Enjoy Our Beach Have a Blast! But, respect our Community
beach B
We’re Local..We’re Wasaga Beach..Number 70
Wasaga under Siege “ A War of 1812 Experience” Nancy Island Historic Site August 16, 17 & 18, 2013
STER August 18, 2013
Proud Sponsor
Tall Ships® Return to Wasaga Beach!
Building on the huge success of past Wasaga under Siege events, the Historic Military Establishment of Upper Canada in partnership with the Town of Wasaga Beach, Ontario Parks, Town of Collingwood and Nancy Island Historic Site look forward to hosting you once again from August 16th to the 18th. Wasaga under Siege “A War of 1812 Experience” will once again come to life as over 300 re-enactors will take part echoing history through the streets and waters of Wasaga Beach, Collingwood and Nancy Island Historic Site. If you have never attended Wasaga under Siege in the past or have been a regular for the past decade this year is certainly the one not to miss! As part of O n t a r i o ’s Wa r o f 1 8 1 2 B i c e n t e n n i a l Commemorations the TALL SHIPS® 1812 Tour, presented by Redpath Sugar will be returning to the shores of Nottawasaga Bay as part of Wasaga
under Siege 2013. In partnership with the port of Collingwood Tall Ships® LYNX, FRIENDS GOOD WILL and MADELINE will be taking part in a sail past along Beach Areas 1 & 2 on Friday evening and then participating in the planned skirmish reenactment taking place on the shores of Beach Area 2 afterwards. Saturday’s afternoon battle re-enactment event will be changing locations as re-enactors will be boarding buses to travel over to Collingwood to partake in tactical demonstrations and activities in Millennium Park as part of Collingwood’s Tall Ship®1812 Tour events and activities. A great weekend has been put together for reenactors and spectators alike! Battles will be fought all over the town of Wasaga Beach and Collingwood with Tall Ships®, parading, pillaging, cannons, muskets, longboats and voyageur canoes. They will
be using all of their talents and proven Wasaga under Siege 1812 hospitality to make sure all visitors feel welcomed and satisfied that it was worth the trip and price of admission. Wasaga Beach, Ontario as many of you already know host the longest fresh water beach in the world and attracts thousands of tourist each day to its beaches and attractions however not many know that Wasaga Beach is rich in Canadian history and has the only War of 1812 battle in the Southern Georgian Bay region that took place right on its shores. There is a brand new website so please take a look www.wasagaundersiege1812.com and if you would like to purchase tickets to tour the Tall Ships® in Collingwood visit www.1812bicentenial.com. If you purchase a passport it will also give you free admission to Wasaga under Siege as well.
LYNX
MADELINE
FRIENDS GOOD WILL
HMS Nancy Nancy was a schooner which sailed the Upper Great Lakes as a private cargo vessel in the fur trade. During the War of 1812, the HMS Nancy was pressed into service as a British supply ship. While in this service, the schooner was destroyed in the Nottawasaga River by American Forces. The sunken hull of the Nancy formed an obstruction in the river and an island was established by the resultant deposition of silt and sand. The remains of the hull now rest in a museum on the island to mark the site of the Nancy's demise and to commemorate her gallant defense. The Nancy was built in 1789 at the British port of Detroit. The construction of the Schooner was under the supervision of John Richardson of Montreal's Richardson, Forsyth and Company. There was likely no set plans for the construction; however, it has been determined that the schooner's length was approximately 80 feet, width (or beam) 22 feet, and depth of hold, eight feet. John Richardson wrote to his partner from Detroit in 1789: "The schooner will be a perfect masterpiece of workmanship and beauty. The expense to us will be great, but there will be the satisfaction of her being strong and very durable. Her floortimbers, keel, keel-son, stem, and lower futtocks are oak. The transom, stern-post, upper futtocks, top-timbers, beams, and knees are all red cedar. She will carry 350 barrels." The figurehead on the vessel was a carving "of a lady dressed in the present fashion, and with a hat and feather" done by Skelling of New York. The Nancy was likely named for either the wife or daughter of John Richardson.