Our meetings are held at the Royal Canadian Legion Br. #263 at 1025 Ridgeway in Coquitlam -- 8pm. For the Coquitlam-challenged that would be one block North of Austin and one block East of Blue Mountain.

Report on the St. Patrick's Day Parade

A good time had by all at the St. Patrick's Day parade, and Western Command fielded 8 vehicles (and at one point we were told to bunch up by the parade marshal who figured it was looking a bit too much like an old Soviet 'May Day' parade!) The crowd was huge - a record, I think - and the only quasi-negative comment I heard was from a stereotypical West End granola muncher with her "ewww...why is the Army here?" - despite the fact Club banners were a-flyin' and many people were wearing club t-shirts. So much for her powers of observation.

There was a *bit* of confusion at the start, as though we were supposed to be 4th in the sequence, we'd somehow arbitrarily been pushed back considerably. Club President Ian Newby went to have a talk with some folks and we moved up a few more notches, but I still don't know what position we eventually wound up occupying.

After the parade we were allowed through roadblocks by the Vancouver Police Auxiliaries and straight into the parking-lot of Doolins Irish Pub where they had - God bless 'em - cordoned off just enough parking spots for us. Inside, despite the fact it was busy, our table awaited, and we all sat down to some fine food, ale and company. It really was great. Some of us stayed in the place for nearly five hours so you can bet there were some healthy tips to encourage them all to do it again next year.

This year's participation: Cary Price in hs M43CDN Ambulance; John Hawthorne in his1974 M151A2CDN Jeep; Glen Baird in an M715 5/4 ton troop truck; Ian and

Doreen Newby in a 1985 CDN Iltis Front Line Ambulance; Bob Sutherland and Sandy Carroll in a 1985 AM General M998 HMMWV (Humvee); Don Robson and his girlfriend, Fred Robson and Alf Alfeld in Don's 1952 M38CDN Jeep; Walde Libera and Bruce in Walde's M37CDN 3/4 Ton Troop Truck, and Harry Moon in his WWII Canadian Cab 13 15cwt CMP. If I've left anyone out please spank me later, or remind me to take notes *before* a few pints of Guinness instead :)

First of all, I'd like to join the rest of Western Command in welcoming back long term MVPA and Western Command member Colin Stevens who returns as a member and our newsletter editor after a long hiatus. The first edition of the new newsletter has been printed and will be available on the "Newsletters" page shortly if you've not already received it in your mailbox. Those on electronic delivery should've already received it, but if not, please let me know via the Webmaster's email address on the 'Contact Us' page and I'll try and get it sorted.

.I will soon add a permanent link button to the menu on the left of this page, but for now you can click the heading above to go straight to the photo section on the photo-sharing site Flickr, or click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/westerncommand and add it to your bookmarks. If you know how to use Flickr and want to be able to upload your own event pictures into an event-specific folder, just email me at the address on the 'Contact Us' page and I'll hook you up with the access information. Ideally we'd appoint someone to take care of the photo section as I don't have the time to process all the pictures people send me, but failing that I'll do what I can when I can. At the moment all the recent Freedom Route pictures are up, along with a short iPhone video I shot during the parade in Penticton. See 'Recent Events' below for a link to pictures of the Engineers 100th Anniversary which recently took place.

Secondly, I'd like to apologize for the complete lack of updates and new material here on the Club website. There are a number of different reasons why it hasn't been updated in a long time - with the most recent irritant being that I have to learn how to do things all over again thanks to the removal of many of the tools I've used over the years from the design program thanks to updates/revisions to Internet Explorer and the general industry retreat from the use of Adobe/ Macromedia 'Flash', of which this site (and thousands of others) use a fair bit. This means I will have to revise and revamp a number of things as I get time to bring the site design in line with global browsing changes. I personally feel the most important aspect of the site with respect to the Western Command membership is info on 'Upcoming Events', so I will endeavor to stay on top of that as much as I can.

We have *two* different events in May on Vancouver Island this year, so come out and be a support group for our Vancouver Island brethren also suffering from the incurable Green Disease ;) Both on the Victoria Day May long weekend (May 18-21st, 2012)

The first event is the traditional Fort Rodd Hill Living History Military Encampment which many members of Western Command never miss. For those who've never been before, there are period displays, re-enactments, demonstrations etc. by both Parks Canada personnel and various collectors and living history groups portraying life at the fort from 1878-1956. As this is a 'living history' event, displays and impressions must be confined to those entities which would reasonably have been at the fort during the period it was active, starting with the Royal Engineers and finishing up with the departure of the Coast Artillery when the branch was declared obsolete in 1956. I'll post the requirements/ details/ timings as I get them, but in the interim probably best to contact WCMVHS member Harry Moon for further information (hmoon AT telus-dot-net.)

The second event is a new one at Victoria Heritage Park, also occurring on the May long weekend. All vehicles of all eras welcome. I'm still waiting on further information from the Island folks organizing it, but in the meantime you could contact Don Gordon and Katrinka at happychicks-AT-shaw-dot-ca. I will post more details as we get closer to the event, and/or members pass them on.

Hey, isn't everybody? Search for Western Command and join us on Facebook for event information, pics, general chat and just plain fun! Social media works for you even if you're driving something with a machine gun mounted on it...perhaps even better that way!

Dale Mumford, the man most of us know as the face behind all things Parks Canada - Fort Rodd Hill - recently passed away after a bout with cancer. Whenver I attended the Fort Rodd Hill events in the past, I'd always found Dale quiet-spoken, friendly, and above all enthusiastic about his job, the Fort, and the mission of Parks Canada in preserving places like FRH for future generations. Godspeed, Dale.

Western Command member Bruce MacMillan said his farewells at the most recent meeting as he and his wife depart for a life of retirement in Kent, England. Bruce is a fellow 'radio nut' (a long-time volunteer at S.P.A.R.C. antique radio museum) and will doubtless continue to have fun in the land of Pye and Plessey and Racal and bombs and goddesses :) I love England and his new digs aren't far away from where I stay when I'm over there, so hopefully the next time I'm out that way I can drop by and see what he's cluttered his basement up with on *that* side of The Pond.