Week four of Cadets....

Week Four of Cadets is known as one of the most difficult. Those cadets who have been here for over three weeks are starting to drive themselves up the wall, and of course I had a whole new bunch of kids come in and we just finished our first week. Last Saturday I was told that I had 8 percussionists 1 flute and 1 trumpet, and was I scared! It panned out alright - I have 14 cadets, 5 percussion, and 9 instrumentalists. A few beginners, and mostly those who have played for awhile.

Aaron's visit was fantastic! Though we did have a scary storm on Saturday. Saturday we went to a movie, and then came back to base. We were resting for awhile, and considering going out for a nice dinner, when we heard the wind start gusting. It was scary! So, in my black dress, and Aaron in dress clothes we head to the common room to find some of my colleagues in there. Because we use radios for communication, we started to hear that all cadets were "Weathered In" and they started to count the cadets, and ensure they were in the hallways of the buildings. Sincerely, I think we were preparing for the worst, but in the end the wind, hail and rain just made the roads icky, and we had some large trees snap in half. This is the same storm that killed someone in Camrose.

So, around 7 pm Aaron, Jon and Megan and I headed to the Rusty Pelican in Red Deer for some prime rib, filet mignon and more! We had a great dinner before returning here for the party of the week - Mardi Gras.

Sunday was rather relaxed, and Monday Aaron left back to Saskatoon.....

Monday and Tuesday were difficult days starting in my new position and conducting the band... however it got better, and Wednesday and Thursday were much better. Add in Adult Staff Drama and you get a tiring and interesting week. Friday we took our Barker Flight Kids to the Gliding Center at Netook. After a week of rain, and the pilots not able to take the cadets up in the gliders all week, at 11 am on Friday we started flying and got all of our cadets up in the air.... I also got to go up for my second flight ever - and first in the front seat of the glider.

Here are some pictures from our day!



This is what the glider looks like on the ground...



This is what it looks like on take off.... part 1...



This is part 2. So basically we have a winch, which sling shots the glider into the sky. We get about a 5 min or so ride, depending on the weather etc...



This is me, and my pilot Teegan - she is a staff cadet. Very talented!



Here is the few from the front of the glider...



And the few in the air!


One of the many exciting things... Next week is our big band display and a crazy busy week with very long days. I am hoping to give you a bit of a tour of base in my next blog...

Until then...

Ivy

End of Week 3....

This week has been crazy busy! Last Saturday was our Nautical/Navy night party, and we celebrated LCdr Ryan Graham as it was his last day for the summer. Lt(N) Phippard took over command. Sunday was chaperoning the cadets to the mall - an easy and long duty! This week has been as per usual - lots of playing, and training. It was the last week for our three week basic cadets, as well as the last week of Mr. Barry Valleau our now former course officer.

Today is Friday, we had our three week grad parade. Mr. Barry Valleau is done today, and I officially take over as the Barker Flight Course Officer for the duration of the summer. Our flight started to arrive today, and I won't know until Monday who we have as cadets.

Tonight was our recital - where my gray flight ensemble of flutes played... and completely were awesome!

Aaron will be here in less than an hour for some well deserved time off...

Until later...

Week 2....

We have had a lot of excitement since my last message. On Friday, we got the word in the morning that there was a gas leak in the mess hall, and they evacuated Barrack Blocks 8 and 12, and the mess hall. There were construction workers whom were tarring the building roof and pretty much jumping off the building to hopefully avoid explosions. There were multiple fire trucks, and it took almost 3 hours for them to fix it. Meanwhile, as I was just in a band rehearsal helping out, myself and several others had to go out to Hangar 6 and rip open IMP (individual Meal Packages), which were tossed in water for lunch, and they also made sandwiches and hot dogs. When officers and Civilian Instructors can pull together we were able to feed all camp - almost 1000 people quicker than they normally do in the mess. I helped out with handing out juice. And did I mention it was one of the hottest days we have had yet?? I managed to get a wonderful minor sunburn, and was exhausted. Had to help one of my colleagues CI Megan Lazaruk as she breathed in alot of gas, and was sick to her stomach. By the end of Friday we had some drinks to finish off a busy week.

Saturday was our first adventure at level testing. Music level testing is where the cadets prepare scales and songs and play them in front of a panel of 2 people, to determine if they achieve their level badge. The first week is generally pretty easy going, and we only passed a couple in my room. We were done by lunch which makes for a good weekend! Because of the gas leak on Friday, they moved our steak night to Saturday, which is the best meal of the week. Saturday night, is party night and we had a "Famous People Party" It was alot of fun, and of course Sunday was then sleeping in! I went into town with some folks - three people went to see Harry Potter, and I went to see My Sister's Keeper. Then we grabbed food from town - and avoided mess food for a day.

Monday started as per usual and it will be a busy week! We had a meet and greet with the Commanding Officer of Prairie Region on Monday, today we had our flight photos and tomorrow I get to go to the Gliding Zone with the cadets. I have never been in a Glider, so we will see how that goes and if I get an opportunity to go tomorrow. Tomorrow night is the typical Wednesday night dance for cadets. Its my Squadrons time to supervise, so it will be a long 2-3 hours of making sure cadets are at least 6 inches apart!

Its super hot here, we have had some cadets RTU (returned to Unit), for behavioural issues, and people are starting to get a bit antsy. so It makes for an interesting week....

But thats all for now....

Ivy

The first days of the kids...

We have had the cadets here for three days of training now, and we are finally starting to settle into a schedule. Tuesday night we had a band concert to play some repertoire for the music cadets, as well as for the General Training cadets (12 yr olds). It was a great experience to play, and I was privledged that Shane Nizinkevich came for a visit and came out to our concert. We then had some team building, which was good for morale. Today ran much more smoothly. Tonight was the first cadet dance of the summer -fortunately it was not my squadron that was on dance duty. We have to do dance duty next week on Wednesday which is supervision and ensuring the cadets aren't too touchy, touchy. Two more days until our next concert - recital rep, and then saturday our first date of level testing, and finally a day and a half off!!! Party on Saturday, rest on Sunday and then we start it all over again. I always seem to forget how tiring this is, and how much socialisation is required to remain sane!

Thats all for now...

Ivy

Intake Weekend Over.

Friday was busy with Intake - and making it back to the barracks here at 0330 hrs exhausted, and wanting to chat about our interesting shifts. People were on all sorts of crazy shifts all weekend, and now we have about 600 cadets on base. Looks like we may have another storm, but until then there is some peace. I haven't had a call all day even though I am on call and I hope it stays that way!

As its Sunday night, and its been a tradition for a few years now, some of the musicians play jazz music in the mess on Sunday nights.... Its great for morale boosting, and its neat to hear colleagues perfoming on a regular basis. I managed to finish some RFAs (Request for Authorities) for next year at cadets, and it only took a few hours today. I still haven't finished the paper which is due tomorrow night, but it shall be done soon. Hopefully it will be an early night, as I already have a sore throat which does not boad well for the rest of this week!

Monday brings placing cadets into music flights, and Tuesday is when we commence training. Its definitely time for the cadets.....

Ivy

The Long Duties of Summer...

It is 0045 hrs 10 Jul 09, and I am in the midst of intake. Myself and CI Graham Siddall have been tasked to do barrack supervision. It begun at 1700 hrs on 9 Jul 09, and now we are waiting to be called back to count the last group of cadets who come in around 0230 hrs. So, many of us have been on duty since 0800 hrs 09 Jul 09 and when we are done duty it will be close to 0400 hrs 10 Jul 09 almost 24 hours later.

Barrack supervision is something where we ensure the cadets are behaving themselves. This evening we have had washers losing water on electrical cords, cadets being assigned to incorrect rooms, and watching cadets polish their boots.

So, over 100 cadets will land here in a couple hours, and we will have to count and ensure they are all to bed, hopefully will avoiding waking the others. Luckily I am off all day on Saturday. Saturday night is our 70s and 80s party. Sunday is my first duty as a Unit Human Rights Advisor (UHRA) dealing with harassment and abuse complaints...

These are the days that we sure earn our wage!

Ivy

Late one summer night....

And, I am finally updating my blog... Its been a crazy almost 2 weeks since my last day of work at MSR for the summer. Here is what has gone on since then:

Saturday June 27, 2009: Aaron and I started on our trek to Alberta. We (mostly Aaron) packed up all my things into our little Optra - there was not room for much more! We started out rather early in the morning for the long journey to Calgary. We arrived in the early afternoon, and luckily had an opportunity to see Shane, who had come in from Banff. We met up for some drinks at Original Joe's which was near our hotel - the Fairmont Palliser in Calgary. That night, we went to an awesome dinner theatre at Jubilations - Sexy Gals in the City! It was awesome, and we had a great time!

Sunday June 28, 2009: We had lunch at Chili's in Calgary before embarking on the small town of Springbrook where the old Penhold Base is located. This town grows in size during the summer... with about 80ish adult staff members, lots of staff cadets and almost 1700 cadets over the 8 or so weeks that we are up and running for the summer. This year, my room is 111 in the Music Training Wing barracks. Fortunately this means that I am on the main floor rather than upstairs.

The first week: Is always a blur! I found out on our first day that I would have two different jobs for the summer. For the first three weeks of the course cadets I would be a music instructor, and for the last three weeks I would have the duty as a course officer. This will make for an interesting and exciting summer. We have lots of new people this year, but still a small contingent of females (there are 9 of us in Music in total, out of almost 30 staff members). The food is the same as last year, and the drinking mess is hardly being used!

The Mess Dinner: We have a mess dinner which is a formal dinner event in our 1As or full tunic/tie etc, or mess kit which is a specific uniform. The evening starts off with cocktails, followed by a formal and ceremonial dinner which honours those who are no longer with us, as we eat, and drink, and toast! It is followed by drinks in the mess - and it was a great evening for all! We must stay until the Commanding Officer leaves, as it is tradition.

Our first weekend here, the staff cadets arrived - these cadets are 16 years of age to 18 years of age, and they are to aid with the way the camp runs for the summer. They go through a week of briefings (lectures of info), and such before their grad parade which is tomorrow morning where they find out their positions for the summer. It is important for them as their wage depends on the position they hold.


The Weather: As many of you may have noticed, we have had interesting weather this week. I have posted a picture of almost every day on facebook of the ominous black clouds which we have seen above. With the exception of last weekend (where there was a Tornado in red deer, and funnel clouds spotted here), its mainly been rain, with some lightening and thunder. We are hoping for sun soon as its cold!

The Roads: When Aaron and I arrived on the first day - our little car had problems because almost all of the roads had been torn up and once that got wet, we are walking in mud! Mud has been the word of the time here, as every day when I go to polish my boots I need to address the mud issues first. They claim all the roads will be paved by July 15, but we are still waiting! It is a mess!!!!


I think thats all for now, its 11:45 pm and I need to be up by 7 to complete my uniform before work starts at 8. Grad parade tomorrow, followed by meetings, team building, and then I have hours of floor duty tomorrow night supervising the cadets as they arrive. I will be on duty tomorrow working 8-5 as normal, and 5-12 (maybe 1) in the morning when we complete bed count. These days we sure earn our wage!

Ivy