Strathcona Family Day 2013

By Lieutenant A. Jaradat

 

Saturday, the 7th of September marked the annual Strathcona Family Day.  This day is only made possible by extremely generous donations made yearly to the Regiment and is an event that expresses the Regiment’s appreciation to the families of our soldiers.  It is a day designed for families to relax, have fun, and collectively share in a day dedicated to them. This year, keeping with tradition, Prince of Wales (B) Squadron organized a carnival style event designed to impress.  Activities enjoyed during Family Day included pony rides, numerous carnival games, giant bouncy castles, face painting, a caricature artist, a paintball range, tank/LAV rides and what seemed to be everyone’s favourite event, the dunk tank.

Preparation started two months in advance with the booking of outside providers and coordinating with other organizations within the brigade, such as 408 Squadron and the base fire department.  Family Day set up commenced the day before the event with Sergeant Mark Thomas, Master Corporal Trevor Osborne, and Master Corporal Ryan Sebo, as well as a number of dedicated “volunteers', ensuring that everything was in position so that families could enjoy the day.  408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron lent a hand as well, providing the Regiment with a Griffon helicopter display with two .50 Calibre door mounted machine guns, garnering a lot of attention from all in attendance.  The base fire department arrived bright and early and were more then happy to fill our dunk tank with ice cold water… much to the pleasure of the Commanding Officer (CO) Lieutenant Colonel Paul Peyton and Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) Chief Warrant Officer Antony Batty, who promptly tested the water out while being dunked repetitively by the early arrivals that morning.  

Food was offered throughout the day and ice cream, snow cones, pop corn, and cotton candy were consumed with no remorse by child and adult alike.  WO Alain Doucette and the Regimental cooks put on an outstanding BBQ with hamburgers, hotdogs, and fifty extra-large pizzas, ensuring no one left the family day event with an empty stomach.  To end off the fun-filled Strathcona Family Day, prizes raffled off, and the winners raced to the info booth to claim their award before rain officially ended the afternoon.  A great success, this year’s Family Day paid tribute to the dedication that Strathcona soldiers and their families provide to this Regiment and our country.