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Air cadet squadron earns provincial honour

The No. 30 Wylie-Mitchell Air Cadets Squadron of Estevan has been named the top rural squadron in the province for 2017-18 by the Saskatchewan Air Cadet League.
Air Cadets pic
Warrant Officer Second Class Jana Cinnamon and Commanding Officer Danielle Fleury hold the banner presented to the No. 30 Wylie-Mitchell Air Cadets Squadron.

The No. 30 Wylie-Mitchell Air Cadets Squadron of Estevan has been named the top rural squadron in the province for 2017-18 by the Saskatchewan Air Cadet League.

A banner was presented to parent committee member Carol Sylvestre during the league’s annual general meeting Oct. 27. It was then handed over to the local cadets during their weekly practice on Oct. 30 at the Wylie-Mitchell building.

“The cadets who are enrolled show up on a regular basis,” said squadron Commanding Officer Danielle Fleury.

Thirty-four young people enlisted with the squadron in 2017-18, and Fleury said they might have had one person missing some weeks. Many nights everybody was in attendance.

The squadron also participates in a lot of regionally-directed activities, such as marksmanship, biathlon, music, an annual campout, and drill and sports competitions.

“We made an effort to participate in all of those things, and it got us the award,” she said.

The air cadets have been trying to win the award for quite a few years, and now have enough staff and cadets to participate in everything.

“Finally we had a full slate of staff last year, and we had some very enthusiastic cadets who wanted to go to things, and so we were able to practice and participate in all of those activities,” she said.

Cadets also held some fundraisers, and had a very good ceremonial review in May, with numerous awards handed out.

This season has started out well, too, she said. They have more than 40 members this year, and have activities related to cadets three days per week, with ground school on Mondays, weekly practices on Tuesdays, and either marksmanship or sports on Wednesdays.

“We’ve also already done our campout, which was … the last weekend in September,” said Fleury. “And then we’ve already done our marksmanship day.”

Thanks to the year they had in 2017-18, it helps to recruit members, because the cadets have been in the public eye, and in the newspaper, which helps get other kids excited about the opportunities that exist.