 Photo by Mr Curtias Comeau Cpl Travis Silcox (Santa) Lt Matthew Hoffart (On ground), Lt Shaun Rogozinski (In Chair), Left to Right = Lt’s Justin Rice, Bryce Simpson, Andrew Tardiff, Joseph Monroe & David Wright After a long day of traditional elf-work, some of Santa's little helpers were feeling somewhat mutinous. |
 Photo by Cpl Francis Graham Every kid had the opportunity to decorate their very own Christmas tree decoration. |
 Photo by Cpl Francis Graham This year the Petting Zoo was a huge hit due to the variety of animals and the 11 hour old lamb that was born the night prior |
 Photo by Cpl Richard Ford One was hard pressed to find a kid without one of these custom and handmade balloon creations. |
 Photo by Cpl Richard Ford Towering in the hanger were two bouncy castles that the kids fought tooth and nail to be the King or Queen of. |
Kid’s Christmas Party
By Lieutenant Shaun Rogozinski
Old Jack Frost has come by again and delivered us another crisp December, the kind that Canadians cringe at when the weatherman tells us the bad news. Even with the freezing temperature, on the Seventh of December the Regimental Family came together at the Harvey Building to host the annual Kid’s Christmas Party.
Around 1000hrs, the first of the smiling kids came into our building and were greeted by smiling Elves, who looked suspiciously like some of the subalterns. The Elves were busy the night prior preparing for the kids arrivals in order to ensure that everything was perfect. Santa really helped them out, though, when he pulled out two HUGE kettles of North Pole Blend Coffee specially made for Elves, who thoroughly enjoyed the coffee!
During the Christmas Party, children of Strathcona soldiers had the opportunity to get their faces painted, design tree decorations, fire some paintballs at the Grinch, watch a bubble show, jump around in two bouncy castles, and pet a whole bunch of animals at the petting zoo, among other activities. One of the highlights at the petting zoo was a newborn lamb (only 1 day old) who was crawling next to her mother in diapers! Another big hit was the craft table where there seemed to be more adults than kids making Christmas tree decorations. Just another example that even in adulthood you can never fully shake those childhood memories.
By far the busiest person was Santa himself. At one time, he had fifty kids waiting to sit on his lap! Luckily, his bottomless present bag kept up with the fast pace, and every kid walked away with a present and a picture with Santa.
Thanks to the hard work of those soldiers that volunteered to assist the Elves in the setup of and running of the Kid’s Christmas Party. It truly was an event that the kids will not soon forget. Santa is a long term planner and a huge fan of Karma, so before he left that day he just wanted to thank all of you for your hard work, service, dedication, and cannot wait to see you all again next year!