Alumnus Jason Blaine Receives Key to the city of Pembroke

Posted on Friday, June 28th, 2024

Jason Blaine could never have imagined how much success his charity would have when he established it a decade ago to support causes that were important to him in his hometown. On the same day that his annual charity golf tournament and concert raised $200,000, allowing it to top the $1 million mark since it began, Blaine also received a key to the city of Pembroke.

The key to the city is rarely awarded and the last person to receive it in Pembroke was New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe after he led the Pembroke Lumber Kings to a national junior A championship in 2011. Algonquin College’s Pembroke Campus was awarded a key to the city in 2017 when the college celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Alumnus Jason Blaine celebrates after receiving key to the city of Pembroke from Mayor Ron Gervais.

Blaine graduated from the Business program at the Pembroke Campus and has gone on to record several hit songs as a country music recording artist. He and his wife, Amy, live in Nashville and are raising four children, but every year they return to Pembroke for what has become a signature community event that draws many Canadian celebrities and has raised thousands of dollars for organizations like the Pembroke Boys and Girls Club, the Pembroke Regional Hospital and Algonquin College’s Pembroke Campus.

The campus has received $200,000 from Blaine’s charity, including $100,000 that was placed in an endowment to support bursaries for students in financial need. Blaine plans to continue to give back for many years to come, always finding time to come back home to the Ottawa Valley where he turned his love for music into a career that has placed him on stages around the world as one of Canada’s top musicians.

Among his many hits are “They Don’t Make ‘Em Like That Anymore,” and “The Road That Raised You Up.” Each year, Blaine attracts many celebrities to his event. Among the group this year was former Ottawa Senator Chris Neil and musicians Dallas Smith and Aaron Pritchett, two Canadian artists who have become good friends with Blaine as his music career has evolved.

The event sells out every year and in the weeks in between Blaine will hand out thousands of dollars in cheques to causes that support youth, people struggling with their mental health and community building.

(Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Interim Dean of Algonquin College’s Pembroke Campus)

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