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- Huron County Newsletter #20
Huron County Newsletter
Week of May 5th to May 11th, 2024
Good day,
We have some new subscribers (Welcome!), and some new followers on our Facebook page. We periodically get asked by new Facebook followers how to read the full articles, so I thought I’d take this time to mention Bill C-18 (Online News Act) again.
Due to Bill C-18, news cannot be posted or linked directly on social media in Canada. As a result of this, we can take screenshots of stories, and post them as pictures, but we cannot post links directly from our Facebook page to our website. Hopefully someday this will be resolved, but for now we have to work with what we have.
So, if you see a story on Facebook and you would like to read more, you will have to go to your web browser and navigate to our website directly, or through a search engine. We recommend bookmarking the website and checking every day or two to make sure you don’t miss anything!
Thank you for checking out the Huron County Newsletter and have a great week.
This week’s Huron County Newsletter is brought to you by:
 Seaforth Golf Club |  Tuckersmith Communications Co-operative |
Avon Maitland District School Board and Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation Celebrate Excellence in Public Education Awards
by Bob Montgomery
As Education Week approaches, District 8 of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation and the Avon Maitland District School Board are happy to announce this years’ recipients of the Excellence in Public Education Awards.
District 8 Secondary Teacher President Maureen Matchett explains the awards celebrate student achievement and teaching excellence. Award recipients include secondary students, secondary teachers, support staff members, community members, and two especially-excellent elementary students.
“It's important to recognize the examples of excellence in all areas of public education in Avon Maitland. Whether it is…”
Victim Services of Perth and Huron Merge
by Bob Montgomery
Effective May 1st Victim Services of Perth County have merged with Huron County Victim Services.
Executive Director Deborah Logue explains Perth Victim Services had been aligned with Grey and Bruce, so what was previously Grey, Bruce, Perth is now Grey Bruce and Huron Perth is a separate service. Logue says the Grey, Bruce, Perth configuration covered too much area for them to provide the level of service they felt was necessary. Logue also points out, Huron and Perth already share services with the school board, the health unit and addiction and mental health services among others so it makes sense to merge Huron and Perth Victim Services.
The merger will provide better service for clients…
2024 Barrel Racing Season Gets Underway on May 10th at the REACH Centre in Clinton
by Bob Montgomery
The 2024 Ontario Barrel Racing Association season gets underway on May 10th at the REACH Centre in Clinton.
Association President Gary Nelson says the event will open on Friday, May 10th and continue Saturday and Sunday. They'll start at eight in the morning on both Saturday and Sunday. Nelson says they'll obviously have a lot of barrel racing but they'll also have some pole bending. For the younger horses, they'll also have some futurity events where the horses run in their own class and that competition will be on Friday night.
At this point they have well over a hundred horses entered for the weekend so…
The Bayfield Beer, Wine and Food Festival Celebrates Nine Years This Saturday (May 11th)
by Bob Montgomery
Bayfield Ward councillor Bill Whetstone is the co-chair of the event. He says the festival will have a wide range of beer, wine and food and music. They try to get as much of that from local producers as possible, but they do have to bring a few things, like beer, in from outside of the county.…
County of Huron Recognizes Emergency Preparedness Week
by Bob Montgomery
Emergency Preparedness Week is a national awareness initiative that started in 1996 and this year runs from May 5th to the 11th.
It's a collaborative event undertaken by provincial and local emergency management organizations to help raise awareness of the importance of emergency preparedness for all Canadians. And it's an opportunity for individuals to learn how they can become prepared to protect themselves, family members, and communities during an emergency. This year, the theme in Ontario is Plan for Every Season.
Huron County Warden Glen McNeil says every year the County of Huron and its partner municipalities work together to review and update their municipal emergency plans and since the…
Lions Club of Wingham Pledges $25,000 to Wingham & District Hospital CT Scanner Campaign
by Bob Montgomery
The Lions Club of Wingham has committed to donate $25,000 to the Wingham & District Hospital Foundation in support of the Caring Together campaign for a new CT Scanner.
This donation in one more in a long tradition of community support. The members of the Lions Club of Wingham have been generous donors to the hospital since 1984. Their support has helped bring a wide variety of medical technology to the hospital including, a chemistry analyzer, cautery device, anaesthetic machine, OR Scopes, and much more.
Now they are playing an important role in…
Pictured: CT Campaign Team Leader Ang McPherson (far left), Lions Club members including: President Andy McBride, Secretary Earl Dolmage, Vice-President Burt Askes and 2nd Vice Branden Bridges, and WDHF Executive Director Nicole Duquette Photo courtesy of Wingham District Hospital Foundation
Goderich Celtic Roots Festival Wins Festivals and Events Ontario Award
by Bob Montgomery
The Goderich Celtic Roots Festival has a little swagger as it prepares to launch its 32nd annual Festival this August.
Artistic Director and General Manager Cheryl Prashker says they were thrilled to find out recent that the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival has been recognized by Festival and Events Ontario. What the award means is they're one of the top one hundred festivals in Ontario. So they're very happy about that. She says no one had ever nominated them before, but the Festival and Events Ontario organization is an amazing group that provides events and festival all kinds of information about what's going on in the province and what grants might be available to them.
Prashker says she also knows first hand what an amazing event the Celtic Festival is because her first time at the Festival was…
Central Huron Council is Going to Have Some Difficult Decisions Regarding the Future of Its Pool
by Bob Montgomery
Central Huron council has asked for a report from staff to help them determine the future of the municipal pool in Clinton.
Mayor Jim Ginn says if they decide the municipality should have a pool it will involve completely taking out the current pool and putting in a new one. That would cost a little over five million dollars, so he doubts council would want to spend that much money on it at this time. Ginn adds, the pool hasn't been used for a couple of years now. “It was closed during COVID and then because it wasn't in use there was some serious deterioration…”
Goderich Mayor Says Unique Make Up of Town Council is One Of It's Strengths
by Bob Montgomery
Goderich Mayor Trevor Bazinet says he was excited and a little nervous to see his first Mayor's Luncheon at the Beach Street Station sold out this week.
During his presentation he described his council as a team that works well together and with staff to achieve their goals. He acknowledges that this council is unique in that he's the only member of the seven members of council with past service on council, and this council is made up of four women and three men. Bazinet says that's part of their strength. “A lot of people ask me what's it like working with six new council members that don't have experience. But this has worked out to be a really good thing because they bring new ideas, they bring a lot of passion…”
Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation is Offering a $1000 Student Environmental Grant in 2024
by Bob Montgomery
The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation is offering a $1000 Student Environmental Grant this year.
Foundaton Chair Dave Frayne says the Foundation has been pleased to present this scholarship to 12 different students since 2010. “We are honoured to provide this financial support to help a local student in their studies and we encourage eligible young people to apply.”
The application form and complete details are on the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority website, on the Foundation’s Projects web page.
The $1000 Student Environmental Grant is awarded to a graduating secondary school student or a student enrolled in university or college. The student receiving the award is someone pursuing…
The Lake Huron Coastal Centre's Earth Day Cleanup of the Goderich Shoreline was a Huge Success
by Bob Montgomery
The Interim Executive Director of the Lake Huron Coastal Centre's Cleanup of the Goderich shoreline was a huge success.
Alyssa Bourassa says the shoreline cleanup was their celebration of Earth Day and she's very pleased to announce that 175 volunteers were able to remove 480 pounds of litter from the Goderich shoreline.
The number of volunteers they get out each year is a testament to how much people care about the health of Lake Huron. It also helps that they've been doing this for a few years now so it's something people…
Photos courtesy of Lake Huron Coastal Centre
Weekly Trivia Questions
What Huron County town was Francistown the northern section of?
a) Goderich
b) Seaforth
c) Wingham
d) Exeter
Who was the last person in the Goderich gaol to be publicly hanged?
a) Edward Jardine
b) Nicholas Melady
c) William Mahone
d) Alfred Ackford
Answers to last week’s questions:
Which Huron County High School has the Latin motto “Palma non sine Pulvere” (No Reward Without effort)?
a) Goderich District Collegiate Institute*
b) South Huron High Schoolhouse
c) F E Madill Secondary Schoolhouse
d) Central Huron Secondary Schoolhouse
Who was the first European to set foot in modern Huron County?
a) Samuel de Champlain
b) Dr. William ‘Tiger’ Dunlop
c) Etienne Brule*
d) Captain James Carver
Trivia questions courtesy of local author and historian David Yates