Vankleek Hill, Ontario

Vankleek Hill is a community in Champlain township in eastern Ontario, situated south of Hawkesbury on Highway 34.

This agricultural based community became a thriving community in the 1890s and still retains many of the buildings and structures which were present then. This is reflected in the fact that Vankleek Hill is the Gingerbread (the wood carvings in the eaves of one's roof) capital of Ontario.

It was named after Simeon Vankleek, a United Empire Loyalist, who settled here near the end of the 18th century. The town has a population of 1,996 and the local newspaper is The Vankleek Hill Review. [ [http://www12.statcan.ca/english/profil01/CP01/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=3502009&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=vankleek%20hill&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom= Statistics Canada] ]

The name of the local hockey team is the "Vankleek Hill Cougars." Vankleek Hill also has a soccer league, the Champlain Soccer League, and takes part in the Glengarry Soccer League.

The Vankleek Hill area supports several educational facilities. At the elementary level, there are three different schools which children are able to attend: Pleasant Corners Public School(PCPS), an English language school and part of the Upper Canada District School Board; St.Jude Catholic School, a half-English, half-French school that is part of the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario; and St.Gregoire(École Saint-Grégoire de Vankleek Hill), a fully French-language school and part of the Conseil Scolaire de districte catholique de l'Est ontarien. The town's secondary school, Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute (VCI) is the only English speaking High School in the region and, like PCPS, is also part of the Upper Canada District School Board.

Vankleek Hill hosts several annual cultural events including a Victorian Home and Garden Tour on the third Saturday in June, the May Art Show during the long weekend in May and an annual Fiddling, Step-dancing and Squaredancing Competition on the July 1 weekend, and the Vankleek Hill Fair held annually in August. Four historical murals painted on some of the town's heritage buildings are a popular tourist attraction.

Local Media

* [http://www.vankleekfm.com/ Vankleek FM 88.7 - (Community Radio)]
* [http://www.thereview.on.ca The Review - (Community News)]

* NHLer Connie Brown.
* James B. Harkin (Birthplace of the First Commissioner of National Parks in Canada)
* 106.9 The Bear announcer Tony Barton aka Dylan Black

External links

* [http://www.vankleekhill.ca/ Website]
* [http://www.vankleek.net/ Website]
* [http://www.ucdsb.on.ca/vci/ School Website]
* [http://www.vankleekhillcougars.com/ Vankleek Hill Cougars]

References