The evening ended with a bang — literally — as a cannon fired outside Navy Hall on Saturday night.
It wasn’t the beginning of a war with the U.S., don’t worry — it was to commemorate the last one.
The cannon firing was the finale of the Friends of Fort George’s second annual War of 1812-themed charity dinner with the Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa.
With more than 50 tickets sold and over $1,000 raised from the auction alone, the dinner raised around $5,000 to fund summer student jobs at Fort George and Brock’s Monument, said executive director Amanda Gamble.
For $160, guests were provided a three-course meal, local wines, a hands-on artifact presentation and a chance to join a silent auction. And, a chance to fire the cannon, said Gamble.
“Just such a great way to end the evening,” she said.
Coun. Tim Balasiuk, once part of Fort George’s Fife and Drum Corps, had a full-circle moment after winning the cannon-firing auction. It brought him back to his time at the site and reminded him why keeping its history alive for years to come is so important, said Gamble.
“To bring that forward to today’s generation is great,” she said.
In attendance was Gavin Watson and Andrew Laliberte, two students part of the youth staffing program at Fort George.
Watson and Laliberte were there as living proof of the program’s success and the opportunities it offers, said Gamble.
“Watching them grow and giving them all these additional opportunities where they can hone their skills and really thrive in the position — to me, is what it’s all about,” she said.
The youth staffing program was designed to hire more students, particularly university and high school, to work during the summer.
It offers several different positions for students and provides them with uniforms, training and work experience in history and tourism.
President Tony Chisholm said things like this dinner are the main way this program is funded.
On top of gaining valuable experience, the students — skilled in areas like firing black powder muskets — also support Parks Canada with events and programs, such as the Battle of Fort George this summer, he said.
Not only do organizers have positive things to say about the program, but the students do, too.
“When I started working as a student at Fort George, a colleague informed me that this would be ’the best job you’ll ever have.’ He could not have been more correct,” wrote youth staff member Craig Burney on the event program.
Chisholm said the crowd was different from guests the Friends of Fort George are used to.
Zalepa’s connections within the community helped attract more politicians and encouraged newcomers to come, which they might not have otherwise, he said.
Zalepa was equally pleased to be personally involved.
“I’ve seen the importance,” he said. “People that I’ve known who are students here — and now they’re professionals working at our municipalities — it’s just a great start for young people.”
Gamble made sure the Friends of Fort George stayed local.
“One of the things that we wanted to do with this event too was really make sure that we were partnering with local things,” she said.
For dinner, she reached out to Events by Kristin’s, an NOTL catering service, after a committee member recommended her.
“It all just kind of fell in place,” said Gamble, who was also pleased to have also secured a local sponsorship from Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake — a conglomerate of 23 wineries in town.
The meal included chicken and leek soup served with soldier’s bread and butter, followed by braised beef brisket with potatoes, onions and demiglace. It finished with an apple tart with vanilla gelato. Each course had a vegan option, too.
Soldier’s bread was a deliberate and meaningful choice by the caterer, said Lindsay Taylor, who assisted with rolling out the food.
“It’s a non-leavened bread that they can make around the campfire,” she said.
Made without yeast from basic ingredients, she said the bread reflects what soldiers would have prepared while cozying-up around the campfire during the War of 1812.
