Sarah Pledge Dickson, LJI Journalist

On Jan. 1, Jean-Marc Chartrand celebrated the birthday of his late brother Robert Chartrand by announcing how much money was raised from the second annual Robert Chartrand Memorial Tournament, held last October, and where the money was donated.

Chartrand said that after the ball tournament in the fall, they began presenting cheques to community organizations ranging from $2,000 to $10,000. In total, the fundraiser brought in $45,000 which is $5,000 more than last year’s tournament.

The tournament was first organized to honour Robert, a young Chapeau resident who passed away tragically in 2021 after his snowmobile went through the ice on the Ottawa River.

The funds from this year’s tournament were distributed to various youth sports and recreation organizations, something Chartrand said is to honour his brother.

“My brother was so involved in kid’s sports,” Chartrand said. “We’re trying to keep a little bit of what he loved doing going forward.”

Karie Bissonnette is the president of the Chapeau Recreation Association, which received a donation of $5,000 from the memorial tournament fundraiser.

She said that this money will be used to improve the infrastructure at the RA, including improvements to the drainage system, the installation of an outdoor pavilion, restoration of the soccer field, netting for the baseball field and a walking trail to connect all the areas together.

“The funding received from the Robert Chartrand Memorial Tournament is very appreciated because it gets us closer to achieving our goals,” Bissonnette said.

“The baseball part of the tournament takes place on RA property and it makes us proud to be a part of it. It brings the community together to support a cause that we value as well, while remembering and honouring Robert for his involvement in the community.”

The rest of the money raised was given to Upper Pontiac Sports Complex ($10,000), the Waltham RA ($5,000), Les maisons des jeunes du Pontiac ($5,000), Chapeau Minor Hockey ($5,000), Ottawa Valley District Girls Hockey Association ($5,000), the Fort Coulonge arena ($5,000), the Upper Ottawa Valley Little League ($3,000) and the Chapeau Karate Club ($2,000).

The tournament organizers decided to wait until after all the donations had been given out to announce the recipients, a moment which just so happened to coincide with Robert’s birthday.

“We’ve already begun planning for next year,” Chartrand said. “Hopefully it could be better and bigger than it was this year.”