By: John Humphrey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Tilbury Times Reporter
The third annual Aaron Jubenville Memorial Night took place on January 11 when the Tilbury Bluebirds hosted the Elora Rocks in an Ontario Super Hockey League (OSHL) game at the Tilbury Memorial Centre.
Jubenville was just 30-years-old when he passed away on December 25, 2019 and he was remembered and honoured in a pre-game ceremony that saw family members take to the ice for the game’s opening face-off. The night and game also provided the opportunity for Juenville’s legacy as a local hockey super-fan and community activist for charitable causes to be continued as a local charity with a lengthy local and regional history was the recipient of some well-deserved love and attention from Bluebird fans.
Tabs 4 Kids Wheels is an organization that has been in existence since 1992 and has supplied wheelchairs to 63 persons to date. The group sells the aluminum tabs to recycling depots and uses the funds to purchase the wheels. And Tabs 4 Kids Wheels was close to the very big heart of Aaron Jubenville, who had Spina Bifida and used a wheelchair to be mobile.
“Aaron had a very positive outlook on life and he always wanted to help other people – always,” said Renee Jubenville, Aaron’s mother. “He never complained either – despite the challenges that he may have been facing himself – because that wasn’t what he was all about.”
“He just wanted to help out as many people as he possibly could,” she added.
Aurilla Riley of Tabs 4 Kids Wheel echoed those sentiments about the superstar volunteer, who was viewed by some as being the pulse of the Tilbury community.
“Aaron was a great help for us for about four or five years,” she said. “He was very easy going and well-liked and loved by everyone who was lucky enough to come in contact with him.
“And he went out to area businesses to get the word out about our organization and he would get them to donate as many tabs as they could.”
Aaron Jubenville, incredibly, donated over three million tabs to Wheels 4 Kids Chairs.
“He counted each and every one of them too,” said Renee with a hearty laugh. “He donated much more than that, but he stopped counting at three million.”
It is not the number of aluminum can tabs that are taken that recycling depots that raise funds for the wheelchairs, but rather the weight of the tabs. According to Ripley there are approximately 1,150 tabs to make a pound and it takes about two truck beds full of tabs to pay for one wheelchair.
The third Annual Aron Jubenville Memorial Night was a great success as tabs were donated not only by fans attending the game but also by both the Bluebirds and the Rocks.
“We are e not about to contact the number of tabs like Aaron used to, but there were a lot of them collected that night,” said Renee Jubenville who, along with her father, Marcel Hachey have the task of running through the tabs with magnets to pull out what cannot be turned over to Ripley to be cashed in at the recyclers.
Renee Jubenville and her father were just one of the many family members who attended the game on January 11 that saw the Rocks defeat the Bluebirds 6-3. Also in attendance were Aaron’s sister, Amanda Deneau and husband Matt, who have been longtime Blackbirds volunteers. They were joined by their daughter, Kadence, who also volunteers with the team and sons Bryson and Easton, who participated in the ceremonial opening face-off of the game.
Renee Jubenville’s other daughter, Lynette Mummery, was also on hand on January 11 and helped collect the donations of tabs. Her husband, Curtis was at home with their one-year-old son, Cole.
Aaron Jubenville’ grandparents, Marcel and Linda Hachey, were also in attendance at the memorial game.
The collection of tabs, though, did not end on January 11 as Tabs 4 Kids Wheels is always in need of donations. Currently, Indian Creek Public School in Chatham and Wheatley Area Public School in Wheatley both collect tabs but there is no school in Tilbury that is donating as of yet.
Aside from the area schools, persons interested in donating to Tabs 4 Kids Wheels can drop off aluminum can tabs at Ashley’s Place in Tilbury, Motions Specialties in Chatham and Crossroads Pellets in Blenheim. Renee Jubenville may also be contacted through her personal page on Facebook.
