Champion for Charity Colby LeMoine ready to go out of the frying pan, into the deep fryer
By Jeff Hicks
KITCHENER —
Colby LeMoine burst through the white front door, his Red Team hand wraps soaked in cold sweat as the door’s four glass panels shook with anticipation.
His two boys pounced on their dad’s return home from training to be one of Mandy Bujold’s 18 Champions for Charity and make his fundraising boxing ring debut in The Brawl at Tapestry Hall in Cambridge on April 12th.
Of course, they had questions.
“Did you punch somebody?” asked 9-year-old Miles, a fearless skateboarder and smooth basketball dribbler, from behind a mop of reddish hair.
Empathetic Charlie, soon to be 12, was mildly concerned.
“Did you get punched by somebody?” wondered the blond bass guitar shredder with a Kung Fu grip honed over five years of martial arts training.
You see, dad is The Butcher. That’s his new boxing nickname.
LeMoine has owned an old-world-style neighbourhood butcher shop in old Kitchener — ForeQuarter Butcher Shop on Louisa Street — for six years.
His last name is French for The Monk. He’s a certified chef too.
Butcher. Monk. Chef. Now, dad is a real boxer too, not just a four-year training-only patron at SydFit Health Centre in Kitchener.
LeMoine has even slugged a side of beef with his fists like Sly Stallone in the first Rocky movie. There are advantages to owning your own butcher shop.
“It’s very similar to punching a heavy bag,” he said.
His Italian Stallion streak is a big hit with Miles and Charlie.
“They love it,” laughed LeMoine.
“They’re excited for me. They’re excited for the livestream.”
The boys will watch the big event — LeMoine’s bout opens the evening’s matchups pitting the Red Team against the Blue Team — at a special party for family and friends. They’ll watch the live stream.
Will it be out of the frying pan, into the deep fryer for The Friar?
LeMoine’s wife Kirstie Herbstreit, a chef who teaches online culinary classes, will be ringside. The Champions for Charity have already raised close to $300,000 for McMaster Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Surely, this is not the three-round tenderizing she envisioned when the couple met working in an International Fusion kitchen in Waterloo 15 years ago.
This is not Meatball Monday or Taco Tuesday or Mexican Chorizo Sausage week at the ForeQuarter. The Monk is first on the boxing menu for a Friday night at Tapestry Hall.
But that’s OK with Kirstie. She’ll cheer him on with gusto.
“If I have a passion, she’s going to support me,” LeMoine said.
The support of McMaster Children’s Hospital has become the night’s true focus for LeMoine, who found out about the event through the same word-of-mouth that sustains his butcher shop.
A world without McMaster Children’s Hospital would be a scary place for many parents of kids as charming as Miles and Charlie.
Fortunately, they’ve never had to use its services.
“At first, I saw the charity aspect as a bonus, but quickly realized it really is the main event,” said LeMoine, who has learned much about the hospital and its foundation.
“It’s such an amazing charity. How much help they provide is pretty astonishing. Where would we be without it?”
To Support Colby, click here.
