Caleb Nickerson
BRISTOL Dec. 1, 2017
On Friday night, hundreds of local Pontiacers came together at the Jack Graham Community Centre to help out a friend in need.
Back on Nov. 5, Bristol resident Kevin Hannaberry didn’t think anything was amiss when he left his house at 4:30 a.m. to go hunting on Calumet Island. Later that morning, he got the bad news from his neighbour Derek O’Malley, who is also a member of the local fire department.
“I was hunting, about 8:30, quarter to 9, I got back to my truck and I noticed a message on my phone for a call from Derek O’Malley.
I said, ‘Derek, what’s up?’
He said, ‘Bad news for you bud, your house is on fire.’
I said, ‘Much damage?’
‘Total loss,’ he said. ‘The garage too.’”
The fire department had gotten the call at 5:20 a.m. to Hannaberry’s home on chemin Ragged Chute but by the time they arrived, the house was engulfed.
“Flames right through the roof and everything, there was nothing you could do,” O’Malley said.
By the time Hannaberry returned, only wreckage remained. O’Malley knew something had to be done to help his neighbour out and figured a little shindig would be a perfect fundraiser.
“The reason I wanted to have this party is because Kevin is always volunteering in the community, he’s donating his time to all different events around,” he explained. “He’s always out at different events driving people home because he doesn’t drink and everybody else does. He’s always good for a ride home.”
O’Malley said that the municipality donated the use of the hall and many people donated door prizes or money towards the evening’s entertainment: Ottawa-based band Counterfeit Live. He estimated that over 300 people turned up for the fundraiser.
“They’ve all seen Kevin donating,” he said. “They want to pay him back, it’s his turn.”
Hannaberry said he’s planning on rebuilding in the spring and is currently staying in Portage du Fort. He was grateful for the generosity of his community.
“Well, it’s kind of special,” he said. “I’m a firm believer of going to events like this but I never thought that it would happen to me.”
Though the final results had yet to be tallied at the time of print, O’Malley estimated that between donations and ticket sales, the event brought in over $10,000.
