49th Annual Chi-Cheemaun Festival Returns with Full Three Days

1032
All Aboard The Hot Mess Express – The Chi-Cheemaun Weekend Cardboard Boat Races featured “The Hot Mess Express”, crewed by Hope Wojcik and Maegan Snow (front row), Naomi Lamothe and Moyra Oepkes (back row). The Hot Mess Express won its first heat but got caught in traffic in the semi-final 
By John Francis, Bruce Peninsula Press

Tobermory’s 49th annual Chi-Cheemaun Festival went off without a hitch, June 16, 17 and 18.

The JP Johnstone Slow-Pitch Tournament attracted 12 teams in three divisions. Camel Toes won the Coors Division; Gibby’s, organized by Kirk Gibbons, took the Ultra Division and Rip Tide won the Canadian Division. A number of local teams competed, including the Eastnor Bulls, the Peninsula Panters Oldtimers, the Tobermory Wrex, And-Rod Contracting and Liverance Kings.

“Rip Tide” won the Canadian Division at the JP Johnstone Slow-Pitch Tournament.
JP Johnstone Slow-pitch Tournament – Shirley Johnstone presents the Export Division trophy to great-grandson Michael Rouse, representing team Gibby’s. Michael is the first of JP and Shirley’s great-grandchildren to win a trophy at the ball tournament. Photo Courtesy of Lisa Johnstone.

Saturday morning kids’ events featured bubbles, face-painting, ring-toss and pickleball.

Aedan Stevenson takes the sucker he won at the ring toss; volunteer Mindy Scott looks on.
Chi-Cheemaun Weekend Children’s Events included face painting by Ellie Munn. Isla Dadswell got her chosen design.
Annika Doidge got painted as a robot.

Throughout the weekend, the food booth and bar served up burgers, hot dogs and beer.

There was an electric vehicle show-and-tell at the community centre parking lot on Saturday, with more than a dozen electric vehicles on display. This included three Ford Lightning pickups, one in full Parks Canada livery. (The National Parks are committed to buying electric vehicles only from now on.)

Photo: The Ford F150 Lightning is fully electric, as all Parks Canada’s new vehicles will be, henceforth. Martha Allen, Bruce/Fathom Five’s Head of Resource Conservation, showed it off at the electric vehicle show and tell at Tobermory Community Centre parking lot June 17th.

The Cardboard Boat Races began Saturday at two. There were a lot of familiar faces and even a few familiar boats. Minions was built in 2015 at the Brown/Larrivee Boatworks at Big Tub; it was the overall winner at least twice with Colton Larrivee at the helm; this year the Minions won its first heat but got caught in traffic in a three-way run-off and lost to the Henning family’s Just Duct.

Another repeat entrant, Tobermory Yacht Club’s Papier Mushy, performed well but was no match for the aptly named Silver Bullet (which went very fast right up until it sank part way through the final race).

This year’s Cardboard Boat Race Winner was 12-year-old Blake Topolinsky, skippering another Brown/Larrivee boat, the Cheeky Men.

The day offered its share of spills and chills, with several boats capsizing and several others sinking slowly while the crew paddled desperately for the finish line. Expect to see Minions and Cheeky Men back next year, probably Papier Mushy and some others as well.

Let the races begin! The first race of the day saw Blake Topolinsky in Cheeky Men defeat Dexter Golden in Baby Shark. Topolinsky won two more races and was declared the champion.
The Ford Mustang 2.3 litre Eco-boost 4-cylinder was beautifully decorated but was pretty low in the stern by the end of its race.
The Henning family’s Just Duct won this semifinal heat when the other entrants bumped together and couldn’t find paddling room.
In the final race of the day, 12-year-old Blake Topolinsky held on to paddle Cheeky Men to victory. Silver Bullet, crewed by Jacob and Isak Lefebvre, was a very close second until it sank abruptly a few metres from the finish line. The Lefebvres swam the wreckage to the finish line, arriving in a tie for second place with the Henning family’s Just Duct.
Finn Peacock paddled the Seacock II to victory in his first race but it sank at the starting line in his second race.
Minions was built in 2015 at the Larrivee/Brown boatworks at Big Tub. It has entered the races every year, winning at least twice. Captain Colton Larrivee won last year but got caught in traffic in its second race. Oddsmakers expect both boat and captain to compete again next year.
Tobermory Yacht Club’s two entrants were both very seaworthy.

Owen Sound Transportation laid on a Chi-Cheemaun dinner/fireworks cruise which attracted several hundred people. The ferry did a slow cruise down to Cave Point then curled back around Echo Island and arrived at the harbour just as the fireworks began. With a favourable breeze and the display taking place entirely over the water, the fireworks were permitted to go ahead despite the complete fire ban.

The Committee is already planning next year’s festival.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR