The Citizen - October 13, 2023

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Friday, October 13, 2023

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Volume 39 No. 41

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Citizens rally for care in Seaforth

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

Skipping the dishes Cooking and baking are both difficult and timeconsuming, which is why a number of Brussels residents opted to let the Brussels United Church and its volunteers do the hard work for them this Thanksgiving, by way of the church’s annual Thanksgiving bake sale. As soon as the doors opened

at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, the church basement was full of tasty treats and people looking to buy said tasty treats and leave the pie-making to the professionals, including newlyminted Brussels Ward Huron East Councillor Jeff Newell, front, past Citizen of the Year Award winner Elaine Armstrong, behind, and more. (John Stephenson photo)

Ironmen losing skid hits four games

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen After another winless weekend, extending their losing streak to four games, the Wingham Ironmen are now in sixth place in the North Pollock Division of the Provincial Junior Hockey League.

The Ironmen sit with a record of 3-4-1-0 and seven points, just above the seventh-place Mitchell Hawks with a record of 2-4-2-0 and six points and the Goderich Flyers, who picked up their first win of the season, who now have a record of 1-6-0-0 and two points.

The Hanover Barons are in first place with an undefeated record of 7-0-0-1 and 15 points, followed by the Walkerton Capitals in second place with 13 points and a record of 6-1-1-0, the third-place Kincardine Bulldogs with a record of 4-2-1-1 and 10 points, the Mount Forest Patriots in fourth place with nine points and a record of 4-2-1-0 and

the fifth-place Fergus Whalers with eight points and a record of 2-2-2-2.

To begin the weekend, the Ironmen lost to the Mount Forest Patriots in overtime on Friday night in Wingham by a score of 2-1. The teams exchanged goals in the second period to send the game into overtime - Austin Becker scored for the Ironmen at 13:48, assisted by Ethan Smith and Josh Pham, while Will Lewis potted the Patriots’ goal at 17:19, assisted by Brody Leblanc and Owen Tovell - where Jaxon Gawel won it for Mount Forest, scoring an unassisted goal at 3:42 of the extra frame.

Garrett Golley stopped 27 of the 29 shots he faced all game for the Ironmen for the overtime loss, while Michael Purkhart won the game for Mount Forest, stopping 26 of 27 shots.

The only two penalties called in the first period were against the Patriots, with Reid Caswell being called for interference at 5:21 and

Charlie Mckenzie called for holding at 16:17. Mckenzie found himself in the penalty box again at 1:24 of the second period for crosschecking, followed by two Ironmen penalties - a holding call against Josh Dales at the eight-minute mark and a charging call against Josh Pham at 10:44.

Darcy Scott of the Ironmen received a double-minor, fourminute penalty for spearing just 17 seconds into the third period.

Jordan Leitch of the Patriots was then called for hooking at 6:16 of the third period, followed by an interference call against Will Lewis of Mount Forest at 14:34 of the third period.

Mount Forest’s Aaron McGuirk and Wingham’s Austin Becker exchanged penalties at 17:22 of the third - holding for McGuirk and roughing for Becker - before Jaxon Gawel was called for boarding at 18:27 of the third, just five minutes before he would eventually win the

game for the Patriots with his third goal of the season.

The next night, in Kincardine, overtime wasn’t needed as the Bulldogs shut out the Ironmen by a score of 3-0.

Trent Houghton scored the first goal of the game, finding the back of the net for the Bulldogs at 19:26 of the first period, assisted by Jordan Beisel and Kieran Moore.

Nolan MacKinnon would then score his first goal of the season at 8:16, assisted by Jordan Moulton and Kyle Dolmage, followed by an empty-net goal scored by Gavin Downs, his fourth of the season, at 18:06, assisted again by Moulton.

Joseph Pringle of the Bulldogs was assessed a cross-checking penalty just as the game started, followed by a high-sticking call against Darcy Scott of the Ironmen at 11:01 of the first and a boarding penalty called against Kincardine’s Continued on page 8

A passionate group of supporters is working to keep long-term care alive in Seaforth, appealing to Huron East Council to do the same and do everything in its power to ensure that a local long-term care option remain in the town.

The group, led by Joyce Ribey and supported by dozens , spoke to Huron East Council at its Oct. 3 meeting after the issue had been discussed both by council and at meetings of concerned citizens of Seaforth for months.

Councillors were again divided as to how involved in the process they can get. On one hand, Southbridge Care Homes is a private business that can operate as it pleases, suggested Mayor Bernie MacLellan, but other councillors, such as Ray Chartrand and John Steffler, felt like having a long-term care home in the community is akin to economic development and should be pursued to make the town as attractive to potential residents as possible.

Conversation quickly returned to the previously-discussed five acres of land adjacent to the Seaforth hospital, which has been pitched as a potential location for a new longterm care home. However, as MacLellan pointed out, someone has to want to build it.

It has been floated as an option, with donation of the land being possible for a healthcare-related facility, but a number of agreements would have to be in place before something could be confirmed.

Those in attendance were also concerned with what they perceived to be the provincial government not following its own rules. In order to move long-term care beds, public consultation is listed as a mandatory step and both the group and council contend that that has yet to happen, with plans already in place to move the beds to a yet-to-be-constructed new facility in Exeter.

Chartrand said that residents and employees had been left in the dark, let alone councillors and members of the community. Will the current employees be offered employment at the new facility? he asked, adding that many questions within the community remain unanswered.

Steffler was insistent that courting a long-term care home for Seaforth was the very definition of economic Continued on page 2

PAGE 2. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023.

Anderson wants staff out of BIA

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

A good start The U13 C Huron Heat welcomed the Twin Centre Hericanes to Clinton on Sunday for a contest at the Central Huron Community Complex. It proved to be the perfect start to the regular season for the locals, who won the game by a score of 6-3. Surely there is plenty of optimism ahead for the 2023/2024 season. (John Stephenson photo)

Residents want council’s help Continued from page 1 development and that council needed to get involved. First, he suggested reaching out to HuronBruce MPP and Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Lisa Thompson to discuss what’s going on in Seaforth.

He said that, as elected officials representing the community, they owed it to residents to get the ball rolling. If council waits until 2025, when the home is slated for closure, he said, it will be far too late.

Chief Administrative Officer Brad McRoberts then chimed in,

saying he was receiving conflicting direction on the topic. He felt that when he got involved with the Seaforth Community Development Trust and a community group working on offering up the aforementioned five acres of land, that he was essentially told that it would be better if the municipality wasn’t involved.

Councillors felt that wasn’t necessarily the case, but that a number of ducks needed to be in a row before formal discussion could be had and offers could be made.

MacLellan again pushed back on the idea that the municipality

should be actively recruiting industry, which he called “looking for smokestacks” as a strategy to attract industry to a community. It’s rarely successful, he said, and it would require an entirely new person to be hired by the municipality, as that is not the mandate of the current economic development officer.

While council still was unsure of what could be done at the municipal government level in this situation, council directed staff to reach out to Thompson, as well as Minister of Long-Term Care Stan Cho as a starting point.

Central Huron Deputy-Mayor Marg Anderson wants the municipality to get out of the Business Improvement Area (BIA) business, suggesting that staff support be ceased and the BIA be left to stand on its own two feet.

Anderson raised the topic at council’s Tuesday night meeting, asking that staff stop attending BIA meetings and providing office support for the group, which has been ongoing since former Chair Sandy Garnett passed away. She said she felt it was important that municipal staff “step back and let [the BIA] do it.”

She made the case that, while the BIA is important, especially for the downtown core of Clinton, there are many other businesses throughout Central Huron, on country roads and in smaller communities such as Holmesville, Auburn and Londesborough, that are just as important, but do not receive support from the BIA. Chief Administrative Officer Steve Doherty chimed in, saying that, of course, staff would follow the direction of council, but the issue had been further complicated recently. The BIA’s treasurer, he said, will be stepping down and the BIA has asked for help from Central Huron Treasurer Jeff Boyes.

Furthermore, the chair has asked that staff attend one more meeting to assist with the transition before releasing the BIA out into the wild.

Boyes said that paying the BIA’s bills and assisting with its treasury needs is not onerous and takes him about five or six hours per month, perhaps even less.

Even so, Anderson still felt that staff should take a step back from the BIA. Official direction, however, was not given. *** Anderson expressed her concern about pooling water on Allboro Line just south of Blyth, which has just been paved in recent years.

She said she had received some calls about the road and its dangerous nature after rain events and especially at night, so she drove it herself and could confirm what she had been told. She asked staff if the road was slated for further paving or repair and, if so, when.

Roads Manager Brady Nolan said the road wasn’t slated for work in regards to time, but that, due to those concerns, it should certainly be investigated further during the next round of paving. *** Anderson also asked if staff had considered any further work on the basketball court in Auburn, which has fallen into disrepair.

She said that Ashfield-ColborneWawanosh (ACW) Council has always been good to work with on projects in Auburn and she felt that the Auburn Lions Club would be willing to assist with such a project.

She and Nolan both noted that the court was listed as a point of concern during council’s recent road and facilities tour and that something should be done.

Staff said that prices are currently being investigated for installed, steel basketball nets, noting that the previous nets were not strong enough. The municipality had provided hockey nets and basketball nets and vandals had used the hockey nets to reach and pull down the basketball nets, so something stronger was needed.

Staff said they were investigating costs and would report back to council.

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On the schneid The Wingham Ironmen have had two consecutive bad weekends in Provincial Junior Hockey League play, losing now four games in a row, which has dropped them into sixth place in the league’s North Pollock Division. Above, the Ironmen welcomed the Mount Forest Patriots to Wingham on Friday night, but lost the game by a score of 2-1 in a game that needed overtime to decide a winner. (John Stephenson photo)

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023. PAGE 3.

No batteries required!

Glimpses of the Past with Karen Webster

furniture business in Wingham in 1907, Henry Trevett lived in Appleton in the state of New York where he ran a fruit farm, returning to Lucknow in his later years. His death, at age 63 in 1916, was the result of pneumonia and he was laid to rest in Greenhill Cemetery.

Another popular non-electronic pastime is that of crokinole. A crokinole board measuring approximately 26 inches (66 centimetres) in diameter, is also made of wood, but in a circular form. The central playing area is divided into four quadrants, from where opponents use a finger and thumb to flick wooden buttons into a recessed centre hole. Placing one’s button into this hole earns the shooter 20 points. Surrounding the 20 point centre are several pegs that serve to deflect incoming buttons and, likely, to infuriate the hapless shooter. Concentric rings out from the middle are scored in decreasing amounts from 15, 10 and down to five.

The object of the game is to place one’s buttons in the centre and throughout the board to get as high a score as possible at the same time as dispatching the opponent’s buttons.

One catch to the play is that if an opponent’s button is on the board, the shooter’s button must make contact, either directly or indirectly, (if not knock it off the board) to count. If it does not do so, that

button is removed from play. Players take turns shooting their buttons and when all are in play, the 20 scoring buttons are replaced in the centre.

Players cancel out each other’s buttons and the one with a score left counts that number of that round. A score of 100 wins the game. Play is possible with either two or four opponents. One form of this game uses short cue sticks to hit the buttons into play.

Crokinole is believed to resemble games such as karoom and pitchnut.

The earliest known crokinole board was made in Ontario in 1875 by Eckhardt Wettlaufer of Perth County, who made it for his fiveyear-old son’s birthday. This board is on display in the Joseph Schneider Haus in Kitchener, Ontario. In New York State, in 1880, a man by the name of M. B. Ross patented the crokinole board. Whether Wettlaufer and Ross were known to each other or had ever met has been lost with the passage of time.

Unlike Trevett, which had limited production, the game of crokinole has lasted through the years. There is even a World Crokinole Championship, which is held in Tavistock on the first Saturday in June each year and offers almost $7,000 in prize money.

Games like Trevett and crokinole engage people in social interaction, involve moderate exercise and never need recharging.

One of the remarkable things about growth in grace (Todd Nibert) “Oh what a wretched man I am!” Romans 7:24 One of the remarkable things about growth in grace is that the more you grow—the smaller you become in your own eyes.

In the first epistle Paul ever wrote, he was “the least of all apostles.”

Fancy a game of Trevett? One of the game’s unique boards is seen above

T

his past Thanksgiving weekend, our teenaged grandsons challenged the older males in the family to a few games of Trevett. The bragging rights seesawed back and forth between youthful prowess and experienced consideration, with both sides ultimately declaring themselves as the winners.

What is Trevett you ask? It is a tabletop board game that uses cue sticks, about three feet (90 centimetres) long, and wooden buttons, such as those used in the game of crokinole. The wooden board measures 18 by 48 inches (45 x 120 centimetres) with a one-inch (2.5-centimetre) raised wooden rim around three sides.

Each player starts a round with 12 wooden buttons. The first player places a button on a circle that is six inches from the shooting end and strikes the button with his cue. Play alternates between players until all buttons are used. To make things a bit more challenging, there is a series of 14 pegs strategically placed to complicate the trajectory of shots.

Down the centre are four hollowedout cups marked five, 10, 15 and 20, denoting the score obtained if a wooden button falls into them. The further from the starting end, the higher the score. At the extreme far end of the board are two 50 score cups.

A unique scoring system consisting of dark- and lightcoloured wooden beads strung on wires is attached to the opposite long sides of the board. Each section of this scoring system has five wooden beads for each of the possible scores.

When a player scores a button in a cup, they slide the respective bead forward. When an aggregate score of 500 is reached, a winner is declared.

This game was the brainchild of Henry J. Trevett, who, in 1898, became the part owner of the Lucknow Furniture Factory, along with John Button. The pair had formerly ran a similar business in nearby Teeswater. The wooden frame factory on the north side of Campbell Street, west of Stauffer in Lucknow, had its beginnings in the early 1880s under the leadership of various owners. When Button and Trevett were in charge, the factory turned out tables. During the Second World War, the Maple Leaf Aircraft Company took over the plant to manufacture war products. Another company to use this building manufactured ladders.

Today, the premises are occupied

by Montgomery Motors. It is

believed that very few of the Trevett boards manufactured were likely to have stayed concentrated in the Lucknow area. No record of a patent has been found.

There are still some who remember this game. In 1947, in Wingham, the Teen Town group held a special activities week. Included in events were tournaments in table tennis, darts, Trevett and quoits. In the May 7, 2021 edition of the Lucknow Sentinel, Gertie Henderson is quoted as saying she remembers playing Trevett as a child as her relatives would bring a board to family get-togethers. A pristine iteration of the game is currently being offered on the Kijiji website for $250.

Some time after leaving the

Yo Y our voice, e your comm community ommunity ty, your neews.

He later wrote to the Ephesians that he was “less than the least of all the saints.”

Shortly before his death he wrote to Timothy, “I am the chief of sinners.”

A Grace Gem Submitted by: Immanuel United Reformed Church, Listowel, ON 519-492-1359

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PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023.

Editorials & Opinions

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

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Looking for answers A recent headline on Global News highlighted another retailer giving up on London’s downtown core and closing. Susan Elgie, owner of Frankly Scarlett, a women’s fashion store, cited the challenges of homelessness, vandalism and drug addiction plaguing the area as the reason behind the closure. She felt unable to provide a safe work environment for her staff and clients, pointing out that in recent months it had become necessary to lock the door against intruders, which is a difficult situation for a retailer that relies on foot traffic.

The issues that downtown London are dealing with are not, unfortunately, an isolated case. As addiction disorders continue to rise, and poverty and homelessness cause an even wider swath of the population to become disillusioned with society, the same conditions exist in small towns and rural areas.

The causes behind homelessness, vandalism and drug addiction are as varied as the people who are suffering from them, requiring multiple agencies and levels of government to work together. There is no magic wand to wave, but multiple small steps can start to improve things, like the Northern Huron Connection Centre where several groups and organizations have come together to make an important, localized difference in the community and hopefully stem the impact that these conditions have on our area. – DS

Help is on the way The federal and provincial governments have clearly seen the many benefits of programs to help keep farmers and their families healthy from a mental health perspective. On Tuesday, they announced a fresh $8 million investment into the Farmer Wellness Initiative, the In the Know program and the Guardian Network - all programs aimed at farmers and their families and delivered by the Ontario Division of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

The mental health of farmers has been a hot topic in recent years as the job has continued to get more difficult and an at-times isolating profession became even more isolated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

These programs presented a unique approach to a brand of mental health crisis being experienced by those working a difficult job with very particular mental health challenges. The uptake has been good, clearly, and the support will continue, boasted by a new promotional initiative to help spread the word throughout the community.

In recent years, the mental health of everyone, from young people to older populations has been at the forefront as COVID-19 took centre stage. How we would be affected mentally remained to be seen in the early days of the pandemic, but clearly it has taken its toll and continues to do so. That’s why programs like these, helping people with pinpoint precision based on who they are and what they do are so important. In a community like Huron County, which is home to so many farms and so many farmers, this is good news for everyone. – SL

A great harvest for all A group in Simcoe recently organized an appreciation day for migrant farm workers whose time in Canada is winding down for another year.

The Huron Farm Workers Ministry collaborated with The Neighbourhood Organization (TNO) to host the event, which aimed to show gratitude to the workers and provide them with valuable information about resources and rights in Canada.

Several other organizations also participated, including the Mexican Consulate, the Norfolk County Fire Department and major banks like CIBC and RBC. The AIDS Network and The Neighbourhood Organization had booths set up to provide information and assistance.

Kitchener’s Big Jerk food truck was parked on-site with chefs offering Caribbean fare and fusion “jerk tacos” to feed the hungry crowd. Meal tickets were provided free of charge for the event’s honourees. London’s St. Aidan’s Anglican Church collected, refurbished and donated more than 100 bicycles, distributing them to any workers interested in acquiring new wheels. This initiative aimed to provide farm workers with a means of transportation and a way to socialize and unwind.

There were games, giveaways and “good vibes” at Simcoe’s Wellington Park that day. Non-farming community members coalesced with migrant workers to foster a greater sense of community and understanding between groups that don’t necessarily encounter one another very often. Gratitude was at the heart of the event. It was an opportunity for the community to acknowledge and honour the sacrifices made by these individuals. Many of them spend considerable time away from their families, working tirelessly to ensure a successful harvest in Canada. The event not only recognized their dedication, but also sought to create a sense of inclusion and support within the community.

Migrant farm workers are an important part of Ontario’s agricultural ecosystem. Showing them that they are appreciated is a good way to encourage them to keep coming back. – SBS

Looking Back Through the Years October 13, 1966 Despite the daily rainfall, a steady stream of cars travelled from the north through Brussels bound for the International Plowing Match near Seaforth. The consistent rains transformed Scott Farms, the venue for the match, into a muddy landscape. Shortly after the match’s opening on Tuesday, the directors of the Ontario Plowmen’s Association declared that the event would extend until Saturday.

While many local residents did not relish the idea of navigating through the mud, the enduring enthusiasm for plowing continued to draw people to this international gathering.

The October gathering of the WMS took place at Mrs. Allan Smith’s residence, with 12 members and one visitor in attendance. Mrs. Alex Steiss, the leader, commenced the meeting by sharing Thanksgiving thoughts and offering a prayer. The WMS motto was sung, with Miss Alice J. Forrest accompanying on the piano.

A unison reading of Psalms 103 followed, and Mrs. John Perrie delivered a meditation.

Mrs. W. Strickler led the group in prayer, and then Mrs. Mac Engel presented a reading titled “The Necessity for Thanksgiving.” The roll call was answered with Thanksgiving verses. Additionally, there were discussions about the new study book and the planting of tulip bulbs around the church.

It was announced that an exciting concert featuring Jack Thynne and his ensemble was set to take place in the Legion Hall on Thursday, Oct. 27. This event was proudly sponsored by the Program Committee of the Centennial Project, with all proceeds

contributing to this important initiative.

October 13, 1976 The third gathering of the Belgrave Brany Brunch took place on Sept. 27 at the W.I. Hall. The meeting commenced with the recitation of the 4H Pledge and Motto, followed by a roll call where the girls responded to the question: “What is a popular cereal product used in your home?”

During its recent meeting, ALPHA Huron had the opportunity to review a visual depiction of the proposed new arena in Brussels, which was provided by member Ralph Watson.

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Procter joyfully celebrated the wedding of their grandson, Arnold Spivey, to Ann Wessinger on Saturday at Trinity United Church in Ingersoll.

The Public Relations meeting of the Belgrave Women’s Institute was scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 19, at the W.I. Hall, with neighboring branches in attendance. Mr. Keith Roulston from Blyth would be the guest speaker.

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hibberd spent time visiting with Mrs. Elsie Strough and Mrs. Verna Dismore of Fordwich.

October 14, 1998 The Brussels Tigers clinched their fourth Huron County fastball championship, securing a series win of three games to one over the Goderich Dukes.

Following the county’s decision to return control of restructuring to local government, eight North Huron municipalities set a deadline of October 22 to declare their intentions. Councils from Blyth, Brussels, Howick Township, and Grey Township were invited to a meeting alongside representatives

from Wingham, Turnberry, Morris, and East Wawanosh Townships.

While the cause of the rising cases was uncertain, the Huron County Health Unit issued a statement acknowledging an increase in incidents of whooping cough (pertussis) in 1998.

October 10, 2013 On Sunday, Glen Purves from the Canadian Raptor Conservancy stole the spotlight with his magnificent assembly of five birds of prey during the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority’s annual fall colour tour at the Wawanosh Nature Centre. Purves’ captivating presentation showcased a diverse array of raptors, including a hawk, a barn owl, a vulture, a great horned owl, and a majestic bald eagle.

Despite the rain, the event drew a substantial crowd, and attendees also enjoyed a self-guided tour of the beautiful grounds..

The Grey Township Horsepower Hunters convened for their fifth meeting at the residence of their leader, Monique Baan, at 7 p.m. A total of eleven members, along with numerous parents and guests, were in attendance for this gathering.

Last week, cross country runners from F.E. Madill Secondary School journeyed to Belvoir Farms near Delaware to participate in an invitational event.

Despite unseasonably warm weather, a challenge for many runners due to the high temperatures and intense sun, the Madill runners performed admirably and gained valuable experience for their upcoming meets.

Members of the Campaign 14/19 committee paid a visit to the former Blyth Public School. Their purpose was to engage in discussions about the building’s future.

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023. PAGE 5.

Other Views

What’s old is new again in the U.S.

I

f you’re my age, you probably thought the hubbub over race in America was a thing of the past. But, just when you did, racism has raised its ugly head again.

Influenced by the strange popularity of former President Donald Trump, racism seems to be on the rise again.

In Alabama, state legislators are trying to ignore a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that the state must create a second electoral district with a majority of Black voters.

Elsewhere, led by legislators like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, states have ruled against libraries teaching about Black achievements, claiming it’s racial discrimination.

It sounds suspiciously like the grim days of the 1960s that I watched from afar as a youth.

Though Canada was far from free of racial discrimination (it was the 1960s before we got rid of laws that kept people other than white Europeans and Americans from immigrating to Canada) we were far advanced compared to the U.S., particularly to the southern states which may have lost the U.S. Civil War a century earlier, but adopted rules that kept Black people from voting or using the same schools and even the same washrooms as whites.

It wasn’t until I recently read a book about the late U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt that I absorbed something of the U.S. world from before I was born. Mrs. Roosevelt visited the South Pacific ocean during World War II. In one case, she was photographed rubbing noses, a typical native greeting, with a dark-skinned New Zealand native. Back in the U.S. when the photo was published, one southern newspaper ridiculed her as “nigger-loving”.

The 2014 movie Selma shows the challenge of Black people trying to vote in Alabama in the early 1960s. A Black woman endures all the

Keith Roulston

From the cluttered desk traps put in her way as she registers to vote, but finally meets her match when she must prove her “education” by accurately telling how many candies are in a huge jar.

That movie also portrays the 1965 march of Black would-be voters and their white supporters from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, 87 kilometres away, to demonstrate the desire of African-American citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote. The first attempt was met by a violent attack on the 600 non-violent marchers by Selma police, in the “Bloody Sunday” march that disintegrated after the police action.

Martin Luther King didn’t participate in that protest, but he was part of a second march two days later. He then cut the march short, as a federal court issued a temporary injunction.

That night, a white group murdered civil rights activist James Reeb, a church minister from Boston.

The third march, on March 21, was escorted by the Alabama National Guard under federal control (segregationist Governor George Wallace refused to protect the protesters). The walkers reached Montgomery several days later and the next day, 25,000 people demonstrated on the steps of the State Capitol.

There’s another movie, Loving, which portrays the true story of a mixed-race couple who married in Virginia in the 1960s and were

tried in court for their marriage. Eventually, a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court saw them released from prison. What’s often forgotten is that this remarkable time of change was made possible by a U.S. President who had grown up in the segregated south. Lyndon B. Johnson might never have been elected President if he had not been the Vice-President of John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in Dallas during a parade in 1963. Kennedy had been cautious about supporting the Civil Rights movement. Johnson charged ahead and most of the progress made had happened by 1968 when he retired.

But despite people who were young students, like me, after Johnson was President, the resistance to racial progress didn’t die, as Donald Trump shows. He bought a full page advertisement in a New York newspaper to support the idea that young Black men, “The Central Park Five”, had raped and murdered a young jogger in 1989, though they were later found to be innocent.

As President, he supported Ku Klux Klan marchers at Charlottesville. Then, when white policemen were charged with the murder of George Floyd after one of them held his knee into his neck for nine minutes while Floyd pleaded for help, on June 1, 2020, President Trump used tear gas to clear protesters, led senior administration officials in a walk from the White House to St. John's Episcopal Church, then held up a Bible and posed for a photo in front of Ashburton House (the church’s parish house), which had been damaged by a fire during protests the night before.

And so, led by a former President, the U.S. has descended into racial violence again. If you’re my age, if you’ve lived through what I have, this is not good news.

A beacon of authenticity in a world full of ‘Chaff’

P

umpkin-folk, squash oglers and other ornery gourd enthusiasts, welcome back to The Pumpkin, blah, blah, blah, who cares? It’s hard to remain focused this week because we’re being investigated by the freaking Integrity Commissioner because a lot of people have been saying that The Pumpkin is actually just The Chaff. The fact is, for those willing to unflinchingly face the fearless facts without flailing or failure, these are lies lied by liars and, frankly, we will not wilt by on the sidelines any longer whilst these liars lay their lies from here to yonder, lingering locally forevermore with a stink for the ages to interpret and condemn. Condemn as lies.

As the old saying goes, “A pumpkin ‘tis a chaff not be.” As we all know, most old sayings are just a bunch of nonsensical words woven together by some philandering old weirdo who is frequently seen teetering in a meadow, reeking of pumpkin brandy on a sunny afternoon. That’s how wisdom works.

There’s a lot of truth in that saying. “A pumpkin ‘tis a chaff not be.” In fact, its truth is perfectly irrefutable! Anyone who deems it to be futable will feel the entire ire, fire and totality of “bad vibes only” from us here at The Pumpkin until the end of time, rhyme and ClickityClock brand’s line of TockMasters Plus Future Clocks featuring gold-tinged tickers, turbo-charged tockers, and the deadliest deliverer of big, old, bursting ***Ding Dongs*** that you ever did-done imagine hearing since the very bebop beginning of bing-bonging-bells, an incredible, audible innovation invented in, some say, heaven (but don’t hold that against them).

Please accept our apologies, cursed readers, as we became temporarily diverted from our point by the embedded advertising we sold to ClickityClock brand to help us pay for the

“Scott Stephenson” The Pumpkin rapidly accumulating Integrity Commissionerrelated legal bills steadily piling up around the hellscape we call an office. We here at The Pumpkin maintain, steadfastly and fastly, with stead, that we are The Pumpkin, and definitely not The Chaff. We hereby banish all further Chaff-cusations upon our humble publication, or pumpkin-lication as we call it around here because we’re cute AF (as fire).

Why would something good even be called The Chaff? That’s a stupid name for a column.

Pumpkins are noble and naturally bestowed with vegetable charisma and leadership qualities. Some of the greatest leaders in history have been pumpkins and that’s something on which we all agree. It’s one of the main touchstones of our civilization.

So, to all you discerning readers, who have chosen to stay on this journey with us despite the swirling controversies and legal kerfuffle, we extend our heartfelt gratitude. Your support stokes the flames of our relentless mission to uphold the orange standard of truth, whimsy, and infernal wisdom here at The Pumpkin.

In the face of this Integrity Commissioner’s scrutiny and the relentless accusations of being The Chaff, we stand firm like a well-rooted pumpkin vine, resolute in our commitment to bringing you the most insightful, entertaining and pumpkin-centric content known to humanand pumpkinkind.

As we navigate these treacherous waters, we beseech you, dear readers, to join us in

defending The Pumpkin. We are not merely a pumpkin-lication; we are a lighthouse amidst the abyss that is today's media landscape.

Now, enough of these gloomy musings; let us turn our gaze towards brighter days ahead, brimming with pumpkin-spiced machinations and the alluring siren song of ClickityClock’s TockMasters Plus Future Clocks, a tune that promises to usher us further into the depths of our harmonious future. Together, we shall overcome these damning allegations and celebrate the irrefutable truth that a pumpkin, without a doubt, ‘tis not a chaff.

So, dear pumpkin-adians, squash-mericans and gourd-ians of the galaxy, stay tuned for more delightful pumpkin-lications to come, and remember, we're here to provide you with the gourd-tastic news and stories that truly matter in this world. Let the skeptics scoff and the doubters doubt, but The Pumpkin will forever shine as a beacon of authenticity, for pumpkins, my friends, are the epitome of all things noble, charismatic and leadershipworthy.

A disappointing note to readers who were getting excited about attending the upcoming “Bite Bite Suck Suck” party being thrown by a local group of vampires. Unfortunately, due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the vampire community, the event is being postponed.

Organizers are disappointed with this result, but believe firmly that the health of the community is paramount. For now, keep your necks washed and watch this space for future updates on rescheduling.

Well, that’s it for The Pumpkin this week.

We wish you all a very happy, prosperous and endlessly haunted Friday the 13th. It is one of the most important days to reflect on the contributions that old-timey goalie masks and machetes have made in our community.

THE END IS HERE!

Shawn Loughlin Shawn’s Sense

I hate it here

O

n social media, the most trustworthy and encouraging place on earth, there is a thing that people say (type) when they come across something so absurd that it defies human logic. “I hate it here.”

Now, this isn’t meant to imply that I hate it here - which would be the complete antithesis of the “Thanksgiving” column I started writing on Friday but - clearly - didn’t finish. (Even after a rather challenging long weekend from a parenting perspective, I love my life and my family very much.) Having said that, there are some people who make me really hate it here.

The other day, I watched a recommended clip from CTV News for me. It was Vladimir Putin ridiculing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian government over the whole Nazi debacle. Now, I’m not going to stick up for anyone involved in that situation. Having said that, I’m not sure that Canada needs to hear from Putin on, well, anything. He is as close to a murderous dictator that we have had in a while and yet, right there in the comments section, people are lauding Putin.

Of course, I know that many of these love letters to Putin are from Russian social media factories, but, no doubt some of them are coming from hardcore F Trudeau-ers right here in Canada, pounding on their smartphones in between angry spittle wipes, gun polishing sessions and organizing charter buses to the next 1 Million March 4 Children.

Not that you would read this column, but if you need a little convincing that Putin is a scumbag, watch Navalny, the documentary about Alexei Navalny, the man who has run against Putin and now sits in jail after surviving an assassination attempt from Putin and his goons. Aside from Putin’s efforts to get rid of Navalny, there’s lots of great stuff in there about randomly arresting people for nothing that might make you think twice. And, if you need a lot of convincing, find the video of Putin’s repeated unsuccessful attempts to put on a hockey helmet. That’s your hero.

It’s just another example about how distorted the minds of some have become. Because they were so dug in against taking a vaccine, they will now celebrate the words of a terrorist and mass murderer just because he’s making fun of someone they like to make fun of.

The way that we’re turning inward and eating ourselves has always reminded me of “The North Wind and the Sun”, one of Aesop’s Fables that’s recounted in the television show, Mad Men. Essentially, the North Wind and the Sun compete in a test of strength, both working to remove a traveller’s cloak. The Wind blows and blows and blows, only to see the traveller clutch his cloak tighter and tighter. Meanwhile, the Sun simply shines, turning up the heat on the traveller, so he takes the cloak off himself.

Brute force, sure, is a way to destroy, as we see increasingly more every day. However, if you can persuade someone to do something themselves, that can be the true show of force.

What has been going on with Russia - its work on social media, meddling in elections, disinformation, etc. - has been the work of the Sun. Putin isn’t rolling up into Canada with soldiers and tanks, he’s tricking people into siding with him for one reason or another, getting them to do his bidding for him.

These last few years, to me, have shown a tremendous failure in our education system finally playing out in the real world; a space in which it’s so easy to trick people who are angry and easily manipulated. The unfortunate thing is that I don’t think anyone will like the circumstances if they get their way and they might not realize just how good they had it.

PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023.

Thanksgiving gives time for a pause A NOTE FROM BETTY

By Betty Graber Watson Call 887-9231

What’ll it be?

The Brussels United Church held its annual Thanksgiving bake sale on Saturday, welcoming members of the community into the church basement at 10 a.m. only to see the space nearly full at 10:01 a.m. for those early birds (residents) in search of the worm (tasty baked goods). (John Stephenson photo)

At the Branch

Procter honoured in Belgrave

BY JO-ANN MCDONALD We hope one and all had a Happy Thanksgiving and had time to enjoy family time together. The weather co-operated by being wet, so all

could gather.

The Friday night Catch the Ace draw had Rick McDonald the weekly winner of $165. He chose envelope number 12 and the king of

Giving back The Brussels Lions Club donated over $6,000 to the ongoing renovation and expansion of the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre thanks to the success of its Elimination Draw, which was held in the centre for the first time in a number of years. From left: Deb Seili, Joe Seili, Tim Prior, Perry Pearce, Roxane (Courtesy Nicholson, Brad Knight and Michelle Blake. photo)

hearts was revealed. The estimated jackpot could be $4,600. Get your tickets at the Brussels Pharmacy, Brussels Variety, McDonald Home Hardware and Brussels Legion. The more tickets that are sold, the higher the jackpot will be.

Saturday was the celebration of life for the late Comrade Charles Procter. It was held at the Belgrave Community Centre. It was a comeand-go celebration and there were many family members and friends in attendance. The Brussels Legion conducted a Legion Service at 2 p.m. President Jamie Mitchell piped the 15 Comrades into the room.

Comrade Jo-Ann McDonald conducted the service, along with President Jamie. Comrade Legion members attended from the Brussels, Blyth, Seaforth and Goderich Branches of the Royal Canadian Legion in respect to the late Charles, the Brussels Legion’s last veteran of World War II. Our thoughts go to Grace Procter and Charles’ extended family.

There were eight Comrades from Branch 218 at the zone cribbage competition on Saturday in Mitchell. The group did well, finishing in seventh and eighth place. The team placing eighth consisted of Eric Ross, Bob Richardson, Cam Ross and Bary O’Krafta and the team that finished seventh was Sandra Brown, Kathy Burkholder, Bruce Fischer and Chris Brown. Congratulations, as both teams will advance to district play.

The patio is now closed for the winter. There was a good crowd for pub grub, which was sausage and sauerkraut on Friday evening. This week will be beef on a bun.

The September early bird winner was Sandra Brown. Get in and pay your dues and maybe you will be the next early bird winner for October.

Name the many things you are grateful for in your life. It shouldn’t take long, we have many.

We’ve just enjoyed Thanksgiving weekend in a place of our choice, eating food that is safe and plentiful, with people who are peaceful. Well, relatively.

We need to regularly stop and appreciate the blessings that we so often take for granted, such as safe water, clear air and a roof over our heads. For many, that is but a dream. Add in bombs and bullets, limited food and putrid water and our lifestyle appears heavenly. We are truly blessed in Huron County.

Family and friends gathering is often part of Thanksgiving weekend. Checking work schedules and balancing other activities are sometimes the hardest parts of a

Thanksgiving meal. Negotiating the day and time that fits the majority is just part of planning with a larger employed crew. That is a big part of being thankful, that we have people in our lives who want to spend time together. Well, perhaps the mashed potatoes are part of that too!

The older I get, the faster things seem to happen. Checking university and college information with Jill lately put it out very clearly, that time is moving on.

Seeing children or asking friends what the family is up to makes you see that every day is new and life does not stop. All we are required to do is smile, support and celebrate.

Patience has never been one of my strong points and it is being tested as I try to guess when the computer will freeze once again this morning. Computers and vehicles are both on my list of mysterious things that can tick me off very quickly when they don’t work when and how I want them to.

So, rather than mutter and more I’ll stop now.

Bye now. Betty GW

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NEWS FROM BRUSSELS

Brussels Legion 218 Catch the Ace Weekly Winner Winning Ticket: Rick McDonald, $165 Envelope #12 found the King of Hearts Next estimated jackpot is $4,600

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023. PAGE 7.

United Church to host benefit show From Marilyn’s Desk

By Marilyn Craig Call 523-9318

Keeps the doctor away Members of the Blyth Scouts were out and about in the village on Saturday for their annual Apple Day fundraiser, selling the most noble of fruits to residents to raise money for the group and its activities throughout the year. Groups were stationed at the Blyth Ultramar and the Blyth Food Market. From left: Charlotte Hakkers, Carlie Hakkers, Matthew Blackmore, Emily Blackmore and Sam Sheardown. (Shawn Loughlin photo)

The Reading Web with Cindy Norgate

T

he show, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood was a program I looked forward to every day in my childhood. It was a short moment of time when I wasn’t nervous or worried about anything. I felt as though Mr. Rogers was talking to me, his friend. My heart would fill with excitement to see neighbours drop by for a visit, such as Mr. McFeely, Handyman Negri and others.

The most exciting part of the program for me, though, was when “Trolley” came by to take all of us to the land of make-believe. In the land of make-believe, I could be friends with a queen, an owl, a kitten, or anyone I wanted. I have spoken, in past articles, about the importance of imaginative play for children, and I want to elaborate a bit more, as I promised.

The thought might enter your mind, “Is it really healthy for a child to have such a vivid imagination?” I will answer, “Absolutely.” Makebelieve play allows your child to practise critical social skills, such as sharing, turn-taking and communication. It also enables them to express their emotions in a safe and controlled environment (beginlearning.com).

In my research for this week, I found some terrific ways to incorporate and foster imaginative play with the young person in your life.

Celebree.com suggests providing props, such as art supplies, instruments or anything else you have lying around the home. Let us remember that every child is different, so, one child might enjoy art, while another one could be inclined to pursue music or constructing with popsicle sticks or blocks.

As I sit and smell the aroma of our little Thanksgiving dinner, I am reminded of my teacher, who instructed all of us to “create” a

pinecone turkey in November. You might ask, “Cindy, what’s the problem with this?” The problem is that everyone’s turkey was expected to look the same. That would be fine if every child were a clone of each other, but we weren’t. They aren’t.

When my children were young, I enjoyed laying out different types of art supplies for them on a table. We had coloured feathers, paper, glue, scissors, crayons, markers, beads, string, pattern blocks, dried macaroni and more. The supplies were randomly spread out on the kitchen table, and I told the kids to “choose whatever you like,” and create. My youngest son said, “Mama, my project doesn’t look like my sister’s.” I said, “It doesn’t have to. It is YOUR creation.”

If a child’s mind isn’t allowed to expand on its own, then the amount of time spent with imaginative play is wasted. Let the child explore on his or her own, then give encouragement and praise for what was accomplished.

Our story this week is What If... by Samantha Berger. This story is described as “This girl is determined to express herself! If she can’t draw her dreams, she’ll sculpt or build, carve or collage. If she can’t do that, she’ll turn her world into a canvas.

And if everything around her is taken away, she’ll sing, dance, and dream. Mixed media illustrations, lyrical text, and a breathtaking gatefold conjure powerful magic in this heartfelt affirmation of art, imagination, and the resilience of the human spirit.” This book can be purchased on Amazon or the read aloud is free on YouTube.

According to Berger’s website, found at samanthaberger.com, “She currently writes for Sesame Street in Communities and Sesame Street International, taking on challenging subjects like childhood homelessness, foster

care, and the need to educate children about the importance of clean water, all over the world.”

As I leave it here for this week, I realize everyone’s life is busy, however, I want to encourage families to take at least 30 minutes, this weekend, for imaginative play with their child. Visit yard sales, dollar stores or anywhere you can afford to pick up some interesting items and allow the little one to create.

“You can think about things and make-believe. All you have to do is think and they’ll grow.” - Fred Rogers

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone. Most of us visited with family and friends this past weekend. Our family gathered at the home of Deb and Fred Hakkers for Thanksgiving supper. Those attending were Deb, Fred, Jon, Kattie, and Quinton, Doug, Heidi, Kyle and Austin, Dave and Marilyn.

Jamie, who lives in Alberta, was the only on missing.

Happy birthday to Kyle Martin of Gowanstown, who will celebrate on Oct. 12; Bill Hull of Ailsa Craig, who will celebrate his 95th birthday on Oct. 16, and Bo Wharton, who will celebrate on Oct. 17. Happy birthday everyone, enjoy your special day.

The Blyth United Church is sponsoring a take-out roast beef supper on Saturday, Oct. 21 with pick-up times between 4-6 p.m.

Don’t forget the Monday Morning Smile Coffee at Trinity Anglican Church on Dinsley Street from 10-11:30 a.m. Come out and enjoy the conversation and the laughter.

A date to remember is Nov. 5.

Blyth United Church is sponsoring an afternoon of music on Sunday, Nov. 5. at 2 p.m. featuring “thatotherchoir” and the Mayfair Ukulele group, along with other local talent with the proceeds going to the Northern Huron Connection Centre.

This past week has not been a nice week with rain every day and the forecast does not look any better. Temperatures have been low and it makes us look up that jacket that we haven’t had to wear all summer.

Stay safe and have a good week.

Give someone a call to let them know you are thinking of them.

NEWS FROM BLYTH

MAITLAND VALLEY CAMERA CLUB

Photography by Clara Blake

PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023.

Sports Ironmen drop to sixth place in NP Division Golley at 16:55, which was served

by Kreager.

Tyson Fischer of the Ironmen was then called for hooking just 55 seconds into the third period, followed by a pair of crosschecking calls against Wingham’s Nigel Kreager and Kincardine’s Carter Servais at 6:26 of the third, before the final penalty of the game, an interference call against Nolan MacKinnon of the Bulldogs at 14:01 of the third period.

Golley stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced, earning the loss in the Wingham net, while Carter Garvie earned the shutout by making 33 saves on 33 shots.

The Ironmen are at home this

Traffic out front The Wingham Ironmen are, unfortunately for them, riding a four-game losing streak heading into Friday night’s game against the Goderich Flyers and then their special Alumni Day on Saturday, featuring a game against the Mitchell Hawks. The day is one of the cornerstones of the team’s 50th anniversary season, which brings with it seasonlong celebrations and looks back at the past. Above, the team fell to the Mount Forest (John Patriots last Friday night by a score of 2-1 in a game that went to overtime.

weekend, playing the Goderich Flyers on Friday, Oct. 13 and the Mitchell Hawks on Saturday, Oct. 14.

They are then on the road for the rest of the month, playing the Patriots in Mount Forest on Oct. 20, the Capitals in Walkerton on Oct. 21, the Barons in Hanover on Oct. 27 and the Patriots again in Mount Forest on Oct. 28.

They are back in Wingham on Friday, Nov. 3 to play the Hanover Barons at the North Huron Wescast Community Centre, followed by another road game, this time in Mitchell to take on the Hawks on Saturday, Nov. 4 in a rematch of Oct. 14’s Alumni Day game.

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Stephenson photo)

Continued from page 1 Carter Servais at 11:24 of the first period.

Kincardine’s Wilson Shipp was called for roughing at 1:29 of the second period, followed by slashing

calls against Wingham’s Nigel Kreager at 7:15 of the second period and goaltender Garrett

Home Cooking for the Holidays Do your friends come to you for cooking advice and ask (or beg) you for your delicious recipes?

Well, we want your recipe too!

Send in recipes for your favourite holiday meals, desserts, appetizers, sides or cocktails, and be featured in The Citizen’s upcoming special section on December 1, Home Cooking for the Holidays. This section will feature tons of delicious recipes from talented readers like yourself, just in time for holiday entertaining!

Mail your recipe(s) to:

The Citizen

A first time for everything The Wingham Smokies, for the first time in their history, won the A Division in the Huron County Slo-Pitch League’s annual year-end tournament. The Smokies beat Seaforth by a score of 12-11 in the finals by way of a four-run seventh inning with two outs to claim victory via a miracle comeback. Back row, from left: Scott Miller, Jason McKague, Brent Foxton, Ron Huffman, Rob Hutchison and Terry Riddiough. Front row, from left: Steve Sabourin, Mike McBurney, Randy Jacobs, Jeff Cameron, Ken Hogg and Phil Beard (holding his granddaughter Sophia Hopf). (Courtesy photo)

PO Box 429 Blyth, ON N0M 1H0 or email them to info@northhuron.on.ca Be sure to include your name with your recipe.

Deadline for submissions is November 17

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023. PAGE 9.

Sports

Huron Heat Day in Seaforth set for Oct. 14

Getting some air The U15 BB Huron Heat opened their season in Clinton on Sunday by welcoming the Waterloo Ravens to the Central Huron Community Complex, sending them home on the wrong side of a 4-0 shutout score. (John Stephenson photo)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Another hockey season is here for the Huron Heat, who began the 2023/2024 season over the weekend.

The U13 HL Heat hosted the Lucan Irish on Oct. 7 in Goderich and sent them packing with a 3-1

win to begin their regular season.

The U11C team played an exhibition game that day with the North Middlesex Junior Stars in Seaforth that ended in a 1-1 tie, while the U11HL team hosted the South Huron Sabres to open their regular season, but a score was unavailable at press time.

The next day, the U13 C Heat

beat the Twin Centre Hericanes C team in Clinton at the Central Huron Community Complex by a score of 6-3, followed by two more wins for the organization. The U15 BB Heat shut out the Waterloo Ravens in Clinton by a score of 4-0 and the U18 C Heat beat the Lucan Irish C team on the road by a score of 4-0.

After a pair of exhibition games throughout the week - the U11 BB Heat against the South Huron Sabres in Seaforth on Oct. 10 and the U18 C Heat in Kincardine to play the Kinucks on Oct. 11 - the U11 BB and U15 C Heat teams were both due to be in Etobicoke for the weekend of Oct. 13-15 for the annual Pink on the Rink tournament.

The U15 C Heat were scheduled to begin their tournament play with a game against the Gloucester Cumberland Stars on Oct. 13, while the U15 C Heat will play the Nepean Wildcats.

The U11 Heat have an exhibition game scheduled for that night on the road against the South Huron Sabres.

This all leads to Huron Heat Day in Seaforth on Oct. 14, with a full slate of games scheduled for that day - a celebration of all things Huron County girls’ hockey.

Gameplay begins with the U9 C team playing the Ilderton Jets in a regular season game, while the U9 HL team will also play an Ilderton Jets team on the other side of the rink in an exhibition game, both beginning at 9 a.m.

Next, the U9 B team will play the St. Marys Rock at 10 a.m., followed by an 11 a.m. contest between the U13 C Heat and the Mitchell Meteors C team and a noon game between the U11 C Heat and the South Huron Sabres C team.

At 1 p.m., the U13 HL team will play an exhibition game against the St. Marys Rock, followed by an exhibition game between the U11 HL Heat and the Mount Forest Rams.

The U13 BB Heat will play the Windsor Wildcats at 3 p.m., the U15 BB Heat will play the

Cambridge Roadrunners at 4 p.m. and the U18 C Heat will play the Oxford Inferno C at 5:15 p.m.

The final two games of the day will be the U18 BB Heat against the Walkerton Capitals at 6:45 p.m. and then the Senior team taking on Seaforth at 8:15 p.m. in an exhibition game.

Also that day, the U15 C Heat will continue their Pink on the Rink tournament journey with games against the Kanata Rangers and the St. Thomas Panthers.

The next day, on Oct. 15, the U13 BB Heat will welcome the Windsor Wildcats to the Central Huron Community Complex, followed by games between the U15 BB Heat and the Woodstock Wildcats and the U13 BB Heat and the Windsor Wildcats, also in Clinton.

The U13 HL team will be in Ilderton to play the Jets that day, while the U18 C Heat will be in Seaforth to play the South Huron Sabres HL team later that night.

On Tuesday, Oct. 17, the U15 C Heat will welcome the West Oxford Inferno C team to Seaforth for a regular season game.

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Even Dirty Jobs Getting some air On Sunday, the U13 C Huron Heat beat the Twin Centre Hericanes in Clinton by a score of 6-3, marking a positive start to their 2023/2024 season. (John Stephenson photo)

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PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023.

Stephenson and Gamble are having fun being afraid

‘Tis the season to be frightened Fright Fest is an annual October tradition in the Stephenson-Gamble household. It involves watching as many scary movies as possible and is not recommended for the faint of heart. (Scott Stephenson photos)

By Scott Stephenson The Citizen A word of warning! It would be a little unkind to present this feature without just a word of friendly warning - we’re about to unfold the story of Fright Fest. I think it will thrill you. It may shock you. It may even horrify you. So, if any of you feel that you do not care to subject your nerves to such strain - now’s your chance to, uh…well, we’ve warned you!

Since you didn’t stop reading, I’ll assume that you are interested in learning a bit more about Fright Fest. Oh, you’ve never heard of Fright Fest? Have no fear, as you are not alone! Currently, there are only two parties privy to participation in the mystical rites of Fright Fest - myself and my wife, Chelsea. But this year, we have decided that it is time to pass on those arcane secrets to you, the reader, so you can celebrate Fright Fest in your own home, in your own way!

But first, let’s go over the basics!

The ironclad rules of Fright Fest are as follows: 1. For the entire month of October every year, Fright Festers must watch as many scary movies as possible.

2. Fright Festers must abstain from all scary movies from the beginning of June until the end of September.

3. If the current year is a leap

year, Fright Fest becomes a threemonth affair, beginning Sept. 1 and ending on Nov 30.

4. All frights considered, but know your limit and scare within it.

Scary movies have been around for almost as long as regular movies, and to this day remain the best way to feel afraid without actually being in peril. October is the perfect time to watch all types of frights, from mild, family-style films to life-altering reels of madness that should never have seen the light of day, because October ends with Halloween, the scariest and, some say, best holiday.

Watching all your frights in a concentrated period can affect your overall well-being, but it’s up to you to decide if you will follow the rules and feel the positive effects, or eschew caution, push yourself too far, and spend the rest of your days whistling into the cave of eternity.

While there are only a few official rules to Fright Fest, there are a few unwritten rules worth noting. They are written below.

1. Don’t force frights! Nobody should feel pressured to watch something they think is too scary.

2. It is preferred, but not essential, to watch your frights using as many forms of media as possible. Obviously, there are many available streaming services out there, each one offering up its own selection of spooky films. If heaven and hell have aligned and you live

near a movie theatre, seeing a fright in a theatre is a real treat. Random scary DVDS are readily available at all kinds of thrift stores, and sometimes you just find them laying on the street, like when we found Children of the Corn III : Urban Harvest in the gutter. We offered it to Fright Fest as a sacrifice, which was accepted. And it was a pretty cool movie, with the kind of perfectly ridiculous premise that makes you ask “why not?”

VHS tapes are a great source of obscure weird horror that was never digitized, and they make an incredibly enjoyable sound when you insert them into the player.

Those of you who grew up in the whisperverse of DVD players and have never heard the wild machinations of a VHS player and tape merging into a single animal for a few hours are really missing out. Bonus points if you have some obscure tech like Laserdisc or Betamax - these machines are haunted by the ghosts of outdated technology, and will add flavour to your Fright Fest.

3. Stay alert, stay safe.

By now, you’re probably wondering about how our version of this ancient annual ceremony came into existence, so I will tell you the tale, my friends.

While my wife and I have many shared interests, there are two passions that just burn a little brighter than all the rest: horror movies and needlessly complicated rituals. Fright Fest is a merger of these two loves. To engage with a horror movie is a beautiful experiment - feelings like total terror and lingering dread are difficult things to invoke in a person artificially. When a movie succeeds in its efforts to get under your skin and stay there, the feeling is transformative.

To share a love of horror movies is an even more miraculous thing to feel those real, unreal feelings alongside a person who is feeling the exact same manufactured feelings at the exact same time as you, is a divine experience. When my future wife and I first traded tales of our favourite things, we had the same favourite scary movie:

The Shining. Did I take it as a sign that we were meant to be? No. The Shining is everybody’s favourite scary movie, and rightly so. It’s the best one. We got married for unrelated reasons a bit later on, and moved into a tiny apartment by the park so we had a place to keep our television set.

Several years later, we moved from our tiny Toronto apartment by the park to the Huron County area, but we brought a piece of the city’s cinema history along with us, in the form of hundreds of DVDs and VHS tapes from one of the city’s greatest video rental stores Suspect Video. The shop was located in Mirvish Village, a cultural landmark brimming with history which was set to be demolished in order to build something of no particular interest.

Suspect Video was selling all its movies just as we were moving, so we bought everything we could fit in a taxi. Moving from the city to a rural area with a ton of movies was a comforting thing - as they say, a marriage that has movies is often a happy one. Within that collection were the two zombie films that would go on to become the first films of Fright Fest - Yeon SangHo’s Train to Busan and George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.

We loved both of these films. Night of the Living Dead is always touted as a seminal classic, and, as it turns out, it is! And I think we can all agree that every movie that’s ever been made would be much better if it was set on a high-speed train, and Train to Busan is official proof that zombies plus trains is better than zombies without trains.

Once we settled into our new home, we realized that having so many movies without a convoluted set of rules is a lawless existence.

How do you know what to watch, and when to watch it? We played around with a few ideas for how to pick our flicks, but none of them stuck. The dice kept getting lost, and the cat we chose to make picks for us was both indecisive and grouchy. Then, one day, we found a concealed tunnel in our basement, impossibly long, and within that tunnel we found a dusty bottle and within that bottle was a yellowed scroll, and on that scroll were the very rules for Fright Fest that are inscribed above. And the rest is history.

Here are a few helpful tips for making your Fright Fest best all the rest!! (Please note - Fright Fest is a non-competitive activity. Do not attempt to best all the rest with your fest.)

Go With the Flow!

Every night (or day) of Fright Fest is going to have its own energy, attitude and lessons to be learned. A long hard day at work might mean that the best fright choice is a quick blast of awesome you’ve been meaning to watch, like the Japanese cult hit One Cut of the Dead, or it might mean a rewatch of a beloved classic, like The Shining, where it’s great if you make it all the way through, but you’ve seen it so many times that it’s fine if you fall asleep on the couch while a cat eats the rest of your soup.

Heed recommendations!

During the days of Fright Fest,

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SUDOKU Fun By The Numbers Like puzzles?

Then you’ll love sudoku. This mindbending puzzle will have you hooked from the moment you square off, so sharpen your pencil and put your sudoku savvy to the test!

Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023. PAGE 11.

Fright Fest 2023 culminates on Oct. 31 Continued from page 10 consider all recommendations to be the perfect recommendation. When we first moved here we worked at a restaurant, and the sous chef recommended Ari Aster’s Hereditary to us. We watched it that night, and it was truly one of the most terrifying films we have ever seen. Going to fetch wood from the woodpile afterwards was a most frightening experience, and I feel like neither of our minds have ever fully recovered - just the way we like it!

Follow Your Bliss!

If something by a director fully destroys your mind (or whatever personal level of frightened you are

aiming for), seek out their other work! The Hereditary experience was so intense that we drove to a theatre in Waterloo to see Aster’s follow-up film, Midsommar, on the big screen. It was way less scary, but truly amazing in its own way.

As soon as it ended we bought tickets for the next show and saw it again! The tense and surprising House of the Devil was an early film from Ti West that made us excited for his future work. In 2022, West released two-thirds of a trilogy including the stellar sexy slasher film X and its lush and disturbed prequel, Pearl. We saw Pearl at the Princess Twin theatre in Waterloo and it was a perfect pairing of old Hollywood and nihilistic gore. You never know where a director’s path will take you!

Triples is Best!

If you’re in the mood for multiple frights, pick three movies. Two movies is not enough, four seems like a bit of an overreach. Three movies is the way to go. They can have a loose theme, no theme, all star the same actor, or whatever.

One of the great joys of watching a flight of frights is seeing how each one relates to the others. There was one chilly October morn, having a rare day off together, we decided to go all in on watching witch movies - a bold and decisive choice that lead us to three absolute gems of witchery watchery, each one subverting the truth of the witch, in its own way. First there was Anna Biller’s The Love Witch, an erotic horror comedy about a novice witch learning how to make love potions.

It’s a film that simultaneously celebrates and skewers notions of female empowerment, all shot in dreamy Technicolor for a retro vibe.

Next on the witch walk was Hellbender, a no-budget indie horror made by all the members of the Adams family, who are not related to the classic TV creeps, but are in a band together. It’s a spare, engrossing look at what it’s like to

grow up a witch in the woods.

The third film, Robert Eggers’ The VVitch, was the bleakest film by far, but it was a beautiful bleakness, and dared to ask the question, “Is this guy cursed, or does he just suck at farming?” Also, it has young Anya Taylor-Joy! Know Your History!

Most horror movies are made by people who like horror movies.

This means that a lot of new horror movies are full of little nods to classic frights. Sure, you could go online and check to see what cinephiles are saying about all the references in Scream or It Follows, or you can Fright Fest it old school and do a Hitchcock triple, comprised of Psycho, The Birds and Vertigo. These three films are made reference to so frequently that they might feel eerily familiar to you, even on first watch!

Just Pick Something!

When you’re trying to choose a movie, especially from a streaming service, you may become overwhelmed by the sheer number of options, freeze up and scroll on forever, cursed with an endless indecision that will carry your carcass all the way to the shores of Hades. Don’t let the streaming screamies set in - just pick something at random from the horror section that you’ve never heard of. Don’t read the description, just put it on.

Sometimes the movie will be terrible, but at least you’re watching it, and that’s not nothing.

And if that random pick works out, then you will feel like a god and be respected by your peers. We lucked out three times in one day with Head Count, Scare Me, and The Rental - all as worthwhile as if you’d planned it! Random picks work best when you have a clear head and open heart, but the magic of randomness can still work if you’re swimming in a quagmire of resentment from a significant other who just wants you to pick a movie before they fall asleep.

More Boo! For Your Buck

Price is Right!

If you have the opportunity to watch any of the many movies that star the incomparable Vincent Price, take that opportunity. It might be a VHS tape at a yard sale, or a movie that’s playing when you turn on the TV, or as a matinee in a rundown theatre for one day only, but then when you go back the next day to retrieve your forgotten coat, the whole building has completely vanished - whatever the opportunity may be, take it.

Some Vincent Price films are good films, some are great films, some are terrible films, and some are talking dog films, but they all have Vincent Price, and sometimes, that’s all you need! He wrote the

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Have Fun! If these rules, tips, tricks and spells don’t tickle your fancy, then make up your own rules - Fright Fest is for all people, for all time!

Except for people who don’t like scary movies, they should probably steer clear.

Happy Haunting!

Disclaimer: If your interest in any of the above mentioned films was piqued by this article, please note that opinions are subjective, and what is scary to one person can be terrifying to another.

If you are a sensitive member of the audience, research any film before viewing to see if it is right for you.

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PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023.

Reid’s painting ‘The Homeseekers’ finds new home

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen The Huron County Museum in Goderich is now home to a large painting by George Agnew Reid, a world-renowned artist who was born in northern Huron County.

“The Homeseekers: Fording the Credit River” had called a high school in Brampton home for a number of years, courtesy of the Perkins Bull Collection. The painting, which spans seven feet by 10 feet, however, fell victim to some renovations at the school and there was no longer a place for it.

Through museum channels, which are close-knit in Ontario, according to Huron County Senior Curator Elizabeth French-Gibson, someone from the Region of Peel Archives reached out to her and asked if the county would be interested in bringing the painting home.

French-Gibson, speaking with The Citizen on Tuesday, said she jumped at the chance, as the museum does not have one of Reid’s pieces in its collection, though one of his paintings is displayed at the Alice Munro branch of the Huron County Library in Wingham.

The process began in the summer, French-Gibson said, and she immediately said that the local museum was interested.

The owner has now donated the piece to the museum, so it is fully owned by Huron County.

There were some logistical concerns about acquiring the piece, French-Gibson said, namely a high level of uncertainty as to whether the piece would fit out the school’s doors and if it would fit in the museum’s doors back in Huron County.

French-Gibson said the museum would go on to hire a special art transportation company that could take the frame off, fit it through the door of the school and then transport it to Huron County in a large vehicle (that was another concern, as the county did not own a vehicle large enough to safely transport the painting to Goderich).

Once in Huron County, the painting fit in the museum, where it was reframed and mounted in the agricultural hall of the museum, which is where French-Gibson says will be its new permanent home.

The painting in question is based on a larger mural that Reid had painted, called “The Homeseekers”, based on the Maitland River.

“According to Reid’s biographical information, “Bull [of the Perkins Bull Collection] had, by the 1930s, begun a special Peel Memorial Collection at Brampton, to which Canadian artists were asked to contribute examples of their work painted in Peel County.

Since ‘The Homeseekers’ has a setting not unlike that of Peel County, Bull asked Reid to donate the original to his collection but since it was set into the wall of the artist’s studio-workshop, Reid decided that he could not part with it. Instead, he painted a replica.”

French-Gibson said she’s very happy that the museum will be home to the painting, for a number of reasons. First of all, she said, it’s a great success story for a Huron County artist’s work to be displayed in Huron County. The museum did not have one of his paintings and she thinks it will show budding local artists that Huron native artists can find success on the world stage, while not forgetting where they’ve come from.

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Seek no more Huron County born artist George Agnew Reid’s ‘The Homeseekers’ now hangs at the Huron County Museum in the agricultural hall. (Courtesy photos) She also thinks it’s special for the museum to have one of Reid’s paintings because there aren’t many of them out there and available.

Many of them are in either private collections or very large public collections, so having the painting in a museum the size of Huron County’s would be a bit of a rarity.

The Wingham-area native has created murals for Toronto City Hall, Toronto municipal buildings, the Royal Ontario Museum and Jarvis Collegiate in Toronto.

Much of his work can be found in the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa and he donated 400 pieces

from his own collection to the Province of Ontario to be distributed throughout the province’s schools in an effort to inspire students. One hundred and seventy five of those pieces remain in the province’s art collection to this day.

French-Gibson said the plan is to permanently display the painting in the agricultural hall of the museum and, soon, craft some programming around it, including talks and seminars to bring people to the museum to see the painting and hopefully teach Huron County residents more about Reid.

DINNER UNDER THE STARS RESPECT YOUR FOOD Food is meant to feed and nurture you, say owners of Silver Creek Nursery

Farm dinners with homegrown food attract attention of former Governor General

MORE TREES, LESS FUEL Big companies get serious about reducing carbon footprint with Carbon Footprint Initiative

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OFA continues fight for farm UHT exemption

By Crispin Colvin, Vice President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture The deadline for Canadians to file their first return under Canada’s new Underused Housing Tax (UHT) is fast approaching.

Originally set for April 30, the federal government extended the filing deadline this year to Oct. 31 to give Canadians who own housing other than their main residence enough time to complete the process for the first time.

It is a one per cent tax on the value of vacant or underused housing. Under the new legislation, individuals who aren’t Canadian citizens or permanent residents, as well as private corporations and partnerships - which includes farms - who own residential housing must file an Underused Housing Tax return even if they don’t have to pay the tax itself.

At first glance, many may wonder how this affects farmers. After all, the tax was designed to address urban homes, condominiums and apartments that have been bought for investment purposes, often by foreign buyers, and are now unused or not used to their full extent.

However, many farmers do, in fact, own more than one residence, but not because they’re keen to be landlords or investors. Rather, they’ve bought additional farmland to expand their businesses, and, more often than not, that farmland also includes a farmhouse. This means they’re now required to file a return under the new act regardless

of whether those homes are actually subject to the new tax or not.

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), along with our national colleagues at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, has been asking the federal government to exempt farmers from having to file a return altogether, and although that first filing deadline is only a few weeks away, this is still something that we’re advocating for when we’re meeting with politicians and other government officials.

So, why should agriculture be exempt? Simply put, farmers aren’t in the business of being landlords or residential real estate investors.

Rather, our job is to produce food and other agricultural products, and we’re buying farmland to farm it, not for investment value of a house that may be on it.

The filing paperwork required by government under this legislation is onerous and time-consuming. A separate return must be filed every year for each property a farm corporation owns - and if a farm corporation has more than one partner, each partner in the corporation must file their own UHT return. The penalties for nonfiling can be up to $10,000 or more.

We understand that Ontario and Canada are in a housing crisis and that governments at all levels are trying to find solutions, such as freeing up investment housing, that will help ease the shortage. We know how important this is; after all, we also need housing options to

support youth, seniors, families, workers and newcomers in our communities.

However, we’re now caught in the middle of that push for solutions and the unique realities of unintentionally having multiple dwellings not because we’re

housing investors but rather through the purchase of additional farmland to grow our farm businesses.

The OFA and our partners are continuing the push for a filing exemption for farmers but are also encouraging all farmers to make

sure to file their Underused Housing Tax return to avoid the substantial penalties.

There are resources available on the OFA’s website to give background on the issue and we encourage farmers to contact their accountants with any questions.

Remembered forever Last month, the Seaforth and District Horticultural Society unveiled a special memorial bench for long-time member Dick DeJong, who passed away in 2021. Margaret, left, DeJong’s wife, and John Gross and Society President Astrid Guntensperger, right, were on hand for the unveiling and a short program about DeJong’s many contributions to the community. (Courtesy photo)

BRUSSELS LIVESTOCK REPORT For the week ending October 6, 2023 Total Receipts: 1,515 cattle and 631 lambs and goats

Veal: There were 100 head of veal on offer.

Tuesday - Fed steers and heifers sold actively at steady prices. Choice steers and heifers $232 – $242.

Second cut cattle $224 – $231.

Aged and medium fed steers and heifers $215 – $225. Cows sold steady.

Beef Veal $250 – $283 Good Holsteins $280 – $299 SL Heavy Holsteins $275 – $290 Heavy Holsteins $185 – $234 Medium Holsteins $225 – $234 Plain Holsteins $200 – $224

Thursday - Veal sold on a sharply stronger market. Lambs sold actively at stronger prices. Sheep and goats sold steady.

Friday - Calves sold on a strong active trade at fully steady prices.

Yearlings sold fully steady, with grass-type heifers selling $3-$5 higher.

John Martin of Lucknow, consigned four head. One holstein steer weighed 725 lbs. and sold for a price of $299.

John & Cheryl Bennewies of Bornholm, consigned three head. One holstein steer weighed 680 lbs. and sold for a price of $299.

Beef $140 – $185 Good Holstein Cows $135 – $155 Medium Holstein Cows $120 – $134 Bulls $158 – $200

Kids: Meat: $350 – $450 Dairy: $250 – $325 Ernest Ebersol of Milverton, consigned seven head. Two kid goats averaged 56 lbs. and sold for an average price of $450.

Frank Schenning of Parkhill, consigned nine head. Six lambs averaged 96 lbs. and sold for an average price of $280.

Steve Ernewein of Walkerton, consigned 17 head. Two lambs averaged 100 lbs. and sold for an average price of $277.

Steers: Allan Kistner of Monkton, consigned three head. One red steer weighed 1,515 lbs. and sold for a price of $242.

Cows: There were 250 cows on offer:

Goats: Billies: $220 – $415 Nannies: $75 – $200

Lambs: Under 50 lbs.: $380 – $475 50-64 lbs.: $290.50 – $350 65-79 lbs.: $291 – $307.50 80-94 lbs.: $264 – $295 95-109 lbs.: $260 – $280 110 lbs. and over: $228 – $252.50

Top Quality Stocker Steers: Under 400 lbs.: $432.50 – $462.50 400 – 499: $399.75 – $457.50 500 – 599: $392 – $430 600 – 699: $354.50 – $389 700 – 799: $309 – $357 800 – 899: $272 – $318 900 – 999: $288.50 – $313 1,000 lbs. and over: $293.50 – $311.50 Top Quality Stocker Heifers: 500 – 599: $301 – $325 600 – 699: $276 – $304 700 – 799: $261 – $280 800 – 899: $270 – $307.50 900 lbs. and over: $290 – $305.25 Kevin Horsburgh of Holstein, consigned 66 head. Twenty-one charolais steers averaged 1,021 lbs. and sold for an average price of $311.50.

Henry H. Martin of Lucknow, consigned 31 head. Thirteen charolais steers averaged 979 lbs. and sold for an average price of $310.

Paul Weber of Wroxeter, consigned 16 head. Four charolais heifers averaged 825 lbs. and sold for an average price of $307.50.

Allan Snowden of Wingham, consigned 17 head. Thirteen gold heifers averaged 822 lbs. and sold for an average price of $302.

BRUSSELS LIVESTOCK Division of Gamble & Rogers Ltd.

UPCOMING SALES TUESDAYS 10:00 a.m.

Fed Cattle, Bulls & Cows

THURSDAYS

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

FRIDAYS

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

Call us 519-887-6461

PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023.

Classified Advertising Vendor’s Market to – RATES – Coming events In memoriam return to Belgrave 20 words or less only $8.00 + HST Additional words 20¢ ea. + HST

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

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

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 519-523-4792 or email: info@northhuron.on.ca tfn -------------------------------------------THE CITIZEN IS AVAILABLE TO purchase at these locations – Auburn Esso, Belgrave Variety, Blyth Variety, Blyth Food Market, Blyth Ultramar, Brussels Foodland, Brussels Variety, Clinton Convenience, Clinton Foodland, Charlie’s Variety in Clinton, Fogal’s YIG in Wingham, Wingham Mini Mart, Seaforth Foodland, GT Mini Mart in Seaforth, Fincher’s in Goderich, Goderich Victoria St. Shell and The Citizen Blyth.

Card of thanks With sincere gratitude There are not enough words to fully express our heartfelt thanks for the sympathy, love and support that the community has extended to our family during the loss of Crystal.

Jim, Jamie, Ashley & Matt, Jenna & Jordan, Drew & Meghan and the Grandchildren

Join us for our Famous Fish Fry at the Wingham Columbus Centre Friday, October 20th from 12pm6:30pm. Eat in $20: choice of battered or grilled white fish and a buffet of garden and Caesar salad, French fries, baked potato, mashed potato, gravy, dinner rolls, also coffee and tea. Take out $18: fish, potato, coleslaw and dinner roll. We also do chicken fingers for the nonfish lover. Butter tarts $2 or homemade cheesecake and other desserts $5 each. Kids are 1/2 price.

Taxes are included. Call early to book your fish as we tend to sell out.

519-357-1270 Also don’t miss Christine’s Fall Fashion Show on Tuesday, October 24th. Tickets at Christine’s or here at the Columbus Centre, 99 Kerr Drive, Wingham.

-------------------------------------------WINGHAM HOSPITAL RUMMAGE SALE at the Wingham Legion. Wednesday, October 18 2 to 6 p.m. and Thursday, October 19 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Seasonal clothing can be dropped off Wednesday until noon at the Legion.

Pickup of articles call Lois 519-3573326. Articles we need are seasonal clothing, small household items, books, toys, puzzles, jewellery etc.

No furniture or electronics please.

Support your local Wingham Hospital Ladies Auxiliary.

Help wanted HIRING GENERAL HELP Seeking for someone to be a Service Gas Station Attendant. Apply in person at 38527 Blyth Road Auburn, ON N0M 1E0 -------------------------------------------STEVE HANEY TRUCKING IS looking for a full-time driver to haul bulk in Ontario. Weekends off, home at night. Three years AZ required and clean driver’s abstract.

Based out of Seaforth. Call Steve 519-615-2130. stevehaney2@gmail.com --------------------------------------------

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Maitland Conservation is accepting applications for the position of Executive Assistant.

Coming events BLYTH UNITED CHURCH ROAST BEEF SUPPER Sat. October 21. Take-out only from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Pre-order only. Call Joann at 519-523-9274 for orders and pick-up times. Delivery available. Adults $25, children 6-12 $10, under 6 free.

-------------------------------------------OCTOBER TAKE-OUT LUNCH, Tuesday, October 17, 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Trinity Anglican Church, Blyth. Octoberfest sausage and cabbage rolls with Black Forest cake dessert, $12 per person. Ordering deadline: Monday, October 16. To order call 519-523-9396 or email: mcgregor@ezlink.ca

This is a part-time permanent position.

Job description and application details are available by calling 519335-3557 ext. 226 or visiting the Employment Opportunities page at: mvca.on.ca. Application deadline is Oct. 17, 2023.

Ryan: In loving memory of Mary Alice Ryan, who passed away October 15, 1984.

And while she lies in peaceful sleep, Her memory we shall always keep.

Forever loved and always remembered by Mom and Dad, Paul, Cheryl, and family; Chris and family; Mike, Kathy and family.

Notices Seaforth Optimist Club Monthly Cash Draw winners OCTOBER 2023 WINNERS Ted DeBoer......................$2,100 Brian and Kelly McNichol..$100 Mary Maloney ....................$100

Citizen-To-Citizen “SWAP SHOP” ad • Free ad up to 25 words, person to person only (no businesses), items valued at $1,000 or less. Price must be included in your ad.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.

Call 519-523-4792 or email: info@northhuron.on.ca FOR SALE - Honeywell humidifier wicking filter (HAC504) Antimicrobial. Type A. Fits HCM350 series, HCM-710 and HCM-315, HEV312 humidifiers. $5. 519-3573204.

41-3 --------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Used 8 ft. roll-up garage door. 519-357-8304.

41-3 --------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Weather Tech floor mats from Jeep Patriot. $45 519-9121658.

41-3 --------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Two Freeman loader subframe arms that fit under tractor chassis. Fit 9N to 4000 Fords and similar models of other makes. $25.

519-357-8901.

40-3 ------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Older chainsaws in working order. Stihl, Pioneer, Homelite, Poulan. $150 - $275 each; 5000 watt, 220 amp heater. $50; crane for pickup truck. $300.

519-526-1012.

40-3 ------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Bench with wood seat and steel ends. $40; medium dog or cat carry cage. $10; chain with 2 hooks, $2 per foot. 519-526-1012.

40-3 ------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Hand painted ceramic grandma and grandpa, cloth bodies, approximately 30" tall. $200 for pair. text 519-441-7619 for photo. 40-3 ------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Baby gift baskets.

Embroidered crib quilt and knit hat.

Assorted supplies, body wash, shampoo, onesie, socks, etc. $25 ea.

Text 519-441-7619 for photo. 40-3 ------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Four winter tires on rims. 205-70-R16 off of a Buick Encore, $300. 519-527-1554. 40-3 ------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Approx. 65" television with or without fireplace console. $500 for all. 519-606-4965.

40-3 ------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Invacare Matrx P5 wheelchair. Model Helio A7. Make an offer. 226-523-4039 40-3 ------------------------------------------FOR SALE - Used patio stones, (50) 8x6; (60) 6x6; (72) 6x3. $90 Text/call 519-440-6415.

39-3

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

PEOPLE AROUND BELGRAVE

By Linda Campbell Call 357-2188

On Sunday Oct. 8, Thanksgiving Sunday, Jim Hess was the guest speaker at Knox United Church, Belgrave.

After Mr. Hess welcomed the congregation, the Christ Candle was lit. When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

After the congregation sang the first hymn, “Come, O Fount of Every Blessing. The Call to Worship followed. The scripture lessons were read from Psalm 100, 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 and Matthew 6:26.

Mr Hess’ message was entitled “Wagons and Bins.”

The Benediction reading was taken from Psalm 116: verse 5 and Colossians 1:13 and 14.

On Oct. 14 at 2 p.m., St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Wingham is presenting a concert of special gospel music featuring Dave Randall. Dave was formerly a member of the Torchmen Quartet, but now is a solo artist. Everyone is welcome. Free will offering.

Monday, Oct. 16 is World Food Day. The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a partnership of 15 Canadian churches and churchbased agencies working together to end world hunger by providing emergency food in times of crisis, helping people improve their access to food in the longer-term and engaging Canadians and governments toward meaningful change.

The guest speaker will be Elwin Garland on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 10 a.m. at Knox United Church, Belgrave. Everyone is welcome.

On Friday, Oct. 13, seniors’cards will commence at the Belgrave Community Centre. Come out and enjoy cards on the second and fourth Fridays of the month starting at 1 p.m. Also on Friday, Oct. 13 the Kinsmen Pub and Wing Night

will take place from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. at the Belgrave Community Centre. Everyone is welcome.

The Belgrave Community Centre Board recently held a successful drive-through dinner to raise funds for the centre and its work in the community throughout the year.

On Sunday, Oct. 15 from 11 a.m.

- 3 p.m., the third annual Vendor’s Market will take place in the Belgrave Community Centre.

Inside, there will be over 35 makers, crafters and consultant booths. New this year, there is an outdoor swap meet for tractor, car, sled and dirt bikes parts, tools, diecast and more. Food is available from the Belgrave Kinsmen booth.

Everyone is welcome.

Hopefully everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving weekend, although the weatherman didn’t co-operate by giving us rain. By the rain gauge we got five inches of rain or more.

Prior to that, we had sunshine and summer-like weather with temperatures in the double digits.

Hopefully we soon get sunshine so the farmers can get back on the land to harvest their crops. With the wind and the rain, a lot of the leaves have come down.

On Tuesday, Oct. 10 the Community Coffee Break was held at the Belgrave Community Centre.

Coffee, fellowship and snacks were enjoyed on a cloudy, rainy morning.

It is always a great time to get together and catch up on the news of the community.

Take a walk or a drive and enjoy what’s left of the colourful leaves.

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THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023. PAGE 15.

Thanksgiving weekend brings crowds to St. Jacobs

By Scott Stephenson The Citizen

‘Superbowl of Produce’ St. Jacobs, just outside of Waterloo, hosts Canada’s largest farmers’ market, renowned for its fresh produce, local meats, artisanal crafts, and delectable apple fritters. Thanksgiving weekend is consistently one of the market’s busiest times of the year. (Scott Stephenson photo)

Just outside of Waterloo is the largest farmers’ market in Canada, and over the years, St. Jacobs has built up an equally large reputation as the place to go for the freshest produce, the best local meats, artisanal crafts, and, of course, apple fritters. It also boasts a global food court, flea and antique markets, livestock auctions, fresh-squeezed orange juice and a plethora of items too varied to list. Growers from all over southern Ontario come to St. Jacob’s with their best produce in tow, hoping to impress shoppers with the most seasonal radish, the longest carrot, the most organic arugula and so on.

At this time of year, Huron County farmers leave home hours before the sun makes an appearance, bringing a bounty of vegetables to the market - fat green cabbages, crisp kale, indifferent rutabagas, and the last gasp of summer sweet corn. They set up their tents and tables in the lingering predawn darkness, preparing for the hordes to ravage their neat displays of carrots and onions. Everybody wants the celery root from the bottom of the pyramid.

Walton Hall hosts Coffee Chat PEOPLE AROUND WALTON

By Jo-Ann McDonald Call 887-6570

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

We hope everyone was able to gather with family and have a good time. The weather helped out the farm families, as the rain and cold put an end to harvest for the time being, so everyone could attend.

It was Commencement at Listowel District Secondary School on Friday evening and Bob and Joyce Alexander were proud grandparents of two graduates:

Rowan Alexander, son of Wayne and Angie, and Zachary Bowles, son of Steve and Barb. Zach is attending Ontario Tech University in Oshawa and Rowan is working.

Congratulations to both and good luck in the future.

Don’t forget it is Coffee Chat at Walton Hall on Saturday morning.

Come and have a visit between 9-11 a.m. for coffee, tea, water, juice and a light snack to enjoy.

Good news everyone, Lily Fincham and I had a wonderful visit on the phone on the weekend. She is doing really well, loves her place, was enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with her grandson Jason and family, got a clean bill of health from her doctor, and is still getting new things from The Shopping Channel.

Way to go Lily!

We say goodbye to Val Nagels this week as she moves to the east

coast to be closer to family. The Anglican members had a farewell luncheon with her and I am sure her friends will miss her. Farewell Val! Cranbrook Presbyterian Church will be celebrating its anniversary service on Oct. 15 at 9:45 a.m.

Come and hear a surprise guest speaker and enjoy a light lunch following the service. We hope all previous members and their families and new families in the area will attend for an opportunity to meet new friends and members of the Cranbrook community.

Celebrating birthdays this past week were Paulene Bennett, Shaye Flaxbard, Paul Kirkby, Dianne McCallum, Kara Godkin, Joyce Hartman, Jared Kelso, Cheryl Ryan, Eleanor Stevenson, Greg Ducharme, Kathy Huether and Stefan Nichol. Happy birthday to all.

Obituaries

VERA HESSELWOOD Vera Hesselwood passed away peacefully on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023 at her home in London, Ontario.

She was in her 100th year.

Her stories, her laughter and her unconditional love have shaped us into the people we are today. The lessons she taught us about life,

family and resilience are treasures that we will carry with us and hopefully impart on the next generations.

Vera is survived by her sons Douglas McVittie (Kathy) of Burlington and Randy McVittie (Helen Tritschel) of London, Ontario and her sister Alma Finnigan of Clinton.

Vera is also survived by her grandchildren, Susan, Karen, David, Tina, Lauren and Alex, 10 great-grandchildren and two greatgreat-grandchildren.

Vera was predeceased by husbands Roy McVittie and John Hesselwood, son Kenneth McVittie and daughter Bonnie Mayhew, and sisters and brothers-in-law Hazel and Harry Watkins, Ethel and Carman McPherson, Weldon Tyndall, William Gordon and Chester Finnigan.

Cremation has taken place and a small private burial at Clinton Cemetery will take place at a future date.

There are no goodbyes, just great memories.

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, squash is always particularly in demand, as people seek to sort out side dishes for the big feast.

Every day at St. Jacob’s is a lively one, but the Saturday before Thanksgiving is said by some vendors to be the busiest day of the year. Belgravebased farmer Robert Foreman dubs it the “Superbowl of Produce”. Those who disagree believe that Labour Day Saturday is the busiest. Whatever the truest answer, all agree that both days are quite busy indeed.

On Thanksgiving Saturday, the produce stalls get jammed with far more shopping carts than usual, as harried home cooks buy in bulk, trying to calculate how many Brussels sprouts are needed to feed 18 people.

Thousands of shoppers flood the market all day long. Will they all find the things they’re looking for? There’s no way to know. One thing’s for certain though - the Amish girls who are selling pumpkins dressed up like turkeys are going to sell out of their wares by day’s end. They always do, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

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NEWS FROM WALTON Remembering your loved one Honour your loved one by placing their obituary in

The Citizen.

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

Cards of thanks can be placed in our classified section, starting at just $8.00.

PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023.

Appreciate ‘The Citizen’? Then value it

Since the beginning of the new school year, there have been many stories on television about schools, particularly in the larger urban areas, that are overcrowded. There is much talk about the need for more portables, shuffling/busing of pupils to other schools and the need for new schools. As new homes are built on the outskirts of towns and the country welcomes new immigrants, school boards hustle to accommodate new pupils and find teachers.

But this year it is not just a problem for larger centres. This year, Hullett Central Public School has had to reshuffle classes. A larger-than-expected number of Kindergarten children have registered, making it necessary to add another class. As a result, class configurations from Grades 1-6 have changed. Isn’t it great to realize our school continues to grow, making the future look promising?

The changes have affected staffing as well. Justin Plant is now

the full-time teacher for the Grade 5/6 classroom. Mr. Fairweather has come on staff to assist with the Primary classes.

Jessica Goldsworthy is now teaching music throughout the school.

In a previous column, I mentioned the cancellation of flyers in the Durham Region. Those flyers, and dozens of others, were likely being circulated by the Metroland Media Group, which, as of mid-September, has been in bankruptcy protection.

As a result, Metroland has ceased the print publication of its weekly community newspapers. Their weekly papers will now be available online only. Their community newspaper business saw millions of free weekly papers delivered in those flyer bundles.

This move will spare the company’s daily newspapers, mostly in larger centres, which will continue to be printed and also published online. Metroland has faced declines for several years in print advertising and the flyer business. Just the move to cut weekly papers will involve 605 layoffs - two-thirds of its employees. Metroland has resisted taking this action, hoping postpandemic revenues would rebound.

Sixty-eight of 198 journalists have been laid off. One of those journalists was quoted as saying, “Community journalism is turning into a lost art form.” Unifor national president, Lana Payne has said,

“Canada, you are going to wake up one day and there won’t be any [local news].”

Newspaper folk recognize that the weekly local papers allow people to be engaged with their community, to get the information about local events, municipal politics and more. Consider the paper you are currently reading.

What would you miss if The Citizen was no longer in print? Consider the extra inserts about local happenings - last week’s area fire departments and before that the annual Thresher Reunion insert.

Weeklies offer up matters of importance to their area.

The Citizen is not part of any

large consortium, being a shareholder publication. And it is not a free weekly. But one needs to recognize that, without advertisers and readers, even small weeklies are struggling post-pandemic. Keep supporting your local news source.

Licensed Lay Worship Leader Sue Barnett led the Thanksgiving service at Londesborough United Church on Sunday, Oct. 8. Her chosen scripture passages were Psalm 65 and Luke 17: 11-19.

Ladies of the congregation are reminded of the United Church Women (UCW) meeting to be held in the Sunday school room on Monday, Oct. 16.

NEWS FROM LONDESBORO

Pilot project tackles local period poverty The Huron-Perth Period Poverty Task Force is hosting a pilot project designed to address period poverty in Huron and Perth Counties, beginning Oct. 16. During this pilot project, select locations, including all library locations in Huron and Perth Counties, will have menstrual products available in washrooms for all students, visitors and patrons for free.

“Providing affordable solutions to help people manage their periods comfortably and hygienically is absolutely necessary,” said Beth Rumble, Director of Cultural Services and County Librarian for the County of Huron. “This pilot project will not only fill a gap and ease a financial burden for many families, it also addresses the subject of menstruation head on and without stigma.”

“Period poverty” is a term that refers to the lack of access to menstrual products due to cost or other barriers. Research indicates almost two thirds of people who menstruate in Canada have missed work or school because of lack of access to necessary hygiene products.

Due to stigma surrounding menstruation, these issues are often not discussed.

It is the goal of the Task Force to ensure equitable access to quality menstrual supplies for all who need them. This pilot project represents one of the initiatives currently being undertaken by the Task Force.

The group will also engage in a range of activities, from resource sharing to improving access to current supply, to advocating for broader, more systemic long-term solutions for Huron and Perth Counties.

The Huron-Perth Period Poverty Task Force includes representation from United Way Perth Huron,

Huron Women’s Shelter, Optimism Place, Perth County Information Network, Huron County Library, the Avon Maitland District School Board and more.

To learn more about the HuronPerth Period Poverty Task Force and the upcoming pilot project, visit the “End Period Poverty” page on Huron County Connects at connectedcountyofhuron.ca/ period-poverty

Flip twice, serve once The Blyth Lions Club served up its traditional smoked pork chop barbecue near the end of last month, drive-through style, and it was a success once again, thanks in no small part to the work of Lions Alex Blair, left, and Justin Nelemans, right. (John Stephenson photo)

Enjoy your home time!

The Citizen now accepts Visa & MasterCard by phone Order from the comfort of your own home • advertise • subscribe • buy books Call our Blyth office 519-523-4792

THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023. PAGE 17.

From the Minister’s Study

Blessings and privileges and fleas - Oh my!

BY REV. JOANN TODD, TRINITY ANGLICAN CHURCH, BLYTH Thanksgiving is a time when many gather with friends and family to give thanks to God for “our many blessings”.

It’s a phrase that gives me pause every time I hear it. If we consider ourselves blessed because of all the things we have and we are able to do, what about those who don’t have these same advantages? What about those who barely scrape by or live in poverty, or whose state of health - physical or mental - is a huge barrier to being able to work, or who live in places full of corruption and scarcity, war and famine? Does that mean then that they are less blessed? And if so, does that mean God blesses some people more than others? No, that can’t be, because that goes completely against our Christian belief that God loves all of us unconditionally! So, I’d like to propose an alternative way of thinking about those so-called “blessings” and instead look upon them as privileges or advantages.

God’s blessings come to everyone, regardless of the financial situation people find themselves in. The beatitudes tell us that indeed God blesses those who are in want and need as they live out their lives of faith - maybe even more so!

Jesus had parables explaining how those who were last would be first in God’s Kingdom. Pondering on this reminded me of a story from Corrie ten Boom’s book, The Hiding Place, that has never left me! The ten Boom family was a very religious family; Corrie’s sister Betsie especially so. They lived in Holland during the Second World War and they were sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp after they were caught hiding Jews in their house. Betsie had managed to smuggle a Bible into the camp with them and they would hold prayer services when they were out of earshot of the guards, strengthening themselves and other prisoners with scripture, songs and words of faith.

We’ve all heard of the atrocious conditions in these places. The barracks in Ravensbrück, where Corrie and Betsie were assigned, was absolutely infested with fleas.

Corrie wrote that Betsie said even in the conditions that they were living in, God was with them, and they should give thanks to God, even for the fleas. Corrie had a real problem with that; she especially

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couldn’t possibly give thanks for fleas and why should she anyway?

Betsie replied that, because of the fleas, the guards avoided their area in the jail, which allowed them more freedom to share Christ’s word with the others, and avoid the other atrocities that guards were known to inflict on female inmates.

Corrie did relent, and grudgingly gave thanks for the fleas.

“Betsie died in Ravensbrück on 16th December 1944, aged 59. The last words she had spoken to Corrie before she died were, “You must tell people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still,” reads ten Boom’s book.

God never leaves us, even if we’re not aware of God’s presence with us, we are not alone. Christ walks alongside us, especially in the worst of circumstances, and God’s blessings come in ways that we can’t always immediately understand or imagine.

And yes, for reasons that are beyond our understanding, there

have always been those who have many more privileges and advantages than others, even in this wealthy country. So, for those who really have the advantage of a comfortable lifestyle and disposable income, and all the privileges that go with that, yes we are, of course, most thankful for our advantages. I guess the real question is, as people of faith, as Christians, what do we do with all that those advantages bring us?

How do we use the power of our advantages for those who are less privileged? How do we show that we really are thankful? We look to Jesus’ teachings for answers to those kinds of faith questions.

Here’s a wee bit of Biblical trivia for you: except for teachings about the Kingdom of God, Jesus spoke more about how we are to handle our wealth than anything else. And since before the time of Nehemiah, the faithful have been taught to share of their wealth. Why? Because what we have is not really ours. All things are of God, including us and the abilities or

Brussels Mennonite Fellowsship THE MISSION OF BMF GROW – in the teachings of Jessus LIVE – by His Example CONNECT – people to Jesus

the fact that one was a hated outsider - a Samaritan - wasn’t really important anymore, the men were connected together by their illness. They called out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Jesus’ response is immediate. “Go show yourselves to the priests.”

It was the priests who would inspect them to ensure the spots on their skin were gone; only the priests could pronounce them healed, allowing them to return to their homes and families. It didn’t matter to Jesus who was of what ethnic origin. He sees 10 men needing to be “made clean” of this disease, and full of compassion. He knew he could heal them, and so he did. But only the Samaritan man the rival to the Jews - returned to thank Jesus. Is it possible that it was the very acceptance this Jewish healer offered that made the healing even more meaningful for him?

Did the other nine maybe take Continued on page 18

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talents we have been given.

Remember singing back in the day, “All things come of thee O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee.” We show our thanks to God by giving back, by sharing from what God so graciously has given us.

Now, the gospel reading we read on Thanksgiving Sunday is an interesting story of giving thanks.

Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem and, just outside a village, he comes upon a group of 10 men with leprosy. Leprosy at this time was a dreaded disease; incurable and considered very contagious. Fear of the disease spreading from person to person resulted in people with leprosy being exiled, expelled from their home communities. That’s why they called out to Jesus from a distance.

I suspect that it was the disease and having to leave their homes that brought these 10 men together as a small community of their own, and

Trinity

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October 22 ~ Anniversary Service with Rev. Jon Forbes October 29 ~ Remembering Service November 5 ~ Remembrance Day Service

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Sunday, October 15, 2023 11:00 am - 12 noon We extend a loving welcome to all to join us in worship as Doug Sargent leads in worship, praise, and prayer to God. A time of fellowship to follow.

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

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

Sunday, October 15 at 10 a.m.

BMG Community Centre (upstairs room) 800 Sports Drive, Brussels **Please note our new location** Childcare provided for children aged 0 to 4 during the sermon

Worship and Prayer Time Loving Fellowship Expository Preaching

For additional details please visit: brusselscommunitybiblechapel.com

Blyth United Church Sunday, October 15 at 11:00 am Join us Wednesday mornings for visits in the garden starting at 10 am.

Outreach project for October is the Food Grains Project.

Nursery and Sunday School during worship Join a LifeGroup! huronchapel.com/small-groups On-site and online - live.huronchapel.com 119 John’s Ave., Auburn 519-526-1131

"If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Colossians 3:1 Contact Alex at: minister.brusselsandblythuc@gmail.com Facebook: Blyth and Brussels United Churches blythunited@tcc.on.ca ~ 519-523-4224

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

PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023.

Take time to reflect

Right this way The Brussels Fairy Door Trail has become such an attraction in the Village of Brussels that the Brussels Optimist Club and Community Futures Huron sponsored the creation of a mural to celebrate, which has just recently been completed with the help of locals Zoellyn Onn and Thom Chisholm. (Courtesy photo)

Continued from page 17 their healing for granted? After all, Jesus was known as a healer; that was his job. Or maybe in the excitement of being healed, of being able to go back to a normal life, maybe they just forgot to say thank you. Although they believed in Jesus’ ability to heal them, they didn’t seem to appreciate the full extent of who Jesus was and what he could truly give them; what true faith in Jesus could bring them.

The Samaritan who returned to Jesus came “praising God with a loud voice”, and, “He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.”

The original Greek words that are used are very interesting. The word used for giving thanks is “eucharistō”; which is, of course, the origin of the word Eucharist. That’s what we do when we participate in Holy Eucharist - partake of Holy Communion - we are giving thanks to God for the gift of Jesus. Every Eucharistic prayer has words of thanksgiving in it!

The Samaritan man turned back to “eucharisto”, to give thanks to Jesus for his healing. In Luke, as in the New Testament in general, “turning around” (or, in this case, “turning back”, as it is translated) is a description for the believer’s reaction to Jesus’ work.… It describes a movement of the whole person, initiated by God’s graceful work; a redirection of orientation toward God. Jesus’ words, “your faith has made you well” (v.19), refer therefore, not just to the medical healing the Samaritan has experienced, but to the

holistic healing of the (whole) being.

The phrase “made you well” literally translated from the Greek, means “saved you”. Within his healing, the Samaritan man recognized the power of God, come to him through Jesus’ healing of him.

Not just his body, but his soul was saved. He was made completely whole. He knew then who Jesus really was, one through whom the full grace of God flowed. And he fell at Jesus’ feet in “eucharisto”, in thanksgiving.

It was a true “attitude of gratitude”.

So, not just thankfulness, but an awareness; a full, deep and soulful appreciation that what he had received was a gift from God. He fell at Jesus’ feet praising God, overwhelmed with the power of God within Jesus, and flowing within him, feeling a profound sense of the magnitude of God’s grace and love - even though he was an outcast leper and a Samaritan.

It was, for him, a conversion experience.

My wish for you this Thanksgiving week is that you have some time for personal reflection on all your “blessings”! And I hope that you will experience a sense of real “eucharisto” for all God’s many gifts, and an awareness of Christ’s healing presence in your lives. And may our faith grow to the point where we, too, during those times in our lives when we’re truly challenged, or overwhelmed, can find God in the midst of the mess, and even with true gratefulness say, “Thank you God, even for the fleas”. Amen.

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Entertainment & Leisure

Sitter raising money for Farmerettes documentary

Documenting history Author and photographer Bonnie Sitter is making a documentary about the Farmerettes, women who contributed during WWII. She needs funding and has a tight deadline as many of the women who were involved in the program are now in their 90s. A surviving Farmerette (above), Beryl Beckett of Tampa, Florida, fields questions during an interview for the documentary from Colin Field. Beckett was a Farmerette in 1945 in the Vineland area when she was living in Petrolia. She was known as “Dusty’. Two Farmerettes (upper righthand corner) pose for photograph on a tractor, an image that (Courtesy photos) has been immortalized in art by Joan Tovey.

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Celebrated local author and photographer Bonnie Sitter is working to create a documentary on the Farmerettes, a passion project of hers that manifested with her book, Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz, but she just needs help to fund it.

Sitter is working with Colin Field, a London, Ontario-based film producer to make the movie, which they’ve already begun shooting. To keep going, however, they need to find funding. Field has set up a Go Fund Me page for the movie and Sitter is working on localized fundraisers, but really the pair is just keeping its eyes and ears open for any opportunity to make their passion project.

Furthermore, Sitter says, the clock is ticking. Many of the women who participated in the Farmerette program have passed away, and those who are still living are often in their 90s, so the window in which they can interview them is closing.

“Time is running out to do this project,” Sitter said in an interview with The Citizen. However, since writing an article about the Farmerettes for The Rural Voice, The Citizen’s sister publication, as well as Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz, Sitter has become a passionate advocate for all of the young women who stepped up across Ontario during World War II. Sitter, in an interview with The Citizen, said that the Farmerettes Forever Committee is a small, but passionate group of advocates working to tell the story of the Farmerettes, their impact on the world and the role they played in supporting the Allied Forces during

the Second World War. As the country faced a farm labour shortage due to men being shipped overseas to fight in the war, young women from all over the country stepped up to fill that void. And Sitter says that, when the story of World War II and the Herculean effort made by just about everyone to do their part is told, the Farmerettes are almost never mentioned.

Sitter’s involvement with the group dates back several years when she found a picture in her late husband’s possessions. She had never heard of the Farmerettes and decided to investigate further, and once she began looking into it, she was immediately interested in learning all she could.

Connecting with numerous Farmerettes from all over the province, Sitter wrote an article for The Rural Voice, The Citizen’s sister publication, that would serve to connect her not only with many Farmerettes, but with English, who would eventually become the coauthor of her book.

This curiosity would eventually lead to Sitter writing a book with Shirleyan English, telling the stories of numerous Farmerettes called Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz: Memories of Ontario Farmerettes.

English, who was a farmerette herself, saw the article and then wrote a letter to the editor. She said she was moved by the story and then told her own story about working on the Sitter farm in Thedford in the early 1950s. That was the connection Sitter was looking for and the two women soon began speaking and working together.

English told Sitter that the summer of 1952 was the best summer of her

life and that she looks back on that time very fondly.

Once Sitter and English began working together, collecting stories, letters and photographs from living Farmerettes, the pair committed themselves to a tight deadline. Sitter gave English no choice in the matter, telling her they had to write a book and they should aim to finish it within a year. Due to the advanced age of so many Farmerettes, they wanted to pen the story as soon as they could, so as many women who lived the Farmerette life as possible could read it.

The book has proven to be a success and has served to connect the authors with even more Farmerettes after its publication.

She connected with Field when she was exhibiting at Goderich’s annual Celtic Festival. He bought a copy of the book and spoke with Sitter about the project itself. She said it would be great to commit conversations, interviews and memories of the Farmerettes to film one day and Field told her that he just so happened to be a film producer and a relationship between the two was born.

They immediately began plotting a path for a documentary and discussing how it could be funded.

Field estimates that the budget is about $30,000, $5,000 of which will be paid for by a successful grant.

The rest, however, remains yet to be determined. They have approached a number of organizations and groups, including the provincial government and its Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, thinking it was a slam dunk, only to get sent to another ministry that drove them to a dead end.

Sitter and Field, however, due to the time-sensitive nature of the

project, decided to start whether they had the money or not in the hopes of having the film complete by next year to be entered into 2024 film festivals.

Sitter has created art cards featuring work from Joan Tovey, who was a Farmerette and has since put some of her memories of those times to canvas as paintings. They can be purchased from Sitter by calling 519-235-1909 or by e-mail at bonnie.sitter@gmail.com.

In other Farmerette-related news, Sitter says she is optimistic about the production of a play based on the Farmerettes hitting the stage next year, which could give the entirety of the project a boost. A play based on Sitter’s book has been co-commissioned by the Blyth Festival and 4th Line Theatre.

Alison Lawrence has been brought on to write the play and the hope is that the play will be produced at

both theatres next year, though neither artistic director - Gil Garratt in Blyth and Kim Blackwell at the 4th Line Theatre near Peterborough - could confirm that the show would be part of their 2024 seasons at this point in the schedule.

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PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023.

Clinton native Baker releases first novel ‘Iron Scars’ public to read. Writing, for Baker, however, is nothing new.

“I started writing a novel when I was eight years old,” Baker said.

He says that his interests (his first effort was about wolves, his fascination at the time) have evolved over time, but his love of reading and writing has remained.

“After centuries of conquest, the Spartan Empire dominates the known world. Its land stretches from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Persian Gulf in the east, and from the Nile in the south to the Danube in the north. With the last of their enemies defeated, the Spartans are the unquestioned rulers of the world,” reads Baker’s website about Iron Scars, which he describes as an alternative history novel full of action, adventure, politics, conflict and intrigue.

Baker says he came up with the idea all those years ago as he was out walking his dog. He said it popped into his head and he instantly knew that it was a story worth telling, which is why he stuck with it. He was, in fact, writing another book at the time, but

Seven years in the making Hamilton Baker, head of the Blyth branch of the Huron County Library, has released his debut novel Iron Scars. He’s received positive feedback from readers and is considering a sequel. (Courtesy photo)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Clinton native, Goderich resident and one of the head honchos at the Blyth branch of the Huron County Library, Hamilton Baker, has delved into the literary world from the creative side, penning his first novel, Iron Scars.

The book was released on Oct. 4 and Baker now has a number of

speaking events lined up at local libraries to discuss the book with fellow history enthusiasts, including Goderich on Oct. 16 (6:30-7:30 p.m.), Wingham on Oct. 23 (6:15-7:15 p.m.) and Blyth (6-7 p.m.) on Oct. 30.

In an interview with The Citizen, Baker said the book has been a labour of love for the last seven years and he’s pretty happy to now have it published and ready for the

shelved it in favour of what would eventually become Iron Scars, knowing it was a more promising path for him.

One of the big developments along the way was the evolution of his interest in history. As Baker became more interested in history, his sensibilities shifted further towards that end of the spectrum, which is what led him to write this book.

Along the way, however, there have been stops and starts. In fact, there was a time when he was sure he was done the book and asked his wife, who also works in the Huron County Library system, to read it for him. He said she pointed out some problems that needed fixing, which he, in his heart, also knew existed. That was a major turning point for the process of the book, he said. Once he addressed those issues and corrected course, he felt the book really took shape into what it is today.

Now, since it’s been published, he’s received lots of great feedback.

Sure, he says, he’s received words of enthusiasm and encouragement

Books for your Fall reading collection

RAISING MEAT GOATS Storey Publishing provides a guide to managing, breeding and marketing meat goats.

Information on the various breeds, selection of breeding stock, housing and feeding, keeping stock healthy and tips on marketing. (hardcover) $44.95

THE BEAUTY AND BOUNTY OF HURON COUNTY Stunning photographs by 3 Huron County photographers, including Brussels’ David Bishop, show Huron County as you’ve never seen it with aerial shots, wildlife, landscapes, nature. $40.00

ADMIRAL HENRY WOLSEY BAYFIELD David Yates brings to life the powerful personality and extraordinary career of Henry Bayfield, taking us on travels through the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River and Atlantic coast in small boats on rough waters. This is a story that deserves to be remembered. $20.00

Battling The U13C Huron Heat defeated the Twin Centre Hericanes by a score of 6-3 on Sunday, Oct. 8. (John Stephenson photo)

from family members and friends, though he’s sure they would be positive regardless of what they really thought, but, since the book has been released, he’s heard many good things from readers he doesn’t know, which he finds quite encouraging. Putting the book out into the world has been exciting and nerve-wracking all at the same time, he said.

He’s now looking forward to the aforementioned events, or “book talks” as Baker thinks of them in his mind. It’ll be nice to be face-to-face with readers and have the opportunity to talk about the book with fellow history enthusiasts.

While he’s still riding high on the publication of his first book, he thinks there may still be more story yet to be told. He said there are sequel possibilities already swimming around in his head, but he’s wanting to take a breath and enjoy this moment before diving right into his next project, but he’s sure there will be one.

Iron Scars is available to purchase through Amazon and a number of other local retailers.

MUSHROOMS and Other Fungi of North America Over 1,000 full-colour photos make this the most comprehensive illustrated guide on mushrooms, and the essential resource for the amateur collector, expert mycologist and armchair naturalist. $29.95

BARNYARD GAMES & BACKYARD FORAGING PUZZLES This book explores the fun, Join your favourite farm safe, and free way to eat locally. animals for games, jokes and A foraging guide that safely puzzles - barnyard style! leads you through harvesting Crawl your way through a etiquette, plant identification worm squirm, or find out how and tips on how to eat the to tell if there are cows in your leaves, flowers, nuts, seeds, refrigerator. $12.95 roots, etc. of plants. $22.95

HOCKEY HALL OF FAME TRUE STORIES This book is overflowing with behind-the-scenes yarns of some of history’s greatest scoring sprees and winning seasons, as well as thrilling accounts of the off-ice heroics, tragedies and curiosities. $24.95

TALES FROM THE TOWNSHIP The latest edition of humorous short stories by Arnold Mathers. This book contains 28 short stories as well as 2 plays. All are comedies with some deeper meaning. $20.00

THE CLUELESS BAKER More than 100 tried and tested baking recipes as well as the basic know-how needed for a novice to take up baking. Recipes and instructions for breads, muffins, biscuits, cookies, cakes, pies and other pastries.

Gluten free and whole-wheat recipes. $16.95

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