An Evening to Remember
Manon Mitchell
Last Tuesday evening, November 7, forty five Rotarians, friends and family joined together to address 286 Christmas Cards to those men and women of our Canadian Armed Forces who will be deployed and away from their families at Christmas.We assembled in the Cooper-Key room at the Calgary Military Museums. Upon arriving many were struck by the vastness and amazing displays; most were surprised by the number of cars in the parking lot as scouts and girl guides had their meetings in that location.
Two hundred and eighty-six (286) cards were hand crafted by our Interact Club students at Western Canada High School. Instructions were provided as well as a page with many differently written wishes so that writing was actually a question of choosing which words resonated most for each individual person.
This was a great event to invite friends and family as all were able to participate quite easily. There were lots of laughs but at times we could just witness the effort and thoughtfulness as words were put to paper.
Murray Young was wearing a poppy with an interesting pin in the middle. Both his father and grandfather served in the World Wars and this pin belonged to one of them. It was a pin given to all serving personnel but he’s not sure whether it belonged to his grandfather (WWI) or his father (WWII).We enjoyed a cash bar and food catered by Sunterra. We finished off the evening with a Christmas sweater contest judged by Joe Fras, Jennifer Lavier-Jankovic and Randy Topolnitsky. The winners of the contest were:
- Craig Henderson
- Tina Overwater
- Arthur Steque (our exchange student)
I posted pictures of this event with the story on Facebook and received a very nice comment from a friend of mine from Sea Cadet days in the late 1970s. Retired Naval Officer John Underhill write:
“What a great idea! When I was in the Gulf for Christmas (1990) letters from schoolchildren took the sting out of being away from our families in such uncertain and dangerous times. Thank you for doing this!”
To all those who took the time Tuesday to write these Christmas cards: THANK YOU! The impact of your thoughtfulness will certain be felt wherever these cards will land sometime soon.
If anyone would like to send Christmas cards to our serving personnel, just address it to:
Any Canadian Soldier
Box 5004, Stn Fcs
Belleville, Ont
K8N 5W6
NO POSTAGE REQUIRED!
The group unanimously felt this should be done again next year and President Elect Joe agreed. Maxine (our Program Director) has already put it in the calendar, SAVE THE DATE TUESDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2024.
