Local man returns from free trip to Virgin Islands

BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN

Lucien Labonte always pretends he's a country star while singing karaoke, but he never imagined how close he'd get to living out his fantasy.

The 39-year-old foreman with CN Rail returned Friday from a five-day trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, where he lived the life of his favourite country singer, Kenny Chesney.

He was greeted at the Greater Sudbury airport by his fiancee, Sandy Cashmore, and her two children, Christopher, 10, and Amanda, 17.

Labonte won the all-expenses-paid trip after Christopher entered him in a Country Music Television (CMT) contest called Project Dad last summer.

The television network was looking for deserving Canadian fathers willing to be filmed as they tried out their country idol's favourite activities. The 30-minute segment featuring Labonte will air in mid-February.

“Christopher actually entered me for Father's Day, and you don't really think you're going to win. When they told me, I was on my way to work. I was completely and utterly amazed,” says Labonte.

“The U.S. Virgin Islands is a beautiful place. I'm not allowed to say exactly what I did (during the trip) until it goes to air, but it was amazing. Everything you can think of, we did. It was heaven, paradise. The people there are amazing.”

Chesney owns a home in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and spends a lot of time there writing music and occasionally tending bar at a local hangout. The singer's music appeals to Labonte because he “sings songs from the heart.”

Although Labonte likes singing country music for his family and friends, he didn't sing on the show because he thought he'd probably scare viewers away.

“The guys at work think this is pretty cool. I know they're probably going to torture me when they see it on TV, because I cried like a baby, but it's all good.”

Labonte hopes to marry Cashmore, his sweetheart of six years, this coming August. He is also extremely close to Christopher and Amanda, who call him “dad.”

Christopher says he entered the contest because he thought his future stepfather deserved to go somewhere nice.

“He's very hardworking, and I think he deserves to to go on a nice trip. He's funny, all the girls think he's nice-looking. When you're down and feeling really mad, he'll go and put a big smile on your face.”

The Redwood Acres Public School student likes watching CMT with Labonte, although he admits he's also a big fan of hip-hop music.

Cashmore says Labonte has done a great job of helping to raise her kids.

“He's done a very good job with both of them from the beginning. He's raised them for six years. He and Christopher just clicked at the beginning. They're like buddies. They do everything together.”

While she's happy her fiance had such a great time on his trip, Cashmore is a little jealous he got to escape the cold and snow for a few days.

She hopes they'll go somewhere warm on their upcoming honeymoon. “If he gets to do it, we both get to do it.”