National Merchant Marine Veterans Day

Fellow CAV members,

Today Cambrai unit attended the National Merchant Marine Veterans Day here in the city of Ottawa.

During the Second World War, the Merchant Navy took massive losses during the Battle of the Atlantic while supplying Allied Europe. Canada honoured today the superb service and significant sacrifices of those members of the Merchant Navy at our National War Memorial here in Ottawa.

Vice-Admiral Maddison was represented the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Navy and laid a wreath during the ceremony. along with our Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada, a representative of Foreign Affairs Canada, varies Military attache representing Australia, Chile, the USA, the UK, Norway to name a few and many other countries including Japan. There were many of our sailors and officers on parade along with the Air Force band.

Cambrai Unit attended the ceremonies to pay respects to our Merchant Navy veterans who served our nation with honour, and their shipmates who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

We were greeted by the Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada, and Vice Admiral Maddison and after the ceremonies at the National War Memorial , the Minister invited us to attend a special luncheon. The CAV walked across the busy National Capital streets accompanying the Minister and the Vice Admiral to the luncheon being held across from the Chateau Laurier.

At the luncheon, speeches were given by the Minister, the Vice Admiral, and other foreign military attache , dignitaries and diplomats to commemorate Canada's Merchant Marine veterans. It was a heart warming experience to meet, see and hear these proud merchant Marine veterans tell their stories from WWII.

I must say, I was proud to have attended this function with my fellow Cambrai members and even prouder to be a member of this great organization, The Canadian Army Veterans Motorcycle Units.....as the Minister and the Admiral both said to me " You guys definitely have the best uniforms, and we are proud and honoured to have had you join us today!"

Thank you CAV.

Submitted for your info.

Kind Regards,
_________________
Popeye
M.S.M.
President-Cambrai Unit
1st CAV HQ VicePresident

The Blog is back

For those who followed the blog I apologize for no posts in such a long time. No excuses but I'm just not a born blogger. But good news !!! I have asked for help from the Units, to send in small updates on what they are doing. I'm hoping this will make the blog an even better read than ever before. I plan on cutting and pasting from emails I receive and will try to minimize any editing.

I would like to thank in advance all those that put in the effort to send me a couple lines every couple of weeks. With so many Units it doesn't take much to have a good read.

The first Blog Honour goes to Assoro, I look forward to reading many more.

Our Assoro unit has had a hard time getting out together for rides as all members are busy with their jobs, even we retired people are busy with our "retired jobs" and family events...BUT one of our members took a trip up to the Yukon by himself and I am hoping Jeff Syer will do a write up of his trip and let all CAV read his experiences on his five week trip.
Our unit does plan to be at Canton Municipal Offices area for their November 11th Remembrance Service...a special cenotaph is there and since Assoro took it on our unit to take care of Sgt. Dodds' (a Civil War veteran) grave...he is one of of 29 Canadians who fought in the Civil War but is the only one buried in Canada...and he won the Congressional Medal of Honour. Sgt. Dodds is buried at Canton Cemetery and our unit went down, wire brushed his gravestone and cleaned up his grave site completely. Also we donated a new American flag to the Canton Cenotaph, located at the Canton Municipal offices property. Canton is straight north of Port Hope on the Welcome road. We are hoping CAV members from the nearby towns will make an attempt to show up and share in the Nov. 11th Remembrance Service.
I know we will get out for a great colour ride or two but this year different members took part in quite a few charity CAV rides, etc,. not too much together as a unit, but wherever we went with our CAV vests, we did wear them proudly.
Cecile Bowers
Assoro Co-ordinator

Welcome 2011 Riding Season

My bike has been in gear for a week already, now it's time to get my butt in gear and update the Blog

The riding time may have been reduced (darn white stuff) since my last blog but not CAV activity.

I did get my first ride in, (with Bear and Ultraman) on the date 1/1/11. Was a little wet but a January ride is a ride.







.

A day later the white stuff came and the wheels were parked.
Our (Juno) weekly meetings continued, planning more events, telling stories and raising money for our supported charities (Tony Stacey Centre and this year Childrens Wish Foundation) through 50/50's.

Next was the Bike show in TO. We car pooled there and were treated to a good show that also had a CAV booth and many military awareness displays.

https://picasaweb.google.com/Juno.CAV/Jan2011BikeShow#

A few more weekly meetings then the 1st annual Juno Pool tournament with more fun and fundraising.

https://picasaweb.google.com/Juno.CAV/PoolTournament#

More meetings then the Red Nose Banquet. What a great way to give back while showing a CAV presence.
https://picasaweb.google.com/Juno.CAV/RedNoseBanquet#

Then the 3rd annual Juno (this year a few from Vimy too !!) Bowling. With supper before and Karaoke afterward it was a full night. With all the activity we also raised over $200 doing a draw for a hand-made stain glass of a motorcycle and doing 50/50.
https://picasaweb.google.com/Juno.CAV/JunoSupperBowlingAndKaraokeNight#

March comes around and so does the 1 CAV exec meeting. It is always a treat to hear Trapper and other honoured guests give inspirational testimonials and be told how well the CAV is doing and how much good we are doing for others.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1cav.webmaster/1CAVFormationMeeting02#

Mid month also brought enough warm weather that I managed to get a full week of riding in. Chilly and frosty in the morning riding to work but on the ride home enjoyed high single digit temperatures. 8km to get to work in the mornings but a couple nice afternoons it took 40km to get home.

What topped everything off was my daughter joining the CAV

Congrats NutMeg

Looking forward to seeing all of you at the many good events this year.

Last Blog for 2010

First and foremost, is to sadly mention the Repatriation of Cpl Steve Martin and once again I was honoured to be part of the Colour Party. Cpl Martin died while serving his country and returns a Canadian Hero.
R.I.P.












Other events since the last Blog;

The Juno Christmas Party, which was a huge success thanks again to our Event Coordinator 9'er. We were lucky to have both Trapper and Drifter join us.
A great night was had by all...awesome catered dinner and gift rewrap/exchange followed by a night of dancing by DJ'ed music.











A Juno Unit Red Nose night out, what a great way to give back.












For more pictures visit
http://picasaweb.google.com/Juno.CAV/RedNose02

And of course our weekly get-to-gethers @ Timmies to talk about where we were and where we are going. We also have our 50/50 to raise monies for our charities.











There have been several events that I have not been able to personally attend.

1 CAV Formation has been busy.

http://http//picasaweb.google.com/1cav.webmaster


And the last ride of the year, was on the last day of the year. There were 8 brave (or some might say foolish) souls today. The roads were a little wet in some places but for the most part with the temp at +7 it was great for riding.











http://picasaweb.google.com/Juno.CAV/December31#

All-in-all 2010 was an awesome year for riding and being part of the CAV.
My New Year's wish is for no repats and a safe riding season for all.
All the best for anyone who happens to read this and I hope to see you next year.

Time of Remembrance

It hasn't been long since my last post but a new shipment of "round-to-its" just came in so I'm taking advantage. Its been a week of remembrance, first with the Candlelight vigil



http://www.trentonian.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2819661
(I hope the link lasts)

Something our Legion started 3 years ago and WOW what a turnout.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Juno.CAV/Nov10TrentonCandleLightVigil#

It's really quite the sight, seeing the Air Cadets standing vigil and having all ages come out with candles (most with dedicated names) and placing them on the cenotaph. It's perfectly timed and appropriate, the night before Remembrance Day is a nice tribute.

Then Nov 11th....

Due to the area we live in(Quinte West, Belleville & surrounding area) there are a lot of small communities with cenotaphs that celebrate Nov 11th. Because of this it is difficult to support all. Juno did manage to have members at at least 5 separate locations.
We (Juno) did have a special invite from Picton (including bikes) to honour and dedicate the ceremonies to Repatriations.


In Trenton I had the honour of (with the help of Lance) presenting a wreath in the name of 1 CAV Juno Unit. It was the first time I wore my beret since retiring from the CF and the pride was still there. Estimates were over 3000 people there, amazing for a small town.


The last couple of weeks also marked the beginning of a new addition to the 1 CAV website...Eternal Unit, dedicated to fallen 1 CAV members

http://1cav.thecav.ca/Fallen%20Comrades/fallencomrades.htm

It's a nice tribute to friends gone but not forgotten and I'm honoured to administer the new page.

Looking forward to the upcoming Christmas and New Years parties....and with a little luck the continuation of the warm weather.

until next time....

Back and Still Riding

Back from Alert and happy to see daylight (the Sun) dry roads, warmth (warm enough for riding anyway) and my bike (oh I better mention my wife (9er) if I know what's good for me). It didn't take long being home before I was getting involved with a CAV supported event (go get em "Capt Hollywood" lol ).....

http://www.trentonian.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2829266

The following day we were invited to attend the unveiling of a Veterans Memorial Mural in Stirling, it was great to see multiple CAV units attend...

http://picasaweb.google.com/1cav.webmaster/StirlingMural#

Overall it was great to be out riding again and riding for a cause. The response we get from everyone is positive, you can tell the next time a group of motorcyclists ride by they will be looking for our crest.

November 11th is coming and with that another opportunity to stand tall and proud with our colours, and beside other veterans to show we must never forget.

Until next time, stay warm and ride when you can and tell your stories when you can't. Be proud to be a part of one of the greatest organisations ever to come out of Canada...The CAV

Fish
Juno CSgt
1 CAV Webmaster

Alert The Great White North

To all those that may read this blog, I again must apologize. For not only the delay in updating the blog but the 1 CAV site and answering emails. Between my computers hard drive having a melt down, the passing of friends and relatives and squeezing out every bit of riding for the season, it has been another filled period between blogs. I must thank Bear (Juno President and National Webmaster) for filling in where he could.

Sadly there was another repatriation R.I.P. Cpl Brian Pinksen and funerals for Moon and Colin Stillwell. The dedication stone for DR and there was also the passing of my Grandmother Lorraine Hamill, R.I.P. GG.

I ‘m writing this latest update from a small quite place called Alert, its only a hop, skip and small flight to the North Pole from here. My riding has come to a grinding halt while here. Any one of the several reasons would have taken the fun out of riding….-30 degree temp, 24 hour darkness, snow and dodging the wildlife (wolfs and meat eating rabbits) ….oh and having no bike makes it hard too. There wont be any pictures (well just the 1) in this blog the internet speed here makes picture upload painful…..remember 56k dialup ? oh those where the good ole days of fast internet. I’ve only been gone a short time but without my family and friends (and my bike lol) it seems much longer.

It still amazes me on how belonging to a group called The CAV we can attend so many rides, fundraisers and events. It seems (at least in Juno) if you can’t make 1 event someone else steps up, so we are always present to show that The CAV cares.

The following is a small list of rides (the ones I can remember) since the last blog…..

The MPNMRR …the Military Police ride across the Country. We did the portion from the Harley dealership just east of Oshawa into Trenton, it was pretty cool have the OPP escort us down the 401 in the left lane holding back most of the traffic.
Beautiful ride to Bancroft and the top of Eagles Nest….a nice rock face that I used to ice climb.
The opening ceremonies for the Belleville Memorial Bridge. Its nice to attend events that honour vets but it really makes me proud when the CAV is asked to participate.

The Nathan Ride for Hope was another example of the CAV pulling together and supporting one of their own. A well organized and beautiful ride, some of the routes had such tight winding roads I found myself turning off the signal lights (the turns were so sharp my mind thought I was turning a corner).

The Children Wish Foundation, what a great cause and great time doing it. There’s not to many things in life that can match the smiles on kids faces and once again The CAV was there to do it. Judging by how well we were received we will be going back for years to come.
The Nappanee Firefighters Ride…another good showing from CAV members from several units.
I wished I could have attended the Legion Ride…the pictures I’ve seen look like it was a beautiful day with a great turnout.
Our own (Juno) Presidents and Colours Ride….one thing Juno is good at (I guess since we do it so much) is organizing GREAT Rides !!! We rode to see the colours and to show-off ours.
Every Tuesday night (weather permitting) Juno also goes riding but, as of this writing I think that that season is over. The only riding that remains is for the occasional few hours during midday on the weekends. But we still meet every week, tell our stories and do fundraising through 50/50.

For pictures of rides that 1 CAV has participated in visit
http://picasaweb.google.ca/1cav.webmaster and/or visit Juno’s site


I know this sounds greedy but for at least in South Eastern Ontario I’m hoping for a little global warming (just a little over our riding area). For all you winter buffs you can keep everything north of 7 ;)

From the Great White North I wish you all a safe and gradual withdrawal from the riding season and a smooth transition into the holiday season.

Till the next time, keep your rubber off of the snow and your electric vests close by.