2002 BJT Memorial Recap
 By: Dave Barousse
The 2002 BJT was a complete success. Reno "The Maltese" Jacques once again coordinated a great event with the help of a lot of great people. This event is very personal to Mr. Jacques and it means a lot to him to everyone came out to help celebrate with Brandon's close friends.
Saturday
The event officially kicked off Saturday morning around 10:30 a.m. By that time, boats were in the water in route to "The Sandbar" while others were on their way. Once a few people got out there and Seth Martin rolled up with a boat load of slider material, the work began and two awesome sliders were soon erected. Thanks to all the guys that helped with the sliders. It was a team effort and they really came out great.
After the work was done, the fun began. Tents were set up along the sandbar with people lounging around watching some slider sessions. Also, boats were in and out taking people riding through the slick calm sloughs of the Atachafalya Basin. Ronnie Saurage and Dave Barousse had a killer wakeskate session on the sliders as well as Luke Billoit, Chris Gilpin, Seth Martin and Chip Smith on their wakeboards.
As the activities heated up, more riding and sliding were taking place and a huge game of football started up on the sandbar. The smell of Bar-B-Q was in the air and the weather was absolutely beautiful. Reno Jacques somehow picked the perfect moment, when most of the crowd was back from riding, to take a group shot of everyone and he also said a few words to everyone about Brandon and the reason for the event. Everyone was very cooperative and some great photos were taken.
As the day started to wind down, Chuck and Paul Crochet gave the crowd a show as they both attempted to hit the sliders for the first time. Although the outcome wasn't very pretty, we give huge props to Chuck and Paul for their attempts. These guys have never hit a slider, but couldn't walk away without giving it a try. Thankfully, they were both able to walk away.
A small rain shower brewed up that was the deciding factor in calling it a day. Everyone helped with a quick cleanup of the sandbar and headed back to town to recover from the long day.
Sunday
The crowd was cut in half on Sunday, but the action was just as hot. Everyone met up on the sandbar around 11:00 and there was not one ripple on the water. The sliders were still up from the day before and it didn't take long before the session began. More free riding and sliding took place throughout the day, but Sunday was more about hanging out together. The majority of the day consisted of chilling out in the water enjoying the company of everyone and having an occasional mud fight. Another football game started up, although it was smaller than the previous days game, but was just as much fun.
A final slider session and some last minute free riding took place before the sliders came down and everything was packed up to head back to boat ramp.
The 2002 BJT was a huge success and we would like to thank each and every person that came out. We would also like to thank everyone for keeping the sandbar clean, especially Luke Billiot, Tyler Chassion, Jace Guidry and Brandon Guillory for the great cleanup job they did. It was truly amazing that so many people from "out of town" drove in for this event and we would also like to give you guys a huge thanks.
Brandon would have loved every minute of this weekend. Our goal was to throw a party that reached "Brandon Status" and we were pretty close. Thanks again to everyone that came out and to all of you that helped with the event in any way. Your efforts were greatly appreciated.
A Few Words From Reno Jacques
On behalf of all of the family and friends of Brandon Terry, I would like to thank everyone that came out to the BJT Summer Tantrum Memorial. I feel that it was a great success and from all of positive comments I'm assuming everyone had a good time. What I was extremely touched by was the fact that everyone seemed to keep the reason why we were together at the forefront - and that was to celebrate life in the way our brother Brandon would want us to.
I would like to apologize to all of Brandon's close friends and family who would have been there had they known about it ahead of time - my getting a new job and moving to Houston caused me to not be able to plan and communicate like I did last year. You were missed and all I can say is that next year I will try to do a better job.
I would like to especially thank Dave Barousse, Seth Martin, Jaysen Hebert, Kevin Leblanc, Johnny Lancon, Jennifer Terry, Chuck Crochet, and all the others that helped make the Memorial a success. I love you guys. I would also like to thank Chip Smith and Ronnie Saurage from Rukus Board Sports for making the trip, as well as Chris Gilpin for showing us some mad skills and offering up lessons without asking for a purchase order for the skills building.
And finally to all of the first-timers and out-of-towners out there - it was great meeting you all and spending the day out there. You guys can spend your weekends riding anywhere you want and you chose to come out and support
our cause. I don't think you know how much that means to us and I want to thank you all.
I personally had an awesome time and already can't wait 'til BJT 2003. See you there---if not sooner!!
Regards,
Reno "the Maltese" Jacques
Related Article:
2002 BJT Photo Gallery
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