The Groupe L’Île-du-Grand-Calumet held its eighth annual fishing derby on Saturday, and despite the periods of showers, there was a record turnout of youth and teen participants.
Organizer Guylaine La Salle said that she didn’t know why there were so many children this year, but was pleased with how the day went.
“I don’t know, but I’m really happy about it,” she said. “This year there were a lot of grandparents with their grandchildren. That was awesome.”
The event is the group’s biggest fundraiser every year, and La Salle said that they typically get around 100 participants. This year they had a group of 12 volunteers keeping things running smoothly throughout the day.
La Salle said that with this year’s earnings, the group would be able to finish their Honorons Nos Racines (Honor Our Roots) project, which aims to display the names of those buried at the Ste-Anne Cemetery.
“With this tourney, I think we can finish the Honor Our Roots project,” she said.
Fellow organizer Irene Pieschke said that they had a great turnout and local sponsors really stepped up with their contributions to the event’s prize pool.
“We had a good day,” she said. “We’re pretty lucky because there’s a lot of people that do donate monetary donations and gifts. The main thing is we make sure that all the kids get a gift, that’s the priority.”
The day’s winners were as follows:
Adult: André Plouffe – 4 lbs. 14 oz.
Teen: Olivier Cormier – 4 lbs. 13 oz.
Children: Liam Cormier – 6 lbs. 14 oz.
