The 198 Royal Canadian Sea Cadet corps (RCSCC)Yukon wants you to join them. The group is based in Rocky Mountain House and has members from Sylvan Lake, Eckville, Rimbey, Leslieville and farms all around the area.
“We’re trying to get some awareness that there are cadets in this area” said Cinzia Cappella, parent to one of the cadets.
“We’re looking for new kids to join. The ages are 12 - 18. When you turn 18, you can ‘age out’ meaning you can stay until your nineteenth birthday [then] you can become a civilian instructor [or]move on to the reserves, ” Capella said
Cappella is impressed by the comradery developed with in the group and with the amount of activities and travel the kids are able to participate in. This weekend the top eight shooters of the group are taking part in a biathalon in Camrose. If they place in the top three, they get to move on to Nationals in Prince Edward Island.
“They’re really excited about that,” said Cappella.
Other activities the group is involved with are Halloween parties and Christmas parties. They help out at many events including the rodeo and the Festival of Trees in Rocky Mountain House.
The group organizes a variety of outings for the cadets. The group does a lot of sailing on Sylvan Lake where their boats are stored. Within the next month the group will have a sports day where they will go to the Sports Hall of Fame and then head to the Collicutt Centre for some rock climbing and swimming.
“I find it’s a lot of kids that like structure and [want to] feel like they belong somewhere,” Capella said of the type of kid attracted to cadets.
The group also needs leaders for the cadets.
“We have a really good group of coordinators and we’ve really been trying to get some more,” said Cappella who herself is finishing up civilian training to provide more leadership to the cadets.
The group plans to start presenting awards every week to cadets to celebrate them for their efforts including how they present themselves grooming-wise. Awards will include everything from boot polishing kits to Tim Horton’s gift certificates. Capella sees this as just one example of how the group helps encourage kids to do their best by rewarding them in areas where they are doing well.
The cadets will be involved with upcoming Remembrance Day parades. They are being encouraged to show up at their school Remembrance Day parades in full uniform.
“They’ll be doing poppy sales with the Legion. The Legion [including the Sylvan Lake Legion] helps out whenever they can,” said Capella
While it is free to join the organization, the group fundraises for most of their activities. Summer camps are supported with government funding. In the summer many of the kids are picked to go to a camp somewhere in Canada.
“We had a couple of kids that got to go to Kingston, Ontario for three weeks and that’s paid for, their flights, their meals, everything,” said Capella
The cadets are currently holding a fundraiser called Cutie Pies that runs from Oct. 17 - 31.
To get involved with the cadet group or help with fundraising, call Capella at 780 719 2818.
For more information, visit their website: https://www.198rcsccyukon.ca/
myra.nicks@sylvanlakenews.com
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