The evening was winding down. The last of the catering staff at the hall folded up the dining tables and chairs. The flags that had presided over the ceremony all evening had disappeared back into their sheaths. I had autographed the last of some books people had purchased. Among the last of the cadets recognized for his service during the course of the evening approached me with a final request.
“Sir, would you allow us to take a photograph with you?” Warrant Officer Adam Boyden, 19, asked.
“Sure,” I said, “but you can call me Ted.”
He smiled back respectfully, called his friend, Warrant Officer Declan Lloyd to join us in the photograph, and the three of us posed for several smart-phone snapshots before everybody said their last good-nights and left the hall.
When I’d arrived at the Lviv Ukrainian Hall in Oshawa, earlier in the evening, the atmosphere seemed like so many other military mess dinners I’ve attended. There would be a banquet dinner, a toast to Queen, recognition afforded some in attendance, and time allotted for me to address the audience. The evening would follow a certain protocol because, after all, this was a military gathering, the 45th annual Lloyd Chadburn Squadron Mess Dinner.
And the banquet did in fact go off with military precision. Grace was read, dinner served, glasses charged for the toasts and awards presented with appropriate words of commendation. What gave the evening more heart, however, was the human touch of the people involved.
Yes, there was pomp and circumstance as the 20-piece band played famous air force tunes. Yes, there was form as those coming forward to be recognized marched with arms swinging outstretched and boot heels clicking into place in unison. But this group and this evening had the charm of family too. To begin the evening, for example, a teenage cadet, Sgt. Muskaan Singh made the toast to the squadron’s namesake – Wing Commander Lloyd Chadburn. She read the biography of the decorated fighter pilot (killed in action in 1944) as if she were reading the eulogy of her grandfather.
“We, the future of the squadron,” young Sgt. Singh said, “continue to exemplify Lloyd Chadburn, ‘leading by example.’”
And we all raised our glasses (of apple juice) to toast his memory.
Other young sergeant cadets introduced the head table, the squadron officers, the civilian staff and the special guests and dignitaries. One of those dignitaries, seated near me was local Oshawa MPP Jennifer French. Clearly delighted to be there and focused on the young faces in front of her, when Ms. French went to the microphone to say a few words, it wasn’t greetings from Queen’s Park or even from her NDP leader she uttered. Instead, she recognized two of the cadets in the audience as pupils in one of her Grade 5 classes at an elementary school in Oshawa.
“I remember you from my classroom, years ago,” French said beaming with pride. “Look at you now.”
This all spoke to me not of protocol, but of community. When the squadron officers were invited to stand and be recognized, a score of people rose modestly to take their applause. Even more stood up when the civilian staff was acknowledged. Like so many volunteers, who give time and effort so willingly, these were people who served not so others would notice, but because the young cadets were like their own offspring, needing guidance at a crucial time in their lives and getting it without anybody expecting compensation. It was what any family member would offer another.
Toward the end of the evening, the adult commanding officer of 151 Chadburn Squadron, Major Dale Bliss, offered a summary of the year’s successes. He recognized marksmen, in 151’s case, all young women. He recognized performance. He recognized the band members about to go off to regional competition. And finally, he paid tribute to a young cadet who was forced to step down this very night.
“We all know there is a very clearly defined window for cadets,” Bliss said. “They can’t join before their 12th birthday and have to retire on their 19th. Well, today is that day for one of our cadets.”
He then listed the credits of the young man who later approached me for the photograph. W/O Adam Boyden had served as fundraiser, team leader, junior NCO, glider pilot, award winner. Said Bliss, “he should have received a he-man award for carrying all of the extra Spam in his pack on the qualifying journey.” Bliss finished, his face swollen with emotion, by saying, “help me present Warrant Officer Adam Boyden with his graduation certificate and customary farewell pewter mug.”
The photo snapped at the end of the evening with Adam Boyden, his comrade Lloyd and myself, marked the departure of a cadet from the squadron. It also sent a well-loved family member off into the world more confident and ready – like his squadron namesake – to lead by example.
Mr. Barris;
I read your account of the Chadburn Mess Dinner with great interest. I am a former Commanding Officer of that much revered unit. It warms my heart and indeed brought a tear to my eye to hear that some things have not changed. The highest levels of dress, deportment conduct and the greatest standards are still maintained now, as they were when I first became CO twenty years ago, and are still the same when I first joined 151 as a junior NCO twenty years before that.
The Squadron rose to the top of the crop in the late 1960’s and the concept of family, community, unrelenting standards of performance and professionalism were established then, and have been maintained faithfully over these many years.
A former Member of Parliament of Oshawa once commented that 151 and the Air Cadets were an icon in the community – seen everywhere – doing everything. It was true when he spoke it and continues to be true today.
Reading your words, and the observations of the officers in the Squadron’s newsletter, brought back in force all those same feelings of pride and family that I had during my nearly thirty years of association.
Thank you for reminding me.