The skilled man behind the Bolton Rocket
As you’re driving through East Bolton, it’s hard to miss that beautiful rocket that greets you as you enter the village. With its magnificent colors, it’s easy for it to catch your eye.
While we have told the story of Mr. Jean-charles Labranche and his decision to have a rocket built on his property after seeing the Apollo rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida, we have yet to tell the story of the man behind the rocket, which many have come to know and love.
That man is Mr. Laurent Côté. According to Mr. Côté’s family, upon returning home from vacation in Florida, Labranche wanted to have his own rocket to attract cliental to his business’ and he turned to Côté to achieve his goal. In 1964, he asked Côté if he could build him a rocket and upon completion in 1965, it was installed on Labranche’s property where there was a snack bar and a car garage.
Côté used wood to construct the rocket and then he covered it with sheet metal.
“It’s been spoken about since I was young boy,” explained Nikola Montagne, grandson of Mr. Côté, “I have known this since I was a little kid. Now I am the spokesperson to recall his work. I’m taking this information from my aunts and uncles and I’m learning about different things he has done throughout the area.”
Côté’s children recall that he worked for Mr. Labranche quit often and they remember seeing Jean-charles throughout their childhood.
One of his other major projects for Mr. Labranche included building a large cross that people could see as they drove along the road between Mansonville and what used to be South Bolton.
“He had three skill trades that he was certified in,” explains Nikola, “he was a carpenter, a bricklayer, and a plaster painter. He could take a project and do what needed to be done all by himself. He mastered his trades.”
Laurent started learning these types of work with the help of his uncle Charles Côté. After Laurent’s parents purchased a piece of property, he started learning the trades by building their new home and a barn, establishing the family farm.
Because of these skills, Mr. Côté had a hand in a variety of significant projects throughout the area, including the reparation of church bell towers.
“My uncle said at one point that he fixed the bell tower at the Catholic Church in Mansonville. To get up there, he attached five ladders together to repair the structure. He also repaired the bell tower of a Protestant Church.”
Around the 1950s, he also worked on the famous Montreal Pipeline project in Highwater.
Côté’s family mentioned that Laurent worked with Montreal architects on a round house located between South Bolton and Knowlton in the late 1960s. He worked on the interior and he did all the stonework on the outside of the home. He also made a stone fireplace inside. This round house eventually ended up on television.
“After my grandma passed away, he concentrated more on renovation projects for cottages around Lake Memphremagog and he renovated boat houses. He cut all the cedar trees by hand.”
The mastering of his trades resulted in beautiful pieces of infrastructure for the Townships and a landmark that forever lingers in our memory.
“Every person that I know that has driven to this rocket. Even if it’s once, they remember it. Every person who sees it says yeah, I remember that! I bring up that my grandfather did it. You have to be proud of the family ties to this landmark in Mansonville that my grandfather built.”