10 Nov 09 - Remembrance Weekend
Remembrance Weekend 09 was action-packed for the cadets of Ripon 886 as they participated in various events culminating in the Remebrance Sunday parade and service itself.
The weekend started on the Friday night with a dozen of the squadron assisting in the smooth-running of the Ripon Bonfire held at Hell Wath. Firstly the main body of cadets helped direct the traffic to park, no easy task as heavy rain during the day had resulted in extremely muddy conditions. Meanwhile Sergeant McCarthy & Corporal Waddington were "bouncers" at the entrance to the VIP tent, checking that only bona fide guests made it through the door.
Once the general public and special guests were in place and enjoying the fire and the fireworks, the cadets moved on to bucket duty, moving around the crowd collecting money for a number of local charities. This prepared them well for Saturday when most of the squadron found some time during the course of the day to take their place on the Market Square helping the Britsh Legion with their sale of poppies.
So to the main event - A large contingent of Ripon Air Cadets along with their standard bearer joined the Mayor, city councillors, members of the Royal British Legion, the Armed Forces, veterans, Scouts, Guides and the public. Firstly they took part in the ceremony at the war memorial in the Spa Gardens where several cadets laid wreaths and then all observed the two-minute silence at 11am.
Next the squadron took part in the parade to the cathedral via the Market Place where the Mayor, Coun. David Parnaby and the Commanding Officer of the City's 21 Engineer Regiment received the salute. In the cathedral the Regiment's Padre and the Dean of Ripon led the service in honour of all those members of the Armed Forces who have sadly lost their lives in the service of their country.
The day concluded with hot soup and sandwiches kindly provided by the Golden Lion on Allhallowgate where the cadets were thanked by the Chairman of the Ripon Branch of the Royal British Legion, Mr Howard Whiting.
