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It began as an organization in January 1992 and has been quite successful every since. But, this wouldn't have been possible without the hard work of two area citizens. In 1989 they began to write letters to Ottawa asking that a squadron be granted permission to form in Grand Valley. They gathered signatures from 89 young people who were interested in joining. Finally, in 1992 the dream became a reality. The two people that I'm talking about are Cliff and Ann Johnson. Both had been involved in Cadet corps in Shelburne and Alliston.
Cliff, who was 65 years old at the time, came out of retirement to be the first Commanding Officer of the squadron, a post he held for the first 18 months of the operation. Ann was the Commanding Officer for the next three years, while Cliff guided the band. He did this until 2001 when he became inactive. The squadron began with 50 cadets. By the third week there were 62. Cliff told me that in the early years the squadron had a great parents committee.
Who are these people? One night recently I paid a visit to their home and spent a wonderful couple of hours finding out.
Ann grew up in Wales and was in the Women's Royal Air Force of Britain. She was in the air traffic control division. She was the Welsh back crawl champion in swimming and represented the country in many meets. She made it to the Helsinki Olympics in 1960 in the hundred metres. She told me that she didn't pass the first heat. My reply was that most people don't even make it into the water. Her hobbies are reading, writing and embroidery.
Cliff was in the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry for 32 years. He served in Italy and Sicily in the Second World War and in Korea. He worked in logistics. He is a qualified diver. Cliff told me that somehow he has a certificate that says he was in the First World War, although he wasn't born until eight years after it ended. His hobbies over the years have been dog sledding, skydiving and woodworking.
The Johnsons have been together since 1982 and it is evident that they are still very much in love, enjoying each other's company with long chats on their deck in the summer time. Thanks Cliff and Ann, for you contributions to our community.
Dance performances
For a small community Grand Valley offers a good variety of activities for its residents to pursue. One of these is the opportunity to learn how to do a number of different dance forms. Lori Gray-Bogler has operated the Grand Valley Dance Company for nine years now. During that time she has taught many young people and not so young people to do these dances. Among the kinds of dances she has taught are jazz, ballet, hip-hop, acrobatic, tap, musical theatre and modern.
The students of the Grand Valley Dance Company are going to show their stuff at the Centre 2000 Theatre in Erin at 7 p.m. on May 9 and 1 p.m. on May 10. It's a good opportunity to see big talent from a little town. We are fortunate to have someone like Lori in the Valley.
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