Windsor sea cadets tagging windsor

By :Johnathan Hutton

 

Windsor Sea Cadets are raising money for their branches one tag at a time.

 

Sea Cadets from Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Agamemnon took to the streets on tag day, Oct. 16 to raise money for their local branch. Tag day is when all available Cadets head out to different locations across the city and ask for donations toward their program. If the cadets receive a contribution, the donator receives a tag from the cadets thanking them for their help.

 

“ Tagging is crucial to help support the Cadet Corps and the Navy League and the Department of National Defense has always been great for providing the Cadets with what they ask for. However, they can’t cover everything,” said Shirley Beresford,  president of the Navy League Windsor Branch. “Donations all go towards providing the Cadets with equipment such as rope, uniforms and instruments.”

Beresford said tagging days usually bring in enough money to cover the cost of the cadets’ equipment and  Windsorites  have always been very supportive.

“In past years, we have been averaging around $14,000. I don’t think we will have that this year but we should come close to that,”  said Beresford.

 

Around 40 Cadets from H.M.C.S Agamemnon will be taking part in tagging across the city. Andre Ducharme has been in Cadets for three years  and is a leading seaman. He said tagging may not be fun at times, but is well worth the rewards it brings.

 

“ We give out tags to people who donate and if they are of age to join cadets then we give them a recruitment card,” said Ducharme. “The most I’ve ever raised for tagging is $200, but it’s nice that we don’t have to worry about buying things like uniforms or rope out of pocket.”

 

Brayden Uttley is a lieutenant in the Navy and the executive officer of Cadet Corps. H.M.C.S Agamemnon. He said  when he was a cadet he also had to participate in tagging days.

 

“My experience with tagging is an interesting one, “ said Uttley. “I have been snowed on and rained on a lot, but when you are standing out there and raising the money you don’t do it because you enjoy it, you do it because of what you get out of it. “

 

Despite the weather, Uttley said he is grateful for the support he sees in the community and  tagging has many benefits besides raising money for the corps.

 

“It’s nice to go out and talk to the community,” said Uttley. “We get a lot  of retired service members that come up and talk to us and it is always nice to hear their stories and receive support from them.

 

We have always done fairly well in Windsor with tag days, other corps I have talked to that will have the same number of cadets tagging usually only bring in half of what we get.”