It was a gamble giving the hamlet the name Hylo, but one that has paid off for 100 years. Hylo is named after a card game that people working on the railroad used to play, explained centennial planning committee member Lori Zalewsky.
It was a gamble giving the hamlet the name Hylo, but one that has paid off for 100 years.
Hylo is named after a card game that people working on the railroad used to play, explained centennial planning committee member Lori Zalewsky. It was originally going to be called Trieste after Augusto Marini’ s hometown in northeastern Italy. Marini was a member of the second scouting party sent by the Italian consulate to the area.
“The original group that came through was a scouting party of six. They came to the area in July 1914 to assess the area and see if it was viable for farming and lumbering,” said Zalewsky. “A month later in August a second group, a party of about 19, had come and that’ s when they started staking their claims. That’ s when they had to go to the Lac La Biche Mission to get their $10 quarters of land.”
Cecile Kirkbride, another member of the planning committee, is Marini’ s great-granddaughter. Marini and his wife Teresa had two children, a son who had no family, and a daughter, Dominica also known as Mamie, who married Carlo Meardi. Carlo and Mamie had four sons: Bruno, Richard, Raymond and Larry, making the Meardis who currently live in Hylo the link back to Augusto.
Kirkbride says her great-grandfather was the postmaster in 1922 until 1939. He built his home by the tracks and a building that served as a post office and a gathering spot for the community.
“His home really became a hub because in those days trains were few and far between,” she said.
Marini lost his postmaster job in 1939 to a retired veteran by the name of Harvey Kennedy, but continued to be station caretaker. He also had to rebuild his house within the hamlet instead of occupying the one by the tracks. Marini was at the time the self-appointed game warden, a member of the Hylo Co-op and a founding member of the cemetery in Hylo. He helped bring in a Catholic church to the hamlet, though it no longer exists today.
The Hylo-Venice Centennial celebrations will take place in both hamlets June 27-29. The weekend will include historic displays, a parade on Highway 663 as well as activities for the entire family. Details of the weekend in the print edition of the Lac La Biche POST.
