After more than two decades with the local Army Cadet Corps, Paulette Jaques is retiring from service,
“I started as a volunteer in December 1993,” she said, adding within a few months she had taken on the role of an officer with the 2834 RCACC 64th Field Battery Royal Canadian Artillery Cadet Corps. “So I’m in my 22 year with the Corps, the 21st year with it as an officer.”
Jaques has spent the last 15-and-a-half years as the Corps Commanding Officer, making her the longest serving CO since the group was formed in 1968.
Over the years the Corps has seen an ebb and flow in membership, said Jaques, who noted they have had as many as 30 cadets, and occasionally have dipped below 10, which is where they now sit.
“Kids in Yorkton have so many other activities (they can participate in),” she said, adding if a youth is in something like hockey, it is nearly impossible to commit to cadets and attend regularly, so they must make choices.
But she does believe Cadets remains a positive experience for participants.
“It builds them up as a person,” she said, adding through encouragement “we are creating good citizens.”
So what memories are sharpest for Jaques after more than two decades with the Corps?
“A lot of stuff that you wouldn’t believe,” she said, adding as the last days of her command pass she has been reflecting. “I’ve been going through the photo album.”
In most cases the best memories involve the Cadets having fun, and providing a service to the community.
Whether volunteering for youth dances which used to be held at New Year’s, of painting fire hydrants, or going to camp, Jaques said it was all about her Cadets.
“I always told them don’t follow me when marching because I have two left feet,” she said.
So instead Jaques worked with the youth to see them active.
“I tried to keep it fun, doing fun things,” she said. “… If you make it fun you get more out of them.”
One year they parked two dump trucks beside the park area that used to exist by what is now the liquor board store, and cleaned up garbage.
Another year it was off to the area in the city to paint fire hydrants.
And, a third year they cleaned cemeteries in the Otthon area.
“The kids found that very, very interesting because they found military graves,” said Jaques.
And in the process Jaques said she benefited too.
“They kept me young,” she said, with a smile.
And then there are the Cadets who went on to join the military which holds a special place in the CO’s mind.
“There a lot,” she said, estimating at least a dozen through the years, and more who have gone on to officer positions with Cadets.
A few, such as Mark Lubiniecki, Ryan Matthews, and Patrick Rushowick who became officers in the Armed Forces hold an even higher spot as Jaques reflects.
So when she is finished mid-month will she miss it?
Likely, she admitted, but added when she retired from nursing some years ago, she walked out the hospital doors and never looked back.
“That part of my life was over,” she said, adding she prefers to look ahead. It will be the same post Cadets. That said, she did add “I’m going to help the support committee,” just to keep involved a bit.
