There has been a plethora of events to enjoy in LaSalle over the summer including the annual Strawberry Festival and the monthly night markets.
This past weekend at the Event Centre at LaSalle Landing, the town spared no expense, pulling out all the stops and hosted Last Call Before Fall.
Last year was the inaugural Last Call and it won the Ontario Festival and Events Ontario Best New Event with a budget of $100,000 or less.
“It’s the indoor-outdoor experience and this is a great facility. It’s the attention to detail,’ said LaSalle director of culture and recreation Patti Funaro.
This year there were outdoor fire pits, games, and on Saturday night, blending in with the country western theme, hay bales to lounge on.
Friday night saw 550 people come in to hear Joe Graham and Nico perform along with the talented DJ Rye. The next evening was sold out as 1,000 came to listen to Molly Ferdinand before Buck Twenty hit the stage.
“The feedback is great and it’s nice to have a local act,” said Funaro of Buck Twenty.
While it is just the second year for Last Call Before Fall, the concept was held before and it was called the Craft Beer Festival which was held at the Vollmer Centre.
“We wanted to reinvent that and we wanted an event for adults that had something for everyone,” said Funaro.
There were a lot of food vendors for lots of great eats on the weekend and wineries, distilleries and craft breweries got to reach out to a new group of customers. One of those was Copper Rose Distillery who launched its first batch of vodka in April 2023.
Tabetha Koeslag and Melissa Roberts of Copper Rose were kept busy all night and they brought in an expert – Eric Strong from Mixmaster Bartending and Events Services.
“I was proud of their brand and once I tried the product I made my decision,” said Strong as why he joined forces with them on the weekend.
Heather Brunelle of LaSalle remembers going to the event at the Vollmer.
“We used to come to the beerfest. We were away last year and we wanted to come here,” said Brunelle.
She was joined by Darlene and Randy Thibert and it was Darlene who summed up what a lot of people were feeling, “we like to support local.”
LaSalle is not done with events and the final Night Market, which is usually held at the town hall, will move indoors to the Event Centre Sept. 29.
Award-winning LaSalle event "Last Call Before Fall" makes its return
By Fred Groves
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