Stage 1 Marksmanship (2024)

The cadets of 3045 Army Cadet Corps competed for five spots on this year’s marksmanship team on January 21.  I held a shooting competition to select the top five shooters & two alternates.  Participating cadets shot three competition target papers: two in the prone position and one standing.  Each paper contained 10 targets, worth 10 points each.  A perfect score was 300 points.

The competition began after lunch.  Cadets arrived to set up the gym for an afternoon of air rifle shooting.  Backboards, tables, chairs, mats, spotting scopes, pellets, air rifles, target papers, flags, and first aid kits were all brought out from storage and placed around the gym.  I gave a short briefing on how the competition was to proceed.  There would be two practice relays for cadets to zero in their rifles and practice shooting.  Cadets would then shoot their “real” target papers in any order they chose.

The cadets took advantage of the practice relays and shot many pellets.  Everyone took a short break thereafter. 

I asked for volunteers to shoot first and five cadets stepped forward.  Four cadets shot prone and one shot standing.  The prone shooting cadets shot their two competition target papers at the same time, so they were given 30 minutes.  The standing shooting cadet was only given 15 minutes because he was shooting one target paper.  There were strong feelings of focus, determination, and seriousness in the cadets.  At the end of the relay, the first five cadets retrieved their target papers and handed them to me.  I immediately placed them inside an envelope.  I had told everyone that I would mark all papers after the competition. 

The next group of volunteers stepped forward and the shooting process repeated.  It took around 2 & a half hours for all participating cadets to shoot their competition target papers.  They were relived when the shooting came to an end, but now had to wait for the final results.  I instructed the cadets to relax and help me clean up the gym.  It took about 20 minutes to put everything away, sweep the gym, and wash our hands.  The pellets are made of lead, so you don’t want that on your food.

I gave a short debriefing, thanking the cadets for participating and assuring them I would have the results ready by the next training night.  The cadets were dismissed for the remainder of the day.

True to my word, I did have the results in hand at the following training night.  I announced the five cadets who made this year’s marksmanship team and the two alternates who would act as backups.  The selected cadets felt excited for making the team.  They now had a month to prepare for Stage 2.  More on this next month.

 

HTO Community Feast

The local Hunters & Trappers Organization (HTO) organized a community feast on January 13 to welcome the new year.  I attended because I hadn’t been to a feast in a while, and I wanted a few pieces of country food to take home.

The entire community hall was booked for the event.  Large clear tarps were taped together and placed on the floor.  Many pieces of frozen country food were placed on the tarps.  In Nunavut, country food means Arctic animals and plants.  The country food on the menu was Arctic char, seal, narwhal, and caribou.  They were available frozen and cooked.  The frozen pieces lay on the tarps while the cooked pieces were in large grey pots on stage.  Also on stage were juice boxes and apples.  To right of the stage were a coffee & tea station, and a few tables offering cookies & Bannock.  A few tables with chairs were set up in front of the stage for Elders.

The feast began at 5:30pm with speeches from the HTO & mayor of Arctic Bay.  The food was blessed by an Elder and then permission was given for everyone to begin eating.  I stood back and watched everyone stand up and jump into the middle of the hall, armed with plastic bags, Ziploc bags, and flattened pieces of cardboard.  They quickly searched & picked the “best” pieces of country food in their eyes and put them in bags.  The people with cardboard immediately began eating their selections, the cardboard functioning as their plates.  Elders cut open a seal on a tarp and shared pieces.  Others lined up for the cooked food on stage.  Several HTO members were on stage for help & direction. 

When the crowd dispersed from the tarps, I stepped up, only looking for small pieces.  I took one piece of char & caribou and placed them in Ziploc bags.  I then got in line, made it onto the stage, grabbed a paper plate, and placed piece of cooked seal & caribou, and some vegetables on it.  I walked off the stage and went over to the Bannock table and took two pieces.  No cookies were left.  I returned to my seat at the back of the hall and ate my dinner.  It was delicious. 

There was very little food left on stage & on the tarps when I left.  That’s good to see because the cost of living is a lot higher than before, so any free food is welcome.  A lot of people went home with warm full stomachs.  Big thanks to HTO for putting on the feast! 

 

The New Year Is Here

I spent Christmas down south with family and friends.  I returned to Arctic Bay early because I didn’t want to miss the first day of school of 2024.  Air travel in Nunavut is difficult during the winter months because there’s always the possibility of things going wrong . . . and they do.  It’s mostly weather related but sometimes planes “go mechanical”.  I figured if such a problem were to occur, best to have an extra day to get back home instead of missing a school day.  Thankfully, nothing went wrong. 

My early return meant I would spend New Years in Arctic Bay, giving me the opportunity to document the celebrations like last year.

Following the same plan, I put on many layers of warm clothing, packed a camera & flashlight, and fired up my skidoo at 11pm.  I was dressed like I was going on an Arctic expedition because the temperature is cold at the end of December, and I would be sitting/standing at the top of a hill for an hour taking pictures and video.  I drove to the local Co-op store, and then continued up a hill behind it.  Several people were doing the same but driving ATVs.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough snow to go up the entire way, so I had to park my skidoo about halfway up like last year.  I hiked the rest of the way.  I didn’t use the flashlight because there was a full moon in the sky.  I reached the same spot I used before at about 5 minutes to midnight.

The clock struck midnight as I was still catching my breath from the hike.  Maybe I’m getting too old for hikes?  People started honking their car horns a few seconds after midnight.  And then the fireworks came.  There wasn’t a coordinated display.  People just started launching fireworks into the cold night sky wherever they could.  Some were even launched from the hill I was standing on and from another nearby hill.  I did my best to photograph the fireworks at the right time.  I think I got a few good shots.

People poured out of the community hall to watch fireworks and get ready for the vehicle parade.  Even though I was far away, I could still hear people talking loudly in the community hall parking lot.  Sound carries well in the cold.  Cars, skidoos, and ATVs started making their way to Uluksan Point at 12:15am.  They drove on the frozen ice in the bay.  The ice is thick enough to support a heavy plane.  I photographed the vehicles making their way to the point, turning around the corner, and then disappearing from view.  The drivers turned around and were organized into a parade line.

The long procession of vehicles began at 12:30am.  Judging from the sounds I heard, skidoos came first, then ATVs, followed by large 4-wheeled vehicles.  I couldn’t count how many vehicles were in the parade, so I’ll just say there were a lot.  There were even some vehicles that joined late.  The leader(s) led the convoy to the centre of the frozen bay and then drove in a winding S pattern.  This continued until they got closer to the shoreline.  I was only able to film a short clip of this because the cold was draining the battery. 

The skidoo drivers drove off the ice and continued through the town while the remaining vehicles parked in a long line in front of the community.  I did my very best to recreate my iconic photo from last year, but I was unsuccessful.  There’s always next year.  The 4-wheeled vehicles drove off the ice and continued through town, honking their horns, celebrating the arrival of the new year.  The skidoo drivers returned to the ice and parked in the same place the 4-wheeled vehicles did earlier.  The drivers revved their engines because skidoos don’t come with horns.  They drove off the ice after 10 minutes. 

I returned to my skidoo at 1am.  It was easier to hike down the hill, but I still had to watch out for large rocks.  I was glad the engine started because I didn’t want to walk home.  I drove down to the Co-op, got on the main road and followed it home.  Fireworks continued to be launched into the sky at random intervals.  I was happy to be back inside my warm place.  I believe the New Years celebrations continued for a few more hours.

Happy New Year everyone from Arctic Bay!