The Stanbridge East fundraiser that keeps on giving
The Stanbridge East volunteer fire department, in collaboration with the Stanbridge East Sports Association (S.E.S.A), are holding their annual fundraiser on Saturday, July 4 in celebration of Canada Day. The fundraiser is usually a picnic that takes place the Sunday closest to Canada Day, but for a second year in a row, due to COVID-19 circumstances, the fundraiser will take place drive-thru style. With purchase of a ticket, people will get a meal made up of chicken, baked potato, coleslaw, a bun and some sauce, for $16. For its part, the S.E.S.A will be selling Krispy Crème donuts, a favorite, and lemonade. The fire department officially started the picnic fundraiser in 1968, but the idea originated in 1967, Canada’s centennial year, and it has since grown into an important community celebration.
“It started in 1967, the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canada, and on that particular day, we had a big parade through Stanbridge. At the end of the parade, when the day was over, the boy scouts cooked hot dogs over campfires and that was how it started,” said Raymond Wescott, Stanbridge East fire fighter for 44 years and volunteer for the annual picnic.
The next year, after recognizing how the event brought the community together, the Stanbridge East volunteer fire department decided to organize another Canada Day celebration as a picnic fundraiser in support of the team. “The next year, the firemen decided they would cook chickens and we made a pit there to cook the chicken. The kids enjoyed the hot dogs and that so much,” explained Wescott. “The fire department was in its infancy then, but it was well established. After that, the fire department took it over and we dug a pit behind the school grounds, where the ball fields are now, and we cooked the chickens there.”
Wescott explained that as a small town, it was hard to keep the fire department up and running, and the fundraiser helped the group carry out their activities. “This is a small town of roughly a thousand people, the income from taxes isn’t enough to sustain the fire department. This was a means of the department raising money to buy equipment and this and that and at the same time, to help out people in the community. It is very beneficial for the community; they do parades at Christmas for the kids, they take kids on wagons just before Christmas. They do a lot of good for the community.”
The Stanbridge East Sports Association started to become involved in the annual picnic fundraiser a few years in and they have been collaborating with the fire department ever since. “The seven or eighth year, the Sports Association jumped in also and what they did for the picnic was the activities and games for the kids,” said Kayla Colosimo, volunteer for the association for about eight years and recently designated as its new coordinator.
Incorporated in 1987, the S.E.S.A organizes various initiatives and activities for children in the local community and is a group that depends on fundraising to keep afloat. “We have activities for kids, sports activities. Every Christmas the funds buy children presents from Santa Clause. We give out sports awards and volunteer awards every year. For Butler school, we always gave a spokesmanship award, a financial award for elementary kids, we gave them 25$. For high school it depends. It was $250 but this year it was more and it was to help the students will college and things and we picked the student.”
Wescott and Colosimo both emphasized how the pandemic has affected the groups which makes their fundraising activities that much more important. “Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to do fundraising and the majority of our funds come from fundraising. We don’t have core funding, the municipality helps us out, but the majority comes from fundraising,” said Colosimo.
“The fire department had to upgrade equipment to the standards of Quebec regulations with Covid which is very hard for a small town. The income to the fire department would help the community as well as itself,” added Wescott.
While it’s been two years in a row that the fundraiser has taken on a difference face, being held drive-thru style, Wescott and Colosimo shared fond memories of past events.
“I could fill a scrap book with those. Almost every year, the department would do something, something extrordinary for the picnic. We have a square in the town about half a mile and we’ve had wheelbarrow races and I also remember some people have bicycle races,” Wescott described. “Every year they would put on little display and one time we had a car which we set on fire outside the permitter, and we drove it onto the ball field with it burning. The firemen were there to put out the fire, it was just to excite people, we didn’t want a fire hazard. Before they got there it got too hot for them and they bailed out. That was one of the funny things I remember from all the years gone by.”
“I just love seeing the different generations all coming together and I miss that. You have picnic tables full of three generations or four generations.”
Despite the changes in the event, the community continues to be supportive with already 500 tickets sold. “It’s a little town but it has a big heart. I’m not originally from here but I’m glad that I ended up here,” said Colosimo.
If you are interested in buying a ticket or to order donuts, you can call the community centre in Stanbridge East at 450-248-7998. The office hours are Monday to Wednesday from 9am to 12pm and it is located at 5 Academy Street, Stanbridge East.