Chapleau Rotary Club Cancels Chapleau Pike Ice Fishing Derby until February 2022

When news reports of a new novel coronavirus affecting China first appeared in the news in January, no one thought that it would affect us here in Chapleau, let alone Canada. But six months later, our daily lives have been affected and we are all living the effects of this virus.

As you can imagine, there is much planning that takes place to put on an event of this size and we begin our preparations months before the derby. One of the first steps is to secure insurance for the event. Unfortunately, given the uncertainty of the pandemic and with the prediction of a second wave, our carrier could not ensure coverage. Without proper insurance, we cannot host this event. The current uptick in the number of cases also casts doubt upon the feasibility of this event. Will there be continued or further restrictions on gatherings? Will there be travel bans?

Unfortunately, our club does not have a crystal ball and we have no idea how the virus will impact us in February. As such, the club made the painful decision to postpone the 2021 Rotary Club of Chapleau Pike Ice Fishing Derby until February 2022.

We know that many eagerly awaited this event and we have appreciated your support. And we also enjoyed putting this event on for our community and visitors. We also recognize that the community will be negatively impacted because we will not be reinvesting the proceeds from the 2021 derby in our community, as we have done in the past, and this greatly saddens Rotarians. To counter the disappointment of this postponement and in hopes that we can continue to support our town, we are looking to see if we can run another fundraising event such as a draw. Stay tuned for developments on this front.

Thank you for understanding this difficult decision and know that the Rotary Club of Chapleau has its community at heart and will do its best to continue helping our town as well as others globally. We are always looking for new members. If you like helping others and would like to join a group of like-minded people, consider joining us.

We are: Luc Tessier – President, Debra Swanson – Vice-president, Jocelynne Bernier – Treasurer, Natalie Tessier – Secretary, Twyla Berry-Swanson, Lorne Swanson, Julia Bignucolo, Marianne Leach, Tracey Wetzl, Ted and Chantal Desbois.