CALEB NICKERSON BRYSON Oct. 25, 2019
The Lions Hall in Bryson was filled to capacity on Friday night for a special evening honouring a . . .
huge milestone for the local community, and also celebrating a local boy who has found incredible success in his career.
The evening was put on by the Bryson Recreation Association (RA) to celebrate 50 years of organizing activities throughout the community. In addition, Bryson native and accomplished chef, Yannick LaSalle, along with a team from Les Fougères restaurant in Chelsea served up a barrage of high quality hors d’oeuvres throughout the night.
“We’ve been planning this evening for quite some time, ever since he won the Canadian Culinary Championship,” said organizer Vicky Lance, who explained that members of the RA made up the serving staff for the night.
Fellow organizer Jacqueline Ralston said that they sold nearly 150 tickets to the event in very short order.
Midway through the courses, LaSalle came on stage to greet the crowd and kick the party into high gear with the help of the trophy he recently earned at the Canadian Culinary Championships. After filling the cup with some fine Quebec vino, he passed the chalice around for attendees to drink from, cheering them on enthusiastically.
Once the food had all been served, the official ceremony got underway with speeches from several representatives from the community, with the help of host Jérémie Ryan.
Mayor Alain Gagnon thanked the volunteers that make up the RA for their hard work and congratulated LaSalle on all his success.
“Most importantly, the members of the RA have been, and continue to be a positive influence for youth, in the example they set through their hard work, the sense of accomplishment and the friendship it forms,” he said. “That’s what volunteering is all about. Council looks forward to continue our partnership over the next 50 years.”
Next up was RA President Julie Ryan, who let her older brother Jérémie hold the mic while she gave an emotional speech about the accomplishments of her fellow members.
“I’m so very proud … of the group of women that help each other out every day,” she said, fighting back tears. “They spend countless hours volunteering at our sporting events, at our fundraising events. It’s really difficult to manage family life and children and do all this at the same time and they rock.”
Fergus Wrinn of the Bryson Lions Club told a humorous tale about a young LaSalle, who, in his younger years, was an aspiring professional skateboarder.
“We would often see him zooming by as he covered the streets in town, looking for jumps and building his own,” he said. “Always seeking a challenge, Yannick eventually moved to higher ground, specifically the roof of this building. He would skateboard on the roof and jump off.”
Volunteers thanked Kara Rowat and Patrick Barry, who prepared the desserts for the evening, as well as Les Fougères owners Charles Part and Jennifer Warren for graciously giving up their time, staff and expertise for the evening. Gagnon thanked them for their influence on LaSalle, turning him into the powerhouse chef he is today. When it was announced that Part and Warren had donated $1,500 from the evening back to the RA, a mighty cheer went up from the crowd.
The organizers then presented LaSalle with a special gift to commemorate the evening: a clock manufactured with parts from one of his old skateboards.
“You can still see the scuff marks,” Lance said when she presented it to him. “It’s one of Yannick’s old skateboards, from when he used to skateboard off the roof of the Lions Hall.”
The high-energy man of the hour thanked the long list of people that put the evening together and helped him on his way to being successful in the food industry.
“It’s an honour to cook for you tonight, such as family friends, and also have a great Friday night off here in Bryson,” he said, before urging the crowd to keep the party rolling.
