The annual Fort Henry Guard Awards Night will take place on Tuesday, August 27 at 7:00 pm at Fort Henry’s Great Hall.  One of the Guard Club’s signature events, the members of the year’s Fort Henry Guard and staff from Fort Henry will gather to celebrate the accomplishments of their friends and colleagues.

A PDF copy of the program for this year’s event can be found here:  FHG Awards Night Program 2024

We wish all of this year’s nominees the best of luck, and congratulate them on a fantastic summer.  And special thanks to all of the donors who contributed to the awards this year – your generosity is much appreciated by all.

Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules, but these days there’s none that can compare with the dedicated students who comprise the Fort Henry Guard of 2024. 

The Drums, Squad, and Domestic Interpreters are filling Fort Henry with the familiar sounds of fifes and drums, rifle and artillery fire, school bells and voices of command. The first performance of the summer is just a week away.

Speaking of Hector and Lysander, the rebuilding of the Guard has been no small effort on the part of the SLPC and Fort management. And the FHG Foundation has provided meaningful support through the Commitment to Excellence Award, which recognizes the hard work of the dedicated students who have returned to take on leadership roles. 

Thanks to donations from many former Guard, the Foundation has awarded close to $35,000 to returning staff over the past two years. I can’t tell you how proud I felt when we surprised the 2022 Guard with these cash awards at the annual awards night, and how much of a difference it made in retaining experienced staff in 2023. 

Won’t you help us continue to recognize the vital efforts of these young leaders by supporting these awards again in 2024?

And, your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a generous former Guard (and proud member of the Squad), up to a total of $8,000! Thanks to their lead gift and your donation, the staff who came back to the Fort this summer will know just how steady we Old Guard are in our support.

To have your donation doubled, please choose one of the payment options outlined on our Donate page.  And remember that you’ll receive a 2024 tax receipt for your donation. 

Every contribution, large or small, helps sustain the tradition of excellence that has existed at Fort Henry for decades. Thank you for giving today!

With a tow row row…

Chris Dearlove, FHG 1692

Director, Fort Henry Guard Foundation

The Fort Henry Guard Club of Canada’s Annual General Meeting will take place at Fort Henry on Sunday, August 6, 2023 at 12:30 pm.  Members in good standing are invited to attend the AGM, either in person, or online.  More details about how to access the meeting via Zoom will be shared shortly.

The nomination list for this year’s AGM can be found here.  We are seeking four Directors to join the Board, and two Club members have agreed to stand for election.  Nominations from the floor will be accepted should any members wish to run for election.

We look forward to welcoming as many members as possible as we celebrate the 85th Reunion, and look back at a very successful year.

The Annual General Meeting of the Fort Henry Guard Club of Canada will be held on Tuesday, August 30 at 4:30 pm.

This year’s AGM will use a hybrid format, and members can either participate in person at the Fort Henry Great Hall (formerly called the Discovery Centre) or on-line via Zoom.

Any member in good standing who wishes to attend virtually can sign up using this Google form – we’ll then e-mail you the Zoom link, agenda and reports in advance of the meeting.

Please sign up for the AGM by Sunday, August 28 so we have time to send you all of the materials in a timely fashion.

The latest edition of The Guardsman is now available for FHGCC members.  The June issue includes updates from Guard Club president Alex McLean and Guard Captain Micheal Valiquette, the nominations report for the upcoming AGM, and the first in a series of stories by members of the Board – first up is John Grenville (FHG 705), our long-time Secretary-Treasurer. 

The newsletter, and more than 80 issues of The Guardsman, can be found in the Members section.

Tom Little, FHG 593, has put together a very helpful outline of the Fort Henry Guard Club of Canada’s organizational structure.  It includes a list of the Club’s Officers, Board members, and the various committees (including the Executive Committee, Reunion Committee, Awards Committee, and the newly formed Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee).

A copy of the updated structure is below, and it can also be found on the website’s Members section, which also includes a number of additional useful documents (list of Guard numbers, Club Bylaws and Code of Conduct, etc).

Fort Henry National Historic Site and the Fort Henry Guard Club of Canada are partnering to launch a mentorship program for this year’s summer staff.  COVID severely impacted the hiring system Fort Henry relies on, where student staff have time to progress naturally through leadership positions and learn different aspects of Senior Guard responsibilities prior to being in those roles.

The aim of this program is to utilize former Senior Guard to help mentor and coach this season’s Senior Guard through a challenging transition from the rank-and-file to young leaders of the Fort Henry Guard. 

More information about how we see this program operating, what the expectations of a mentor are, and a basic guide to mentoring in general, can be found in this PDF.

Some notes:

  • The Fort Henry Guard is always changing, growing, and evolving. While not required, preference will be given to those who have worked at the Fort in the last 20 to 25 years to ensure mentors are up to date on current practices.
  • We are also seeking female mentors as we anticipate there being many female mentees.
  • Mentors do not have to live in the Kingston area to participate. A completely virtual mentorship can be facilitated.

If you are interested in applying, please complete this Google Form.  The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, March 23, 2022.

Please contact camsmith@trentu.ca with any questions or if you have trouble accessing the Google form.

Thank you!