400 years of French culture celebrated

Bayshore Park is home to a new plaque marking 400 years of Francophone presence in Ontario.

Bayshore Park is home to a new plaque marking 400 years of Francophone presence in Ontario.

The June 11 unveiling featured dignitaries, musicians, a choir and students from Les Rapides and Franco-Jeunesse schools, who placed mulch around a newly-planted tree.

A French priest was the first European to visit the Lambton area in 1626-27, and French-speaking families were the first to settle Sarnia in the early 1800s.

Today, about 3,500 residents self-identify as Francophone.