Fundraising & Remembrance Day 2018

The army cadets of 3045 Corps held a fundraising dance at the local community hall on Friday, November 2.  Community dances are regularly held every Friday and the Hamlet Office lets local clubs & organizations run those dances to fundraise money for trips and other things.  In our case, the corps fundraises money for custom clothing, snacks for field exercises, and a future trip somewhere down south.  Competition to host Friday night dances is surprisingly high.  The Hamlet also allows movie nights on Saturdays.

            

Games.

The dance was split into two parts: 14 & under for the first two hours, and 15 & over for the last two hours.  The music was provided by “DJ iPod(s)”.  The cadets ran the dance; I was there to supervise the cadets supervising the kids, and collect & count the money.  Our main sources of income would be ticket sales and selling snacks.  I brought earplugs in case the music got too loud.

            

Crawling game.

Imitating cadets.

Near the end of the first two hours, the music was stopped, and the cadets played several group games with the children.  I don’t know the name of the games or what exactly the rules are.  All I know & saw was the kids having fun and competing against each other.  At one point, the cadets showed the kids how to do basic drill.  Prizes were given out to the winners of each game.

            

Prizes being given out.

Cleaning up the gym.

Teenagers and adults occupied the hall for the later half of the dance.  I was glad I had earplugs, because the music got louder.  The biggest challenge for me was to stay awake.  I normally don’t stay up late on a Friday night because I have cadets the following morning & afternoon.  This time, however, there would only be cadets Saturday afternoon because we needed the morning to sleep.  Not much happened for the rest of the night.  When the music stopped, the cadets & I helped the community hall staff clean up.  We also counted all the money we collected and placed them in several plastic bags.  I took the money home and would turn it over to the corps accountant the next day.  We made a good profit.

            

The corps took over the community hall again on the morning of November 11, 2018, to hold a Remembrance Day ceremony.  This year was extra special because we would also be observing the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.  The program & preparation routines are already in place.  The only things that change are the people who present.  I had plenty of responsibilities to cover as the commanding officer.  I was the emcee, piano accompanist, and a DJ of sorts.  The cadets acted as the honour guard and show of support for the men & women who fought for freedom during times of conflict.  They cleaned their uniforms and practiced the drill movements well before the day to get everything right.  The hardest drill movement was standing at attention for six minutes. (More on this coming up). 

            

The parade began at 10:45am.  The cadet flag party entered first, followed by the honour guard and RCMP.  The audience remained standing for the opening prayer by Rev. Leah May.  I continued with the Welcome Address.  I kept of the first half of last year’s speech, but rewrote the second half, focusing on the 100^th anniversary on the First World War.  Everyone then stood up for the playing of O Canada.

I sat at the piano while two members of the public did a bible reading.  When they were done, I cracked my fingers and turned on the piano.  I checked to see if the volume was correct and then I began playing “Abide With Me”.  The audience sang along.  (I did this last year).  I would play the piano again near the end of the ceremony, for the hymn, “O God Our Help In Ages Past”.

Last Post, Minute of Silence, Piper’s Lament, and Reveille, all follow after the first hymn.  It is these four parts where the cadets and everyone in attendance are required to stand as a show of respect.  Only the Minute of Silence doesn’t contain instrumental music.  This whole part lasts six minutes because I timed it.  To make sure the cadets were fully prepared, we practiced standing at attention for six minutes, with music & silence.  They all made it through.

The Act of Remembrance was read in English, French, & Inuktitut.  Two more community members did a bible reading.  Lt (ret.) Frank May, also mayor of Arctic Bay, continued the ceremony with his Thoughts On Remembrance Day.  Three chosen cadets then came to podium to recite the famous Canadian poem, “In Flander’s Field”, written by Lt. Col. John McCrae.

The second half of the ceremony consisted of wreath laying, another hymn, the playing of God Save The Queen, a closing prayer, and final remarks.  The RCMP & cadets marched off to the applause of the audience.  The cadets & RCMP posed for a group photograph, and then joined the reception line.  Everything was done and packed up by 12:30pm. 

LEST WE FORGET.