Blyth 150th planning continues with North Huron Council
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
At North Huron’s Aug. 11 council meeting, Blyth’s own Megan Lee-Gahan and Kelly Wharton delivered an enthusiastic pitch for a multi-day, community-wide celebration to mark the auspicious occasion of the village’s 150th anniversary of incorporation in 2027.
Some naysayers may think that two years is too early to start planning a community event, but Lee-Gahan has it on good authority that two years is the bare minimum required to throw a townwide event of this magnitude. “We have reached out to other communities that have done this kind of thing,” she told council. “They all tell us that if we don't start two years prior, we won't be able to put on the party that we want to put on.”
The extravaganza would potentially run from July 1-4, and take place in various locations throughout the town. The preliminary budget for the four-day soiree is hovering somewhere around $75,000. “We’ve already gathered together a committee, and we’re looking at different fundraising and marketing and things to gather that $75,000,” Lee-Gahan assured council.
The committee’s collective objective is to throw a sesquicentennial with something for everybody. Camping at the Blyth Campground would commence on Canada Day, and on Saturday night, Queen Street would transform into a full-fledged street festival. Optimally, the event would also include local musicians, a beer garden, kid’s crafts, fireworks, historical walks, art talks, drones, a parade, dancing, poker, a church service, and more. “We’re here to put forth the idea of a community celebration,” Lee-Gahan explained. “The vision is a volunteer-driven, community-wide weekend, including a street festival that commemorates our history and celebrates Blyth, along with different celebrations throughout the town on a long weekend, which will foster local pride, support our businesses and create lasting memories for residents of all ages…. We would be using this weekend to really showcase the community and North Huron and everything that we have to offer.”
Lee-Gahan also hopes that the event can give back to the community by raising money for North Huron’s hard working service clubs. “Whatever funding is left over, or that we’ve raised as a community, we’d like to give back to the service organizations that have helped us through the planning and supported us through the weekend.”
It sounds like quite the shindig, but Lee-Gahan and Wharton didn’t come before council just to paint them a word picture; the potential party planners also made several requests of the township that they believe will take this already ambitious anniversary bash to the next level.
The first request was for the township’s general support for the project moving forward, and it was granted by council. The second request was for the closure of Queen Street on the Saturday evening of the festival. “We would like to draw everyone into our core to showcase our businesses, and everything that we have in our downtown, as well as the history of Blyth,” Lee-Gahan explained to council. “There’s a lot of history there that we would like to showcase through that specific shutdown of our main street.” Shutting down a town’s main drag requires considerably more logistical effort than offering support.
The third request was a big one: allowing the sesquicentennial celebration to use North Huron’s various recreational facilities, including a section of the Blyth Campground, free of charge. Lee-Gahan also informed council that the Huron Pioneer Threshers and Hobby Association has already volunteered to work the campground for the duration of the celebration, which would cut down on the need for paid municipal staff. The ambitious request sparked a lively discussion among councillors.
Councillor Chris Palmer’s primary concern was maintaining a sense of fairness throughout North Huron. While allowing the free use of Blyth-based facilities for a Blyth-centric celebration makes sense on the surface, since amalgamation, those facilities belong just as much to Wingham and Belgrave as they do Blyth. We must have fairness between the wards,” he declared. “I remember that when Wingham had their homecoming, they asked for similar things.” Palmer also pointed out that the 2026 municipal election might mean that the current council will not be the council that presides over the final planning stages of the celebration.
Deputy-Reeve Kevin Falconer wanted more information before making such a big decision. “I don’t want to set a verbal precedent in our deliberation as far as deeming this a significant event for the township, or what rights and privileges are passed this early on in the process,” he said, before suggesting staff be instructed to work out the economic impact of offering the requested relief from fees and charges.
Councillor Anita van Hittersum was impressed with the amount of can-do attitude and community spirit emanating from the pair of party planners. “I applaud the committee; that they are coming in front of us almost two years before the event is happening, that they are already organized, that they have volunteers lined up, that the service clubs are onto this… I think it’s awesome that you’re doing this,” she told them.
Councillor Mitch Wright noted that giving the group exclusive use of a section of the campground for free goes a step beyond the standard in-kind donation. “We’d lose any potential revenues that we would have during that week, right? So that now gets away from a donation, and it actually becomes a cost,” he said.
Council eventually concluded that it required a staff report on the requested financial support prior to making its final decision. The planners from Blyth, having no time for vague timelines, pressed council to set a specific deadline for the staff report’s completion. “We intend to have fundraisers, possibly this fall. If we can move forward with this and have your commitment, then we will go ahead with these fundraisers and meet our goal. But we do need you guys to decide, you know, as soon as possible, so that we can put these things in place and start making the money that we need to do to cover the costs like the campground and everything,” Lee-Gahan told council. “We want to make sure that we can give Blyth what Blyth deserves for this 150th.”
Community Engagement Co-ordinator Denise Lockie prepared the report in time for the next council meeting, on Sept. 2. After taking the time to thoroughly consider the committee’s request for relief from facility fees and charges, Lockie’s recommendation was to approve the request and provide financial support to the Blyth 150th Anniversary event by offering them free use of the township’s various recreational facilities, including the Blyth Arena Dry Pad and the baseball diamonds for the duration of the event. Lockie also recommended that the township forgive the $2,000 fee for the requested road closure, and that the campsite rate be set at the standard discount offered to all organizing groups, as per the Fees and Charges bylaw.
While Falconer wished there was a way to offer full relief from the campsite fees and Wright expressed concern about the potential precedent they were setting, in the end, council voted in favour of Lockie’s recommendation as written.