“Totally overwhelming!” says Killarney-Turtle Mountain Fire Chief, Troy Cuvellier, during Saturday’s fund-raiser, ‘Bobbin’ for Brian’, where over 500 people tried their hand at the indoor fishing derby at the Shamrock Centre.

“I never expected this many people and the McKay family have done a fabulous job! Not only the family, but close friends, relatives, we’ve even got Alberta license plates out in the parking lot,” he says. “It was totally overwhelming!”

‘Bobbin’ for Brian’ was an idea that stemmed from a round-the-table discussion looking at ways to raise money for Killarney’s new fire hall. Debbie and Ken McKay decided to host the indoor fishing derby in honor of their teenage son, Brian, who was killed in an auto accident 15 years ago.

Brian’s dream was to be a firefighter ever since he was a little boy, with his passion growing through the fire department’s mentorship program at that time. However, a car accident claimed his life before his formal training could begin.

This event, ‘Bobbin’ for Brian’ brought community together; bringing his family and classmates from across the provinces, together with his heroes at the local fire department. The hall was decorated with giant-sized fish and fishing bobbers, thanks to Brian’s former classmates! A silent auction, a rainbow auction, ‘fishing lures’ and a pulled-pork supper let the dollars flow in.

Over $20,000 was raised through the silent auction, a rainbow auction, ‘fishing lures’ and a pulled-pork supper, with all prizes sponsored by individuals or families to take pressure off of local businesses.

“When we first sat down and got these plans drawn up for the new fire hall, the pricing was out of this world,” Cuvellier explains. “We didn’t think it would ever get off the start, and we got a good kick-off start when we got some money from the (Killarney) Foundation. We’ve had donations from the Killarney-Cartwright Co-op and TLA. Now, we’ve got all the subsidiary businesses jumping in.”

The $20,000 will be added to the $300,000 already raised towards the $1 million building project.

“I’m just loving how the community is pulling together and I just want to thank everybody,” says Cuvellier, “because some people don’t realize how crucial a fire department is, and being an ‘on-call’ volunteer fire department is to our community.”

“All of our firefighters have spouses and families at home and it is so tough to run a fire department now a days because when we do get a call, it is crucial that these people show up to these calls, and the training, and it’s events like this that come together and make it spectacular!”

The Killarney-Turtle Mountain fire department has just over 22 members and is always looking for more people to join. Fire Chief Cuvellier says they never turn anyone away who is interested in joining. This invite includes women as they have had 8 women volunteer firefighters join their department thus far.

He notes that especially during the summer months there is a great need to have more members, as holiday travel, and more incidents of fire (grass fires, etc) can quite easily cause the department to be under-staffed.

    “I want to thank all our sponsors, and a big thank you to the McKay family, the radio stations, the papers, anybody that helped us out!” he says. “It’s a big, big kick-off to our new fire hall and I want to thank everybody very much. I’d also like to do a a separate Thank you to Killarney Kinsman for their $150,000 donation which started the hall fundraising project.“

A tax-deductible receipt will be given to all donations to the new Killarney-Turtle Mountain fire hall. Visit the RM office in Killarney for more information.