Crysler offers a rich and welcoming community life, supported by essential services and a keen sense of local identity. Crysler maintains an active social calendar featuring events designed to unite residents and cultivate a strong sense of community.

There is rightful pride in the Crysler Community Centre which is the cultural heart of the village. The building hosts monthly community dinners and accommodates Bingo events with significant attendance every Wednesday. Adjacent is a large arena used for hockey and skating in winter, and pickle ball in summer.  Every February the community hosts the Crysler Winter Carnival, an event that draws visitors from far and wide. Kids games, music and eating are the primary activities. The annual “Touch-the-Truck” exhibition is especially well-received by younger attendees, while the vintage car exhibition draws significant interest from automobile enthusiasts.

The park next to the community centre is used often. Recently residents responded strongly to a Community Centre request for contributions to augment provincial grants for upgrading the “tot lot” which sits next to a community building that houses the summer kid’s camp. Kids will then have a state-of-the-art play area. A nearby beach volleyball court is popular with residents.  A well-maintained baseball diamond is also available, and in the past winters it has been turned into an outdoor circular skating rink, with ice kept fresh by the arena Zamboni.

Young people from Crysler and nearby areas often use the soccer fields.  When multiple soccer game are played, the field is full of colourful jerseys and watchful parents sitting on the sidelines. A happening event, parking spaces are hard to find. At one edge of the field is a gazebo, appropriately lit by Christmas lights in winter but serving as a pleasant ceremony location for summer weddings. Adjoining the river by the Community Centre is a boat launch and park benches to sit and take in the river’s beauty. The modern fire station sits close by.

Volunteer firefighters play a key role in protecting the community and surrounding area, but also in helping with community breakfasts and even transporting Santa through the annual, highly anticipated Christmas Parade. Fire trucks also make the rounds during halloween, dispensing candy to the kids.

The village is home to a French Catholic elementary school known for its community inclusive environment and support for both French- and English-speaking families. At one time its enrolment was stagnant, but with current development, it is now adding a fourth portable. Students from the school are actively involved in projects that include all grade levels. Two years ago, the community helped students pitch in to build a nativity scene with recycled materials (and even animals from a local farm) to win a school board-wide prize for a Christmas theme. And school children were prominently visible this year on the village’s Bell Canada Trail, participating in a bicycle rodeo, appropriately led and safety-instructed by the OPP.

Additional elementary schools for English language students are accessible by school bus to Avonmore (20 minutes) or Winchester (30 minutes). High school students typically attend Catholic Francophone schools in Casselman (20 minutes) or Russell (30 Minutes), or public English-speaking high schools in Russell (35 minutes), or near Avonmore (25 minutes).

The local Crysler school shares space with a popular daycare that now has a waiting list. From time-to-time residents can see a line of toddlers, each holding a follow-the-leader rope under the watchful eye of daycare caregivers. Recently the Municipality took over a former English school in nearby Berwick and converted it to municipal offices. They also added a daycare and intend to provide other social services to North Stormont out of that building. Berwick is just five minutes south of Crysler.

The General Store is an institutional landmark of Crysler. It serves as a hub for daily necessities, offering groceries, snacks, lunches, and, of course, ice cream. Complete with original hardwood floors, it is a revered part of Crysler’s heritage. Next door, Waikato pizza serves excellent pizza and provides food for the adjoining Heros and Zeros pub, with its outdoor porch usable in summer. Close by is a full service garage, auto parts shop, and body shop repair centre. Across the street is a wine making store, truck wash and motorcycle repair shop. A grocery and vegetable store is soon to open on the main street.

Some medical needs can be looked after in Crysler. A dental hygienist operates across from the General Store, and a pharmacist dispenses prescription for locals. A medical centre nearby has a doctor and nurse practitioner, although there is currently a waiting list. More comprehensive medical care is available at Winchester Hospital, 25 minutes away. The hospital offers emergency, maternity, and select surgical services. It has a helipad that can link hospitals in Cornwall or Ottawa if required. Blood testing services are offered in Winchester, Embrun, and Casselman. Imaging services are available in both Casselman and Embrun, each located approximately 15-20 minutes away.

Recreational opportunities abound. The South Nation River is ideal for small craft boating and fishing, and a public boat launch and wharf is available close to the firehall. The river near Crysler is a haven for birdwatchers, especially during spring and fall migrations. Regularly herons can be seen in the river looking for unsuspecting fish. The multi-use, 4km Bell Canada trail, built along a former railway line, runs through the village and is popular with walkers and cyclists. Community volunteers maintain it year-round. Council recently approved a pedestrian bridge to connect both ends of the trail across the river. The community is anxiously awaiting a funding application from the provincial government to support the cost of this 157 foot pedestrian span across the river.

Unlike those living in larger communities, Crysler residents become quite familiar with the local dump. Garbage (limited to two containers) and recycling blue box items are picked up weekly. Yard waste is collected twice a year, so many residents choose to drop off grass cuttings for recycling at the dump – a twenty-minute drive away. Once a year residents can take 500kg of non-recyclable waste to the dump with no tipping fees. The dump itself is massive, organized and not unbearable to visit.

Crysler offers many community services and activities for its residents. Unlike a number of other rural communities, it is incredibly self sustaining through an ability to obtain government funding for necessary projects and to supplement them with a strongly supportive community base who contribute both additional money and volunteer time. The Facebook page, enjoyed by most Crysler residents, is the hub for community news and information, and a means to communicate to others in the village and surrounding area.