Roast of retired Cornwall police officer raises over $37,000 for CTC

Bob Burnie likes to stay behind the scenes while helping the Children’s Treatment Centre. But on Friday, Sept. 6, 2019, the retired Cornwall Police Police inspector found himself front and center being roasted.

The dinner and roast at the Best Western Parkway Inn saw Bernie roasted and it raised $37,800 for the center, which treats children suffering from mental, physical and sexual abuse.

There were four roasters: police officer turned lawyer Gaye (Zig) Leroux, Brenda Evans, retired CPS Sgt. Thom Racine and Rev. Kevin Maloney. The event was emceed by Cornwall Coun. Claude McIntosh.

The roasters and emcee took their shots at Bernie, from a number of one-liners to situational jokes involving his time with the Celtic band The Brigadoons, his nickname “Stick,” his lack of hair, quotable sayings and highlights of his 32 years on the force.

“That was the most boring night of my life,” Bernie said, opening his monotone rebuttal, creating a roar of laughter from the audience. After picking apart his roasters, Bernie was humble yet appreciative of the night.

“I do stay in the background folks but I have to tell you, I honest to God when they told me I was going to be roasted, I thought that they could choose somebody with a little more celebrity status so that they could make more money for the Children’s Treatment Centre because this is what this is for,” he said.

“But the turnout tonight, I’m overwhelmed, I’m blown away and I can’t express how much I appreciate everybody coming here.”