Jessica Kilnkenberg
Northern News Services
Published Friday, November 9, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Last year, Army and Air Cadets stood vigil all night at the cenotaph in front of City Hall on the night before Remembrance Day.

But this year, due to a lack of volunteers to supervise the event, the cadets will only keep the vigil for six hours.

Cadets march to stand vigil at the cenotaph last year. They were led by Senior Warrant Officer Aven Elson. The cadets will not be standing vigil overnight this year as they have for more than 10 years. - NNSL file photo

"Up until this year the vigil has been an overnight thing," said Capt. Dale Crouch, commanding officer of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets 825 in Yellowknife.

"This is the first year in some time that it's only going to be from 6 p.m. until midnight. That has to do with having enough volunteers," he said.

"It's a decision made by Capt. (Julien) Paradis with the cadets," said Lloyd Lush, president of the Royal Canadian Legion. "Sometimes it's pretty cold out there. (The cadets) made the decision that midnight is an appropriate time and I agree with him."

He said it wasn't only the shortage of volunteers that has an effect on the event, but that it is always the same volunteers.

"I've been president of the legion for the past five years and you seem to get the same five people out there and it gets pretty tough," he said.

Army and air cadets are between the ages of 12 and 18. The vigil is an important part of the cadet mandate, which is built around citizenship, leadership and learning about the military.

Yellowknife and Whitehorse are the only two cadet squadrons in Canada that observe the overnight vigil.

"It's an act of remembrance," said Capt. Cheryl Major, public affairs officer for the cadets of NWT, Yukon and Nunavut. "They're kind of getting an experience of what it was like. They do it all night long."

As in Yellowknife, Major said that the Whitehorse cadets stand outside overnight by the cenotaph.

Though this year the cadets would be taking hours off of their vigil, they would be involved with other things, Crouch said.

The cadets have been going to the cemetery in Yellowknife and cleaning graves, and on Saturday night after standing shift at the vigil, some will go to the cemetery to light candles.

The cadets have also been selling poppies, serving as escorts for seniors and veterans, and will march in the Remembrance Day parade and carry flags, Crouch said.

He added that cadets volunteer to take part in the vigil.

Two cadets stand guard for 10 minutes at a time.

The cadets will march from the Royal Canadian Legion at 6 p.m. Saturday and remain at the cenotaph until midnight.