Photo Gallery at the end of this article
Greetings from the Ottawa Valley Chapter. On behalf of the RCD Ottawa Valley Chapter committee, we would like to thank all those who came out for the weekend and helped make the reunion a tremendous success.
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ottawa Valley Chapter has had to cancel two years’ worth of planned activities and delay the RCD Association Reunion twice.
In April/May 2019 we set-up a Reunion planning committee; however, with the frequent changes and delays imposed by COVID-19, several of the volunteers moved on to greener pastures. Therefore, I had to recruit a Secretary/Treasurer because Kalvin Mitchell retired. This position was filled by Samantha Paquette who works with me in the trailer park. She turned out to be a very valuable asset in the accounting and tracking of members.
In early March, the National Chapter President and I decided to contact the chapter chairs across Canada and see if there was enough interest to conduct the RV in 2022. We had a cutoff date of 15 April 22, and by then the response was favorable so we proceeded with the planning. Unfortunately, all the arrangements that were made prior with the Best Western Hotel fell through because they couldn’t accommodate us with the new dates.
With only 2 months to the proposed date this created an urgency; however, after numerous phone calls, etc. we secured the Clarion Hotel and Conference Centre for the event.
By the cut-off date, we had a sufficient number of members registered, so we notified the chapter chairs that it was a go. In conversations with a number of people, they were reluctant to commit to a date that far out, so I extended the cut-off date to 10 May 22.
I would like to thank all the committee members (Sterling and Sandra Mercer, deputy chairman/welcome co-ord; Marc Tremblay, meet & great/mixed dining in; Stephane Larouche and Janique Lariviere, admin support; Muggsie Boland, spousal program co-ordination; Gordie Meighan, music co-ord; Keith Christopher, golf co-ord; Samantha Paquette, secretary/treasurer; Kevin Langille and his assistant, photography)
as well as the regiment. They were extremely helpful in providing some last-minute resources, and for the vehicle display, kit shop, and tour of the new building, Y-137.
We finally got the members and the regimental family together. On Friday evening at the meet & greet, we acknowledged a number of distinguished guests, and had a draw for door prizes that were donated by the various RCD chapters. This was a great success – the door prizes were well-received. On Saturday morning, the National Chapter President (Denis Levesque) conducted a general meeting, and we witnessed the hand-over from him to Tom Skelding. The Association ladies enjoyed an early morning meditation, followed by a walk through Pembroke’s beautiful waterfront trails. In the afternoon, a number of the members enjoyed a round of golf at the Twin Rivers Golf Club; meanwhile, many others participated in tour of Y-137 and a vehicle display. Saturday evening, General Rick Hillier gave an informative and entertaining speech. Then the RCD Association had Janique Lariviere present Muggsie with a well-deserved retirement gift. The dinner on Saturday was delicious, as commented on by a number of members. Lori Lauzon, General Manager of the Clarion, as well as her hotel staff, provided an excellent meal and service.
Once again, I would like to thank Jim and Mary Ferron, Matt and Ann MacDonald, James Crombie, and Danny Plourde, for generously donating their registration fees after unfortunately having to cancel. This provided funding so the members could enjoy wine with their meal.
I hope everybody enjoys the photos that Kevin has uploaded to the website. There will be more to follow, including the portraits taken Saturday evening. I’d also like to thank Jim Follwell for his input and assisting with putting out communications via the Dragoons website.
The Kingston Chapter has agreed to do the next RV in two years (2024). Hope to see as many members as possible there.
Audax et Celer/Bold and Swift
Tanks!
Bruce Prendergast
RCD OVC Chair
