Throughout the month of October, Manitobans are invited to walk the hallowed grounds of a historic heritage site, some may say are haunted. “Lower Fort Garry is 195 years old this year, so you can imagine who has lived here, who has passed through here, and maybe who still stays here,” said Carolyn Weiss, president of the Friends of Lower Fort Garry. Weiss tells CTV News it’s a special time of the year for guests to come take in the sights and sounds of the fort in autumn. Ninety-minute walking tours are offered every Friday and Saturday night on site up to and including Halloween night. They’ve been running these tours for the last five years and are now in their sixth year. “Everyone loves these tours, this tour is a little bit different than your average Halloween sort of haunted house,” Weiss said with a smile. “You’re not walking through and getting jump scares. You’re walking through an actual haunted historic place with the real stories, and so you get more of that creepy feeling. That, ‘Is there someone in that window watching me? Is there someone behind that door?’” Weiss said she started working at the fort as a volunteer when she was young and enjoys the heritage of the national historic site that has had many uses over its nearly 200 years of history. The building has transformed from a shipment depot to Manitoba’s first penitentiary, a motor country club to the site of the signing of Treaty One. She says there are many stories that have come and gone through the old buildings. “We’ve had a lot of events, a lot of people move through here, and it’s quite historically significant to the creation of Manitoba,” Weiss said on Saturday. One such ghost story brought a lot of attention to volunteers and staff on hand from last October. “Last year, one of the guides was asked by one of the volunteers who he was with all night outside,” she said. “He sits outside, and he said, ‘What do you mean? He goes, ‘Well, someone was with you all night when I looked out the window and saw this cloaked figure with you; who was sitting with you the whole night?’ “And he said, ‘I was by myself the whole night.’” Tours will visit a number of buildings, including The Big House, The Furloft and The Warehouse. There will also be a fireside tale at the Indigenous camp. The tours are open to all ages and run from 6:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. Weiss said the Thirsty Beaver Tavern is also open before and after the tours and will offer complimentary hot chocolate for all tour participants. Tickets and more information are available on the Friends of Lower Fort Garry website.
