PETER’S: It was a favour repaid for a former student and teacher.
In 1991, St. Peter’s District High School student Chris Boucher considered dropping out. One of his teachers, Marc Stone, had a different idea. After consulting with his wife and kids, Stone made a deal with the then teenager: If Boucher stayed in school, Stone promised to give Boucher his 1973 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle.
“He was a good kid but was having a difficult time in school and school wasn’t his favourite thing to be doing,” said Stone.
“He was depressed and giving everything up. Chris is a very talented kid. He can do a lot of things with his hands.”
Boucher took the deal, graduated and Stone kept his word by offering over the motorcycle, with the request that if Boucher no longer wanted the machine that he return it. Boucher later took a trade in the autobody industry and currently works for the Strait regional school board repairing buses.
“After speaking with Marc’s brother [Bruce] who is into cars and restoring vehicles, I said how I would like to get the bike back to Marc,” said Boucher.
“He agreed to take it and have it restored.”
Bruce Stone paid for the restorations, done by Cook’s Classics in Halifax, and helped Boucher present a surprised and grateful Stone with the restored bike on November 26 in St. Peter’s.
“It felt really good because he changed my life by his gesture of giving me the bike in the first place,” said Boucher.
“He’s into biking and I don’t do any biking anymore. I thought it would be the right thing to do to give it back to him.”
Stone was very touched by the return of the bike and said he was proud of his choice and what it meant for Boucher.
“I gave him an old bike and I got back a brand new one, so I think I came out on top,” he joked, adding it made him feel like he made the right decision in making the deal with Boucher.
“It was an emotional day.”