Fort Malden Military Heritage Days Timeline, July 31 - Aug 1, 2010
Fort Malden is a very old historical site for both British and First Nations people. Tecumseh set foot on the shores at that spot so many years ago, and the fort was built to be a harbour for Tecumseh's people as he and the other war chiefs discussed the strategies needed to win the war with the British. The Americans were not far away - just on the other side of Boblo Island where the First Nations people were all camped.
This year, we returned to this time-line event at Fort Malden. As usual, there were Vikings, Romans, 1812-period folks, WWI and WWII representatives, and even some Vietnam re-enactors. The guests were able to take a journey through time and see how people lived during those different periods.
On Saturday morning there was a parade that we all took part in, with the parade ending at the War Memorial beside the Fort. There, a declaration was read and a three-gun salute was made in honour of fallen soldiers.
Once back at camp, we settled into greeting visitors and explaining life for the First Nations people during 1812. Later in the evening, after the guests had left the fort hosted a tavern night. We were able to watch as a number of lovely ladies dressed in glamorous 1940's dresses with the proper hairdoos go to the tavern to be with the soldiers and other reenactors. The evening activities ended with fire works on the American side that lasted well into the night.
Sunday started with a Brick Laying ceremony for all the patrons who had purchased bricks to help support the Provincial Marines fund raising events. Our group drummed and sang outside the building between scheduled activities, after which everyone was treated to refreshments and cake. Then around noon, we car-pooled over to Boblo Island on the ferry to see the land that we hope to be building the native encampment on (that the Provincial Marines have received a grant for). The area is in part on privately-owned land. The planned encampment is to be built in 2012 for the bi-centennial, and we hope for a great deal of involvement from the Native community.
We all had a delicious late lunch while on the island at the Bob-Lo Riverside Beach House Grille, and later headed home that evening.
All in all, it was an interesting event.
David and Shaymus
