All 12 members of the Kamsack air cadet squadron, accompanied by three adults, spent the Easter holiday week on a trip to the Maritime provinces of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.
Following are accounts of the trip as had been recorded by the cadets.
“On April 15, we travelled to Regina to be prepared for our early flight to Edmonton at 6:45 a.m. Sunday morning, said Katie Friday. After a short layover in Edmonton, we boarded the plane for Toronto, and after a very long layover and a delay, we boarded the plane for Charlottetown.
“We arrived in Charlottetown after 1 a.m., making our total hours travelling to be 18. Once in Charlottetown, we were greeted to a heavy downpour. We took a short cab ride to the hotel. Sleep was really needed.
“Monday was the first day we got to tour Charlottetown and to see what the city was like,” Friday said. “Although it was cloudy and a bit rainy most of the day, it was still enjoyable and pleasant.
“We visited the Confederation Centre of the arts, which was an arts museum and a place for the arts. It was split into different buildings but connected to underground corridors. We were shown the theatre where they have a variety of plays playing in the summer. They have a display of the table and they have all the name plates on the table of the person at the Charlottetown Conference.
“I enjoyed how widespread the building was and the different art pieces that are kept there.
“After the tour we went to an old country jail that has now been turned into a pizza restaurant. The pizza was awesome and I ate a lot of it. After lunch, we travelled on our bus through Charlottetown to walk along the boardwalk of Victoria Park.
“The view of the Atlantic Ocean from the boardwalk was beautiful, despite the depressing weather. It was a chilly day for us, considering the amount of sleep we had the night before, which wasn’t much.
“Lots of pictures were taken and with that my first day in Prince Edward Island was one to remember.”
“On Tuesday, we toured the Acadian Museum,” said Zachary Chernoff. “It showcased the Acadians from 1720 till the present time. We learned of their hardships in the early days, and then we visited the Anne of Green Gables home.
“We learned that Anne was a strong little girl with red braids, and that she had been an orphan who worked on a farm. We were supposed to visit a family-owned cheese factory but they were sick and the tour was cancelled.
“We then went to the Beaconville Mansion,” Chernoff said. “We learned how a shipbuilding family built the mansion and then when wooden ships were no longer needed, the family went broke. A man who was owed money took over the mansion and lived there, hating every moment of it.
“Then, we drove around the countryside taking in the views of PEI. We went to the boardwalk and saw the ocean. (It was) very cold and windy by the ocean.”
“On Wednesday, we woke up early to go to New Brunswick,” said an account written by Samantha Chernoff and Keanna Romaniuk. “Before we left PEI, we went to a locally-owned restaurant called Sam’s for breakfast. After breakfast, we got onto the bus and travelled to a small gift shop and a lighthouse by Confederation Bridge, and spent time buying up the souvenirs and taking lots of pictures.
“Once back on the bus, it took us 25 minutes to cross the bridge and finally we were in New Brunswick.
“The first thing we did when we got there was to visit the Magnetic Zoo,” the girls’ account said. “There were over 400 animals. Our favourite were the lions. After lunch, we went to the Resurgo Interactive Science Centre and museum. Some of us even got to ride the homemade hovercraft.
“Then it was on to the base and work on our uniforms for the base tour the next day.”
“On April 21, we started the day off by going to the New Brunswick Legislative and got to learn some cool facts about the building,” said Connor Bodnarek. “The building was built in 28 months which was impressive as it is a very large building. It was built in 1880. We also learned that the building had burnt down and had to be rebuilt.
“In 2002, a chandelier fell from the ceiling and had to be rebuilt,” Bodnarek said. “After that, we went to Science East which was housed in an old jail. Again this was another interactive science centre where we were able to experiment hands on.
“After lunch, we went to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton. The oldest piece of art in this gallery is from the 1500s. Later in the afternoon, we travelled just to see the scenery.”
“On April 22, which was the Saturday, we left the base and travelled to St Stephen’s,” said Aiden Broda. “Our first stop was the chocolate museum that gave us chocolates to start our tour. The original Ganong Chocolate factory is where the museum is. One part of it is still used for hand dipping the chocolates. We got to see the history of the old factory and we watched videos about the chocolate hand-dipping art.
“Then we went to the border crossing and toured it,” Broda said. “We could not go across to America because we did not have our passports. They told us why they have to search some people’s cars sometimes. We also got to see all the different x-ray machines they use and why.
“After that we went swimming at a really cool, awesome pool.
“After supper we went to check into the hotel for an early lights out as we had to rise and shine at 3:30 a.m. for a 5:45 a.m. flight back home.”
On the trip were: Karen Tourangeau, commanding officer; Karen Bodnaryk, former commanding officer, and Capt. Terry Eritz of Yorkton, and cadets Cade Henry-Martino, Sami Chernoff, Katie Friday, Madelyn Wosminity, Connor Bodnarek, Tara Taylor, Aiden Broda, Zach Chernoff, Megan Raffard, Tristan Chernoff, Taryn Broday and Keanna Romaniuk.
