User:Celinaseguin/LaSalle, Ontario

Note: (Professor McCurdy and I spoke about outlining the edits made here). This Sandbox contains an updated version of the Lasalle, Ontario article. Celina Seguin's contributions include:


 * Removed the existing "Town Features" heading.
 * Created the following section headlines: Culture and Recreation, Community Sport, Festivals and Events, Education.
 * Composed new Culture and Recreation and Community Sport sections (segment about Lasalle Trails was edited and taken from the existing article).
 * Corrected and added information about Education and Festivals and Events (Strawberry Festival and Rogers Hometown Hockey).
 * Uploaded personally taken photos of the Vollmer Complex and local high schools.
 * References added to the Reference List. (Note that references in the sandbox are only those I used. References for other editor's material can be found on the live article page.)

Celina did not interact with the following:


 * Lead section, Communities, Demographics, Notable People, See Also. They are included in this sandbox to show how the updated article would be organized.

LaSalle is a town in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. It is a bedroom community of the City of Windsor and part of the Windsor Census Metropolitan Area, and is located south of that city. LaSalle, along with Windsor, is the oldest French settlement area in Southwestern Ontario, and the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in Canada west of the Quebec border. The town was named for explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle.

The current Town of Lasalle was originally incorporated as the Township of Sandwich West in 1861. A portion of the township incorporated as the Town of Lasalle in 1924, but was dissolved in 1959 and rejoined Sandwich West. In 1991, the Township changed its status to that of a Town and was renamed Lasalle. The town's land area includes Fighting Island in the Detroit River at its western side. Fighting Island is privately owned by BASF, the world's largest chemical company.

Culture and Recreation
The Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex was built in 2008 and serves as the community's central location for sports, exercise, meetings, and other recreational activities. The Town of Lasalle offers a range of programming including exercise classes, swimming lessons, summer camps, and senior classes. Events can also be hosted at the Vollmer Complex. These include birthday parties, vendor shows, baby showers, and sporting tournaments. The complex also offers a variety of facilities that are open to the public. Facilities include a skatepark, indoor and outdoor concession, outdoor splash pad, 2 ice rinks, a fitness centre, and sports fields.

LaSalle also has a trail network, the "LaSalle Trail", which links up to neighbouring Windsor's "Windsor Trail" network. It allows people to ride from Sandwich Secondary School to Windsor's Riverfront Trail.

Community Sport
The Town of Lasalle partners with organizations such as Turtle Club, Skate Lasalle, Lasalle Stompers Soccer Club, and the Lasalle Minor Hockey association to provide youth with community sport. The organizations operate using Town of Lasalle facilities, such as the 28 outdoor soccer fields and 2 indoor ice pads, located at the Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex.

Turtle Club was founded in 1958. Members play and practice at baseball diamonds located at Turtle Club Park, the Vollmer Complex, and Villanova High School. The club organizes baseball and softball teams with the Lasalle Titans and Lasalle Athletics to compete at the provincial level. Programs offered to the community include co-ed t-ball, baseball, and softball ranging from ages 4 to 17.

Skate Lasalle offers "Canskate and Starskate" programs.

The Lasalle Stompers Soccer Club is a not for profit club that offers recreational, developmental, goalkeeping, skills academy, and competitive soccer programming. Lasalle Stompers SoccerFest is an annual initiative created in memory of Bonnie Petric; a house league soccer tournament hosted in June for ages 8 to 15. Proceeds support Transition to Betterness, a local charity organization.

Home of the Sabres, the Lasalle Minor Hockey Association is comprised of house league and travel hockey programs. As an association, it functions within the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA). Leagues available for registration include U7, U9, intermediate, and senior divisions. In 2017, the LMHA hosted their first annual Hometown Heroes House League hockey tournament. The tournament was designed to highlight the significant contributions of local first responders, military, and other valued community workers. It provides various house league teams from neighbouring minor hockey associations to get involved for a weekend of competition.

Lasalle is also home of the Lasalle Vipers, a junior ice hockey team. The Vipers play in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. Their home ice is Rink A at the Vollmer Complex, where mascot Vinney the Viper can be found cheering them on.

Festivals and Events
One of Lasalle's most well-known events is the annual Strawberry Festival. It usually takes place over the first weekend in June. The four-day event features pageants, fireworks over the Detroit River, a carnival, a parade, entertainment, and locally grown strawberries. The mascot of the town's festival is Captain Strawberry. The Strawberry Festival is traditionally held at Gil Maure Park by the town's waterfront, but has in recent years taken place on the grounds of the Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex.

Lasalle was a host of Rogers Hometown Hockey in February 2020. The weekend event took place at the grounds of the Vollmer Complex. It features a hockey-themed weekend with games, parade, live local entertainment, hockey celebrity visits, and a live NHL broadcast by Ron MacLean and Tara Slone.

The annual LaSalle Craft Beer Festival, put on by the Corporation of the Town of LaSalle, is another popular annual event that features a number of different types of beer, from popular brands to smaller microbreweries.

Education
Schools in the public education system in Lasalle are institutions of either the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board, the Greater Essex-County District School Board, or Conseil Scolarie Catholique Providence. There are two secondary schools: Sandwich Secondary School and St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic Secondary School. French-speaking students may choose to attend École Secondaire E.J. Lajeunesse in Windsor, Ontario. The elementary schools include Sacred Heart Elementary School, Prince Andrew Public School, LaSalle Public School, Sandwich West Public School, School Monseigneur Augustin Caron, and Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School. The University of Windsor and St. Clair College in Windsor are the closest institutions for students seeking post-secondary education.

Communities
Besides the urban area proper of LaSalle itself, the town of LaSalle comprises a number of villages and hamlets, including Delisle's Corners, Heritage Estates, Lukerville, Oliver and River Canard.

Demographics
Population trend:

Notable people[edit]

 * Jeff Burrows - member of rock band The Tea Party; grew up in LaSalle
 * Stuart Chatwood - member of rock band The Tea Party; grew up in LaSalle
 * Pete Craig - former MLB player
 * Andy Delmore - former NHL player
 * Jesse Divnich - video game entrepreneur
 * David Finch - comic book artist
 * Zack Kassian - NHL player
 * Paul Lucier - Senator
 * Jeff Martin - member of rock band The Tea Party; grew up in LaSalle
 * Kylie Masse - competitive swimmer; a world champion and a world record holder in the 100 m backstroke; grew up in LaSalle
 * Dalton Prout - NHL player
 * Amanda Reason - former world record holder and Olympic swimmer
 * Derek Wilkinson - former NHL player
 * Luke Willson - NFL Super Bowl Champion tight end

See also[edit]

 * List of townships in Ontario