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In 2021 we said goodbye to four directors of The Friends of Fort York & Garrison Common. Three had served for almost 20 years, one for five, and all with distinction and dedication. We are in debt to them all.
Elizabeth Quance, who joined the board in 2003, found The Friends through her work in the community with the Niagara Neighbourhood Association. She was (as the NNA tells us) “deeply involved with the efforts to close Toronto Refiners and Smelters, worked closely with Cathy Nasmith on our efforts to stop the Front Street Extension, and was on a number of working groups relating to planning in the neighbourhood.”
In the early days of The Friends, the Front Street Extension – a major road to connect Front Street (where it now ends at Bathurst) to Dufferin – was a real threat to the integrity of the Niagara neighbourhood and Fort York’s connection to it. This (at the time) $120 million road was cancelled only in 2008. We can thank Elizabeth, through her work with The Friends, for working so hard toward a better public realm plan today on the north side of the tracks. The neighbourhood, also with Elizabeth’s help, was a partner in the annual Fort York Festival, which featured big reenactments and attracted thousands of visitors during the late 1990s. This was long before Fort York became a venue for the rich variety of cultural events we see now.
“One of the most satisfying parts of being a director,” recalls Elizabeth, “was to see how successful the Board was as a working volunteer board. Every person on the Board had specific responsibilities that they were expected to carry out and they did… I am glad I had a chance to make a contribution.”
Ted Smolak also joined our board in 2003. A very young Ted, growing up in Thorold on the Niagara Frontier (to use an antique expression), came across a grey granite stone marked “Beaver Dams 1813” in an overgrown field by the Welland Canal. This mysterious and apparently forgotten memento sparked his interest in the War of 1812. Many years later, director Bret Snider (who was a client of Arena Design, Ted’s graphic design firm), on
a gentle but thorough grilling
sensing his life-long interest in Canadian history, invited him to join The Friends. It wasn’t long before Steve Otto introduced himself and “after a gentle but thorough grilling” recommended Ted join the Board.
An Ontario College of Art graduate, Ted soon designed our corporate identity, our website and The Fife and Drum, establishing the visual brand of The Friends of Fort York & Garrison Common across all media.
“My fondest memories are those times spent working with Stephen Otto and Pat Fleming,” he recalls. “Together we collaborated to design The Fife and Drum, the website image gallery and our last project together, Fort York: Stories from the Birthplace of Toronto.”
The Friends owe much to Ted’s creative and professional work – and to his tremendous generosity in donating all of this to us. He is a model of quiet and effective collegiality. “So many wonderful memories made possible by so many wonderful directors,” he adds. “It was an honour and a privilege just to be a part of it all.”
Nancy Baines also came to us in 2003 as a recently retired history teacher at North Toronto Collegiate Institute. She is the grand-daughter of historical illustrator C.W. Jeffreys, whose images of the War of 1812 and Canadian history sparked the imagination of generations of students. Going on a walking tour of the waterfront led by David Crombie was a turning point for Nancy, reinforced by Joe Gill’s enthusiasm for Fort York. Meeting Steve Otto was the closer.
“Steve’s canny understanding of the way the city works and how to be proactive in support of the Fort was a revelation,” she says. “His networking skills, the depth and breadth of his historical interests and his can-do attitude were amazing. What a privilege to work with two such dedicated and delightful people!”
Nancy first assumed responsibility for the membership list of a steadily growing organization. She then set out to establish a proper library, which the historic site had always lacked, in the basement of the Blue Barracks. Inheriting piles of books, pamphlets, maps, documents and manuscripts from the fort’s cupboards (mainly in the Officers’ Mess) and scrounging a computer from the ever-helpful David O’Hara, she organized, catalogued and expanded these materials into the efficient Resource Centre we have today.
Nancy and Heather Cirulis, together as volunteers, and working every Thursday for years, have created an essential resource that is today used by fort staff, members of the Guard and researchers at large. With gifts bequeathed to the Fort York Foundation, we hope to see the library moved out of the basement (where books and paper should never be kept) into the space designed for it on the ground floor of the new Visitor Centre.
Together with director Richard Dodds and culinary historian Bridget Wranich, Nancy was also instrumental to our fundraising Georgian Dinners every year for nearly two decades. And she gave her energy to special events, especially in the lead-up to the War of 1812 Bicentennial, parking-lot operations (the original fundraiser!) and committee work, including in the writing and production of Adding New Buildings.
It was a privilege to be a guardian of Fort York
“Even the meetings were almost always lively and challenging,” she remembers. “I trust the present Board and the Friends will continue to protect the interests of the fort and work to bring about positive change. It has been a privilege to be a guardian of Fort York.”
Chris Henry joined the Board in 2016. Chris had spent four summers with the Fort Henry Guard, becoming a squad sergeant and co-leading 24-person drill squads, and so he understood our work with the Guard here. He was introduced by our chair Don Cranston, another Fort Henry connection. In his professional life, Chris has been an executive operations consultant, helping organizations to increase revenue and market share. His depth of experience in digital services and innovation was of immense value to The Friends, helping us to find new audiences for The Fife and Drum and in developing social media. With his convivial personality, Chris always enlivened our dinners and special events and helped to bring new friends to the table.
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