Leaders of the Guard turn in their uniforms

The two young women who have been leading sections of the Fort York Guard for the past few years, Sally O’Keeffe and Holly Benison, retired at the end of this season.

Drum Major O’Keeffe, who began volunteering at the fort when she was ten, spent a total of 14 summers in the uniform of the notional Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry. She led and rehearsed the fort’s musical Drums.

“More than half my life was spent here,” she marvels. “I’ve grown up here.” The last few winters were spent at Harvard University, where she completed a joint major in Honours English and Art, Film and Visual Studies. Her plan is to pursue a Master’s in poetry and she knows that skills picked up from her experience here will last a lifetime.

“I’ve learned how to better advocate for myself and others,” she says. “It will be sad to move on because my time here was really meaningful and a huge part of my identity and life, but,” she adds, “I’m ready to let the next leaders take over.”

Her colleague Sergeant Benison, leader of the award-winning Infantry Squad, has been at Fort York since volunteering in high school. She was hired in 2017 and since then, she says, “I’ve seen myself grow into a leader.” Holly graduated from Bishop’s University in Honours History with minors in music and French. She knows that her work in the Guard “has been a meaningful engagement with the past.” Holly is completing a certification in museum management this fall.

We wish them both the best, absolutely certain they’ve a bright future ahead of them – built on their education and their experience every summer in the Fort York Guard.