The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
One of the big regrets of my pre-teen and teenage years (and there are many) is the fact that I never joined army cadets. Everyone thought I would, since (full disclosure) two generations of family were heavily involved with the cadet movement. It was definitely my loss. Over the numerous years I have covered the cadets for this newspaper, I have seen firsthand the positive influence the program has had on its participants. Youth who are painfully shy and awkward develop the confidence to come out of their shells. Those with natural leadership capabilities see their skill sets blossom. Cadets who enter the program expecting to hate it come out recalling it as one of the best experiences of their formative years. I meet a lot of amazing young people through my job, but some of the most impressive have been those clothed in the dark green of an army cadet uniform. The 2328 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps is a largely unheralded program, but it has, as the instructors will gladly tell you, helped our community produce better citizens. Former cadets have gone on to become teachers, Mounties, managers, health-care professionals, you name it. Some have served our country in the Armed Forces. We cannot give the cadet program full credit for all of this, but nor can we discount the role it surely played. Flin Flon and area has benefitted from the corps in other ways. Cadets try to take on two community projects each year. They've refurbished the Cenotaph, repaired walking bridges, spread soil-cleansing limestone, and honoured our fallen veterans with Canadian flags at their final resting places, among other initiatives. Regrettably, recent times have not been kind to the cadets. The corps lost its home of several decades when the Department of National Defence closed the armoury in the mid-1990s. Then last year, its base on Timber Lane was put to use for post-secondary training instead. The corps was thrown a life preserver when it was granted a temporary stay at the old Creighton Bingo Palace, but that arrangement has also ended. The corps now meets upstairs at the Royal Canadian Legion. The Legion must be commended for providing this space, but it too is not suitable in the long-term. At Tuesday's city council meeting, desperate corps officials made what amounted to a last-ditch plea for help to save the program by finding it a permanent home. Council, to their credit, appeared receptive and will now try to arrange a three-way meeting with the corps and the school division. Our community is smaller than it was 20, 15, and even 10 years ago, yet we have largely the same public and educational infrastructure. I've got to believe that through mutually beneficial partnerships, adequate space can be found. It is vital that all sides come together to make this work. Losing the army cadet corps would be nothing short of a tragedy for our community, our youth, and our collective future. Local Angle runs Fridays.
