Beau doesn’t miss first Hallowe’en

MARATHON VILLAGE – An unexpected trip to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) for two-year-old Beau Joanisse may have changed his plans for All Hallows Eve, but thanks to the Kinburn and Marathon Village communities, didn’t cancel his first Hallowe’en.

While recovering at CHEO, Kinburn native Beau was unable to join his peers in the West Carleton community and take part in the thrill of what would have been his first trick-or-treating last Oct. 31. Unfortunately for Beau, Hallowe’en is a one-time-a-year kind of thing. But not this year. when Kinburn’s Judith Colbourn heard of Beau’s predicament, she wanted to help out.

“We were talking, I think it was almost a week before Hallowe’en and Stacy (Beau’s mom) had mentioned what had happened, so we got talking about doing a postponed trick-or-treating whenever Beau was feeling better and everybody was rested and up for it, and so it just kind of got organized and went from there,” Colbourn told West Carleton Online Thursday (Nov. 11) from Marathon Village just before Beau started trick-or-treating for the second night in a row.

The Tuesday (Nov. 9) before that, Beau was able to trick-or-treat in Kinburn.

“So, if I recall there were 12 homes that participated and another four goodie bags were dropped off at my house,” Colbourn said. ““Oh, it was so much fun. It’s one thing to have kids that have done trick-or-treating before, but a first time trick-or-treater, is a whole other thing.”

When Marathon Village resident Shelley Welsh got wind of the event, she knew her community would want to participate.

“I saw Stacy’s post thanking Judith and everyone for what they did in Kinburn, and I said wait a second, you forgot to come to Marathon,” Welsh told West Carleton Online. “It wasn’t planned, so I asked if we could do something and tonight (Nov. 11) we have 10 or 11-ish houses, and our neighbours are re-decorating and having fun and they can’t wait to see little Beau. Here in Marathon you know we love our Hallowe’en, but having the chance to help make a little one feel important makes tonight even more special than our wonderful Hallowe’en on Oct. 31. Beau was so precious and excited to get his treats.”

And the outpouring of support to ensure Beau’s future high dentist bills, means a lot to the family.

“Oh, it’s great,” Beau’s dad Brandon told West Carleton Online. “You can see how excited he is about it. He loved going back and forth from the houses. He’s getting candy, how can a two-year-old not like that? He’s really enjoyed it.”