‘As Canadian as can be': B.C. man creates giant poutine catapult
BLEWETT, B.C. — Of all the things Jeremie Gurvan has been asked to construct in his woodworking career, this was a first.
'They asked me to do a cheese curd-flinging device,' Jeremie smiles.
The local francophone association folks wondered of Jeremie could conceive of some sort of contraption that could pitch fake cheese curds on to a pile of pretend poutine.
It was the kind of question that could only be answered with 'Oui,' followed by Jeremie finding inspiration in the catapult invented by Leonard Da Vinci.
'It was hilarious!' Jeremie smiles. 'It was as Canadian as can be.'
Jeremie captured the whole process on camera, from crafting each component from scratch, assembling them all together, and then making countless refinements to ensure it propels properly.
'The biggest challenge was to create enough force without breaking itself,' Jeremie says.
The trouble-shooting process demanded expertise in math, engineering, and physics, before Jeremie considered the possibilities of catapulting yoga balls, bananas, and water balloons.
'As a problem solver, it was those moments that were interesting and exciting,' Jeremie says.
After working almost 400 hours over two months, Jeremie finally debuted his device at the francophone festival, showcasing how high-density foam carved to look like curds could be catapulted about 30 metres into a poutine dish, featuring chainsaw-carved faux fries.
And like gravy smothered on poutine, the joy the people who chucked the cheese expressed was the special sauce that made it all complete.
'I'm glad I did it. The result was fun,' Jeremie says. 'It was an honour to represent the national dish.'
While his catapult is set to be auctioned off at a fundraiser for the francophone society — and Jeremie suggests it could be repurposed as a mechanized mascot for a poutinerie, or come Halloween, a propeller of pumpkins— Jeremie hopes his contraption's true legacy is more constructive.
'I hope I can inspire people to pick up tools,' Jeremie says. 'And be creative.'
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Gloucester and Lunenburg have a connection that goes back centuries. Gloucester was mapped by Samuel de Champlain in 1605, and incorporated as a town in 1642. In the 19th century, fishermen travelled from Atlantic Canada to work on the Grand Banks schooners that sailed from Gloucester. "All your best guys in the late 1800s wanted to come to Gloucester — they could make more money, they could feed their families better," said Tarantino. In the 20th century, that became a rivalry between Lunenburg and Gloucester over who could build a superior schooner. The Bluenose prevailed. Since then, dory racing has maintained the relationship between the two towns, including for Tarantino, who's been dory racing since he was 17, going to Lunenburg for competitions many times. "There's something about a fishing community, the character resonates, and there's a pride there as well. So it's fun to meet people from … another country that still share those same values." As he got older, Tarantino began dreaming of rowing between the two communities. He's not one to shy away from a challenge, or — as a former contestant on the television show Survivor - the limelight. "I always like attention," he said. "I'm a character, as you can tell." When it came time to have a dory built for his journey, he heard about a builder in Lunenburg, and made an appointment while attending a dory race in town. But when he saw the other dories that Andrew Rhodenizer was making, Tarantino was taken aback. "I said, 'Well, I want a dory — I don't want a [expletive] Viking warship." The dory, built in the traditional style, was bigger and heavier than the dories Tarantino was used to racing. 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