Brantford man Adam LeBeau was driven home for Christmas in style on Sunday, picked up from the Toronto airport by Canadian country music duo, The Reklaws, and escorted into the city on the Amazon Music Bus.
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The adventure was the result of his Brantford aunt – Lorraine Pedersen – winning a contest for an all-expenses-paid reunion with family for the holidays.
“We were the lucky winners,” said Adam in the chilly driveway of Pedersen’s Baldwin Avenue home.
“We had a rough last year. We lost our mom…” LeBeau stopped, unable to continue on for a moment.
“It’s the first Christmas without her,” explained his wife, Ashleigh LeBeau.
The LeBeaus knew the best remedy would be to reunite with family to create a little holiday spirit, bringing their daughter, Aubrey, to Ontario to meet family and get her first chance to see Pedersen’s famous Christmas village – a 175-piece display that’s an important family tradition.
Out of about 1,500 contest submissions, Pedersen’s resonated with The Reklaws – brother and sister Stuart and Jenna Walker – who lost their own mother in 2022.
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The duo teamed up with Amazon Music to tie-in the contest for the launch of their new version of Driving Home for Christmas.
“We don’t normally do cover songs,” said Stu Walker, “but we thought it really fit for this contest and (LeBeau’s) story really made sense.”
Walker said he and his sister and the LeBeaus shared some emotional moments in the bus ride from the airport where the LeBeaus, flying in from Merritt, BC, were on an overnight flight after their original trip was canceled.
The journey to Brantford and their welcome on Baldwin Avenue was all documented for an upcoming Reklaws video.
“Going home at any time is special,” said Jenna Walker, “but to be able to do this for them at Christmas time is huge.”
In 2022, after the Walkers lost their own mother, who dubbed them Reklaws by spelling their surname backwards, they spoke out about mental health issues and started a fund of donations to women’s mental health, raising about $142,000.
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The Reklaws wrote one of the theme songs for CFL Thursday Night Football – Long Live the Night – and were nominated for three Junos last year, as well as releasing the top-selling Canadian Album. They also made it to the quarterfinals of the recent edition of the America’s Got Talent contest.
After swarming the LeBeaus and The Reklaws in Pedersen’s driveway, a group headed off to the business owned by Pedersen and her husband, Frank Pedersen – Alpha Micro Tech – where the family’s extensive Christmas village is set up.
“It’s too big for any house now,” said Lorraine Pedersen.
“My mom started this village when we were little. She had the joy of Christmas and the village meant a lot to our family.”
Being able to show off the village for the first time to LeBeau’s wife and daughter, and to welcome them home is “what Christmas is all about,” she said.
@EXPSGamble
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