Fort Steele Heritage Town has launched a new YouTube channel that dives into life during the 1890’s with tutorials and live experiences.
The social media team at Fort Steele has been working on this project for the past several weeks, originally inspired by the fact that the Fort had to close down due to COVID-19.
Caitlin McCaughey, one of three social media experts at Fort Steele, explained that the social media team was created to continue offering the Fort Steele experience to guests despite the closure. Fort Steele is now open to the public, however there are some regulations in place including reduced capacity and services.
New health and safety protocols are in place and various elements of the site will continue to open gradually. There is a maximum capacity of 150 guests and the majority of the heritage buildings are be window-viewing only. The International Hotel Restaurant, Windsor Hotel, Wasa Hotel, and trade demonstrations will remain closed.
READ MORE: Fort Steele reopening with reduced capacity, services
“We weren’t sure if we would be able to open this summer, and did not want our guests to miss out of Fort Steele Fun,” explained McCaughy. “The Social Media team was formed to keep guests entertained, educated, and interested in Fort Steele during COVID-19 and beyond. We are a group of three - Chase Roshau, Billy Kennedy. We have all worked at Fort Steele for a number of years in many capacities. We all act as director, writer, editor, and actor [for the videos]. We are grateful to have some of the other Fort Steele staff members join us for videos as well, such as livestock and curatorial.”
She says that the team hopes to post one or two videos per week, with a surprise video added from time to time. The videos will continue to build on what they have already posted, including a series of videos for baking, town gossip, Victorian style, animal husbandry and trades work.
“We will also be doing videos on some of our artefacts, history minutes, cocktails, and some other fun surprises thrown in,” McCaughy said, adding that the team usually spends a few days brainstorming the next project before grabbing their filming equipment and capturing their ideas.
“Some of the videos can be done with little preparation while others use scripts that we have spent weeks researching and writing.”
McCaughy says that the social media team at Fort Steele is always looking for new ideas, and would love to hear what type of videos the public would like to see. You can reach the social media team at FortSteeleMedia@gmail.com and submit your suggestions.
Be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel for frequent videos and check out the new and improved Instagram account @FortSteeleHeritageTown for daily updates.
Fort Steele is now open from Wednesdays to Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
corey.bullock@cranbrooktownsman.com
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