Forest, Ontario facts for kids
Forest is a friendly community in Lambton Shores, Ontario, Canada. It's located close to Sarnia and the beautiful Lake Huron in Lambton County. In 2011, about 2,876 people lived here. The town covers an area of about 5.26 square kilometers.
Contents
Fun Things to Do in Forest
Schools and Learning
Forest is home to North Lambton Secondary School, where older students go. This school has a big gym and a cafeteria. Younger students attend elementary schools like Kinnwood Central Public School and St. John Fisher, which is a Catholic school.
Sports and Recreation
There are many places to have fun in Forest! You can find an indoor arena for hockey or ringette. There's also a community center with fields for baseball and soccer. If you like quiet sports, there's a lawn bowling club and public tennis courts. Kids can enjoy the splash pad, which is great for cooling off in summer. The town also has an agricultural society that hosts a fall fair and sometimes offers campsites. If you love golf, there are many courses nearby, within a 20-mile drive.
Forest Amphitheatre
The Forest Amphitheatre is a special outdoor stage located in the Esli Dodge Conservation Area. The stage is on a small island, and people sit on the grassy hills around it to watch shows. Hundreds of people come here each summer for outdoor performances. In the past, a local play called The Promise was performed here. Since 2007, country music concerts called "Music In the Valley" have been held at the amphitheatre.
Forest Museum
The Forest Museum is a cool place to learn about the town's past. It's located in an old bakery building from the 1880s at 8 Main St. N. Inside, you can see displays about the bakery, local First Nations people, farming, the railway, and even old toys and fashion. The museum also shows items from local doctors, businesses, churches, and schools. It was started in 1963. In 2019, volunteers found old movie posters from 100 years ago hidden in a shed! These posters are now on display at the museum and the Kineto Theatre.
Kineto Theatre
The Kineto Theatre is one of the oldest movie theaters in the world! It has been showing movies since 1917. The Kiwanis Club of Forest owns and runs it. The theater has a snack bar and can seat up to 225 people. You can catch a movie there every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday.
Forest's History
How Forest Got Its Name
Forest was once covered by a very thick forest. When the Grand Trunk Railway built tracks through this area, the train station was named "Forest" because of all the trees. Hickory Creek, a small stream that flows through the town, provided water for the steam trains back then.
Growing as a Town
The first post office in Forest opened in 1859. The town grew by adding parts of three nearby townships: Warwick, Plympton, and Bosanquet. Today, these townships are no longer separate. Bosanquet joined with Forest and other villages like Arkona, Thedford, and Grand Bend to form Lambton Shores.
Early Industries and Today
Forest's early businesses were connected to the many fruit farms in the area. There used to be a factory that canned fruit and another that made baskets. In more recent years, Forest has become a "dormitory community." This means many people who live in Forest travel to work in the nearby city of Sarnia, or sometimes London, Ontario. The beautiful Lake Huron also brings tourists, which helps local businesses. Some small factories that support the auto industry have also opened in Forest.
The Old Carnegie Library
The building that used to be the Forest Carnegie Library is now an Event Centre. It has a special historical plaque outside. You can rent this space for private events. It has a meeting area, a music area, and even a billiards table!
Famous People from Forest
Many interesting people have connections to Forest:
- Brothers Dan and Thom Speck from the a cappella group The Essentials grew up here.
- Emily Murphy (1868–1933) lived in Forest. She was one of the "Famous Five" who fought for women's rights in Canada in the 1920s.
- Ice hockey player John McIntyre grew up in Forest. He played for several teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- Singer-songwriter Emm Gryner spent her childhood in Forest.
- Author Roslyn Fuller, who now lives in Dublin, Ireland, grew up in Forest.
- Robyn Doolittle, a well-known journalist for the Toronto Star, grew up in Forest.
- Sledge hockey player and 2014 Paralympic medalist Tyler McGregor grew up in Forest and went to North Lambton Secondary School.
- Andrew Bruce Boa (1930–2004) was an actor who appeared in movies like The Empire Strikes Back and the TV show Fawlty Towers. He lived in Forest during his high school years.
- Marion (Boa) Woodman (1928–2018) was a Canadian author, poet, and psychologist who wrote about dreams and the women's movement. She also lived in Forest during her high school years.
- Ice hockey player Bill Lochead was raised in Forest. He played for teams like the Detroit Red Wings.
- Rosalind Morris (1920–2022) was a brilliant scientist and educator. Her family moved to a fruit farm near Forest when she was young. She was one of the first women to earn a doctorate degree in Plant Breeding from Cornell University. In 1963, she became the first woman to be honored as a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, a major achievement for women in science at that time. She lived to be 101 years old!
