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The
THIS WEEK • Editorials • Sports • Agriculture • Obituaries
Citizen
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Thursday, July 22, 2021
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Volume 37 No. 29
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0
Fastball League returns after cancelled season By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen
In the swing of things The Huron County Fastball League is back in action, with games beginning on Tuesday, July 6 for a truncated season that will end late next month. This is the first time the league’s teams have been on the field in well over a year, with the 2020 season having to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That means
the Brussels Tigers remain the defending league champions thanks to their 2019 heroics. In North Huron, the Wingham Hitmen welcomed the Wroxeter Rippers on Sunday for one of the first games of the season. It proved to be a day to remember for the home team, as the Hitmen posted a 5-1 victory. (John Stephenson photo)
The Huron County Fastball League is back with a truncated season that will see each team play eight games between July 6 and Aug. 22. Action over the weekend saw the Wingham Hitmen triumph over the Wroxeter Rippers by a score of 5-1. The Fullarton A’s played their first game of the season against the Belmore Stingers, but a score was unavailable at press time. The Walton Brewers hosted the first game of the season on July 6. This was the first Huron County Fastball League game in more than a year-and-a-half, after the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last champions were the Brussels Tigers, who triumphed at the end of the 2019 season. The Brewers hosted the Goderich Grizzlies on July 6 to open the season, winning by a score of 11-7. The Brussels Tigers then played the second game of the season, travelling to Monkton on July 9 and handing the Muskrats a 10-0 shutout loss. A July 11 contest between the Fullarton A’s and the Wroxeter Rippers was postponed due to rain. The Walton Brewers travelled north to take on the Brussels Tigers on July 14 and it was the Tigers who won by a whopping 18-1 score. Goderich then travelled to Belmore on July 15, with Belmore shutting out the Grizzlies by a score Continued on page 12
Local cases occurring in unvaccinated: Klassen By Denny Scott The Citizen During a recent Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) teleconference, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Miriam Klassen said that COVID-19 vaccines are working and there is empirical data to back that claim up. Klassen was referring to a Public Health Ontario report called “Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 Following Vaccination in Ontario: December 14, 2020 to June 26, 2021.” “The report… shows that the number of breakthrough cases (i.e. cases in fully-vaccinated individuals) is very low,” she said. “Overall in Ontario, there were 815 symptomatic breakthrough cases or 0.2 per cent of all confirmed cases in that time frame.” Locally, Klassen said there were six symptomatic breakthrough cases, or 0.4 per cent of all confirmed cases, in Huron and
Perth County in the time frame the report covered. “Put another way, in Huron [and] Perth [Counties], 99.4 per cent of all confirmed cases during that time frame were in individuals who were not fully vaccinated,” she said. “The higher the number of people
fully vaccinated, the more potential chains of transmission are broken.” She said that by breaking those transmission chains, new steps of opening will be reached across the province. Klassen also addressed the slowing of individuals receiving
their first vaccination in the area, saying that, in order to continue with reopening plans and protect residents of the area, those who haven’t been vaccinated need to remedy that. “We especially ask younger people to get their first or second
dose,” she said in the conference. While the majority of younger people may not face severe illness or symptoms of COVID-19, Klassen said some do and some experience “long” symptoms which are still being researched. Young Continued on page 2
Brussels Fall Fair cancelled again The Brussels Agricultural Society has announced the cancellation of the 2021 Brussels Fall Fair and the 2021 Ambassador Competition. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Brussels Agricultural Society has made the difficult decision to cancel the Brussels Fall Fair, scheduled to take place Sept. 14-15 at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. Many factors were considered by the society's general membership when making the decision, most importantly the desire to ensure the
safety of fair visitors, exhibitors, vendors, community groups, entertainers, sponsors and volunteers. The fair will return with a spectacular celebration on Sept. 1314, 2022, with the theme “Twist and Sprout”. In addition, the Ambassador Competition will not run this year. Ambassador Sean Mitchell, Junior Ambassador James Speer and Little Ambassador Rowan Gaspric have graciously agreed to stay in their positions through 2022.
Despite cancelling the 2021 Brussels Fall Fair, the Brussels Agricultural Society is planning to host several physically-distanced events in 2021, including: • a photography competition representing each traditional fair section, with photos displayed in a storefront on the main street in September and the society’s website and Facebook site (prizes available) • a home and business decorating initiative in September, to celebrate local agriculture and our annual fall fair, with decorative bows available
for purchase at local stores • a parade through the streets of Brussels on Sunday, Sept. 19 at 2:30 p.m. (prizes available) • a drive-thru barbecue dinner on Sunday, Sept. 19 from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre, with a possible dine-in option and musical entertainment (COVID-19 permitting). Further details about these events will be released shortly. For more information on the Brussels Fall Fair, visit www.brusselsfallfair.ca.