gE SP WAS tae INSPECTION - MAJOR C.J. THORP (left foreground), base maintenance officer for CFB Chilliwack, gave Terrace 747 Squadron top marks during their annual inspection last Saturday ' afternoon. 747 SQUADRON - by Tod Strachan About 30 years ago an Air Cadet squadron was formed in Prince Rupert offering a welcome new activity for many local teens. For young Bruce Douglas, though, Air Cadets was all the treason he needed to balk at a pending move to Terrace. In Terrace, there were no Air Cadets and for Douglas that meant there was nothing at all. But a promise made by his stepfather, Kevin Van Herd, changed his mind. When they arrived in Ter- race, he would form an Air Cadet squadron and this was a promise that was kept. In 1963, 747 Squad- ron was born. Soon after arriving in Terrace, Douglas spoke to Grade 12 class- mate Jim Armgrin, and with Van Herd a recruiting drive began that ended on Nov. 11, 1963, with 75 boys attending a meeting at the Civic Cenire, On their behalf, eight Terrace parents, businessmen Gordon Little and Harry Smith among them, formed a sponsoring group and applied to Pacific Region Headquarters for a charter. With charter.in hand, this organiz- ational’ group was disbanded and a more permanent group was pul in place. Fred Bass was the president, Len Casey the vice-president and Wayne Hodges a very visible volunteer. Only two years later, however, many of the boys outgrew the squadron’s activities and parent volunteers began to disappear. But the Lions Club came to the rescue, taking over the sponsorship role, and the group flourished. So much so, in fact, the overcrowded Civic Centre was abandoned for the more roomy Veritas Hall. But their apparent success was short-lived. In August, 1967, fire destroyed Veritas Hall and all the squadron's records and equipment inside. The squadron was homeless. For Commanding Officer Kevin Van Herd, however, this disaster was nothing more than a new challenge. In short order, he had convinced the school board of the value of Air Cadets and 747 Squa- dron moved into new quarters —a downstairs projection room and three upstairs classrooms in Skeena School.. For the staff and cadets there was renewed optimism and the feeling starting something new. Soon after, though, a number of leadership changes began to take Place. Van Herd was about to — Ray Tremblay by Tod Strachan Terrace firefighter Ray Tremblay didn’t do to bad at all at the first ever World Firefighters Games held near Auckland, New Zealand, last April. He not only came home with a bronze medal but also as a newly elected representative to the 10-member world council for the next World Firefighters Games to be held in Las Vegas in May, 1992, Tremblay was scheduled to com- pete in darts, 10-pin bowling and horseshoes. But there was a prob- lem right off the bat: darts and bowling where scheduled for the same time. Here, Tremblay came through with the right decision. Scrap the darts; that’s only an English pub game anyway. This placed him in the six-hour 10-pin marathon where he scored a 186 average to take the bronze. Unfortunately, though, the bowling marathon took Tremblay out of the horseshoe competition as well. This had nothing to do with scheduling. It was a matter of obviously long-unused muscles in the right arm seizing up after only six short hours of bowling. Two horseshoes the next day, and Tremblay was out of the running. But with a bronze medal grasped firmly in his good hand, he didn’t really care. This wasn’t the case the night of his bowling win, however. Rumor Terrace Review — Wednesday, June 20, 1990 B7 Bronze for local firefighter and aplace — in 10-member world council has it Tremblay had to use his left arm while sipping cocktails during that evening’s social affair and that’s a feat that can be difficult, if not embarrassing. The spirit will prevail, though, and it’s also rumoured that Tremblay won a gold for his evening performance. But all fun aside, this was a ‘serious event and Terrace was fortunate to be represented. Of the 1,500 firefighters from 19 coun- tries there were only eight other Canadians: One from Kelowna, three from Alberta, three from Ontario and one from Quebec. Tremblay will be heading for Las Vegas next spring where the world council will meet with the 1992 host, the Clark County (Nevada) Fire Department, to set game rules where they don’t already exist and change them where they caused problems in New Zealand. The games following the Nevada event will move back down under to Penrith, Australia, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. This happens in 1994 and it’s certain we'll be represented again. Just an added note: Tremblay | also retuned with greetings and best wishes from two ex-Terrace residents. If you’ve been around for a few years you might remem- ber Toni and Phil Stewart who lived here from 1975 until 1981. She was a P.E. teacher at Skeena _ and he was the. cify’s. Superintend- ent of Parks and Recreation for a time before joining the crew at Pohie's sawmill and then the staff at Kitamaat Village. This duo is now living in Towoonba, Australia, about 100 miles due west of Brisbane. They’re both P.E. teachers and their 1-1/2 year old son, Torin Rhys, well... he’s not doing much of anything yet. But he will, accor- ding to Tremblay. history in the making Tetire to Kelowna and was replaced by Tom Reeves on Jan. 8, 1968. Shortly after, Dave Simons, a locat school teacher, took over the post of Commanding Officer and in April 1970, Simons passed the job onto Charles Lindstrom. During Simons tenure, though, an event of some _ significance occurred that would have an impact on the squadron for dec- ades to come. In the fall of 1969, Branch 13 of the Royal Canadian Legion took over the sponsorship role, and from this sponsoring group would come the term of the squadron’s longest running Com- manding Officer, Derek Hales. Lindstrom handed the leadership of 747 Squadron over to Hales in 1973 and it wasn't until] December 1985 that he retired. Prior to that, however, Hales was the Lirst chairman of the Legion sponsoring committee, and it was during his term in that office that the squadron moved to more spacious quarters. In the summer of 1972, Clarence Michiel school became home to the squadron’s activities every Wednesday night. There was a permanent office downstairs and they had access to the gymnasium for training. Under Hales’s leadership, 747 Squadron bought a share in a glider in 1976 and the following year purchased a Super Cub to replace the cars and rented aircraft originally used to tow the glider into the air. The funds to purchase the Super Cub came in the form of an interest-free loan from the Royal Canadian Legion. In 1984, the sponsoring commit- tee purchased the squadron’s own glider, an L-233 Schweitzer, at a cost of $12,500; but this was only the beginning of what would prove to be a very active year. It was in the summer of 1984 that the squa- dron built a shelter at the Wood- cock airport for the use of cadets on "fam-flying" exercises and also began construction on their own building at the -Terrace-Kitimat Airport. This latter project received _ financial support from the entire comnuunity. Hales handed the commander’s job over to Charlie Meek in 1985 and in April of the following year the squadron moved into their almost-complete airport quarters. On June 7, 1986, the Honourable James Chabot presided over the official opening ceremony for their new building, and later that same year a donation from the Branch 13 Ladies Auxiliary made it poss- ible for the cadets to purchase their own 66-passenger bus. On Sept. 23, 1988, Change-of- Command ceremonies tock place once again and this time Capt. Ron Knoedler took over as Command- ing Officer. Today, the 747 Squad- ron is under the command of Lt. Ron Gowe and the squadron has just recently purchased another bus. But there is much more to come. The history of this otganiz- . ation has shown their is only one direction to go; forward, to. bigger and better things... . ee