By David Gilbert – Contributor
When we say the word hamlet, it can mean many things. Hamlet can mean the next town over, or a village, or even a little crossroads two kilometres around the corner with a peppering of houses or farms. To a lot of us, the word hamlet just means the town we drive through to get to the grocery store, beer store, convenience store, gas station, or even the novel in high school we were forced to read. But when mentioning LaSalette, a rich history of Norfolk County is always on the top of mind.
When rail was king in this country, LaSalette was known by a different name. Port Dover Junction was the name proudly displayed on the telegraph poles as many a traveller pulled into one of the two train stations in town. Before the boom of the automobile and petroleum industry, coal and steel paved the routes of our economy to the shipyards of our Great Lakes — and specifically Long Point and the Inner and Outer Bay that we are so lucky to call part of our stomping grounds. Produce and commodities flowed freely from train to ship, from lake to sea, and from continent to continent.
Those days are long gone, but we still attach ourselves to these memories. The town of LaSalette was originally named Burnville by the first postmaster in the area. Then to Port Dover Junction, and from Port Dover Junction to LaSalette by a pastor at the church in town who visited a celebrated shrine in France. Originally, the Canada Southern Railway (C.S. Ry.) line crossed with a line heading toward Waterford, making it an important hub of trade and commerce in the region.
These days, Our Lady of LaSalette Church and community hall stand as reminders of our past, but also as a look into our future. There are no Sunday services, but weddings and events are a clear reminder of what was and what is to be. As a wedding venue, one would be hard-pressed to think of a more idyllic setting and welcoming atmosphere. The town hall regularly hosts fish fries and wing dings to finance repairs to the grounds and buildings, along with upgrades for the benefit of anyone in attendance. It is available for rent for a reasonable rate, whatever the occasion may be.
The main economic drive in the hamlet may be housing, as is true in much of our country, but that hometown feel will never, ever leave. Anyone over the age of 20 may remember gassing up their quad or dirt bike at Byer’s General Store, or stopping with your dad to get smokes and lotto tickets and a Klondike bar. The Coca-Cola buttons on the front façade are still around somewhere, and the letters occupying the space between them are certainly not lost to time.
For such a small town, the community hall and church are a gem just to explore, let alone be part of your special day. Please take the time to stop in and take a gander. If you’re hungry or thirsty for snacks — or even looking for a spot to camp — you can stop at Rambling Road Brewery and Peanut Farm, if you have a subscription to Harvest Host. I may be biased, but the people and places that make Norfolk special to us are what form the glue and concrete of our foundations for our future and what comes next for this magnificent part of the country of Canada that we all call home.
