A Personal Remembrance

Fred Courtman

My father, Fred Courtman, was a veteran.  He joined the British Royal Air Force as a young man before the Second World War.  He was trained in electronics and avionics.   He spent much of 1938 and 1939 patching up RAF planes broken by over eager student pilots, or later shot at by Germans.  He witnessed the Battle of Britain from the tarmac of airfields around London.

Shortly after that he was sent overseas to Canada to become a part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, or BCATP.  Now he spent his days patching up the brightly painted yellow training aircraft of the training schools around Calgary.  He spent much of his time posted at what is now the Calgary International Airport (YYC).  He told me stories of he and his RAF colleagues marching around the drill hall which is now home to the Hangar Flight Museum (formerly, the Aerospace Museum) .  He met and married my mother while he was stationed here.

He was shipped back shortly after the war ended.  My Mom followed as soon as civilians were permitted to sail.  My Mom told us that she was in the very last convoy to leave Halifax. That makes my Mom a "reverse" War Bride!  She went to Britain, at the same time thousands of British girls were coming here after marrying Canadian soldiers, over there!

Life in Britain was hard after the war.  Factories that would have hired my Dad with his electronics and avionic skills had been bombed into oblivion.  Shortly after my birth my parents decided to return to Canada.  We three sailed back to Canada as part of a shipload of immigrants and refugees.  My Mom loved to say that she was one of the few immigrants to arrive in Canada carrying a Canadian passport!

The rest they say is history.  My parents settled in Calgary after they came to Canada, and Dad worked at the Calgary Brewery on Blackfoot Trail for many years until he retired.  Although he didn't talk about it often, my Dad was always very proud of his eight years in the Royal Air Force.  He wore a poppy every year, and he loved his adopted country.

My Dad passed away sixteen years ago.

I will be attending  the Remembrance Day ceremonies at Acme on Friday morning.  I will be placing a wreath on behalf of the Village of Beiseker, but I will also be thinking about my Dad!

This Remembrance Day

First, my humble apologies to the students of Beiseker Community School.  I missed their Remembrance Day Poster judging, this morning.  I was asked to help judge the Remembrance Day posters while at Stage East this past weekend - but I didn't have my agenda with me to note it.  I didn't remember it until after the time had passed.  Again, my apologies.

Remembrance Day is important to me. It's a time when we can appreciate what the sacrifices of the many thousands of Canadian soldiers actually accomplished, here at home.  A couple of minutes of silence seems so little compared to what those soldiers gave us.  It is also a chance for us to thank the veterans for their similar gift to us.  Freedom is never free!

I will be attending the Remembrance Day Ceremonies at the Acme Community Centre tomorrow starting at 10:30 a.m.  I am urging you to join me.  The ceremony is organized by the Royal Canadian Legion branch there and it is very moving.

This year after the ceremony, upon my return to Beiseker, I am going to stop at our memorial in front of the Beiseker Community Centre and place my poppy there.  Why don't you do the same?

A cold Remembrance Day

I hope you all were able to attend a Remembrance Day Ceremony yesterday morning.  I was unable to attend yesterday's local ceremony at Acme. 

I was honoured to be able to speak about a Calgary war hero to the folks gathered at the Aero Space Museum in the northeast of the city.  Ian Bazalgette is a hero of mine.  The young Canadian was killed in August of 1944 while trying to land a damaged Lancaster bomber to save two injured crew members.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour.

Thank you to our Deputy Mayor Al Henuset for representing the Village at the Acme Ceremonies.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the large numbers of Calgarians who came out to take part in the Remembrance Day Ceremonies around the city.  Even the outdoor ceremonies were well attended despite the cold weather. 

But I was most distressed to hear that some school boards in Canada have decided to permit students to avoid taking part in Remembrance Day Ceremonies held in their school!  Their reasoning is that the ceremonies glorify war and some parents object to that.

I disagree.  The dignified ceremonies I have witnessed over the years do not glorify war but recognise the huge sacrifices many young Canadians have made to ensure we have the freedoms we enjoy today.  Those Canadians who fought in those conflicts lived and died in a nightmare so that we might live our dreams!

Quiet Halloween

We had one of the quietest Halloweens ever here on my street.  Less than 50 kids came to our door last night.  It may have been the weather and the fact that it was a school night which kept the little ghosts and zombies away.

It was also quiet in the village as far as vandalism is concerned.  I have yet to hear of any severe acts of vandalism around Beiseker.

Updates;

• Work on the Bassano Station appears to have ground to a halt again.  I'm not sure what's happening there.  Stay tuned.
• Garbage woes have pretty much dissappeared.  I forgot to mention last week that hazardous waste is still not to go in those green garbage bags heading for Drumheller, but you knew that already. 
• Remembrance Day is coming November 11.  If you attending the ceremonies in Acme, get there early.  Seating is always at a premium.
• I've heard that Beiseker Councillor Fred Walters will be presented with the Queen Elizabeth 60th Anniversary medal for his work in our community.  More on this later.
• Christmas is coming and Beiseker's Food Bank will be needing supplies.

Remembrance Day Surprise

I hope your Remembrance Day experience was as meaningful as mine.  I attended the service held at the Aero Space Museum of Calgary at the south east corner of the Calgary International Airport.  We set up for about 250 people.  Less than 50 attended the last ceremony we had there about ten years ago.   We opened the doors before 10:00 a.m.  By 10:30 we had well over 500 present!  In total we had over 1300 Calgarians attend with another 200 unfortunately turned away!  We set up extra chairs and opened one of the big doors of the exhibit hall to allow as many as possible to participate.  We were all very surprised and deeply moved by this turnout.  After the service a few of us opened some of the old warbirds up so people could actually get inside them and experience them "up close and personal"!

What a wonderful experience.  We will most certainly be doing another ceremony on November 11, 2012.

Remembrance Day

I hope all Beisekerites (or is it Beisekerians) are wearing poppies.  Remembrance Day is this coming Friday. The ceremonies for this area are organized by our Royal Canadian Legion, Acme Branch and are held in the Acme Hall.  Get there early for a good seat.  The culmination of the ceremony is, of course, the moment of silence held at 11:00 a.m.  This year it will be the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year of this new century.  I'm not sure, but I think the Legion is putting on a light lunch in the Acme Legion Hall after the ceremonies.  I think that Remembrance Day is more than remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice for country.  I think it's also a chance for all of us to thank those men and women; veterans who survived! It's important to remember them, too!

I have decided to attend the Remembrance Day Ceremonies at the Aero Space Museum of Calgary, weather permitting.  I am a Director of the museum and I would like to attend this, the first Remembrance Day Ceremony held at the museum in more than 10 years.  After the ceremony a few of us involved with the museum will open up some of the military warbirds in the museum's collection so visitors can get up close and personal with Canada's proud military aviation past.

It's not important where you go to remember our fallen soldiers, it is important that you remember.

We Have Concrete!

They poured the new sidewalks on Chinook Crescent on Thursday, November 3!!  And they look great!  Touch up work, driveways, and connects will be done next week.

I was very sad to learn that Brenda Hnybida has resigned from council.  I've always respected her insight and her points of view.  I wish her all the best and I hope to see her back in municipal politics one day in the future! 

Even I have trouble being in two places at the same time!  There will be the usual Remembrance Day Ceremonies held in the Acme Hall on November 11.  They usually start around 10:00 a.m.  I usually attend those ceremonies and sometimes I have been honoured to represent the Village and place a wreath there on our behalf.  This year I have been invited to the Remembrance Day Ceremonies at the Aero Space Museum of Calgary.  I am a Director at that museum and I am very pleased they have restored the ceremony this year after its absence for a number of years.  I haven't decided which ceremony I will attend yet.

We had the Stage East wrap-up meeting the other night.  We talked about how we might make the evening even better!  We didn't make quite as much money this year but we'll still be able to support a bunch of community organizations and projects next summer.   This year we helped the following groups or facilities:  The Beiseker Community Centre, The Beiseker Library, Beiseker Playschool, Beiseker Parks and Trails, The Beiseker Food Bank, The Beiseker Fire Department, and the B.U.M.S. New Years Eve Celebration.  And we decided to seriously consider doing it again next October!  Stay tuned!