Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn's plans for county event schedule put on hold

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

Though Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn’s concept for a rotating event schedule throughout Huron County turned out to be poorly timed, some of his fellow Huron County councillors want the idea shelved, not dismissed.

Earlier this year, Ginn proposed a Huron County event calendar for the remainder of the winter. He said it was likely that January, February and early March would be among the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic and having an event for residents to look forward to every weekend would go a long way to lifting spirits.

He suggested drive-through or drive-in events, with each of the county’s nine lower-tier municipalities hosting one event over a nine-week schedule. Not only would it keep people busy and looking forward to the next weekend, but it would also usher people to different parts of the county to which they may not have otherwise travelled.

However, the week after Ginn made that proposal, the provincial government issued its stay-at-home order and, for a number of reasons, his idea had to be shelved in the name of safety and compliance – working to stop the spread of the deadly virus throughout the county.

At the Jan. 20 meeting of Huron County Council, however, North Huron Reeve Bernie Bailey expressed his admiration for the idea, saying that while it can’t go ahead right now, he would like to see it go ahead later this winter, when the order is lifted and travel can safely proceed once again.

He said that many in the county were currently in “the hardest of hard times” and could use any form of pick-me-up they could find.

“I’d like to not throw it out,” Bailey said. “I’d like to keep it on the plate and see how it develops.”

He suggested it could be more of a long-term project that could be revisited at a later date. Warden Glen McNeil and other councillors agreed.

McNeil suggested consulting with Huron Perth Public Health and its Medical Officer of Health Dr. Miriam Klassen about moving forward once the provincial stay-at-home order has been lifted and local case counts have stabilized.