions Club to be planted at the club’s park in honour of the company’s 125th anniversary. Ken Stewart, left, Barney Stewart, centre, and Ryan Lee did the honours, planting the trees at the park. (Photo submitted)

PART III - DEPOSITING SNOW ON HIGHWAY OR SIDEWALK No person shall throw, deposit, or cause to be deposited, any snow, ice or mud as to interfere with the movement of pedestrian or vehicular traffic.

By-Law Enforcement Township of North Huron

PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

Ruling restores faith in judicial system PEOPLE AROUND LONDESBORO

By BRENDA RADFORD Call 523-4296

My faith in the legal system was restored somewhat this past week when news that the police had identified the killer of nine-year-old Christine Jessop was made public.

For those innocent persons who languish in our jails or live their lives under the cloud of suspicion like Guy Paul Morin, this announcement offers hope.

After 36 years, one might assume the whole affair had been forgotten among dusty boxes and case files. It is encouraging to realize cold cases continue to be researched by the judiciary in light of advances in scientific testing, etc.

We often hear victims offering forgiveness to the accused and I have wondered just how hard that would be. There must be an abundance of emotions experienced by victims - anger, hatred, resentment - toward these assailants.

Forgiveness must be hard. Christine Jessop’s mother, Janet, stated she allowed herself, for one brief moment to hope the killer was suffering in hell. Then, she said, her Christian faith took over recognizing that Calvin Hoover probably suffered in his own way here on earth.

Finding Christine’s killer will not erase all those years of sadness and uncertainty. People speak of finding closure in their lives. That, too, must be difficult to find.

As I have mentioned in the past, we regularly buy the Toronto Star.

The Saturday edition offers a great deal of reading and I frequently find an item to pass on in this column.

The Saturday, Oct. 10 edition carried a very interesting article about the G2G Trail which has been featured in local papers over many months.

The Toronto paper included a great picture of “The Station” restaurant.

You might find the article online if your curiosity has been piqued. I am just always pleased to see news being reported from outside the GTA and that close to home.

Those of us who live in Huron County take so much for granted that sometimes we are surprised to discover what little pieces of our paradise are regularly enjoyed by tourists.

Last weekend, in conversation with family in the Durham region, we learned that schoolmates of our grandchildren come to a trailer park along Ontario’s West Coast. Proof again that tourist dollars help fuel our

economy even during a pandemic.

So be nice to the strangers you encounter.

As I was writing this column I checked out the COVID-19 numbers for Monday – 658 – down from record highs in the high 800s. This is not to say we are flattening the curve again during this second wave. This number is still too high for any one of us to ease up on our vigilance.

More disturbing to me was a mention on TV Saturday evening that it is expected forms of the coronavirus will continue to emerge for many years. We will be dealing with restrictions and isolation likely through the rest of my time on this earth. Scientists studying bats have identified them as the root of this evil. I knew there was a reason to fear those winged mice.

So let’s get our priorities straight when it comes to work, dining out, entertainment, holidays, leisure activities and focus on the things that truly matter like family, love, kindness, respect for others and common sense. All those things our mothers tried to instill.

Speaking of things that really matter, Londesborough United will hold its anniversary service this coming Sunday, Oct 25 in the sanctuary. The group in charge of preparing the faith community and building for coming together were very pleased with the turnout for their first in-house service. More measures have been decided on and put in place to increase the safety and comfort of those attending. We look forward to seeing you there.

Returning to worship has been a difficult decision for all faiths. Some congregations have been meeting for weeks, while others are still not comfortable coming together in a confined space. Londesborough United has adopted a cautious slow approach.

To many people, churches and the Continued on page 9

The solution to COVID-19 starts

with keeping yourr distance.

•Wear a face covering.

•Keep 2m apart from anyone outside of your household.

•Limit your close contact to your household only.

•Wash your hands often.

NEWS FROM LONDESBORO

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 9.

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Brussels Livestock report

Lambs, sheep, goats all set higher market Total receipts for Brussels Livestock for the week ending Oct. 15 were1,935 cattle and 415 lambs and goats.

On Tuesday, a light offering of fed steers and heifers sold steady with quality considered. Second-cut steers and heifers sold $132 to $139.

Cows sold steady. On Thursday, veal sold actively at prices easier than last

week’s high sale. Lambs, sheep and goats all sold higher. On Friday, calves sold on a steady market.

Grass yearlings sold on a steady market. Yard yearlings sold with prices $3 to $5 lower.

Matthew Bros. Farms of Durham consigned 10 head. Five black steers averaged 1,668 lbs. and sold for an average price of $139.

There were 250 cows on offer.

Beef sold $70 to $80 with sales to $89.50; good holstein cows, $65 to $70; medium holstein cows, $57 to $64.

Blythhill Farms Inc. of Blyth, consigned seven head. One red cow weighed 1,655 lbs. and sold for a price of $89.50.

There were eight bulls selling $76

Making it work While the COVID-19 pandemic sidelined the Belgrave fowl supper this year, the Belgrave Community Centre Board was still able to hold a dinner over the weekend, serving take-out containers filled with a half-chicken dinner, being cooked with care above. (John Stephenson photo)

Local families offered sympathies Continued from page 8 services and programs they offer might be considered essential services. One personal comment I read, “I go to church to feel closer to God. The comfort I feel in a church visit is not easy to describe.”

Area residents were distressed by two recent deaths which have ties to our community. When I read someone’s official obituary I am often amazed by all the things I hadn’t known about the person. In rural areas connections run deep between families and friends. I found that to be true again as I checked out the obituaries for these two persons.

Joe Gibson will be missed by everyone who connected with him through his various community and farming activities. Joe, a Hullett Township farmer, passed away on Oct. 8. Joe served on the Hullett Township Council and was DeputyReeve for a time. His family can be proud of the life Joe lived.

Darlene Hunking passed away in what many would claim as the prime of her life, too short a life at 55. The Hunking name is familiar to Hullett Township and the surrounding area.

Darlene was the daughter of Joe and Janet Hunking and attended Hullett Central Public School. Her young daughters will need much comfort from Darlene’s family and friends in the area as they face life without her. The sympathy of the community is extended to these families.

There will be much talk currently in the homes of young children regarding Halloween.

It is particularly sad to think that the actions of the few who have caused so much furor in the pandemic’s second wave by flaunting the rules now have affected the fun of the young. Hopefully the virus can be handled safely in our area

where numbers have been very low.

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year so no worries about being home early. And to add to the fun, if it is a clear night, there will be a full moon. This is the second full moon for October which means it is considered a “blue” moon. And this blue moon is appropriately called the “fall hunters” moon.

Stay well! Stay safe! Stay sane!

Neews depends endss on facts. ts. Where Whe are you our facts ts coming com ng from? ro News Media Canada is a passion ssionate advocate for the news industry. We support our mem mber m publications in their pursuit of quality journalism nalism.

Wee believe that when society has factss they can W trust, better decisions will be made.

to $103. Treblelane Farms of Goderich, consigned five head. One limousin bull weighed 1,860 lbs. and sold for a price of $103.

There were 140 head of veal on offer. Beef veal sold $155 to $195 with sales to $200; good holsteins, $135 to $139 with sales to $142; SL heavy holsteins, $130 to $137; heavy holsteins, $120 to $125; medium holsteins, $122 to $130; plain holsteins, $90 to $110.

Owen B. Martin, Wallenstein, consigned five head. One gold steer weighed 930 lbs. and sold for an average price of $195. John and Cheryl Bennewies of Bornholm, consigned five head. One holstein steer weighed 735 lbs. and sold for a price of $137.

Lambs 50 - 64 lbs. sold $297 to $335; 65 - 79 lbs., $324.75 to $349; 80 - 94 lbs., $280.50 to $315; 95 109 lbs., $281.50 to $298; 110 lbs. and over, $254 to $255.

Sheep sold $100 to $200.

Goats: billies sold $150 to $350; nannies, $100 to $200; kids: meat, $325 to $425; dairy, $250 to $365.

Andreas and Petra Aeberhardj of Neustadt, consigned 13 head.

Twelve lambs averaged 76 lbs. and sold for an average price of $349.

Gary Haak of Clinton, consigned seven lambs that averaged 93 lbs. and sold for an average price of $307. Ian Croft of Clinton, consigned four head. Three kid goats averaged 51 lbs. and sold for an average price of $425.

Top quality stocker steers under 400 lbs. sold $237.50 to $265; 400 499 lbs., $235 to $265; 500 - 599 lbs., $220.50 to $257; 600 - 699 lbs., $199 to $237; 700 - 799 lbs., $201 to $216; 800 - 899 lbs., $187 to $196;

900 - 999 lbs., $184 to $194; 1,000 lbs. and over, $172 to $181.50.

Top quality stocker heifers, 400 499 lbs. sold $195.50 to $210; 500 599 lbs., $189.50 to $210; 600 - 699 lbs., $179 to $195; 700 - 799 lbs., $164.75 to $185; 800 - 899 lbs., $168.50 to $185; 900 lbs. and over, $160 to $183.

Carolyn Kelly of Farrelton, Quebec, consigned 76 head. Sixteen charolais heifers averaged 595 lbs. and sold for an average price of $202. Ten charolais steers averaged 712 lbs. and sold for an average price of $216.

Woodham Farms of Brussels, consigned 33 head. Ten gold heifers averaged 917 lbs. and sold for an average price of $183.

Titus Martin of Wingham, consigned 46 head. Ten charolais steers averaged 900 lbs. and sold for an average price of $191.50.

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PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

Sports Brussels Skating Club moves ahead under restrictions

By Denny Scott The Citizen

Sweet send-off While the Brussels Skating Club will be hosting events this year, things will be a little different and events like the annual showcase, like the Sugar Showcase in March of this year, shown above, may look different. (Denny Scott photo)

The Brussels Skating Club is going ahead with its 2020/2021 season, however, due to COVID-19, it will be a significantly different experience for all involved.

A representative of the club, Erica Koch, told The Citizen that everything is changing this year, from the number of participants to how skaters get ready. The club has also had to change the kind of programming it offers.

“We are going ahead,” she said, adding that last Thursday evening was the club’s first night on the ice.

“Every week is kind of a wait-andsee situation, but we’re going ahead for the time being.”

The club has decreased its on-ice time due to having fewer programs both because of COVID-19 restrictions and decreased interest, which Koch said is tied to the pandemic.

“We have waning registrations for older skaters,” she said. “We made the decision to save money and get rid of a little bit of ice time this year.”

At the other end of the spectrum, the educational program for younger skaters aged 3-6 has also been cancelled because of rules prohibiting contact between skaters,

Koch said, adding that teaching aides would also not be allowed on the ice.

“You have to be past a certain level to be able to skate this year,” she said.

Skaters are asked to come to the arena dressed, Koch said, and to not come too early for their ice time.

“We’re not allowed in the building until 15 minutes before our ice time,” she said. “We have to do a COVID screening in that time as well.”

Koch said the one good part of the situation is that the dressing rooms are available for skaters to put their skates on, the only wardrobe change that is permitted on the premises.

Because of the pandemic and the above restrictions, Koch estimates the club’s roster is down 50 per cent this year. She said that, while some have said they will return for the next season if it’s safe, not all have made comments like that, which concerns Koch for the viability of the program going forward.

“There is a concern that there will be a drop in numbers going forward,” she said.

Other aspects of the skating program have also changed, like the year-end celebrations, themed nights and fundraising.

Not being able to fundraise is

going to make the 2020/2021 season one in which the club will have to operate at a loss, Koch said.

“Normally we sell Skate Ontario raffle tickets and do two Atwood Heritage fundraising orders, one in the fall and one in the winter,” she said. “We can’t do that. With fundraising totally on hold, we will be running the year at a loss.”

Koch feels the club will rebound, however it’s going to take some help from members and parents.

“We are looking for executive members,” she said. “It’s tough to keep a [small town skating program] going and we need people to step forward.”

She said that more than half of the current executive no longer have children in the program, so there needs to be buy-in from parents of newer participants. She also said that, because helpers for younger skating groups need to be from within the club due to insurance concerns, they need older skaters to help out. She said outside help can be brought on, however it would need to be consistent to make it worth buying extra insurance for them.

The Brussels Skating Club’s CanSkate levels 2-6 are being offered this year, Koch said, and they take to the ice on Thursday nights.

Minor hockey to play in bubbles, with fewer players

A little different While local minor hockey clubs are gearing up for a season, it will be a bit different this year.

There will be no sights like that above when the Blyth Brussels Crusaders celebrated a big playoff win, as teams will be playing in bubbles against other local teams. (File photo)

Continued from page 1 of people in the community centre at one time.

In order to maintain the integrity of the bubbles, there will be no tournaments this year, nor will there be any inter-bubble playoffs, like the Western Ontario Athletic Association (WOAA) or Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) playoffs at the end of the season.

With all of those safety precautions in place, Finch said it has been nice to have teams on the ice again, adding that he feels the start of the hockey season has come at just the right time for many families.

After a long summer and children being out of school since March, he said many kids and parents were happy to be back at local hockey arenas and on the ice, even if it is a little different than past seasons.

Finch said that for the mental and physical health of area children, it has been good for them to be back in school and participating in minor sports.

As for how it’s going, Finch said it’s “so far, so good”. Teams have just begun to practice at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre in the early days of the season, but Finch says the season thus far has gone even better

than he expected with all the changes.

He said he hopes things continue to move in the right direction with the season and that everyone stays safe from COVID-19.

For more information on this year’s hockey season, visit blythbrusselsminorhockey.ca.

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 11.

The Citizen A Celebration of 35 Years

1985 - 2020

PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

Roulstons, Richards leaned on community for ‘Citizen’

By Keith Roulston The Citizen By the summer of 1985, when I got a phone call from Sheila Richards, Brussels and Blyth had been without their own newspapers for more than three years.

Brussels wasn’t the same place without a local newspaper, Sheila said, and asked what we could do to bring local news-gathering back to the area. As we talked, a plan emerged that was influenced by both of my areas of influence.

After graduating in journalism from Ryerson University, my wife Jill and I had arrived in Blyth in 1970 and purchased The Blyth Standard from Doug and Lorna Whitmore. In Blyth, the discovery of Blyth Memorial Hall and coincidental contacts with Paul Thompson and through him, James Roy, led to the founding of the Blyth Festival in 1975. It was the Festival that first brought Sheila and me together when she joined the board of directors after she and her husband Wendell moved to Brussels to take up farming. She became the Festival’s second president when I stepped down as its first.

My fascination with theatre and our growing family led Jill and me to sell The Standard, and sister publications The Rural Voice and The Village Squire to A.Y. Maclean, who owned The Huron Expositor in Seaforth. He

had earlier bought The Brussels Post from Roy and Evelyn Kennedy. The five publications continued until 1982 when it became clear that none of his children were prepared to take over the company and he sold The Expositor, Post and Standard to Signal-Star Publishing of Goderich, which only wanted The Expositor and shut down The Post, amalgamating it with The Expositor and The Standard, making part of The Clinton NewsRecord.

I mentioned to Sheila that from what I’d seen with the Festival, first as president and I then as the Festival’s first year-round general manager, people seemed to be more supportive when something was a community project, rather than having one person who reaped the benefits if it was successful or lost if it failed. We began to explore the idea of a newspaper that would be owned by shareholders in the community.

The other founding principle was that rather than have two newspapers, one for each community, or a newspaper that was based in one of the two villages but served both, the new newspaper should clearly belong to both communities, combining readership from both to provide a larger potential market for advertisers.

From that starting place, we began to explore if the idea was

feasible. Our accountant (Karl Lentz) and lawyer (George Brophy) agreed that such a model was possible and began looking into how to accomplish it.

The next task was to see if we could sell the shares needed to finance the start-up and keep it running until it began to generate revenue. Sheila tackled the Brussels community. She asked me how many shareholders she should aim for and I made the mistake of saying the more shareholders we had, the more people who would feel the newspaper belonged to them.

Sheila then sold one share each to dozens of shareholders – a $100 investment.

Meanwhile, I tackled Blyth.

With so many tasks to be accomplished, I set up meetings with prominent community members, seeking larger investments. Looking back, I’m amazed at the support we received – so many people were ready to take a chance that we could pull this off.

When it became obvious that we’d be able to raise the needed money to make the project work, the next challenge was to build a team to make the paper successful. This first key staffer was easy to find – I met her across the kitchen table every morning.

Jill wasn’t thrilled, at first, to be getting back into the newspaper business, looking instead for new Continued on page 13

Congratulations to The Citizen on your 35th Anniversary

A Community of Communities (Belgrave, Blyth and Wingham)

Put your money where your heart is ~ shop local 519-357-3550 www.northhuron.ca

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 13.

Technology has pushed ‘Citizen’ production forward how a newspaper was put together, hold the business meeting, then give each shareholder their first copy of The Citizen to take home. Instead, the paste-ups were leaving just as the first shareholders were arriving.

Luckily, the printed papers were delivered before the shareholders left a couple of hours later, and they got to take a first edition with them.

Meanwhile, we still had to count out enough newspapers for each post office (we were distributing free to introduce the paper to potential subscribers) and deliver them to the various post offices so people would get them the next morning.

It quickly became obvious we needed more help. Fortunately, when word got around that we were starting a newspaper, we received a visit from neighbour Steve Caldwell who introduced his new wife, Joan, and wondered if we needed any help. We did now, and Joan joined the staff. She’s still here 35 years later, an invaluable member of the team. Her reward also included meeting her best friend, Dianne.

The Citizen was off to a good start, but there was one more major stumbling block. A reporter for The

On the scene On the cover of the June 8, 1988 issue of The Citizen, members of the Ontario Provincial Police’s tactics and rescue squad charged down Walton’s main street as part of a tense standoff with a man barracaded in his home, armed and threatening to kill himself. Citizen founder Keith Roulston said it was photography and reporting like that above, which won awards for the newspaper, that propelled The Citizen into the local consciousness. (File photo) Continued from page 12 adventures, but she knew the business from back in her days at The Standard. She could run all the equipment we’d use and knew what had to be done in organizing subscriber mailing lists and invoicing advertisers. She became the heart and soul of the company, right up until her retirement in 2017.

One of the lessons I’d learned from bitter experience in past publishing ventures was that you’re only as successful as the person selling your advertising. We started off on the road to success because we were able to convince Beverley Brown to join the team.

I’d first met Bev when she and her partner were involved with the Huron County Federation of Agriculture. When Andy Maclean bought The Rural Voice, he brought Bev and Sheila Gunby onto an advisory board. They became more and more involved in the production of the magazine and when SignalStar Publishing wasn’t interested in buying The Rural Voice, he sold it to Bev and Sheila. In 1985, Bev was involved in producing the Huron County Historical Atlas, which was nearing completion. Jill had worked with her for several months on the mammoth project. We set out to convince Bev that her next project should be The Citizen and, happily, she agreed.

When word spread around Blyth that I was raising money for a new newspaper, I received a note from Dianne Josling saying she’d like to work for us again. It was quite a compliment. Dianne had begun work as a typesetter straight out of high school and quickly became a valued employee. I remember her being fascinated with “Myrtle”, our first computerized typesetter. We quickly jumped at the opportunity to add her to the founding staff and she’s still the heart and soul of The Citizen, having adapted to many different technologies over 35 years.

Things were moving right along.

We had an office on Blyth’s main

street where we had traded a year’s worth of rent for shares in the company. This is where the actual production of the paper would take place. We rented a smaller office in Brussels that would be the advertising headquarters with Bev Brown holding down the fort. I found out about a man over north of Toronto who reconditioned and sold used computerized typesetting equipment and made a trip there to buy enough equipment for us to get started.

We set a target of producing the first edition of The Citizen on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 1985. We booked an early afternoon printing time. To encourage advertisers, we offered a two-for-one sale – buy a half-page ad and get a full page. A big mistake!

We forgot what a salesperson we

had in Bev. She swamped us with ads. Rusty as we were from years away from the business, it took us longer to get things done than we expected. So many ads pushed the issue to 32 pages, meaning more news to be found, written and typeset and more photos to be processed.

Printing time came and went. The printing plant called. We apologized and asked for two more hours. Two hours later, after missing another deadline, and another call, a new deadline was set. And so it went. The paste-ups were finally rushed out the door at about 7 p.m.

I had been hopelessly naïve and scheduled the first meeting of the shareholders for that evening in our Blyth office. I figured the paper would have been printed and mailed by then. We’d give people a tour of

Kitchener-Waterloo Record had heard the unusual story of the new newspaper’s birth and drove up for an interview. The story was picked up by the Canadian Press news service, and from there by the Associated Press in the U.S. We had calls of interest from as far away as Arizona.

None of this would have mattered but among the papers that reprinted the story were The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. This brought our project to the attention of the regulators at the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). In early December I received a chilling phone call from someone at the OSC saying what we were doing was illegal and they could freeze our bank accounts. It turns out that if you had more than 50 shareholders you have to prepare a prospectus, but preparing an acceptable prospectus costs more than all the money we were trying to raise to start the newspaper.

Our lawyer took over and eventually negotiated an agreement OSC could live with – but we had to give money back to enough Continued on page 14

Congratulations and Best Wishes to The Citizen on your 35th Anniversary See you at the 159th Brussels Fall Fair

“Twist & Sprout” September 14-15, 2021 Brussels, Morris & Grey Community Centre

www.brusselsfallfair.ca

Congratulations to

The Citizen

for 35 great years!

Best wishes for continued success

Municipality of Huron East 72 Main St. S., Seaforth www.huroneast.com

PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

‘Citizen’ continues award-winning ways in recent years establish The Citizen’s reputation for photography and always challenged me to raise the bar with my own photos. She also, from the time of her letter of application, spoke about how The Citizen could be the best newspaper in the county, and that inspired me to think bigger than just a Blyth and Brussels community newspaper.

Also beginning as an assistant was Bonnie Gropp, but she quickly demonstrated she could be more. In 1991 the company acquired The Rural Voice, an important landmark because it gave us two strong publications.

When the magazine’s editor quit, I switched over to become editor of The Rural Voice and Bonnie became editor of The Citizen, a post she held for years. It was she who hired Shawn Loughlin as her assistant and he grew to become editor himself when she left. Soon after, Denny Scott became Shawn’s assistant and the same team has been in place for over a decade.

The most recent change has been one of the most important. By 2016 I was past the normal retirement age.

I’d already explored finding a successor a number of times with no success. Late that year I In 2016, The Citizen won best all-around newspaper, best front page found out that Deb and best editorial page within its circulation class in Canada. Above is Sholdice was available.

With hardly any newsone of the newspapers that earned The Citizen those honours. (File photo) paper experience she It was a big step when we could Continued from page 13 shareholders to get us below the 50- afford to hire our first reporter. shareholder limit. As a veteran Acting as publisher and editor as fundraiser, I think it broke Sheila’s well as covering events in both communities was an overwhelming heart to give money back.

Sheila remained a member of the task. One of the first of these board of directors until her death. reporters was Toby Rainey. She only Bev Brown left The Citizen after a stayed for a couple of years, but her couple of years for new challenges. influence was lasting. Toby was a fabulous photographer who helped Jill and I retired in 2017.

might seem like a strange choice but I’d seen her become a first-rate general manager at the Blyth Festival when she started out with little background in theatre and knew she was creative, adaptable and passionate about anything she takes on. She also had one strength none of the previous candidates possessed – she knew, and was committed to, the community because she’d grown up here.

We offered her the job of publisher-in-training, and waited breathlessly while she made up her mind. Fortunately, she said “yes”.

With newspapers already being challenged by changing attitudes and habits in the digital world, then being further clobbered by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s hard to

imagine how The Citizen could survive without an inventive, tireless leader like Deb.

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Upfront

Congratulations on 35 amazing years serving our amazing community!

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 15.

Sholdice to serve as keeper of ‘Citizen’ flame I am still amazed at the support of our subscribers. We receive regular notes of thanks with subscription renewals and no matter where I go in Huron County, people are quick to tell me that The Citizen is the best newspaper in the whole county.

There are many reasons for that, and all of them trace back directly to Keith and Jill and those original shareholders who rose to Sheila Richards’ ask to help start a community-owned newspaper.

It has been instilled in all of us here that every story we print, each

decision that we make, must serve the people in our community. Every decision that is made, is made right here in our offices in Blyth and Brussels. We do consider how it will affect the readers, the communities, our advertisers and our staff.

The dedication of the staff to the community where we work and live is rewarded by the loyalty of this community to The Citizen. So thank you, Blyth, Brussels and northern Huron County. I think we have a good thing going.

Deb Sholdice, Publisher

Welcome Your New Arrival in

The Citizen

Call or email to book your ad today 519-523-4792 info@northhuron.on.ca

The Huron Pioneer Thresher & Hobby Association wishes to congratulate The Citizen on their 35th Anniversary We look forward to celebrating our 60th Annual Reunion with you September 10, 11 & 12, 2021

Changing of the guard In late 2017, Publisher Keith Roulston officially made way for Deb Sholdice to take over the prestigious position, guiding North Huron Publishing into its next era. Though the company’s Blyth office has changed (just a few doors down to the south), the publications have remained strong with Sholdice striving to propel the Roulstons’ vision forward. (File photo) In 2016, Keith Roulston approached me to ask if I’d be interested in trying my hand at publishing. I was at a crossroads in my career and deciding on my next path. Other than a very brief administrative stint at The Goderich Signal-Star as a summer student, I had no experience with a newspaper.

Keith pointed out that a publisher’s

role was very similar to the role that I had as General Manager at the Blyth Festival, a job that he had filled at one time as well.

Continuing a connection with the community was high on my list of priorities and there could be no better opportunity than joining the team at The Citizen, so the decision was not a particularly onerous one.

Cowbell Brewing congratulates The Citizen on your 35th Anniversary.

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Celebrating Generations of Tradition

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PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

Looking back on 35 years of ‘Citizen’ front pages Dec. 18, 1985

March 11, 1987

June 3, 1987

Dec. 7, 1988

March 4, 1987

April 22, 1998

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 17.

35 years of ‘The Citizen’ front page news Sept. 18, 2014

Jan. 23, 2002

March 26, 2015

May 8, 2014 June 17, 1998

Did you know that these pictures, all taken from front pages of The Citizen, alongside every other front page in The Citizen’s history, are available online thanks to the Huron County Library?

Check it out at huroncounty.ca/library/

PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

‘Citizen’ community outreach evident in partnerships souvenir edition to coincide with the Blyth Steam Show. All of us at the Threshers look forward to it and our members and campers are checking early in the week to see if it is out yet,” Sloan said. “This year, [Publisher Deb Sholdice] contacted me about doing it even though we had to cancel our show. They wanted to do something to remind people of the Threshers weekend. They even mailed it out to all our members! “[Editor Shawn Loughlin] and staff at The Citizen and their continued show of support for the Threshers results in more interest and attendance at our show. They are a true community partner.”

While The Citizen hasn’t traditionally produced a special issue for the annual Brussels Fall Fair, the newspaper teamed up with the Brussels Agricultural Society for a special section this year, despite the cancellation of the fair. Members said it was a great way to keep their event on the minds of residents.

“The Brussels Agricultural Society recognizes the invaluable partnership with The Citizen newspaper over these many years.

The Citizen has helped us reach the Objectives of Agricultural Societies

Partnering up

(as stated in the Agricultural and Horticultural Organizations Act, 1990), which are to ‘encourage an awareness of agriculture and to promote improvements in the quality of life of persons living in an agricultural community,’” said President Zoellyn Onn. “Without The Citizen, the Agricultural Society would not be able to promote our events and recognize community achievements (i.e. fair results) to the entire local community. We can reach many people in our community with posters, via our website, or on Facebook, but not everyone is connected to the internet. Therefore The Citizen newspaper remains our best resource, providing information to everyone in Brussels and surrounding communities about the activities and events of the Brussels Agricultural Society.”

The Huron Plowmen’s Association says it has been thankful for all of the support The Citizen has given the organization in recent years, which has helped propel the annual Huron County Plowing Match forward.

“The Citizen has printed a special Continued on page 19

The Citizen has been reaching out into its community since before its first issue was published. In the years that have followed its founding – by way of community members buying shares because they believed in the project – the newspaper has partnered with many local organizations to help them bring their events to the masses. One such relationship was forged with the 2017 International Plowing Match, seen above. (File photo)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen This month, The Citizen is celebrating the 35th anniversary of its first issue, which also means three-and-a-half decades of community outreach from a newspaper owned by community shareholders.

From its very founding, The Citizen has reached out into the community in order to be successful.

In 1985, Keith and Jill Roulston, along with the late Sheila Richards, went out into the community selling shares in a new newspaper that would cover Blyth, Brussels and their surrounding communities. It’s not a stretch to say The Citizen wouldn’t even have been founded if it wasn’t for the trust and support of its community.

As a result of that foundation, The Citizen has spent 35 years fostering its relationship with the community, earning its trust and support all over again every week. As a result, North Huron Publishing has forged years’ worth of relationships with organizations that trust The Citizen to help spread the word about their special events.

For years, The Citizen has produced special issues for the Blyth Festival for its annual theatre season and the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association for its annual reunion. More recently, The Citizen has been producing an annual issue for the Huron County Plowing Match.

This year, even with the COVID19 pandemic, The Citizen produced special issues for the Threshers and the Huron Plowmen’s Association, in addition to the Brussels Agricultural Society, which was forced to cancel the annual Brussels Fall Fair for only the second time in its history.

Over the years, The Citizen has produced special issues for local village homecomings and anniversaries, as well as events like the Blyth Rutabaga Festival and a months-long series ahead of the 2017 International Plowing Match in

Walton, culminating in a 52-page special issue for the event.

“The collaboration that we had with the team at The Citizen was a contributing factor that led to success of the 2017 International Plowing Match and Rural Expo.

The profile stories and the coverage of the events leading up to September, 2017 assisted in creating engagement and excitement from residents, businesses and government,” said Jacquie Bishop, chair of the 2017 IPM. “The heart and soul of IPM 2017 was captured in all the articles written whether it was the logistical challenges, the weather oppositions, the partnerships developed or all the accomplishments. Feedback on the souvenir newspaper that The Citizen produced was tremendous. It was so beneficial for the attendees to learn of the area, understand the people behind the match, gain awareness of

the businesses that advertised and then had the information to explore Huron County as we know it.

“Thirty-five years of success is because of the dedicated people that deliver this publication each and every week. We are so fortunate to have this quality, prize-winning newspaper in our neighbourhood where the personnel go above and beyond while continuously working together with our communities to spread the news.”

One of The Citizen’s longest standing partnerships has been with the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association, producing a special edition for its reunion every year. Association President Judy Sloan said she regards The Citizen as a true community partner.

“When I think of The Citizen the first words that come to mind are ‘Community Partner’. For countless years, The Citizen has published a

Congratulations on your 35th Anniversary

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 19.

Community spirit propels ‘Citizen’ forward Whitehorse, to Vancouver, to Halifax, to St. John’s. There are stalwart stars who have returned year after year, but there are also many, every year, who are completely new to us and have often never even set foot in Huron County.

“There is a novelty, before they arrive, in getting a phone call from the local paper. They often comment on it, hope they’ve said the right things. And when the edition comes out, they sometimes laugh about the picture used, or are surprised by what made it into the interview. And of course that’s fun.

“But the transformative thing is what happens when the readers of The Citizen, and the artists in the town start to interact. When local people on the street stop an actor and

Congratulations and Best Wishes to The Citizen on the celebration of their 35th Anniversary!

Years of fun The Citizen and the Blyth Festival have been linked for decades, both being founded (at least in part) by Keith Roulston (The Citizen with Sheila Richards and Keith’s wife Jill and the Festival with James Roy and Anne Chislett). In addition to covering the Festival for decades, the annual special issue offers an introduction to the community of the actors in every season.

Here, in 2014, the cast of Stag and Doe took part in the ice bucket challenge, a picture by Vicky Bremner that was featured on the front of that week’s issue of The Citizen. (File photo) Continued from page 18 Huron County Plowing Match issue for the past number of years and has distributed this throughout Huron County. It has highlighted past and present events, related to our local matches, as well as advertise the upcoming match. In particular, the 2017 IPM hosted by Huron County was extensively profiled,” said President Brian Wiersma on behalf of the Huron Plowmen’s Association. “These special issues have served to identify our local plow people, our Queen and Princess of the Furrow young women, and our local members involved at the Ontario Plowmen’s Association, the parent organization.

As will it has served to recognize the endeavors of our local competitors beyond the county matches (i.e. the IPM) the Canadian Plowing Competition and the World Plowing Competition. We the members of the

Huron County Plowmen’s Association are thankful for the exposure these issues afford us. We very much appreciate the expertise assistance and co-operation we receive from all who identify with The Citizen.”

One of The Citizen’s most enduring relationships has been with the Blyth Festival, which Citizen founder Keith Roulston also cocreated alongside James Roy and Anne Chislett. That relationship between two similarly-minded organizations has been crucial to Blyth.

“There are obvious things I could say about the essential role of The Citizen in the life of Blyth Festival: the advertising space in front of local eyes, the honest reviews, the depth of history that colours the reporting on Festival shows and events, and the unparalleled platform that is the ‘Festival

Best Wishes to The Citizen on their 35th Anniversary!

Edition’. But the thing that knocks me over year, the most inspiring thing is the way it helps build that singular sense of community that I believe truly changes everybody involved, just a little for the better,” said Blyth Festival Artistic Director Gil Garratt. “See, the artists who come to work at Blyth, the actors and directors, designers, carpenters, painters, props makers and lighting technicians, the whole array that makes the Festival what it is, often come from all over the country.

say “I see you were born in Whitehorse” or “so you play the piano too, do you?” or “I see you studied in France for a spell” and what happens is the strangers stop being strangers, and the actors stop just being actors, and the town comes together in the way that only Blyth comes together. Friendships form, and hold, and I really do think a lot of it is because of what The Citizen does, and has always done: it lets us get to know each other. And maybe this year more than any other, the privilege of that seems really clear. We’re lucky to have you, and grateful for all you do. Here’s to 35 more years of The Citizen.”

One distinct way The Citizen has sought to give back to the Continued on page 20

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PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

Citizen of the Year Award has honoured area’s best

Quite the legacy In 2016, Ernie Phillips was named the Citizen of the Year for the Blyth area, honouring his years of philanthropy.

Citizen Editor Shawn Loughlin presented him with the award at a meeting of the Blyth Lions Club. (File photo) Continued from page 19 community that has given so much to the newspaper is through the annual Citizen of the Year Awards.

Beginning in 1985, The Citizen’s first year, North Huron Publishing sought to honour unsung heroes from Blyth and Brussels, celebrating their volunteerism and their drive to improve their communities. This began with Cal Krauter in Brussels and Evalena Webster in Blyth.

In the years since, dozens of worthwhile community members have been named Citizens of the Year and the award has been a true expression of the community. People are nominated by their neighbours and friends, the winner is then chosen by a panel of past winners and the community is invited to an in-person celebration (before the COVID-19 pandemic) to celebrate volunteerism.

Because of the nature of the

award, being nominated and chosen by their fellow community members, many winners say they felt a tremendous sense of honour being named the Citizen of the Year.

“I was deeply honoured,” said Steven Sparling, the 2004 Blyth Citizen of the Year. “I grew up here, chose to work and invest here, so it was a great honour for me.”

Sparling also said what sweetened the pot for him was that he won the same year that Jeff and Cathy Cardiff were honoured as Brussels Citizens of the Year. To be recognized alongside members of a family he regards so highly, Sparling said, was even more important for him.

“When I won the Citizen of the Year for Brussels back in 2007, it was two-sided for me,” said Doug McArter. “I appreciated the accolade, but also realized that so many others in the community could

have received the award as well. It was humbling to know that some folks thought of me as a Citizen of the Year at that time and nominated me that year. As good community members, we all care what happens in our small part of Huron County and we just try our small part to make it better for everyone.”

Long-time Blyth Lions Club member John Stewart, who won the award in 1996, said he was “certainly honoured and very surprised” when he was named the winner of the award.

Another Blyth Lion and the Blyth Legion President Ric McBurney, the 2017 winner, said he was surprised to win, but that it felt good to be honoured by his fellow citizens.

While the award has regularly honoured lifelong residents of the community, that hasn’t always been the case, and 2002 Brussels Citizen of the Year winner Jo-Ann McDonald said winning the award meant even more to her because of that.

“It was lovely to be named Citizen of the Year. It was really an honour as far as that goes,” McDonald said.

“It was special because I came into the community; I wasn’t a born-andraised Brussels person.... It was really, really nice to be recognized for my many years of effort.”

Blyth’s Steve Howson said he was “quite honoured” to win the award.

He, like so many volunteers in the community, doesn’t do it for the recognition, he said. Being involved with the Blyth Lions and local hockey association has just been a passion for him, especially with his involvement in hockey when his children were playing.

Past winners of the award in the Brussels area are: Cal Krauter, 1985; Wayne Lowe, 1986; Jack Bryans, 1987; Ida Evans, 1989; Bessie Johnston, 1990; Betty Graber, 1991; George Langlois, 1992; Howard Bernard, 1993; Joanne King, 1994; Frank Thompson, 1995; Audrey Cardiff, 1996; Leona Armstrong,

1997; Neil McGavin, 1998; Beth Earl, 1999; Lyle and Alice Brothers, 2000; Nelva and Spence Scott, 2001; Jo-Ann McDonald, 2002; Kathy Bridge, 2003; Jeff and Cathy Cardiff, 2004; Clara Blake, 2005; Phyllis Mitchell, 2006; Doug McArter, 2007; Nora Stephenson and Fran Bremner, 2008; Rene Richmond, 2009; Jim Prior, 2010; Cathrine Campbell, 2011; Jim and Lois Lee, 2012; Yvonne Knight, 2013; Dave Stephenson, 2014; Sandra Cable, 2015; Jean Davidson, 2016; Elaine Armstrong, 2017, Doug Sholdice, 2018 and Mary Douma in 2019.

Past winners of the award in the Blyth area are: Evalena Webster, 1985; Frank and Cenetta Bainton, 1986; Winona McDougall, 1987; Margaret Whyte, 1989; Simon

Hallahan, 1990; Dr. Richard Street, 1991; Bill and Maxine Seers, 1992; Margaret Caldwell, 1993; Helen Gowing, 1994; Don Scrimgeour, 1995; John Stewart, 1996; Janet Amos, 1997; Betty Battye, 1998; Robb Finch, Dave Cook, Brent Scrimgeour and Doug Walker, 1999; Murray Siertsema, 2000; Charlie Shaw, 2001; Lavern Clark, 2002; Bev Blair and Thelma Johnston, 2003; Steven Sparling, 2004; Don “Barney” Stewart, 2005; Lois van Vliet, 2006; Janice Henry, 2007; Joe Hallahan, 2008; Brock and Janis Vodden, 2009; Jean Nethery, 2010; Kay Hesselwood, 2011; Steve Howson, 2012; Barbara Bosman, 2013; Marian Hallahan, 2014; Nellie Mason, 2015; Ernie Phillips, 2016; Ric McBurney, 2017, Carl Nesbitt, 2018 and Jane Smyth in 2019.

Congratulations to The Citizen on your 35th Anniversary!

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Congratulations to The Citizen on the celebration of your 35th Anniversary Over the years In 2011, long-time board member Lois van Vliet, who has since passed away, presented Kay Hesselwood with the Citizen of the Year Award for Blyth, while below, in 2017, board member Ralph Watson presented Elaine Armstrong with the award for Brussels. (File photos)

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 21.

Roulstons’ history embedded in the community included moving to rural Ontario.

“I was all for it; gung-ho,” Jill said, adding that she felt she was very adaptable in those days.

Keith continued on his educational journey at Ryerson, learning more and more about the newspaper business. He credits many of his teachers with his success.

His big takeaways from school, Keith said, were a lot of the fundamentals, like how to write a structured news story, as well as a more rounded education due to the university-life atmosphere at Ryerson. In addition to all of his journalism courses, Keith also studied psychology, English, history and other subjects while there.

When he began working on the school’s daily newspaper, he was an assistant sports editor, but would eventually be promoted to be the editor of the editorial page, a crucial piece of any newspaper.

However, it was one of the earliest and most simple tasks in his journalism education that has stuck with him after all these years. It was when Keith and his fellow students were charged with heading out onto campus and interviewing a random stranger, another student at the

school. Being a shy young man from rural Ontario, Keith said that was one of the hardest things for him to do.

After graduating, Keith brought another thing home with him, a feeling of confidence instilled in him

by Ryerson. Aside from learning the fundamentals at the school, he said he left with a tremendous amount of confidence that was drilled into students’ heads as graduates of the country’s foremost journalism school.

Filled with that confidence, Keith returned to the Lucknow area with Jill and he set out to create a regional sports newspaper. Though Keith had returned to the area and worked a summer at The Huron Expositor in 1967, he admits he was rather naive about the inner workings of founding a publication from the ground up and the project didn’t go so well.

Keith said he felt alien to Toronto and hadn’t really considered staying there for the rest of his life, always factoring in a return to the area into his plans.

In retrospect, Keith says it was “foolish” to work on that newspaper, Continued on page 22

The catalyst It all began for Keith and Jill Roulston when they purchased The Blyth Standard from the Whitmore family of Doug, Lorna and little Kenny Whitmore in late 1971. From there, they would operate the newspaper for a number of years before Keith began working as the general manager of the Blyth Festival and then returning to journalism with the founding of The Citizen in October of 1985. (File photo)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen As The Citizen marks the 35th anniversary of its first-ever issue this month, it’s impossible not to take a look back at Keith and Jill Roulston, the founders of the communityowned newspaper.

In 1985, the late Sheila Richards, a community pillar, approached the Roulstons about starting a community newspaper that would serve Blyth, Brussels and their surrounding communities. After the Roulstons agreed to be involved, they began selling $100 shares to local community members and business owners and a newspaper was born.

The Roulstons’ story, however, begins years earlier, leading to the establishment of well-known community institutions we know and love today, like The Citizen and the Blyth Festival.

Keith was born on a Lucknowarea farm as one of three children.

He also thought he would pursue a career flying planes in the Royal Canadian Air Force. As an attendee of Lucknow High School, however, the programs he would have needed to take to prepare for such a career were only being offered in Wingham, so he shifted his focus.

Once Keith began considering something new, his father told him he always wondered if he’d be a good fit for the air force, as a World War II veteran himself, and they began discussing the esteemed journalism program at Ryerson Institute of Technology (now Ryerson University), which was regarded as the best in the country.

Keith was interested in writing, so he decided to apply for the program.

He was accepted and would spend the next years of his life in the heart of downtown Toronto during a very interesting time for the city.

At the time, Keith said, the school’s dorms were essentially

nearby houses Ryerson owned. He was one of five young men in one room in the mid-1960s.

While Toronto’s music scene was exploding with the likes of Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot and others who would were years away from becoming generational talents, Keith said he and his friends, all of whom were from rural communities, would simply walk Yonge Street and absorb the city’s culture for fun.

Walking along Yonge Street from Front Street in the south to Bloor Street in the north, Keith said it was eye-opening to see the people of Toronto.

Another activity the students adopted for fun were some of the school’s dances, which is where

Keith met Jill, the woman he would marry.

Jill was born in Toronto as one of four children in her family.

She attended one year of nursing school in Toronto, but soon realized it wasn’t for her. Jill jokes that she didn’t really like being around sick people, but really she said she just didn’t feel being a nurse was what she wanted to do with her life.

Jill began working with Bell Canada and soon enough she and Keith began their life together, marrying in December of 1968, just 11 months after they had met in January.

With Jill unsure of her future path, she said she was game to support Keith’s vision in those early years of marriage, which

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PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

‘Farm Show’ leads to founding of Blyth Festival working on a unique project – living with local farmers and interviewing them with the hopes of creating a new kind of theatre show.

Those actors would eventually be some of the most important figures in Canadian theatre, led by Paul Thompson, and the show they created was The Farm Show, a

An impactful career Keith and Jill Roulston officially retired from The Citizen in late 2017 after one of the busiest years in the newspaper’s history. A special event at Memorial Hall marked the occasion for the pair, followed by a special dinner with The Citizen staff. (Denny Scott photo) Continued from page 21 missing several aspects of what makes a newspaper work and pay its bills. And though he and Jill had worked together on the project, it wasn’t going anywhere, so they abandoned it and looked for something else.

Though Keith had turned down a job as the editor of The Kincardine News while he was still working to get his sports newspaper off the ground, after he put the concept to rest, he took a position as the editor of The Clinton News Record, which would be his first proper job in the world of Huron County journalism.

After years in Toronto, Keith said the position was “totally practical” in its approach to covering local news and events. As a one-person editorial department, Keith says it was a lot of work, but he was determined to make a go of it.

Keith and Jill moved to Clinton and their family was set to grow very soon, with Jill being pregnant with their first child. In fact, Jill went into labour on a Tuesday following a

holiday Monday, which made it Keith’s deadline, so, as a one-man operation at the newspaper, he had to drop Jill off at the hospital and return to the office so he could finish the week’s newspaper while she gave birth.

As they continued to grow their family – Keith and Jill would eventually have four children – they kept their eyes out for an opportunity to be their own bosses. So, when an opportunity to buy The Blyth Standard from the Whitmore family arose, they invited the Whitmores over for dinner to discuss it.

They borrowed money from the Bank of Montreal in Clinton to complete the sale, which, according to Keith, was a miracle of small town living in itself. He said there was no way the bank should have loaned him and Jill the money to buy the newspaper, but the manager knew Keith from his time with The News Record and trusted his vision with his new endeavour.

The Roulstons would officially purchase The Blyth Standard from

the Whitmores in November of 1971. He said they worked on the newspaper week by week and saw success with their reporting.

However, the next few years would not only shape the Roulstons’ lives for decades to come, but they would also greatly shape the landscape of Huron County, specifically Blyth.

A week before producing their first issue of The Standard, Keith attended a concert being held by the Blyth Lions Club. One conversation led to another and soon Roulston was at the centre of a group that was working to bring Memorial Hall in Blyth up to code.

The hall had been built decades earlier, but had fallen into disrepair and could no longer safely house people.

After a meeting with the Blyth Board of Trade, the Blyth Fall Fair asked the board host its first-ever Queen of the Fair competition at the hall, so Roulston began working with Helen Gowing to lobby Blyth Village Council to improve the hall.

The most notable improvements needed were the installation of a fire escape on the north side of the building, followed by new wiring and a new roof, as the original roof was visibly sagging. These repairs took years to be carried out.

Another chance meeting took place in the summer of 1972 when Keith connected with a group of actors who were in the Clinton area

watershed moment for Canadian theatre. The impact of that show cannot be overstated.

Keith, Jill and their first daughter would attend the first-ever production of The Farm Show, which was staged in Ray Bird’s barn. While there, Keith, a lover of Continued on page 23

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An honour In 2013, Keith Roulston received the coveted Silver Quill Award from the Ontario Community Newspapers Association. Nominated by Anne Lannan, the association’s executive director at the time, Roulston was honoured for 25 years in the industry. (File photo)

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 23.

Lifelong friendship formed in ‘Citizen’ offices

By Denny Scott The Citizen For 35 years, The Citizen, as well as the other publications put out by North Huron Publishing, wouldn’t come together without the efforts of Dianne Josling and Joan Caldwell.

The two make up the production team at North Huron Publishing and are near-inseparable, having shared close quarters office space for years and becoming the best of friends throughout that time. Dianne has

numerous responsibilities, including layout and design, and Joan is responsible for advertisement design and helps sell advertisements for The Rural Voice, alongside numerous other responsibilities.

Dianne has been involved with the company since the first issue of The Citizen was published in 1985 while Joan joined a month later, however Dianne’s story starts much earlier than that.

“It was 46 years ago that I first started working for [former The

Citizen publisher Keith Roulston],” Dianne said. “He hired me right out of high school in 1974.”

Josling said she was amazed with “Myrtle”, the compugraphic machine used for typesetting for The Blyth Standard, The Village Squire magazine and The Rural Voice.

After several years, the newspaper was sold and Josling found herself working at the Grand View Restaurant. In 1985, Bev Brown came to sell advertising for The Citizen, which Keith and Jill had

recently put plans in motion to create, leading Dianne to get in touch with the Roulstons to see if they needed help.

“As luck would have it, they hired me back,” she said. “So Oct. 17, 1985, was the start of my now 35 years at The Citizen.”

In November of that year, Joan signed on, having heard from her sister-in-law Evelyn Caldwell, who had worked for The Blyth Standard, that the new newspaper was starting up. While Joan was nervous at first,

‘Citizen’ marked a new era Continued from page 22 theatre, tried to convince Thompson to consider hosting a summer theatre festival in Blyth’s soon-to-berenovated Memorial Hall, making it a rural satellite theatre for Thompson’s Theatre Passe Muraille.

That concept would not come to pass, with Thompson being snatched up by a theatre in Petrolia for a similar project (because of how long Blyth’s Memorial Hall renovations would eventually take), but when James Roy worked on a small show at Theatre Passe Muraille in the mid1970s, he was looking for a similar project and Thompson steered him towards Blyth to connect with the Roulston family.

Keith received a letter from Roy in March of 1975 and by June Roy and a handful of actors were in Blyth working on an adaptation of Harry J. Boyle’s Mostly in Clover, which would serve as the foundation for the creation of the Blyth Festival, founded by Keith, Roy and Anne Chislett.

With the creation of the Blyth Festival, Keith and Jill looked to sell The Blyth Standard, which they did.

Keith became the first year-round general manager of the Blyth Festival and served in that position for several years, writing plays for the Festival during that time as well, contributing productions in 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1981.

In 1982, Brussels lost The Brussels Post and The Blyth Standard had since been shuttered as well, which led to Sheila Richards approaching Keith and Jill about returning to the newspaper business.

Jill says she was against the concept of The Citizen at first, saying she felt like they had “been there, done that” in regards to the Huron County newspaper landscape.

However, after Keith had left the Festival, he was facing limited job options unless the family was willing to move and neither of them wanted to leave Huron County after buying their house north of Blyth in 1975. So, with that in mind, Keith and Jill were willing to hear Richards out and see what she had in mind.

Jill had been working at the Huron County Atlas offices just before they founded The Citizen, after years of having her hands full with parenthood and moved into parenting full-time before working on the atlas and then on The Citizen.

The trio began working on a model for The Citizen that involved shareholders purchasing $100 shares in order to provide The Citizen with the capital it needed to begin producing a newspaper.

The endeavour was a success and, in fact, they sold too many shares, which attracted the attention of the Ontario Securities Commission, which informed Keith that the company had sold too many shares and would have to give some back to avoid legal action.

The newspaper hit the ground running and has been serving the communities ever since (see page 12 for a comprehensive retrospective of The Citizen’s founding and legacy written by Keith), continually expanding.

In the years that would follow, Keith and Jill would also re-acquire The Rural Voice and found Stops Along The Way to add to the North Huron Publishing portfolio, which also included The Village Squire for a number of years. Keith also continued writing plays, coauthoring Another Season’s Promise (1986) and Another Season’s Harvest (2006) with Anne Chislett and writing Jobs, Jobs, Jobs (1998), McGillicuddy (2001) and Powers and Gloria (2005) on his own for the Festival.

Keith and Jill worked alongside each other for over 30 years with The Citizen. Jill says that in many ways they were the perfect match for one another in the professional realm, as well as with their marriage.

With Keith being the writer and taking on the journalistic duties, Jill said she was always organizationally minded and was happy to take on the administrative duties to keep The Citizen on track.

She said she enjoyed her time working on the newspaper, as it gave her a true opportunity to connect with the community that so embraced her family. She said she made some lifelong friends over the newspaper’s front desk and she felt a true sense of welcoming from the community over those years.

Just a few years ago, the Roulstons retired from The Citizen, making way for Deb Sholdice to take over as publisher. Jill said she wasn’t quite ready to retire at the time, but she has since settled into her new way of life.

Looking back, both Keith and Jill say their success with The Citizen can’t help but be connected to the consistent support of the community.

During his time with The Citizen, Keith said he met and connected with so many people whom he admired – someone like Simon Hallahan, for example – and that is a big part of the legacy of the newspaper for him.

“We were just accepted as part of the county, not as somebody from away,” Keith said.

Selling shares in The Citizen to people he’d known for over a decade and seeing their confidence in him is a feeling Keith says he’ll truly never forget. Having upstanding members of the community believe in his family and The Citizen will always hold a special place in his heart.

When The Citizen was producing its first issues, Keith said, it was a speck on the newspaper landscape, with locals looking to other local newspapers as sound investments, as they were being bought up by larger companies, while wondering if The Citizen would be around for years to

having no experience in the field, she decided to go out on a limb and join the team.

“We worked great together,” Dianne said, “and developed a friendship to last the rest of our lives. We have grown so close, people comment about us being joined at the hip.”

When asked what has made them stay with the company for 35 years, both said it had to do with Keith and Jill’s vision for what the newspaper Continued on page 24

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come. The industry, at the time, Keith said, didn’t think there was hope for a small, independent newspaper. However, in the years that would follow, The Citizen has been awarded provincially and nationally, while continuing to grow and expand, which can’t be said for many other newspapers in the county. Now, he said, it’s not unusual to hear people talk about The Citizen as being the best newspaper in the county and seeing that progression has made him proud.

Support for The Citizen is now stronger than ever, he said, and that can’t be said for other publications.

Much of that has to do with the trust that has been established between The Citizen and the members of its community. He said it doesn’t take long to lose it by cutting corners, but that hasn’t happened through its humble beginnings through the years with Bonnie Gropp as the editor and now with the current team in place.

Over the years, Keith said, so many have worked for The Citizen and helped it along and it’s been heartwarming to see all of these people buy into The Citizen’s simple, yet unique mandate of serving a community and being part of the community.

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PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

Duo stick with Roulstons’ vision for ‘The Citizen’

Almost connected at the hip Dianne Josling, left, and Joan Caldwell have both been at The Citizen for 35 calendar years with Dianne starting for the first issue and Joan joining a few weeks later. If you asked the two 35 years ago, they might not have been able to guess that, through their newfound careers, they would become the best of friends. The two, alongside their husbands, Stephen Caldwell and the late Paul Josling, have gone on cruises together, participated in activities and become a support system for one another through thick and thin thanks to meeting at The Citizen.

to see their ads before they are printed,” she said. “This is great, knowing they can approve their ads but also it offers them the chance to change them as well.”

While the technology proved a learning curve, it also proved a chance for the community to become even more involved with the newspaper, Dianne said.

“People wanting to submit pictures or news articles can do so now through e-mail and we, in turn, can send back proofs before publishing,” she said, adding that, without the technology, The Citizen might not have been able to be published throughout this year’s pandemic.

Both Dianne and Joan agreed that, while things are different now than they were 35 years, the goal of putting out a quality product has remained the same over the years, despite the challenges and changes.

Dianne said one of the biggest challenges was when Keith and Jill retired over the past several years.

“The retirement of Keith and Jill was hard for me,” she said. “I had worked with them for such a long time – they had become part of my

family. There were adjustments and emotions to deal with.”

Both Dianne and Joan say that working for The Citizen brought them one of the best aspects of their lives: their friendship. Both talk about how their friendship has bloomed over the years, including taking on activities together, travelling and just being there for each other.

“She is the best friend that anyone could have,” Joan said. “She is someone I can confide in and she helps me ‘weather the storms’ at work and outside the office.”

“Joan and I have gone through a lot of ups and downs in our lives, and I’m sure there are more to come,” Dianne said. “The love and support we have for each other will get us through it. I’m thankful for her every day.”

Both said they plan on staying at The Citizen for the future as long as they can continue to do the jobs they love. Dianne says the job gives her purpose after the passing of her husband Paul while Joan says that, throughout it all, North Huron Publishing Company is a family and she’s grateful to have a job she loves.

(Denny Scott photo)

Continued from page 23 and company as a whole could be.

“Pride and commitment [are what keep me here],” Dianne said. “Keith has always instilled in us [the desire] to produce a good quality, informative [and] truthful product that people want to read and, in turn, make the people proud too. It requires hard work, long hours and sacrifice.”

She said her family supported her through those long hours with love and encouragement, and said that being close to work was also a benefit over the years.

For Joan, it was carrying on the Roulstons’ dreams.

“I’d have to say it’s because of what Keith and Jill have started,” she said. “Their passion to put out a product of quality, that people would love to read, has been instilled in me as well. I love what I do and try to do the best I can.”

Joan went on to say she’s proud to be a part of The Citizen team because of how well it’s received.

Over the past 35 years, things have changed significantly at the newspaper, and both say one of the biggest changes has been computers, followed by Keith re-acquiring The Rural Voice.

Dianne said things were very different when she first started doing typesetting.

“When I started, everything was typed on the compugraphic machine - news from the correspondents, even editorial pieces - Keith would type out his news stories, editorials, etc. on his typewriter, edit them and then I would reset on the typesetting machine,” Dianne said. “It would go on to this photographic paper which would feed into a cassette (as it could not be exposed to light).

“You would type so long and then cut it off in the cassette and take it into the dark room and put it through a developer (which you hoped didn’t get stuck - otherwise you started all over again, which happened many times). Then it would be hung to dry and then put through a waxer and then laid out on waxed sheets to create the page,” she said. “Now, we do it all on computers. Most of the news copy and correspondents’ copy that I set comes by e-mail, so a lot of

the time it is copy, paste and format the page. The bulk of the typesetting I do is done on deadline day.”

Other parts of Dianne’s job have been modernized as well. She points to invoicing and bookkeeping, which was done on a typewriter or by hand, that is now all computerized.

Joan said she could fill an entire issue of The Citizen with the changes that have happened over the years, but said her biggest adjustment was when she returned to work after being on her second maternity leave.

“Not only did we have computers but we had The Rural Voice magazine,” she said.

Joan said she doesn’t always take to change right away, so it was chaotic for her.

“We had a lot of people crammed into a small space,” she said. “At that point, I personally didn’t have a lot to do with the magazine. They moved in with their own advertising production - we just had to stay out of the way more or less.”

Dianne agreed, saying that having The Rural Voice back and switching to computers provided a steep learning curve and several adjustments.

Joan said that, with people joining and leaving the company, a chance came for her to try her hand at advertising production for The Rural Voice, which she took on with Keith’s encouragement.

“This gave me the opportunity to have full-time work,” she said. “The magazine had a whole new setup to what the newspaper did, but I enjoyed setting advertisements for both publications and continue to do that to this day.”

She said that working on the two different publications provides two unique experiences, and, with technological improvements, preparing advertisements has become a much more streamlined process.

“The fact that we can produce an advertisement in way less time than 35 years ago has allowed customers

Happy Anniversary!

Thank you for 35 years of keeping the community informed

The Municipality of

MORRIS-TURNBERRY

Brussels Legion 218 We wish to thank The Citizen for 35 Years of community coverage

Congratulations and Best Wishes to The Citizen on 35 Years

401 Albert Street, Box 340 , Brussels, ON N0G 1H0 Phone: 519-887-6336 • Fax: 519-887-6438

www.riversidefuneralhome.ca

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 25.

Advertisers turn to ‘Citizen’ to support community

By Denny Scott The Citizen

While stories and photos are an important part of any newspaper, The Citizen included, there is a third, and just as important part of the paper that proves every week people are reading: advertising.

Over the past 35 years, The Citizen’s staff have had the honour and privilege of letting people know what’s going on not only in the news, but in the businesses and organizations around the community through advertising and partnerships.

To mark the 35th anniversary, The Citizen turned to some of the longtime advertisers and asked what kind of impact advertising has had on their organizations and businesses.

TOWNSEND TIRE Matt Townsend of M.G.M. Townsend Tire says that what initially drew the company to advertising in The Citizen is what’s kept it going for years: the fact that it is truly a small-town newspaper.

“That’s the biggest part,” he said.

“The people that read it, the people that advertise in it and the people that work for The Citizen are customers, and that kind of reciprocation is important in small towns.”

Townsend said that, for over 26 years, the company has turned to The Citizen for advertising not just because it’s geographically close, but because of the quality of the publication.

“Obviously it’s one of the most bustling newspapers around, we know that for sure,” he said. “It could even be the best in midwestern Ontario. We know that, between the readership and subscriptions, that are far better than other papers, we are getting a great value for what we give.”

The Townsend family and the business have also been featured in the paper with special milestones like a recent expansion in the business and its anniversary celebrations.

“We’re always surprised at the number of people at those events, and surprised at who turns out,” he said. “We credit it to advertising with the local paper.”

MCDONALD HOME HARDWARE McDonald Home Hardware in Brussels has been around, in one fashion or another, for far longer than The Citizen. The business celebrated its 90th anniversary last year, and Jennifer McDonald, who runs the business alongside the rest of her family, said the local support is what makes them a success and what makes their partnership with The Citizen a logical one.

“We stay with The Citizen because it’s our local newspaper and people still rely on the local paper and read it for their information,” she said.

“We want to be a part of the community, and The Citizen seems to be where the community gets its news.”

She said The Citizen’s involvement in events like the store’s recent anniversary is an important service to offer, recognizing the importance of longstanding businesses in the community.

The McDonald family have a collection of advertisements going back years, Jennifer said, that have been in The Citizen. She said that looking back and reflecting on those old advertisements helps to remember the past and show how things were.

BRUSSELS LEGION The Brussels Branch of the Royal

Canadian Legion and The Citizen have had a long-standing relationship since branch member Jo-Ann McDonald took over the Public Relations Officer (PRO) position for the Branch years ago.

“I became the PRO at the branch and shortly after attended a seminar about how to keep what was going on at the Legion in front of people,” she said. “Another PRO said they wrote a column in their local paper, so I thought that would be a good idea.

It wasn’t long before McDonald was penning “At the Branch”, which appears on the Brussels page of the paper, which is traditionally page 6.

“I started to do the column and, because we were doing more activities, we had to advertise what we’re doing.”

McDonald said that advertising was the way to get local people involved in programs at the Legion like fish fry dinners, dances, card games, Cadet meetings and the Brussels Pipe Band.

“If people don’t know how to come and join up, they can’t take part,” she said. “Putting it in the paper shows people who to contact.”

She said that, once she became PRO, announcing events in the

newspaper became the standard, and the relationship between the Brussels Branch and The Citizen helped to make sure that events were well-covered and well-attended.

HURON FEEDING SYSTEMS Jacquie Waechter of Huron Feeding Systems says the reasons her company advertises in The Citizen today is the same reason they started: community support.

“We started to help support a local business and to reach out to our local farmers, all within a half hour of here,” she said. “The reason we stay with The Citizen is to support a local business and the other businesses around.”

Waechter said that having a physical newspaper is something her family enjoys, especially a newspaper that’s local. She said that people save copies of the paper, especially special sections like The Citizen’s annual sports and farm sections, in which Huron Feeding Systems typically participates.

“It gets our name out and shows that we’re a part of the community,” she said, adding that people keep the special editions for years after they’ve been printed. “We’re in front of readers all the time thanks to that.”

Big events When it came time to mark their 20th anniversary in 2015, George and Matt Townsend of M.G.M. Townsend Tire both advertised and were featured in The Citizen, resulting in many people attending the event, Matt says. (File photo)

wishes to congratulate The Citizen on their 35th Anniversary Reaching out Whether it’s supporting local community efforts or letting people know about their own celebrations, the McDonald family of McDonald Home Hardware in Brussels turns to The Citizen to reach the communities they serve. (File photo)

519-523-9211 email:blythprint@ezlink.on.ca

Congratulations and Best Wishes for your 35th Anniversary

Open 7 days a week.

We have one of Ontario’s Largest Selection of Sheepskins, cowhide rugs, Canadian-made wool socks, Canadian-made leather jackets, leather bags, wallets & more at tannery outlet prices!

Come see us at Bainton’s Old Mill.

The Blyth BIA wishes to congratulate The Citizen on their 35th Anniversary

blythnow.ca Downtown Byth 519-523-4740 I baintons@tcc.on.ca

PAGE 26. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

Classified Advertisements – RATES – 20 words or less only $7.00 + HST. Additional words 20¢ each + HST. 50¢ will be deducted if ad is paid in advance

DEADLINE 2 p.m. Monday in Brussels 4 p.m. Monday in Blyth Phone 519-523-4792 or 519-887-9114 e-mail: info@northhuron.on.ca

Card of thanks Help wanted

In memoriam

Services

CHAMNEY. Thanks to everyone who sent cards, treats and get-well wishes, also everyone who helped during and since returning home from hospital. All the best. – Bud Chamney.

43-1p

WILSON. In loving memory of a dear husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather Jim who passed away Oct. 22, 2018.

I often lay awake at night, With tears upon my cheeks, Thinking of the happiness we once enjoyed.

But death has left a loneliness, The world can never fill, They say time will heal, But neither time or anything can change the way we feel.

And when my life is through, I pray God will take my hand and lead me straight to you.

– Loved and remembered, Thelma, Frank, Sharon and family.

43-1

FAXING SERVICE We can send or receive faxes for you for only $1.00 per page. The Citizen, 405 Queen St., Blyth. Phone 519523-4792. Fax 519-523-9140. tfn

Learn how to talk to others about their smoking.

PART-TIME PHARMACY ASSIStant wanted at Brussels Pharmacy, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday (approx. 20 hours). Please send résumé to brusselspharmachoice@ gmail.com 43-1 --------------------------------------------

TO L L - F R E E

1- 877- 513- 5333

Apartments for rent Help wanted FOR RENT

HELP WANTED

Belgrave

General Carpenter/Labourer

New seniors apartment, open concept living. One and half baths, two bedrooms, fireplace, air conditioning, garage and patio.

• Full time - Monday to Friday (8-10 hours/day) • Wage based on experience • G2 licence required with means of transportation to shop/jobsite daily

For more details call Kevin 519-357-5023

This job includes, but is not limited, to all aspects of interior finishing and exterior building and finishing. Being a licensed tradesperson is an asset but not a requirement.

Articles for sale GERBERS FIREWOOD SERVING you for over 10 years. Your number one source of quality slabwood and bodywood. Delivery available. No Sunday calls. 519-656-2057, 519441-2085.

01-50p -------------------------------------------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 519523-4792 or 519-887-9114. tfn -------------------------------------------THE CITIZEN IS AVAILABLE TO purchase at these locations – Auburn Co-op, Belgrave Variety, Blyth Variety, Blyth Food Market, Blyth Ultramar, Brussels Foodland, Brussels Variety, Clinton Convenience, Clinton Foodland, Dean’s Valu-Mart in Wingham, Wingham Mini Mart, Seaforth Foodland, GT Mini Mart in Seaforth, Fincher’s in Goderich and The Citizen Blyth.

Coming events THE WINGHAM COLUMBUS Centre would like to invite you to the next Famous Fish Fry – Take out Style! on Friday, Oct. 23 from noon to 7 p.m. Take out $16 – Your choice of grilled or battered white fish or chicken fingers, baked potatoes or fries and a dinner roll. Add a salad for $1.50 and/or a tart for $2, all taxes are included. Orders must be made in advance, payment by credit card or etransfer to wc1@bellnet.ca Pick-up times will be scheduled and all doors will be propped open and meals with names on them in the foyer. Also lots of made-fresh and then-frozen TV-style dinners $7 each and homemade soups 6 x 500mL for $20 available. Please call 519-357-1270 to order either. If no answer please leave a message and we will call back.

43-1

Citizen-To-Citizen “SWAP SHOP” ad “One person’s junk is another’s treasure” ➨ Free ad up to 25 words, person to person only (no businesses), items valued at $1,000 or less. Your ad will run three times unless it sells faster! ➨ The Citizen reserves the right to limit the number of items or ads per person.

Please email résumé and relevant experience including any training and certificates to:

devonjhenry@hotmail.com D J Henry Homes and Renovations is a small construction business that focuses on high performance to full passive house homes. An interest in this form of building is also an asset where attention to detail is a must.

Bookkeeper/ Payroll Clerk Brussels Agri Services Ltd. & Cowboy Loft in Brussels, Ontario is currently looking to hire a bookkeeper/payroll clerk to join their team in their fast pace agricultural business. This is a full time position. Some of the duties include all aspects of accounting from accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, fixed asset tracking, data entry and inventory monitoring. An excellent understanding of bookkeeping, debits, credits, payroll, HST, WSIB, clearing accounts and bank reconciliation are assets for the position. A positive, fun and energetic attitude is a must. If you have a strong ability to multi-task and prioritize work this is the job for you.

Requirements: Post-Secondary education in accounting, business or finance related is preferred

Call 519-523-4792 or email: info@northhuron.on.ca FOR SALE – several car covers for sale, cheap. Call Bud 519-5263331.

43-3 -----------------------------------------FOR SALE – four Cooper snow tires off 2015 Dodge Journey, 225/65R17, $200. 519-887-6605.

43-3 -----------------------------------------FOR SALE – used Stellato wheelchair, max. 250 lbs., thick cushioned, non-tilt back, $150.

519-357-6589.

43-3 -----------------------------------------FOR SALE – four Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires on rims, fit Chev Traverse or 6 stud G.M. Used one season. Price negotiable. 519357-3008.

42-3 ------------------------------------------

Minimum of 2 years bookkeeping experience in a fast paced environment Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written Ability to work with people in an effective, positive and tactful manner Highly organized with a strong attention to detail Strong computer literacy and skills Commitment to team work Vulnerable Sector Police Check required Compensation: Compensation is based on experience. We do offer a competitive wage and benefits.

Those interested please forward résumé to tim@brusselsagri.com Or deliver in person – see our store and meet some of our staff.

We thank everyone who applies, however, only those invited for an interview will be contacted.

Thinking about quitting?

TO L L - F R E E

1- 877- 513- 5333

All word ads in The Citizen classifieds are put on our webpage at

www.huroncitizen.ca

FOR SALE – four Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires 235/75 R16 on G.M. 6 stud 1/2T steel rims, 10/32" tread, $200. 519-526-7263. 43-3 -----------------------------------------FOR SALE - wood stove, asking $600. Phone 519-357-7131. 41-3 -----------------------------------------FOR SALE - infant/toddler girl’s clothes 6-24 months, $1 per item or make a deal. 519-357-2768. 41-3 -----------------------------------------FREE - white single bed headboard, footboard and side frames, box springs and beside table, 519-357-2768.

41-3 ------------------------------------------

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 27.

Belgrave Community Growing Project continues PEOPLE AROUND BELGRAVE

By Linda Campbell Call 357-2188

The Huron County Christmas Bureau is accepting financial donations only this year. Please make cheque payable to Family Assistance Fund. Donations can be mailed to Family Assistance Fund, c/o Huron-Perth Children’s Aid Society, 413 MacEwan Street, Goderich, ON N7A 4M1. Visa and Mastercard donations also accepted at 519-524-7356 or financial donations will be gratefully received

at the Maitland River Community Church, 414 Josephine Street, Wingham the week of Nov. 23 - 27.

Knox United Church received a letter from Henry Reinders, Ontario/Quebec Regional Representative for Canadian Foodgrains Bank. In March of this year he returned from a 10-day Foodgrains training tour in India. He says, “The desperation of the situation is hard to imagine. The

World Food Program says we may see the worst humanitarian food crisis since the Second World War�. “We remain truly grateful for the support you have provided and we stand with you in prayer as we all work to recover from this pandemic,� says Reinders.

It is harvest once again on the Belgrave Community Growing Project’s 20 acres of corn at George and Elizabeth Procter and volunteers will soon be preparing to make their annual contribution to the Foodgrains Bank. This has to be one of the most cost-effective outreach programs that we can participate in as a congregation. Because of the approximately 4:1 contribution of funds from the Government of Canada, International Development Agency, the project has to date contributed well over $1.5 million to help people less fortunate than those of us living in a land of plenty.

If you have not already done so, consider making a donation to the Community Growing Project. A cheque made out to Knox United Church, Belgrave indicating that it is for the Growing Project or Foodgrains Bank would be very

NEWS FROM BELGRAVE much appreciated. The volunteers welcome any and all who would like to give a helping hand to this worthwhile project. This can be your way of helping alleviate some of the misery and suffering in the world.

Thank you so much. Stay safe everyone and keep the faith.

A new way of reaching out The Belgrave Community Centre Board, in lieu of the annual fowl supper fundraiser, which was cancelled due to COVID-19, held a take-out meal over the weekend. The sold-out event saw people taking home half-chicken dinners, over 400 dinners in total. (John Stephenson photo)

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PAGE 28. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

Walton baseball diamond hosts mini-tournament PEOPLE AROUND WALTON

By Jo-Ann McDonald Call 887-6570

The days are flying by and it is hard to remember what day it is.

Holidays always throw me off but I love having a day off. We celebrated Thanksgiving on Sunday, so Monday was a free day for me. No bus, no hair, no phone ringing, no firm plans.

Looking around the house, there is always a job to be found. Some things are easy to put off and a holiday is a great day to catch up and get them done. Cleaning windows sounds like fun. Cleaning out the fridge… again! There are lots of things to do and Monday was a nice day.

Thanksgiving Sunday was a beautiful day for the celebration of love and the wedding for Evan Ducharme and Tori Hinschberger.

The small intimate ceremony was held outside and the dinner and reception inside a beautifully decorated tent. The parents of the bride are Nicole and Dale Jamieson and Robert Hinschberger and the groom’s parents Greg and Nanci Ducharme. The ceremony was followed by a great meal catered by chef Alex Petter, including delicious desserts and the amazing evening meal. It did get quite chilly, but the tent was cozy and warm. There was a big drive-by parade at 7 p.m. that totally surprised the bride and groom. Congratulations to Evan and Tori. The couple will reside in Brussels.

Our condolences are extended to Paul Elliott and family on the passing of his father Walter Elliott.

He will also be missed by Ruth, Barry, David and Karen and their families. Our sympathies to all.

Our condolences to Jayne Ross and family on the passing of her mother, Marie Phillips. She will also be missed by children Mary and John and their families. Marie lived in Wingham and was an active volunteer for many groups in town.

Our sympathies to all.

Things are a changing in Walton.

It was less than a week after two houses went up for sale in the village, that the sold signs appeared.

The Humphries house and the Brenie house will have new owners come the new year.

It was a 50/50 weekend for the farmers this past weekend. They had a good day on Saturday and many were going hard at the corn harvest, but the wet day on Sunday had many resting up until the weather cleared.

I did see on Saturday some folks busy spreading manure, plowing or harvesting cover crops. The last fields in my travel route of whites and soy beans have been combined.

Monday the rain had stopped and combines were in the field early, hoping to beat the impending evening rain.

The Walton ball park had a minitournament on Saturday. There were five teams that played a round-robin of games. It certainly was a cold morning, with frost on the field. It was cool playing during the day and then a very cold wind finished the day of play.

Seaforth folks will soon have their main street back. Sidewalks have been poured outside their businesses. There is still some

paving to be done, but things are moving along. Brussels folks can relate after having their main street torn up a few years back.

The Goderich-to-Guelph Rail Trail (G2G) has certainly been a busy trail being used by I would say hundreds of people. Every day there are cars parked at the Walton start of the trail and on Thanksgiving weekend, the lot was full. Chris Lee has become an avid user of the trail and on the beautiful Thanksgiving weekend he rode most of the trail.

He rode to Goderich and back to Walton on Saturday and then on Sunday he rode to Guelph and headed back to Walton.

Judy met him in Linwood for a short break. He battled strong winds and a sore butt, but he carried on.

Awesome for a man of his age, which I will not give away, but he keeps himself in great shape and eats healthily. Personally, I am quite pleased to be able to walk three miles a day with my friend Marni.

We walked the trail last March and April and look forward to walking it again in late fall and early winter on the windy days. On either side of Walton, the trail is fairly protected

from the winds, so it is great to walk there.

Celebrating birthdays this past week include Jim McDonald, Owen Taylor, Randy Fraser, Sarah Grobbink, Jessica Kelso, Mary Helen McLachlan, Chase Grobbink, Harper Lee, Bryan Kelso and Ron McCallum.

NEWS FROM WALTON

Obituaries DOROTHY EMMALINE ELLIOTT Dorothy Emmaline Elliott (née Peck), formerly of Blyth, passed away peacefully on Oct. 11 in Guelph. She was 99.

Dorothy (Dot) was raised on a shorthorn cattle farm on the Babylon Line west of Varna. During her 62 years of marriage to her beloved and devoted husband Frank, Dorothy was a resident of Blyth, where they raised their four children: Ron Elliott (Gail), Bobcaygeon; Bruce Elliott (Brenda), Guelph; Pat Elliott, London and Lynn Elliott, Toronto, all of whom deeply loved and cherished their mother every single day.

Dorothy was predeceased by her loving husband, Frank (2005) and by her sweet grandson, Greg (2019).

She was also predeceased by her brothers: Bob, Harold and Jack, and her sister Marion.

Dorothy was very generous with her time and experience and was extremely resourceful. She imparted many essential lifelong skills to each and every one of her children, all of whom have indelible memories of her kindness, patience and compassion.

Dorothy was a loving and caring grandma of her 10 grandchildren: Rebecca, Jenny (Scott), Geoffrey (Stacey), James (Christy), Bryce (Cathy), Daniel (Holly), Andrew (Sabrina), Gregory, Jacquelyn (Trevor) and Graham (Nikki).

Dorothy was also blessed with 18 wonderful great-grandchildren:

Kathryn, Jason, Brody, Dylan, Sadie, Eliza, Mya, Alex, Gavin, Fiona, Taylor, Breanna, Lucas, Adalyn, Myla, Rhys, Theo and Regan.

Dorothy embraced gardening with a genuine passion. Many a pleasurable hour was spent planting and hoeing, and then harvesting a variety of vegetables, some of which were unique to the everyday garden.

Dorothy was also very active in the village of Blyth for many years, performing countless enjoyable hours of volunteer work for the United Church Women and the Order of the Eastern Star. During her early married years, she was instrumental in forming a local bridge club of eight ladies who, for decades, met, dealt, played cards and laughed a lot.

Throughout Dorothy and Frank’s life together, they travelled to many faraway countries, and in later years they especially enjoyed their winters in Florida.

It is with heartfelt sadness and loving gratitude of her life with us and the many gifts she gave us that we lay our mother to rest beside our father at the Blyth Union Cemetery.

A private family service has been held. Funeral arrangements were entrusted to, and beautifully conducted by, Neil Elliott and Kelly Elliott of Elliott-Madill Funeral Home, Mount Brydges.

ELIZABETH (BETH) DOROTHY McCAULEY Elizabeth “Beth” Dorothy

McCauley passed away at Braemar Nursing Home in Wingham on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, just three days shy of her 61st birthday.

Beth was born on Oct. 18, 1959 in Seaforth. She was a valued member of Community Living in Wingham and will be missed by all her friends there as well as the staff and residents of Braemar Nursing Home in Wingham.

Private arrangements have been entrusted to McBurney Funeral Home, Wingham. Final resting place is at Wingham Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations to Community Living Wingham and District, or Braemar Residents Council would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy.

Online condolences may be left at www.mcburneyfuneralhome.com

MARIE PHILLIPS The family of Marie Phillips is saddened to announce her passing on Oct. 15, 2020. We were blessed to have a wonderful, loving mother.

Nellie Marie Swan was born on Dec. 22, 1924 in Ashfield Township to Jack and Lena (England) Swan.

She was one of seven children. At the age of 14, she ventured to Wingham to get a job. She was a waitress at Howard and Effie Sherbondy’s restaurant and then a housekeeper for Mrs. Adam Johnston on Victoria Street.

Marie met Leonard John Phillips, a young man from West Wawanosh Township, and they were married on

July 25, 1945. They were blessed with three children: Mary, John, and Jayne.

She and Leonard purchased 131 Diagonal Road in July, 1952 and Marie continued to live there after Leonard’s passing until September, 2008. Marie loved her blue home and worked extremely hard to make it a welcoming place for her family and friends. She was a very good cook and good with her hands; knitting, sewing and quilting were her favourite crafts.

Marie devoted her time and talents to her community and church. She was a volunteer with the Wingham and District Hospital Auxiliary for over 60 years. In 1995, she received a Life Membership to the Ontario Hospital Auxiliary at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto.

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Wingham was Marie’s second home. She served on the Board of Managers and was president of Goforth WMS and the Ladies Aid. Marie loved to have good fun with a wide circle of friends. She and Leonard would go dancing on Saturday nights and, in later years, they curled and made more good friends there. She loved to play any kind of cards, though Bridge was her favourite. After Leonard passed in 2003, she often played three to four times a week. Her fun-loving nature made her overbid hands but she quite often would make her contract.

She leaves her children: Mary and Murray McLean, Wingham; John and Margot Phillips, Cobourg; and Jayne Ross and Keith White, Brussels. She is survived by 11 grandchildren and 20 greatgrandchildren. She is also survived by her sisters, Dorothea Craig and Betty Cook, sister-in-law Eleanor Swan, and many nieces and nephews. She will be lovingly remembered by Annette Solly and Eric Ross.

She is predeceased by Leonard, her husband of 57 years, her parents,

siblings Harry Swan, Iona Middleton, William Swan and Robert Swan, brothers-in-law, Harry Middleton, Willis Craig and Ivan Cook and sisters-in-law Margaret Swan and Donna Swan.

The family would like to thank the staff at Nine Mile Villa in Lucknow for their care and friendship during her five years there and also the staff of Braemar Nursing Home for their care and support during the past 10 months.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, a private service was held at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Wingham on Saturday, Oct. 17. Rev. Larry Skinner officiated. A recording of the service is available on the funeral home website.

Interment will take place at Wingham Cemetery.

The family gratefully declines flowers; however, if you wish to make a donation in memory of Marie, donations to St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Wingham or the Wingham and District Hospital would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy.

Online condolences may be left at www.mcburneyfuneralhome.com

STRATFORD MEMORIALS Creating Memories in Stone for Over 95 years

We are now open but by appointment only and following government recommended protocols to ensure the safety of all visitors and our staff. Please call or email us to set up an appointment.

519-524-8457 email: mfalconer@stratfordmemorials.com

Goderich/Clinton Michael Falconer Memorial Counsellor www.stratfordmemorials.com

THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 29.

From the Minister’s Study

The ‘sweet and sour’ nature of grace: Ireland

By Rev. Charmila Ireland Melville Presbyterian Church, Brussels Grace is a beautiful thing. It’s the foundation upon which Christians rest our salvation – the unmerited, undeserved, unearned love that God has for us. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

That’s why I find it interesting that the parable in Matthew 20:1-16 about wonderful, sweet grace can have us puckering our cheeks thanks to the sour parts.

In it, Jesus shares a parable with the disciples that I’m pretty sure was designed to make them uncomfortable; make them question their preconceived notions of salvation and their own importance.

Jesus says to them, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.”

About 9 a.m. he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, “You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went.

He went out again about noon and about 3 p.m. and did the same thing.

About 5 p.m. he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, “Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?”

“Because no one has hired us,” they answered.

He said to them, “You also go and work in my vineyard.”

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, “Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.”

The workers who were hired at about 5 p.m. came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. “These who were hired last worked only one hour,” they said, “and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.”

But he answered one of them, “I am not being unfair to you, friend.

Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I

Applications now open United Way Perth-Huron (UWPH) is accepting funding applications for the Emergency Community Support Fund (ECSF) Round 2 until Oct. 30, 2020. The fund continues to provide financial support to charities and other qualified donees adapting their frontline services to support vulnerable Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Government of Canada has released this balance of funding for ECSF and it is being administered in collaboration with United Way Centraide Canada, Community Foundations of Canada and the Canadian Red Cross.

UWPH is proud to support this important additional investment into our local communities.

“I am very pleased the application process for the second round of funding for The Emergency Community Support Fund has opened,” said John Nater, MP for Perth-Wellington. “This funding will allow the United Way PerthHuron to deliver much-needed support to the local organizations that continue to offer essential goods and services to the most vulnerable in our communities. Thank you to all who are working tirelessly to provide critical resources for those who have been disproportionately

impacted by COVID-19.”

The ECSF continues to provide financial support to charities and other qualified donees providing frontline services to support vulnerable Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic including low-income seniors, women, Continued on page 30

want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

It is an interesting and challenging parable. Jesus is trying to get under our skin and make us uncomfortable.

It’s an easy story to understand. The landowner – a stand-in for God – hires some people to work for him.

First are the go-getters. The ones who are up and searching for work at the crack of dawn. These are the type of unemployed people that society likes best. They’re easy to sympathize with because they’re out there doing the best they can.

They’re ambitious and they work hard for the whole day for a denarius.

Then you’ve got the middle of the pack, hired at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. Maybe they had some commitments in the morning that stopped them from being there at the crack of dawn, but they still got out there and found a job then worked hard.

Now here’s the sour part – the loafers who were hired at 5 p.m. with only an hour left until quitting time. Why weren’t they already working? “No one hired us,” they said. But it seems as if the landowner hired everyone who was there earlier in the day, so they must not have been there.

If we’re charitable, we might assume they were caring for a sick relative. If we’re uncharitable, we might think that they were sleeping off the night before. Or maybe they were only pretending to want a job

The Regional Ministry of Hope See our Facebook page 10:30 a.m. on Sundays for a live broadcast of our service.

Rev. JoAnn Todd, Rector 519-357-7781 email: revjoann@hurontel.on.ca The­Regional­Ministry­of­ Hope

This Sunday we look forward to worship with Alex Jebson via YouTube “Brussels and Blyth United Churches” Contact Alex at minister.brusselsandblythuc@gmail.com Keep Safe. Be Kind.

Brussels Mennonite Fellowship Praise God — Our Worship Service has resumed (Covid safety protocols are in place) BMF Mission = our church exists to GROW in the teachings of Jesus to LIVE by His example, and to CONNECT people to Him

Worship Service at 10:00 am

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Services are live streamed and can be watched by searching “Blyth Christian Reformed Church”

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loafers got a denarius for their measly one hour of work, then surely they were going to get a solid bonus! It’s only right, after all. They worked at least 10 times as long.

But then… they get the exact same pay as those lazy schlubs! Only one denarius! Sure, that’s what they were promised, but still! It’s not fair!

The landowner answers kindly but firmly, “I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?” Indeed they had. They got exactly what they agreed to work for. Him giving more to the ones who only worked part of the day didn’t technically take anything away from them, it just seemed like it. The grace that the landowner had for the end-of-dayers came across as pretty sour to the early-risers.

St. Paul’s Trinity, Wingham and Trinity, Blyth are now open - join us this Sunday for worship

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and figured if they showed up late enough, they wouldn’t actually have to work. If so, it didn’t work. The landowner scoops them up and they work for a grand total of one hour.

Then it comes to be quitting time and the landowner is very particular about how he pays: those who came last get paid first. They get a denarius – the standard wage for a day. What a sweet deal for them! A whole day’s pay for one hour’s work! Not too many people would turn that down. They go on their merry way, happy as lazy clams because they hit the jackpot of labour versus reward.

So now the early-risers, the hardworkers, the ambitious ones are excited too. They’re probably thinking that if those no-good, lazy

Come and join Alex Wednesday mornings at 10 am for our “Visit in the Garden” Bring your lawn chair and enjoy a social distance visit.

Contact Alex at minister.brusselsandblythuc@gmail.com DRIVE-THRU FALL SUPPER COMING OCTOBER 17

Facebook: Blyth and Brussels United Churches blythunited@tcc.on.ca ~ 519-523-4224

Worship indoors at 9:30 am Please wear a mask and use the sanitizer at the door Virtual worship still available each week at "St. Andrew's and Melville Sermon" on Youtube.

Brussels Soup and More 2 is cancelled until further notice.

519-357-5273

THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH

OUR CHURCHES HAVE RE-OPENED. WELCOME BACK. Brussels: St. Ambrose Saturday ~ 6:00 p.m.

17 Flora Street Wingham: Sacred Heart Sunday ~ 9:00 a.m.

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

1025 Wallace Avenue N. Facebook: Search for St. Joseph/Sacred Heart/St. Ambrose Live Sunday Mass, Sundays at 10:00 a.m.

PAGE 30. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

United Way funds available to region

Being generous The Wingham Hospital Auxiliary recently purchased pillows, bedding, shower curtains, towels, curtains, curtain rods and other household items to update two houses owned by the auxiliary.

The houses are used for locum doctors, visiting medical students or prospective doctors. The purchase was made at Red Apple in order to keep the auxiliary’s money local, which was supported by the business, which donated some of the items. (Photo submitted)

Continued from page 29 children and youth, persons with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ2S+ community, refugees, Indigenous peoples, members of racialized communities and more.

Types of services and activities eligible for funding include, but are not limited to preparing and delivering meals and/or food hampers, mental health and wellness support, access to safe transportation for essential appointments and errands, community outreach and engagement and developing and/or delivering new programs, services or delivery models due to the pandemic.

“United Way Perth-Huron is proud to support this important additional investment by the Government of Canada in critical services for vulnerable populations in our communities,” added UWPH

Executive Director Ryan Erb. “The need is still great across our region — I know these funds will be used well.”

To apply, organizations should visit the UWPH website at perthhuron.unitedway.ca. Deadline for applications is 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30. Direct questions can be sent to Megan Partridge, Director Governance and Community Impact by e-mail at mpartridge@ perthhuron.unitedway.ca or by phone at 519-271-7730.

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020. PAGE 31.

County seeks input on vacant property tax The County of Huron is seeking public feedback related to the property tax treatment of unimproved commercial and industrial land. Those wishing to provide input on these matters may complete an online survey and submission form prior to Oct. 26, 2020.

Unimproved commercial and industrial property, or portions of

property that qualify to be included in one of the following property subclasses are currently subject to a reduced tax rate for municipal purposes: • Vacant Land sub-classes capture properties included in one of the commercial or industrial classes, but which have no assessable improvements (buildings) on them whatsoever

• Excess Land sub-classes apply to portions of improved property that is not improved and is in excess of the amount of land required to support the existing buildings under municipal planning rules.

Since 2017, the provincial government has provided municipalities with broad flexibility to tailor the treatment of these vacant and excess lands in response to local

circumstances. The County intends to seek permission to eliminate the tax rate discount percentage for vacant and excess land. This change would mirror the treatment to be applied for the provincial education portion of the tax bill for which no discount is provided as of 2020.

Unimproved land would continue to be subject to comparable lands with buildings on them, because the property values (current value assessment) would be lower. That is, a one-acre property with a building will be valued higher, and pay higher taxes than a neighbouring vacant lot of the same size.

“As the county considers eliminating sub-class discounts for vacant or excess land, it is important that we’re able to engage with our

citizens and understand the impact of this decision,’ said Michael Blumhagen, Treasurer and Director of Corporate Services. “I am eager to hear from members of the public and their perspective on this matter.”

Input regarding the potential implications of these changes is being sought from landlords, business owners and members of the general public and will inform the final decision making process.

Interested parties are encouraged to submit a formal survey and comment form, which is available at https://connectedcountyofhuron.ca/ property-tax-treatment-of-vacantcommercial-and-industrial-land.

For more information on this initiative, contact Blumhagen, at mblumhagen@huroncounty.ca.

Pair charged with theft Huron County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has laid charges against two Huron County residents after they were caught shoplifting in Wingham on Oct. 14.

At approximately 12:39 p.m. that day, Huron OPP officers were dispatched to attend a pharmacy located on Josephine Street to investigate a complaint of shoplifting.

Officers arrived on scene and upon reviewing the store video surveillance footage, officers formed grounds to arrest the pair for shoplifting articles from the store. It didn't take officers long to locate the pair, as they were standing across the street from the pharmacy.

Both suspects were arrested and it turned out they were both on court

Heading to the barn Hockey players across the area are getting ready for a return to the ice, including the Seaforth U9 squad shown practising above over the weekend. (Jim Stephenson photo)

Letter to the Editor Local staging Goderich protest THE EDITOR, I have been waiting for over seven years to have my house fixed after a windstorm on or about July 7, 2013 to buildings at 83408 London Road. I have been living in and out of homeless shelters for the last six years in Ontario at a larger cost to taxpayers and nonprofits than it would have cost to

fix the house seven years ago.

I am camping out in front of the insurance office in Goderich during the day to protest lack of action and I am pushing for the insurance company to repay the cost to the non-profits and others for the money spent in the last six years and currently being spent to keep me in a hotel until the

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I am also pushing for the Ontario Government to provide an insurance option with a subsidy on insurance costs.

Stephen Webster.

conditions of release to not be in each other’s company. Furthermore, one of the accused had outstanding warrants from other police services.

A 35 year-old-male from Central Huron has been charged with Theft Under $5,000, Fail to Comply with a Release Order and Fail to Comply with a Probation Order. He was later released from custody with a court date scheduled for Nov. 23 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Goderich.

A 39-year-old female of no fixed address has been charged with Theft Under $5,000, Fail to Comply with Undertaking and Disobeying Court Order. She was released on Huron County OPP's charges with a court date for Nov. 23 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Goderich.

Happy 60th Anniversary Ross and Wilma Higgins October 22 With love from Bruce and Donna and our families

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PAGE 32. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020.

Seaforth mural, alley project nearing completion

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

Quite the canvas Goderich’s Tova Hasiwar has been working on a mural as part of the Seaforth alley beautification project. The mural, alongside other projects, were designed to draw residents into the back alleys of the community’s main street during road work. (Deb Sholdice photo)

Snow contractors not applying to H. East

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

problem to get worse, saying that larger businesses like Lavis Contracting Co. Ltd., for example, may be able to pay the higher premiums, but smaller operators with one or two contracts per year, simply can’t afford the cost of doing business with these increased costs.

He said that while the new system actually shouldn’t cost the municipality any more than the contract had previously, it will drastically increase the amount of internal administrative work for his department.

As for the future, Mills isn’t sure how things will change. Things will continue to get harder for smaller municipalities needing snow removal, he said, unless the insurance companies are able to adjust their premiums so as to not drive smaller contractors out of the business of bidding on municipal snow removal contracts.

Huron East is having trouble attracting snow removal contractors and Public Works Manager Barry Mills thinks this is a problem that will get worse before it gets better.

Late last month, Mills told Huron East Council there were no takers on a tender for snow removal using a grader in the north patrol of the municipality, leaving Mills with a problem to solve. The municipality needs snow removal, but with no one willing to do the job, he had to think outside the box and present council with alternatives.

He proposed renting a grader for the duration of the winter and hiring an operator to do the job and council accepted his recommendation without anywhere else to turn.

Mills told councillors that due to rising insurance premiums associated with municipal snow removal contracts, many of the smaller contractors are simply unable to do the job at a competitive price any longer.

Furthermore, Mills told council that finding qualified employees to operate these machines is getting harder, which makes life even more difficult for these smaller contracting organizations.

In an interview with The Citizen, Mills said he’s unsure of why the insurance premiums have been increasing so dramatically in this particular sector, but he doesn’t expect the problem to get better anytime soon.

Huron East, he said, traditionally issues five snow removal contracts Tova Hasiwar of Goderich has been every winter. This is now working on a large art piece in down to four because of Seaforth: a mural on the side of a the contract that received building designed to beautify the no bidders earlier this alleys behind the community’s main year.

Mills expects the street. (Deb Sholdice photo)

Beautification

A project to beautify an alley in Seaforth is drawing to a close with Goderich-area artist Tova Hasiwar’s mural being painted as one of the final stages of the project.

Huron East Economic Development Officer Jan Hawley started the project earlier this year.

By drawing attention to and beautifying the alley, she was hoping to help drive people to their local Seaforth businesses during the main street construction this summer. However, the project would soon become two-pronged, with the COVID-19 pandemic further endangering local businesses.

Hawley, along with many local volunteers and artists, has worked to improve the condition of the alley, which wasn’t great when she began. However, in the months since, she has worked to clean up the alley and implement several art pieces, repurposing old bicycles and window frames and even a vintage phone booth, courtesy of Tuckersmith

Communications Co-operative Ltd. The mural is now underway and a promotional video has been produced, entitled “Looking Out My Back Door” to encourage shoppers and merchants to shift their business to the back doors of their shops in order to escape the extensive construction on the town’s main street.

The virtual premiere of the video will be hosted by Dr. Chris Cooper and Hawley on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. The Zoom event is limited to 90 attendees, so to pre-register, e-mail Hawley at jhawley@huroneast.com.

Submit an entry to The Citizen’s Halloween Costume contest, open to both people and pets. Send your photos to The Citizen on Facebook or reporter@northhuron.on.ca

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OUT OF THE BLUE: Further Discoveries in Huron County History The second book written by David Yates is an eclectic collection of stories about Huron County’s people, places and events between 1884 and 1939. This volume covers an era just before the social welfare state that emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War. $25.00

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