The story of the church

In the beginning of the summer I found a job in Fassett. A small town of lonely elders and a few bored teens. We have all heard the story before. Since the freeway was built, the town was bypassed and the local businesses have slowly been dying off ever since. The gas station closed some years ago, then the diner followed by the corner store this spring.

All that remains by some strange twist of faith is 2 almost identical fast food restaurants. Often simply referred to as “a potato” by the locals, they are found all across rural Quebec in the summer months. They serve up classics such as hot dogs, burgers, poutine and homemade fries. I work at the less popular one in town.

2 years ago in May we received a tornado alert on our phones. I was in Montreal at the time where the storm came and went without any issues but it passed through this region with much more severity. What came to be known as The Derecho, a wall of wind of exceptional strength popped many windows out of their frames including the one in my girlfriends bathroom but most importantly it collapsed the steeple of the church of Fassett.

The remains of the former church make for quite an interesting sight especially when viewed from across the street by people waiting to receive their lunch. As you can imagine it also makes for a perfect topic of casual conversation for these bored individuals. Though I cannot fault them as I would likely do the same, it gets annoying to retell the story multiple times a day. Nevertheless I feel it will be one of favourite memories from this job and so I feel compelled to tell it here.

First of all the church is no longer a church. It was sold off before the storm and is now used as the woodworking shop of a small furniture making company. It’s unfortunate that it could not continue to be used as a community gathering place but at least it didn’t get turned into more boring condos.

When the tower fell the large brass bell was stolen, as the story goes, by a few presumably very strong men who tossed it in their pickup truck and fled the scene. However it was found by the freeway shortly after a large fine was imposed for whoever would try to use it as a unique lawn ornament.

So there you have it. Although some details may be missing, and the ending a bit anticlimactic this is usually enough to satisfy the curious customers while I either finish preparing their meal or hide from them to avoid making further small talk.