The Sault’s 2310 Royal Canadian Army Cadets and Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 were honoured at an invitation-only event held at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum Thursday.
A new exhibition honouring both groups, organized by Museum staff, is currently on display for the public and will run until the beginning of May.
The 2310 cadets organization is celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2018, the Legion’s Branch 25 its 90th.
Males and females can join the 2310 Army Cadets at age 12, and are retired from the cadets at 19.
“It’s an excellent program,” said Captain Calvin King, 2310 Royal Canadian Army Cadets commanding officer, speaking to SooToday at Thursday’s event.
“The skills cadets learn are skills they can use throughout their lives, such as outdoor survival, time management, care and use of a uniform, so that when they go to get a job, those skills are already there, knowing those things have to be done in a certain logical order,” King said.
There are currently 55 members with 2310, King said.
“We have more males then females right now, but it seems the females are in the leadership roles and that’s bringing more females in.”
“Having 55 members with the cadets is about a medium size for a community this size, considering there are three other cadet corps they can join (the 155 Borden Gray Air Cadet Squadron, Royal Canadian Sea Cadets and the Newman Navy League Sea Cadets),” King said.
“We consider the Newman Navy League, which is for ages 10 to 12, as our farm system,” King said with a smile.
King, an Essar Steel Algoma employee, has served with the cadets for 28 years, and was joined by several former 2310 Army Cadets commanding officers Thursday.
“A lot of us have civilian jobs (serving three year terms as commanding officer).”
“I’m loving it. The cadets are a super group of kids,” said King, who has been involved with the youth of the Sault for several years, working with other organizations such as Big Brothers and Scouts Canada.
The cadets offer field training exercises, athletic activities (most notably the biathlon, in which 2310 cadets have competed well, going on to provincial and national levels), a pipe and drum band, marksmanship, and leadership skills.
The cadets are based at the Sault Ste. Marie Armoury at 375 Pine Street and meet every Monday evening.
Youth 12 to 18 interested in joining the 2310 Army Cadets can visit the organization’s Facebook page or visit the Armoury in person on a Monday night, when the cadets gather for their activities.
Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 and the Lions Club of Sault Ste. Marie sponsor the 2310 Royal Canadian Army Cadets.
There are over 100 army cadet units in Ontario alone.
After serving with the 2310 Army Cadets, young men and women are encouraged to join the 49th (Sault Ste. Marie) Field Regiment if they wish, the 49th currently holding an ongoing recruiting drive.
“There are a lot of ex-cadets that do serve in the 49th and some of them have served overseas, including Afghanistan,” King said.
The cadets, to military-minded individuals, are like family, sometimes literally.
As an example, Chief Warrant Officer Ken McCracken of the 49th and his daughter, Chief Warrant Officer Margaret McCracken of the cadets, were proud to be on hand at Thursday’s event.
“It feels wonderful to be celebrating our 90th anniversary,” said Wilma Oliver, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 president.
“We’re looking forward to several different occasions this year. We are going to have an open house at the Legion later, in the spring or summer, we have a committee working on that and we’re going to have several smaller events.”
“It’s been a busy first year for me as president, and it’s going to be an exciting year.”
“It’s fitting that we celebrate together here (with the cadets) with this exhibition,” Oliver said Thursday.
“We (the local Legion branch) want the public to know we’re here…we’re reaching out to the young, they are our future,” Oliver told SooToday in 2017, adding the Legion is looking for new members and emphasizing the organization is not an old soldiers club.
One doesn’t have to be a veteran, or related to a veteran, to join the Legion.
Membership at Branch 25 currently stands at approximately 600.
Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25, one of many Legion branches across Canada, is a service club primarily dedicated to caring for veterans and their families, but its charitable efforts have benefited several other community organizations and causes, such as ARCH, youth education programs (including public speaking contests) and track and field and sports programs (which the Legion will pay for, in part).
The Legion also offers a pipe and drum band to join, for those with a musical flair.
The Legion’s membership recently voted to downsize and move from its current location at 96 Great Northern Road, but that move is not likely to happen soon, Oliver said.
For now, the Legion’s two-storey building’s lower floor includes a lounge and TV sets, pool tables and dart boards, a boardroom for meetings, space for dances and music nights, an impressive Canadian military history museum and a library of military history books available for sign out.
The second storey consists of a large banquet hall, which may be used for weddings and receptions, dances and other special occasions (with a full kitchen in which food is prepared by Branch 25’s Ladies Auxiliary), and also serves as home to a darts league and the band practice space for the Legion’s band.
For more information, call the Branch 25 office at 705-945-8721 or the Ladies Auxiliary at 705-256-2941.
The Army Cadets have been a part of local history since 1904, through the formation of a number of corps under various names.
The 121 Canadian Sault Cadets formed in October 1904 and later disbanded in 1926. The 559 Sault Ste. Marie Collegiate Institute Cadet Corps was formed in 1914, disbanding in 1947. The 1870 Sault Ste. Marie Technical School Cadet Corps was formed in 1942, disbanding in 1952.
The current 2310 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps was established in 1948, remaining affiliated with the 49th (Sault Ste. Marie) Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA).