Gavin Watt began life as a child. His first choice of careers was to be a garbage man, a fire truck or a brown cow. Despite this fantastic setback, he went on to learn recorder in grade 3 and then went on to attempt the clarinet in Grade 4 (Kettleby Public School). Ignoring his less-than-stellar career playing the clarinet, he optimistically began learning the fife at the age of 10 and almost simultaneously entered a long career in re-enacting at age 11. At 12 years of age he met Peter Alexander at a re-enactment at Fort Niagara. Given Gavin’s uncanny ability to identify which way up a fife went, he was hired on at Fort York in 1980, a job that provided loose change for french fries through his high school years at Aurora High School.
In 1986, when Ken Purvis came to work at Fort York they met for the first time. Recognizing Ken’s superior talent Gavin left fort York a year later. In 1987, Gavin shifted from Fort York to Fort George and began working with Peter Alexander, starting up the 41st regiment fife and Drum Corps at Fort George. In the same year, he began a degree at York University which no amount of subsequent drinking could erase from his memory. In 1991, he went to Memorial University of Newfoundland to earn an Education Degree. In 1993 he was one of the three founding members of the trio “The Three Big Dummies”. In 1996, he returned to Fort York for two years, but exhaust from the traffic jams [due to construction on the Gardiner Expressway] inspired him to return to the halcyon shores of the Niagara River (and Fort George) in 1998.
He currently serves as the education coordinator and drill sergeant at Fort George. It is his opinion that he has spent more time in period costume than in 20th century clothes.
If you are seriously intending to be a groupie, you will need to know that Gavin is a Cancer (there will be a quiz!)