Bryson and Calumet Island
Fireman’s Ball a ‘roaring success’
Camilla Faragalli, LJI Reporter
Nearly 200 people crowded into the Calumet Island municipal hall on Saturday evening for the Bryson Grand Calumet Pompiers (BGCP) Fireman’s Ball.
The foot-stompin’ good time could be heard from the street, as family and friends of the firefighters gathered to celebrate the squad and raise funds for new equipment.
Shawn Bowie, fire chief of the BGCP which serves both Bryson and Calumet Island, called the fireman’s ball, the first since 2019, a “roaring success.”
“It’s a good opportunity for the public to come out and see what we do and talk about what we do a little bit, and we get to honour our firefighters at the same time,” Bowie said.
Lisa Fletcher was part of the team that organized the event. Her boyfriend is a firefighter with the BGCP and several of her family members have served as firefighters with various Pontiac squads.
“Our firefighters have to put a lot of extra work in to raise money on top of the firefighting,” Fletcher said. “It’s just a thank you for them and letting them know that the community sees them.”
“Good turnout, nice crowd,” said Tyler Toupin, who has attended the event many times to support the family members he has on the squad. “It’s just nice that the community here can get together and give back to the firefighters. I think it’s great.”
Guests sang and danced the night away to the sound of the band Rewd featuring Louis Schryer, and local young country singer Ben Chabot.
In an awards presentation frequently interjected with the phrase, “let’s kick some ash!”, special recognition was given to long-serving firefighters on the squad, most notably Wayne Cameron and Gerald Stewart, each celebrating 40 years of service.
“Those are some pretty big numbers,” commented Fletcher. “That’s some pretty big dedication.”
Gerald Stewart, one of the two firefighters marking 40 years of service, said the event was just as much about welcoming the squad’s seven new recruits as it was marking its long-serving members.
“They are our future,” he told THE EQUITY.
Assistant fire chief Jason Beaudoin co-hosted the event, and took the time to recognize someone who, though not on the squad herself, has contributed to it substantially over the years: his mother in-law, 86-year-old Constance St-Pierre.
“The special lady standing in front of me raised a lot of firefighters [ . . . ]
he explained to the crowd, standing at the front of the hall alongside the five other squad members raised by St-Pierre.
“Everybody that you see here, she’s responsible for,” Beaudoin said.
“In these small communities it’s you and your neighbours and your family all going in or going to burning or dangerous situations together,” Fletcher said. “So this [event] kind of just brings everybody together, hopefully as a team, and shows the community that these guys got them.”
The event also included a 50/50 draw, door prize, and “midnight lunch.”
The event celebrated many of the firemen who have been there for decades, including, from left, Gerald Stewart (40 years), Jason Beaudoin (20 years) and fire chief Shawn Bowie (20 years).