Musical Instruments & Beach Cleanup

The month of September began with the arrival of new musical instruments and equipment for the high school music program.  I excitedly transported all the boxes to my classroom with the help of a moving cart.  Everything came from St.John’s Music in Winnipeg and was paid for with the grant I received from MusiCounts in March.  Yes, I forgot to mention this at the time, but better late than never.

In late 2020, I applied for a 2021 Band Aid grant from MusiCounts.  The last time I was successful was in 2013.  I secured $10,000 for the purchase of musical instruments and equipment.  I was required to wait 5 years before reapplying for the same grant.  I tried in 2018, 2019, & 2020 with no luck.  Turns out the fourth time was the charm.  I was informed by MusiCounts in March that my application had been among the many selected across Canada to receive $10,000 in music program funding.  I was delighted by the news. 

Coordination between MusiCounts, St. John’s Music, and myself was done by email correspondence.  My shopping list was reviewed & approved by both parties.  Supply issues forced the order to be split into two sets.  The second set contains the items on backorder and will be delivered at a later date. 

The first set contained: Manhasset music stands, acoustic guitar cases, music folders, drum harnesses & stands, a portable Yamaha piano, VicFirth Quadpro pad & quad sticks, CUBE Lite Amp, Yamaha Powerlite Quad Toms, and a box of guitar strings.  I took my time unpacking & organizing everything.  I then spent quite some time breaking down and disposing all the cardboard boxes.

I’m not worried about the guitar cases arriving empty because I’m not teaching guitar this semester.  Hopefully, the guitars & one marching snare drum on backorder will arrive before Christmas.  My drummers & I can make due without the extra snare drum this semester.

September 4 was the day of the annual community cleanup for the cadets of 3045 Army Cadet Corps.  The activity began in the early morning with everyone having breakfast at the Uquutaq Centre.  (It’s an extension attached to the Anglican church).  I managed to recruit several adults to help the cadets: an RCMP officer, the new gym teacher, and the acting principal & her husband.  Frank was there to hand me the keys to his pickup truck and lock the place after we left. 

The breakfast consisted of delicious egg muffin sandwiches prepared by a cadet parent.  I held a short briefing after the meal, briefly explaining what to expect when we headed out to the airport.  We would stop at Frank’s Shop first to pick up corps supplies.  The cadets cleaned up the centre before we left in a convoy of two pickup trucks and two atvs.

The supplies we picked up included: white tent, Coleman stoves, IMPs, juice boxes, water bottles, garbage bags, rubber gloves, paper towels, foldable tables, toilet paper, bucket, and walkie talkies.  Everything was loaded onto the trucks and a trailer attached to an atv.  The convoy continued towards the airport.

We left the trucks at the airport and proceeded around the perimeter fence, down to the shoreline.  All the heavy supplies were transferred over to the trailer and the RCMP officer drove it and several cadets down to the staging area.  Several people & I chose to walk.  I photographed the (in)famous oil drum & boat pile of 2013 along the way.  The pile will be removed one day; just not sure when.

The cadets immediately went to work putting up the white tent between the large woodpile & round table.  Once the tent was up, a makeshift kitchen was set up inside.  Only the snacks, garbage bags, and rubber gloves were left on the round table.  The cadets & adult volunteers were assembled to receive garbage bags and gloves.  The cadets would be split into two groups to cover more ground.  Large items were to be organized into large piles so that they could be loaded onto the trailer.  Lunch would be at 12:45pm.

The cleanup began.

One cadet found a ski.

I was expecting a lot of garbage on the land because the corps was unable to hold a cleanup in 2020.  However, I was surprised to see the land not as dirty as I thought it would be.  There was still plenty to pick up; I was just expected twice as much.  The list of discarded items the cadets & I picked up is very long.  If I had to organize them into groups they would be: food packaging, toys, clothes, vehicle parts, plastic, and wooden boards.  All this stuff comes from Arctic Bay.  When the ice melts in the summer, the current carries all the garbage to this shoreline behind the airport.  The corps has been keeping this area clean since 2013.

Lunch consisted of Canadian-made Individual Meal Packages (IMPs).  The corps was fortunate to get them from army personnel who were in town in March for an Arctic survival training course.  Normally, cadet corps are supplied with American-made Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MREs). 

The cleanup continued after lunch. 

Three cadets found a small green plastic boat lying on the shoreline and decided to see if it still worked.  Thankfully, it did.  I watched the cadets use planks from the woodpile as paddles to move the boat in the water.  I let them have fun for some time before calling them back to shore. 

We continued picking up garbage until 2:45pm.  The trailer was full of garbage bags and large items.  Discarded pieces of wood were added to the woodpile.  The shoreline behind the airport looked a lot cleaner.    

Everything inside the tent was brought out and the tent was taken down.  Several group photos were taken of the cadets & adult volunteers around the loaded trailer before it was driven to the pickup trucks.  Several cadets helped the RCMP officer load everything into his truck.  The atv & trailer returned for the remaining cadet supplies and offer a ride to anyone who didn’t want to walk back.  I chose to walk.  The plastic boat the cadets found was loaded onto the trailer.  Nobody wanted to take it home, so it would be disposed at the local landfill.

The convoy drove to the landfill and dumped the garbage bags, large items, and plastic boat we collected.  The landfill smelled really bad, like, inside a sewage tank bad.  We didn’t stay there for long.  Frank’s Shop was the next destination; the corps supplies needed to be placed back where we found them.  I held a debriefing after the cadets put everything away.  I congratulated the cadets & adult volunteers for putting in the time & effort in cleaning the shoreline behind the airport.  The last thing to do was to drive everyone home.

Another successful cleanup for the history books.  And this is the first time in a while that an atv didn’t get stuck!