After four days travelling on the water, seven canoes filled with 15 people arrived at Rainy River last Thursday afternoon, wrapping up the final leg of the local United Native Friendship Centre’s annual “canoe-a-thon” fundraiser.
And while the participants arrived safe and sound, with few problems along the way, R.J. Comeau, a Health and Wellness Youth Intervention worker and head organizer of this year’s “canoe-a-thon,” as well as a participant in the fundraiser since its inception in 2001, said he won’t be responsible for heading up the event next year.
Comeau, who attended Laurentian University in Sudbury over the last school year studying theatre, will be spending his summer there next year.
But he’s hoping someone else takes over the reins and ensures this fundraiser goes on for a fourth year to support the UNFC’s Urban Multicultural Aboriginal Youth Centre, Li’l Eagles program, and the OPP’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program.
“The canoe trip has the potential to get really large. I mean, we doubled our size this year,” Comeau remarked. “It just takes a person who has experience with this sort of thing.
“ I have faith that, if it continues, it will only grow.”
While the money raised still is being tallied up, the total before the canoeists departed here a week ago Monday (Aug. 4) was around $1,500.
While Comeau won’t be involved organizing the fundraiser, he noted he might make a special trip back here for a few days anyway. “They’d better send me an invitation,” he laughed.
There were some minor woes. Erin McMahon, who had some minor backaches Sunday, had to sit out last Tuesday after Monday’s gruelling 10-hour paddle proved too much for her.
And Brock Parisien, who was sporting sore ribs before he departed Monday, opted to bow out of the journey for good along with his canoeing partner, Jenna Malyk.
The toughest day of the trek—which started from the McIrvine Road boat launch here—was last Wednesday.
“Early on, we had waves, whitecaps, for a while,” Comeau recalled. “We probably spent half the day not paddling at all [fighting against the strong waters], and then we realized we were way behind schedule so we had to go on.”
He added some shifting of canoe-mates was in order ,to keep at least one strong paddler in each vessel.
“We ended up [in Pinewood] around 7 p.m.,” he noted.
During that difficult stretch, the canoeists (also including Danielle Shine, UNFC board member Doug Fairbanks, Dan Bone, Tyler Starling, Kristopher Starling, Brad Lowes, B.J. Wilson, James Grozelle, John Seymour, Len Bird, Chelsey Armstrong, Levi Kwandibens, and Jen Cawston) were cheered on by a handful of riverside residents.
Ultimately, they were met by Fr. James Panikulam of Our Lady of the Way Church when they arrived in Pinewood.
Comeau noted while the canoeists were pretty stiff by Thursday, they got a wake-up call last Tuesday when some of them met a pair of elderly women who were paddling the same route they were in just two days.
“We figured we’d better stop complaining,” he chuckled.
They arrived around in Rainy River around 1 p.m. And while Comeau noted the weather generally was conducive to their journey, the end-point was a welcome sight.
“There were a few people waiting for us. The Legion cooked us lunch, which was really appreciated,” he remarked. “And the president of the Chamber of Commerce [Crystal Lindall] and the mayor [Gord Prost] came out to meet us.”
All along the way, UMAYC program supervisor Denise Audette met the team at their stops in Emo, Barwick, Pinewood, and Rainy River, toting a van full of bulky gear such as tents, coolers full of food, sleeping bags, and so forth that might not fit on the canoes.
“I absolutely loved it,” Audette enthused afterwards. “It was a great experience for me and a lot of fun. I’d do it again.
“They’re really a great bunch of youth,” she added.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
