Sauble Beach, Ontario
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Sauble Beach (pop. 2000) is a resort community and unincorporated area in the town of South Bruce Peninsula, Bruce County in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, on the north edge of the Saugeen Nation. The beach takes its name from that given by early French explorers to the sandy Sauble River, originally Riviere aux Saubles, that empties into the lake at the beach. The first settler is reported to have been John Eldridge, who built a cottage nearby in 1877, although most of the resort development of the modern beach area dates from about 1948, including still-surviving attractions like the Sauble Lodge Motel and the Crowd Inn hot-dog stand. The main street has remained relatively untouched in the past 50 years.
At over seven miles long (11 km), Sauble Beach is said to be the second longest freshwater beach in the world after Wasaga Beach.[1] A unique phenomenon of sandbar deposits building out along the Lake Huron shoreline keeps the water at Sauble very shallow and warm.
Recreational activities include swimming, windsurfing, water-skiing, fishing, golfing, lawn bowling, tennis, street dances, beach volleyball, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, birding, an annual Winterfest, weekly Family Movie Nights and an annual sandcastle contest. The Canadian National (Beach) Volleyball Championships have been held there, and the local Steelback Sauble Speedway is on the CASCAR professional racing circuit. The Sauble Beach Festival of the Classical Guitar has been held there since 2007. The area is a popular destination among young people for their annual May 2–4 campsite revelries.
While a hot summer long weekend can see the resident count soar to over 100,000, Sauble Beach is the permanent year-round home to approximately 2,000 people. The cottage owners add thousands of seasonal community members, some who stay through the spring to fall time period and others who retreat to Sauble on weekends. Cottage owners are uniquely split between owners who own property outright and cottages that are located on the Native lands. A lease relationship between the Saugeen Nation and these cottagers have allowed for almost 3,000 seasonal homes to be built. The Saugeen Nation benefits from this land lease rental and cost sharing for services and is administered through the Band and Indian Affairs in Ottawa.
Local businesses offer retail and services for hardware, appliance and grocery shopping, restaurants and hotels, fire and police services, daycare and a medical clinic.
Education
There is only one school in town under the Bluewater District School Board. Amabel-Sauble Community School was built in 1995 as an experiment in joint ownership between the board and the Township of Amabel (now part of South Bruce Peninsula); the school provides primary curriculum from Jr. Kindergarten to Grade 8. The closest secondary school is Peninsula Shores District School in Wiarton, Ontario. There are no Roman Catholic schools in town, the closest schools with the Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board are in Port Elgin, Ontario and Owen Sound, Ontario. The closest post-secondary institution is Georgian College's Owen Sound, Ontario campus.
Politics
Sauble Beach is represented by two councillors for Wards 1 and 3 on the Town Council for South Bruce Peninsula in Wiarton, Ontario.[2]
Provincially and federally, the area is part of the riding of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound.
Transportation
There is no public transit in Sauble Beach and residents are car-dependent.
A few roads serve the area:
- Main Street/Bruce County Road 8
- Lakeshore Boulevard North
- Sauble Falls Parkway/Southampton Parkway
Notable people
- Lane MacDermid, Retired NHL player
References
- "Sauble Beach". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2011-07-03.
External links
Media related to Sauble Beach, Ontario at Wikimedia Commons
- Sauble Beach Chamber of Commerce
- Sauble Beach at Explore the Bruce, the official travel site of Bruce County