Marc Boudreau accompanied by J.P. Cormier and Gervais Cormier

Radio CKJM’s live broadcast - a very unique Christmas program…

By Rosie Aucoin-Grace

It’s a beautiful winter scene, there’s a log cabin up in the mountain overlooking the snow covered village of Cheticamp, all decorated for Christmas, there’s a feast being prepared, the woodstove is going and musicians galore are gathering for yet another Christmas party at La Campe à Raymond. For eleven consecutive years now, on the Saturday just before Christmas, Raymond Deveaux and friends host a party and provide over four hours of music for the community. Thanks to Radio CKJM, this party is aired live so people from near and far can listen to wonderful music provided by quite a line-up of very talented musicians. This has become somewhat of a tradition, one that many CKJM listeners look forward to each year.

To the delight of the audience, Raymond Deveaux opened the program with a few Christmas songs and it took off from there with the following entertainers: Albert Poirier, Alfred Muise, Alphonse Bourgeois, André LeBlanc, Andrew Bourgeois, Ashley Roach, Billy Doucet, Bruno Bourgeois, Chris Babineau, Clarence Félix, Clarence LeLièvre, Claude Aucoin, Claude Bourgeois, Derek Poirier, Gervais Cormier, J.P. Cormier, Joel Chiasson, Joseph Poirier, Marc Boudreau, Maurice Poirier, Roland Larade, Roland LeLièvre, Ronnie Bourgeois, Sylvia LeLièvre, Willie Joe Chiasson and the list goes on. It’s amazing how when these musicians get together in Raymond’s cabin, they’re all equals, friends playing with the same goal in mind, that of giving back to the community. Just imagine a cabin with all these musicians, now that’s a party!

I had the opportunity to chat with Raymond Deveaux and asked him, how this all came to be, he replied, “Well, Angus LeFort of Radio CKJM had requested that me and the boys record a live show from the studio Marcel Doucet. I kept putting it off and in November of 1997, while we were doing renovations at Gérard Romard’s house, we started talking and came up with the idea of having a live Christmas party but not at the studio, instead, live from my camp. That year, myself, Gérard Romard, Chester Delaney and Albert Poirier got together and it took off from there.” He continued, “This is not something that happens overnight. It’s an entire network of people who come together for this special day. The party starts with breakfast and goes on until later in the evening so we need to be prepared for the crowd. As the years progress, I’m having less and less to do in order to get prepared as so many people get involved. For this, I’m very grateful and appreciate all their help.” He went on, “It’s amazing how this all comes together. Just to give you an idea, Angus LeFort, Bruno Bourgeois and myself get the music lined up, nine of our women friends do an incredible job putting up the Christmas decor (Rita Deveau, Dorothy Larade, Thelma Deveau, Patricia Richardson, Bernice Ramard, Marthe LeFort, Bernadette LeBlanc, Gisèle LeBlanc and Isabelle LeBlanc), my sister-in-law, Hughina Deveaux made us a delicious full breakfast, Eric LeBlanc made 100 fishcakes of which 78 were ate during the party, Joey Deveau (Marco Michel) donated the salt cod, Camille Chiasson plowed the road coming up to the camp, my brother Roger and other friends always lend a hand, the musicians are more than willing to participate and technicians of Radio CKJM do high-quality work in bringing this program to people all over the world.”

Speaking with the manager of Radio CKJM, Angus LeFort, just after the show, he expressed, “I’m very happy with the entire day. It’s a real team effort on the part of many people who come together to provide this program to our audience. Throughout the year, people support Radio CKJM and our musicians. Our entertainers are always there for benefits, telethons etc. This is a party for the musicians and they share this gathering with the community and fans. It’s a gesture of thanks to everyone, a Christmas gift to all.” He continued, “ This program aired live would not have been possible without the assistance of my two technicians, Joel LeFort and Andrew Bourgeois, our four sponsors, Your Dollar Store with More, Claude Bourgeois Diesel, Chiasson Brothers and Le Gabriel Restaurant and Lounge and all the other volunteers involved in this activity. I should also mention that thanks to Alliant who provide a free service to our audience via the Internet. Through our website, we now have a capacity of 1000 listeners at one time as opposed to 50. This is a real plus for our audience, as many used to complain of various interruptions during our live programs.”

Mr. Deveaux seemed so touched by the overwhelming response to the program, “It’s an amazing feeling to walk into the cozy camp all decorated, like walking into something magical. To be surrounded by so many friends and to see all the effort that’s put into the program, it’s unreal and a dream come true for me! It was great to have special requests coming in from people in Pomquet, Ontario, Waltham, etc… He continued, “A very special part of this day was our tribute to our good friends, the late Wendell Roach and the late Gérard Romard. I sang A Table for Two in memory of Wendell, Ashley Roach (Wendell’s daughter) sang, La Fille à Papa and Chris Babineau sang La Barbière in memory of Gerry. It’s wonderful to see the younger generation following the footsteps of these two great entertainers.”

While I was listening to this show, you could get a good sense of the camaraderie among the musicians. Bruno Bourgeois was not only entertaining but was the Emcee for the entire program. He is to be commended for doing an awesome job. It takes a special type of person to keep er’ going for over four hours, have control of the performers and at that, on a live broadcast. As our friend Bruno would say “Incroyable”… and that’s the word I’d use to describe his contribution to the show!

For people who missed the show, good news, CHNE-TV was there to video the entire program, so stayed tuned and you’ll get to watch this spectacular ensemble of very talented performers!