Celebrate the season with carol sing-along

The Wayside Chapel carol sing-along has quickly become an annual tradition in Niagara-on-the-Lake, with two successful years to build on.

It’s being held a little earlier this holiday season, says organizer Rick Meloen. Last year, he chose the afternoon of the Santa Claus Parade in NOTL, hoping people would stay in town for the sing-along, but decided to pick a date a little earlier this year.

Since Nov 30 is the start of the church calendar’s Advent season, which falls on a Saturday, Melon decided to hold the sing-along that day at 3 p.m.

And as has become tradition, it will be at the Living Water Wayside Chapel, on the Niagara River Parkway and Line 1, beside Walker’s Family Market.

The tiny chapel only holds eight people, but the sing-along is outside, and for two years running, the weather has been crispy but clear, perfect for a seasonal sing-along.

New last year was a sound system provided by local singer and songwriter Dianne Ticknor, who leads the carolling, with grape-grower Albrecht Seeger providing a generator for it.

Ticknor also added some simple musical instruments last year, such as triangles and tambourines, to distribute to the crowd and add to the singing.

It was Seeger who planted the idea for the first event, says Meloen.

Seeger has been a regular at the chapel’s Easter Sunrise Service for many years, and encouraged Meloen, who organizes and leads that service, to consider doing something at Christmas.

Seeger has attended both years with family members, and said in 2022 that he was thrilled with the turnout.

Meloen brings song sheets so everyone is “singing from the same page,” he says, and he includes a selection of traditional sacred carols as well as some rousing secular and fun holiday tunes, such as Jingle Bells.

In addition to celebrating the Christmas season, the sing-along is another way to raise awareness for the tiny chapel that many people see as they drive along the parkway, including newcomers to town who might not know its history.

it’s owned by the Faith Fellowship Church in Niagara Falls, of which Meloen is a member. He has the responsibility of maintaining the tiny building, and he says Jim Walker maintains the ground, “which we are very happy for.”

Built in 1965, the Living Water Wayside Chapel was originally intended as a place for “quiet mediation, a place where visitors could stop and have a quiet moment of reflection and prayer,” he says.

It was originally on the same site as it is now, but was moved to a property on Line 6, and when that property sold about 10 years ago, moved back to Line 1.

Meloen says he is occasionally asked about its purpose, and when it was under renovation for almost a year and then moved back to its original site beside the market, he heard from locals who noticed its absence and who were glad to see it return to its first home.

And the book that is kept in the chapel when it’s open, with signatures and comments in a variety of languages, shows it is used as intended.

“We know from the number of signatures in the guest book that it has more than 10,000 visitors a year,” he says.