Huron County Newsletter #33 (2024)

Weeks of August 11th to 17th, 2024

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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:

by Bob Montgomery

Three low-cost rabies vaccination clinics will be provided by Blyth Veterinary Services, in partnership with Huron Perth Public Health.

Dr. Lee Siertesma from Blyth Veterinary Services says their goal is to be able to vaccinate as many pets as possible for owners on a tight budget who are not able to see a vet regularly otherwise. “We apply for a special license from our governing licensing body, the College of Veterinarians of Ontario, and partner with Huron Perth Public Health to put on these events. We have held these clinics annually for many years, after detecting rabies in a local farm animal years ago.”…

by Bob Montgomery

The Sunset Community Foundation’s annual Greater Grand Bend Community Fund Granting Program is once again accepting applications from eligible organizations for projects and activities that improve the vitality of the greater Grand Bend area residents.

“Charitable organizations in rural communities face unique challenges, including a lack of resources, limited access to technology, and a smaller pool of potential donors” says Chair of the Board of Directors, Charlene Masschelein. “Despite these challenges, these organizations…”

by Bob Montgomery

One of the co-founders of the Celtic Roots Festival says this year's event was one of their best and they've had a lot of great events.

Warren Robinson shared that the festival was founded when a group of teachers at the high school in Goderich were singing and one of their members, George Young, passed away at the age of 49. They decided to have a fundraising concert to raise money for a scholarship in his honour. They hoped maybe…

by Bob Montgomery

Huron County Ontario Provincial Police are investigating a collision involving a pickup truck and a residence in the Municipality of Bluewater (Zurich) which has caused extensive damage to the home located on…

by Bob Montgomery

The Huron County Ontario Provincial Police Crime Unit has charged a Cambridge Ontario resident with six criminal offences following a child luring investigation.

The Huron County OPP commenced an investigation in March of 2024, following a report of an individual communicating with a victim under the age of 13 using a social media site.

As a result of the investigation, police identified the suspect who was subsequently arrested and charged.

George…

by Bob Montgomery

Bluewater council discussed a letter from the Bayfield and Area Chamber of Commerce at Monday night's council meeting.

Bayfield Ward Councillor, Bill Whetstone, explained the letter from the Chamber expressed their concerns about council approving amarket event in Clan Gregor Square on August 31st from twelve in the afternoon until six in the evening. The letter from the Chamber stated that “While we support many activities in our area…

by Bob Montgomery

Mayor Jim Ginn says council had asked staff for recommendations for a possible location for a new multi-use sports pad.

It was felt the site of the old swimming pool wasn't appropriate because of its proximity to the race track. They were looking for something that would accommodate two pickleball courts and a small basketball court. Staff came back with four possibilities.

Ginn says one of the problems they ran into was the proximity to residential areas. They found that a pickle ball makes quite a bit of noise when people hit it, so if people were playing at eight in the morning or nine in the evening some distance from homes would be appreciated.

There wasn't any direction from council to move forward on any of the suggestions and he suspects it will come up for discussion at next year's budget time.

by Bob Montgomery

Emma Robinson is representing the Seaforth Agricultural Society at this year's Ambassador Of The Fairs Competition at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto.

Emma is twenty years old and is entering her third year in a Bachelor of Science and Agriculture course, majoring in Honours Agriculture, at the University of Guelph. Last year, she ran for Queen of the Furrow before she ran for Seaforth Ambassador. She says those…

by Bob Montgomery

At the beginning of this year, theWingham & District Hospital Foundation’sCaring Togethercampaign seta goal of $2.5 million to fund a CT scanner and the associated renovations. That figure was based on preliminary estimates, but Foundation Executive Director, Nicole Duquette, saysas the project progressed it became clear that actual costs would amount to more than anticipated. For that reason, the WDH Foundation has expanded the funding goal for the project to $3.6 million.

The hospital received multiple quotes from several different vendors and contractors and…

by Bob Montgomery

The Huron County Ontario Provincial Police is investigating a robbery that took place on August 9th, 2024, at a location near Parson's Court in Goderich.

On Friday, August 9th, just after 7:00 p.m. Huron County OPP received information that a robbery had taken place in a wooded area near Parson's Court between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. One person was assaulted while their personal belongings were stolen and damaged. The suspects used a metal…

by Bob Montgomery

Huron County Ontario Provincial Police have charged a London, Ontario resident with several criminal offences following a series of traffic complaints and a fail-to-remain collision on Saturday, July 20th, 2024.

Police were notified of a collision in the Village of Grand Bend, Municipality of Lambton Shores, at approximately noon on July 20th, 2024. One of the involved vehicles failed to remain at the scene of the collision and was last observed travelling…

by Bob Montgomery

Western Ontario Warden's Caucus Executive Director outlined their strategic priorities at this week's county council meeting.

Kate Burns Gallagher says she'll be presenting their priorities for 2024 and early 2025 at this weekend's Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference as well as at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association Conference in January and she says they're looking forward to meeting with the provincial ministers. There are four specific priorities and they are housing, infrastructure, workforce and mental health, addictions and homelessness. “So when we look at housing, infrastructure and workforce, they are really all together, you can't have one without the other, you need the housing for your workforce, you need the workforce to build your housing and you need the infrastructure to support all of them.”

Burns Gallagher says in the past twelve to eighteen months they've had forty-billion dollars worth of investments and thirty-thousand jobs come into their area through various manufacturers. They need housing for those individuals, they need training to up-skill the people who are already here and they need infrastructure to support that investment. Things like roads, water, wastewater and broadband. She says they very much want to support the investment that has come into the area but they need the government's help with funding. They also want to make sure that small rural municipalities have the same access to government funding as larger urban municipalities do.

by Bob Montgomery

Huron County council approved the Land Ambulance Response Time Performance Plan presented by the county's Chief of Emergency Services at this week's council meeting.

Jeff Horseman says the 2024 projected year end response times puts them on par for their response time target that they filed with the province for the year. Horseman points out their call volume continues to increase, as it is across the province, so that makes it difficult to improve on those response times without adding staff and vehicles. The recommendation at this point is to stay with the current response time and look at it again towards the end of 2025, and that's what council agreed to do.

There are a couple of reasons for the increase in call volume. One is that more people are moving into Huron County, so the call volume increases accordingly and the population is growing right now in most rural communities. The other factor is the age of the people in rural communities. The good news is we live longer than we used to but as we get older we tend to have more conditions that require medical care and that often means paramedics responding to an emergency. That situation has contributed significantly to the two to three percent call volume increase year to year that they've been experiencing for the last six to eight years. Horseman shares that he doesn't expect that the call volume will decrease in the foreseeable future. Without adding resources, that will affect their response time.

Weekly Trivia Questions

What Huron County women was the last woman to be tried for witchcraft, and is the subject of a play at this year's Blyth Festival?

a) Grizelda Clemons

b) Maggie Pollack

c) Abigail Putman

d) Flora McKinnon

Which Prime Minister appeared on CKNX-Radio in June 1968?

a) Pierre E. Trudeau

b) Lester B. Pearson

c) John G. Diefenbaker

d) Joe Clark

Answers to last week’s questions:

What famous female physicist born in Exeter on July 2, 1876 was known as “That Woman Scientist”?

a) Alice Munro

b) Charlotte Whitehead

c) Harriett Brooks*

Charlotte Whitehead Ross

What federal law did Huron County residents vote to repeal in 1959?

a) Conscription Act

b) Canada Temperance Act*

c) Woman’s Suffrage Act

d) Capital Punishment Act

Trivia questions courtesy of local historian and author David Yates