December Parade & Candy Toss

I forgot to mention in my last post that the people of Arctic Bay bid farewell to the sun on November 11.  The days have been getting shorter & darker for the last month.  We won’t see the sun again until February.  We don’t, however, endure 24 hours of darkness.  Even on the shortest day of the year, I think it’s December 21, there’s still a bit of light in the sky, but it’s dusk, or more like dusk transitioning into night.  I’ve been told the community only sees 20 minutes of sunlight on that day.  I only experienced it in 2020 when the world was still in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

3045 Army Cadet Corps held its second Parents Night Parade of the 2023-2024 Training Year on December 6.  There were several cadet accomplishments I wanted to publicly recognize before the cadets were dismissed for the Christmas holidays. 

The cadets & I spent an hour setting up the gym for the evening parade.  We opened doors at 6:15pm to let guests find seats.  The parade began at 6:30pm.

The beginning was similar to Remembrance Day in November.  The cadet flag party marched into the gym carrying the flags of Canada & the cadet program.  They deposited the flags in front of the awards table and then took up positions as Left Markers.  The cadet parade commander marched the remaining cadets onto the parade square and halted them next to the Left Markers.  The commander dressed the platoon and then waited for the arrival of the Guest Reviewing Officer (GRO).  I was the GRO this time.

I halted in front of the cadet platoon and received a General Salute.  This was followed by the playing of the national anthem.  I then inspected the cadets on parade.  The cadets then did a March Past to showcase their drill to the audience.  I did a quick speech welcoming the parents, guardians, and friends to the parade and thanking them for supporting the cadet corps.  I continued with awards & presentations.

Year 5 Workshop cadets.

Seven cadets earned marksmanship level badges since October.  One Level 1, three Level 3s, and three Level 4s.  (Level 4 is the highest).  I announced the three winners of the Fall Biathlon competition in late October.  The winners received t-shirts & bragging rights.  Next to receive public recognition were the three senior cadets who attended a Year 5 Workshop down south in late November.  The workshop teaches leadership & instructional skills senior cadets can use at their home corps, summer camps, and excursions.

The Army Cadet League of Canada gifted the corps an Anniversary Certificate, recognizing the 30^th anniversary of the corps history.  The anniversary was in 2022, but better late than never.  I displayed the certificate to everyone in attendance and used the opportunity to announce the corps 31^st anniversary. 

The last batch of awards was promotions.  Eight cadets moved up in the ranks.  Seven lance corporals were promoted to corporals and one corporal was promoted to master corporal. 

The cadets did an Advance in Review Order followed by a General Salute.  The anthem God Save The King was played.  I marched out of the gym and the cadets were dismissed.  The parade had come to an end.

The cadets & I posed for a group photograph.  The cadets were then dismissed to the reception table.  Reception lasted about 20 minutes.  The cadets helped me put everything away.  I congratulated them one last time for putting on a good performance.  I then dismissed them for the remainder of the night.

Since I’m writing about December 6, I would like to be serious at this time and state that in Canada, December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, also known as White Ribbon Day.  This day was created in 1991 in response to the deadly & tragic École Polytechnique massacre of 1989 that occurred on December 6 in Montreal, Quebec.  For those who don’t know, a psychotic misogynist madman, armed with a rifle, killed 14 women & injured 14 others at École Polytechnique before taking his own life.  This domestic terrorist act brought the issue of violence towards women to the forefront of Canadian politics & life.  Thirty-four years later, women in Canada & around the world still experience violence & harassment daily.  That’s appalling.  I’m glad women are fighting back all over the world but much more work & fighting needs to be done.  I hope violence, discrimination, and harassment against women & girls are gone for good really, really soon.

The last day of cadets for 2023 was December 9.  I let the cadets have a fun afternoon playing sports & games.  I held a candy toss at the end to the delight of everyone.  To promote safety & prevent injury, I instructed the cadets to make a large square using gym mattresses.  Shoes were removed and extra-large Ziploc bags were handed out.  Cadets were then instructed to stand around the mattresses.  I went upstairs to the mezzanine and got a large plastic bucket filled with candy.  When the cadets told me they were ready, I picked up the bucket and dumped all the candy onto the mattresses below.  The cadets immediately jumped in to claim their sweets.  Once all the candy was gone, I instructed the cadets to put away the mattresses.  I’m glad they didn’t start right away because I quickly discovered I had more candy.  I cancelled my previous order and instructed the cadets to stand around the mattresses again.  They were excited to hear there was more candy to claim. 

The cadets put away the mattresses before forming up for a quick debriefing.  I wished the cadets a safe & happy Christmas and not to eat their candy all in one night.  I also told when the first training day would be in 2024.  The senior cadet dismissed the platoon, and everyone headed home.