Cadets Return to Camp Acadia

Past and present members of the sea cadet camp HMCS Acadia met recently on the parade square at Cornwallis Park.

Members of the HMCS Acadia Alumni Association were on hand to present custom-made cap tallies to the staff cadets working at the centre, the largest of its kind in Canada.

“The cap tally is a tribute to the strength, courage, and prestige of the Navy,” association president Ken Ilnitski, a former officer at HMCS Acadia, told the cadets when the tallies were presented during ‘colours,’ the naval ceremony of raising the Canadian flag at the start of the training day.

Commanding officer Cmdr. Nancy Chisholm, host of the alumni association for the symbolic event, noted the alumni association is an invaluable connection to the camp’s past.

“The association not only helps to preserve our history but ensure, through tangible things like scholarships and cap tallies, a bright future for the cadets and officers of HMCS Acadia,” she said.

Traditional cap tallies feature the prefix ‘H.M.C.S.’ and the name of a ship. They will be worn around the cadet’s seaman’s cap.

HMCS Acadia is one of five cadet summer training centres in Atlantic Canada that has started its summer training program. Nearly 1,200 cadets will attend training at Cornwallis this summer in subjects such as sailing, seamanship, music, leadership, and physical fitness. As well, cadets will acquire invaluable skills in the fields of healthy living, teamwork, and citizenship.

• The Digby County Courier
• 29 Jul 2010