Community support is keeping a Mattawa staple alive.
When Mike Guay found out Turcotte’s Chipstand would be closing due to fire code violations, he was quick to help out.
“[The Turcottes] are great people. I know they’d give the shirt off their back if someone needed it so I figured I’d do the same for them,” Guay explained.
Guay is the man behind a GoFundMe page that has since raised almost $4,000 in two days to save Turcotte’s Chipstand. The goal is to raise $10,000 which will go toward a whole new stand as estimates to repair the current one are too high.
Since the initial post, Danny Turcotte, owner of the stand, has responded to the community support.
“It’s so hard for us to accept help or even suggest that to anyone, especially in these trying times of life right now when everyone is struggling themselves,” Turcotte wrote in an update on the fundraising page. “We have been made aware of just how much this chip stand means and how you are all reaching out to help in every way possible.”
Guay, a family friend of the Turcottes, says the stand has been in Mattawa since 1944. He recalls visiting the chip stand when he was younger, sometimes being sent to the store for supplies in exchange for fries.
That seems to be the case for many who have been through Mattawa in that time.
One donor, who said they lived in Rome, Italy, said they look forward to visiting the chip stand every summer when they return home to visit.
Guay says there have been talks with the municipality to open a new location for the Turcottes so they can carry on the 77-year tradition.
“As long as I can get a poutine a few months from now, I’ll be happy,” Guay said with a laugh.
