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Lexy walks in ’s footsteps

Lexy walks in Laura Secord’s footsteps. Lexy Pakenham-Troth shows off the new iPad she won as a prize for winning an 1812 video contest. The 13-year-old Grimsby girl filmed a one-minute video about Laura Secord, starring herself as Secord, for the Historica-Dominion Institute’s “Make Your Own Heritage Minute” contest. Pieter van Hiel/Staff Photo

Pieter van Hiel, staff

May 10, 2012

“My name is Laura Secord. Today is June 22, 1813. Yesterday the American soldiers forced themselves into our homes.”

With those opening words, Grimby’s Lexy Pakenham-Troth undertook to recreate the epic journey of Laura Secord in a dramatic video presentation just one minute in length. The video project took Lexy to the woods of eastern Niagara, where Lexy, with her father serving as cameraman, filmed herself struggling through brush and undergrowth. Lexy also provided the voiceover for the video, recounting the reasons for Secord’s journey.

On the evening of June 21, Laura became aware of plans for a surprise American attack on British troops led by James FitzGibbon at Beaver Dams, which would have furthered American control in the . Laura set out early the next morning to warn the Lieutenant herself, reportedly walking roughly 32 kms over 18 hours, from what is now Queenston to DeCew House in .

“It’s basically re-enacting Laura Secord when she was on her way through the woods, going to tell Fitzgibbon the Americans were going to attack,” said Lexy. She went to the very places Secord herself walked, almost 200 years ago.

“I went to the Escarpment, and everything I wanted to film happened to be there. It was really convenient. It was the woods she ran through for 18 hours,” she said. Lexy, who also edited the film, created it for the Historica-Dominion Institute’s “Make your own Heritage Minute Contest”. The contest invited students from grade 7 through university to create their own based on the . Lexy’s entry took first place for Ontario. She said chose Laura Secord’s story for practical reasons, and found Secord’s experiences inspirational.

I know she’s a local, and she’s also an individual that I could re-enact. I thought it would be better to do this single person

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project, so I could put 100 per cent of my ideas into it,” she said. “When I went to the topic, I knew nothing... I barely knew anything. It was good researching her because she was a really great person. It was interesting.”

This was not last time Lexy has found inspiration from re-enacting the role of a historic figure. She has just finished a school project about Edward Packenham, an ancestor who served as a British officer during the War of 1812.

“He was a officer and I’m actually just finishing a project about him. He was in the War of 1812. I learned that he had to take of the New Orleans expedition, and my job for the project was to role play him. I thought about what it would like to be in his position,” she said.

Lexy’s winning video earned her a brand new iPad, a useful tool for video editing on the go. She hopes to make many more videos in days to come.

“I’ve made a funny video with my friend for line dancing, and I’ve made many videos of my neighbours and with my friends,” she said. “I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what I want to do (as a career).”

This article is for personal use only courtesy of NiagaraThisWeek.com - a division of Metroland Media Group Ltd.

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