Preparing for the beginning of the 59th year of what is widely considered to be the best youth program in the country, its Kamsack leaders need more adults on board.
The Kamsack air cadet squadron needs another actual offi cer and two “true volunteers,” Karen Bodnaryk, the commanding officer since 2008, said on Friday as she outlined some of the events that will become highlights of the cadets’ 2015-16 season.
Those three will work with the existing officers, Bodnaryk, Karen Tourangeau and Jon Neima and members of the civilian committee which is comprised of cadets’ parents.
The person who will become an officer will be an actual uniformed officer who will be taking a training course of a couple weeks and will become a second lieutenant officer cadet, Bodnaryk explained. The other two with be volunteers who will assist with training.
The season will begin with a registration at the Kamsack Legion Hall on September 2, and the first parade will be held at the Kamsack Comprehensive Institute gymnasium on September 9.
Adults who may be considering joining the squadron, and all potential cadets, are being invited to attend the registration on September 2 when the entire program will be reviewed and the responsibilities of everyone will be outlined, Bodnaryk said. “They can come and hear what it’s all about and then they can make their decisions.”
The squadron, which had 19 cadets when it completed the last year, is fortunate to have Neima, who loves the biathlon, which is a competition of shooting and skiing in winter or shooting and running in summer, she said. Consequently, biathlon events are now part of the Kamsack cadets’ program.
The first biathlon competition of the year will be hosted by the Kamsack squadron on September 26, she said. The squadrons at Canora, Preeceville and Yorkton have been invited to participate. It will be held at Madge Lake, or if the weather is not favourable, it will be held at the KCI. The year will include two survival camps, with cadets
leaving town for Camp Saskcadet near Kelvington on the Friday and returning around noon on Sunday. One will be held in October, with fall conditions, the other, in January, with winter conditions.
It was also decided to switch from gliding experience to familiarization flying, she said, explaining that in order to go gliding, the cadets faced an early morning ride to Moose Jaw or North Battleford and because so few gliders were available, they were often disappointed that they were able to only utilize the simulated equipment. Now with familiarization flying, a plane will come to Kamsack and everyone will be able to get into the air and fl y around the community.
As usual, the cadets will be visible in the community as they assist with various functions of the Kamsack branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, particularly at Remembrance Day in November and Decoration Day in June.
“Hopefully it will be an exciting year,” she said. “We’ve begun fundraising for a planned trip to Europe for the centennial of the Vimy Ridge battles of the First World War in 2017.”
Cadets will be involved in the organization’s regular fundraising programs which include the sale of calendars, Mom’s Pantry products and the Saskatchewan car raffle tickets.
During the summer two cadets, Noah Hartford and Steven Guillet attended three-week camps at Cold Lake, Alta., she said, adding that former Kamsack cadet Brooklynn Andrusiak of Tisdale had a marvellous six weeks during the summer attending a marksmanship instructors’ course in Whitehorse, Yukon.
