M’CHIGEENG—The Manitoulin Sea Cadets RCSCC 348 Manitoulin has officially sworn in a new corps coxswain, the highest position of rank in the Cadet corps.
“I would like to welcome everyone to this special night,” stated Sylvain Boucher, commanding officer of RCSCC 348 Manitoulin Sea Cadets at a ceremony held last week. “Tonight, we will be appointing a new coxswain, and swearing in new cadets to the corps.”
“It is only fitting that we appoint and swear in a new coxswain,” said Commanding Officer Boucher. “This is a special year for our corps as we are celebrating our 20th anniversary. There will be a lot of things to do and participate in during these anniversary celebrations.”
Chief Petty Officer Rhys Allison, the previous coxswain, is now attending Royal Military College, so the previous coxswain, Miranda MacKay, took part in the ceremony. Ms. Mackay, now a registered nurse, is an officer with her old corps.
Commanding Officer Boucher noted that Chief Petty Officer Second Class Savannah Crack would be sworn in as the new coxswain. Previous coxswain Miranda MacKay put the second gunners class chain on Ms. Crack, and the ceremonial cutlass was presented by Tina Davidson as part of the swearing in.
Lydia Pennings, Petty Officer Second Class, is the new Regulating Petty Officer and would take over the duties of the coxswain if she is unable to attend a meeting.
The swearing in ceremony also took place for the new cadets, who all received a cap tally with the lettering RCSCC 348 Manitoulin. They include Ordinary Cadets Hunter Kearns, John McLean, Kaelen Thomson and Laszlo Vernarsky.
“Some of our cadets took part in a biathlon held on Sunday, November 5,” said Commanding Officer Boucher.
Denis Blake highlighted that the competition was held at Kivi Park in Sudbury. Ten cadet corps competed from the Sudbury area, including 348 Manitoulin Sea Cadets. The cadets had to take part in a one kilometre run on the course, followed by shooting five pellets at the biathlon target (with a 30 second penalty for each miss) running another one kilometre, shooting and running one more kilometre to the finish line.
In the junior male category, 15 Manitoulin competitors took part. Master Cadet Austin Flikweert placed third with a total of 22.53 minutes, said Mr. Blake. Ordinary cadet Sean Simon finished the biathlon in a total of 28:03 minutes, placing sixth. He also shot a perfect target, hitting all five targets, using five pellets.
In the junior female category, Leading Cadet Elainah Peltier finished in sixth place among 16 competitors in a total time of 32.22 minutes.
