Regimental Ball

Manny Everett
Times Contributor

 

Since they came west in 1874, the RCMP have been welcomed into each of the communities they serve, and the April 18 Regimental Ball at the Gleichen and District Community Hall was a chance for the Gleichen RCMP Detachment to express their thanks for that welcome.
“This is a chance to say thank-you for all the support the communities give,” said Gleichen RCMP Staff Sergeant James McLaren. “We couldn’t do our job without it.”
The feeling is mutual.
“We have a very positive relationship with the RCMP and we want to continue to build on it with them,” said Siksika Chief Vincent Yellow Old Woman.
The hall was filled with over 120 people from the three communities the detachment serves – Wheatland County, the Siksika Nation and Vulcan County – for an evening of dining, dancing and fundraising.
RCMP Superintendent Tony Hamori, who oversees RCMP operations in Alberta from Olds to the U.S. border, said “Most detachments hold a ball every other year, as a fundraiser, usually for the local victim services group, as they are key to the work we do.”
Strathmore Victim Services Society, and with the Gleichen Community Hall were the beneficiaries of the evening’s fundraising effort.
In his remarks to the gathering, McLaren noted that when the first North West Mounted Police members marched west in 1874, they left family and friends at home to answer the call to service.
“Today the same thing happens as members leave home to be posted across the country, as well as each time the phone rings and they walk out the door,” he said.
But this affects more than just the members.
“Being in the RCMP is a calling, that at times is cold and hard on our families,” said McLaren.
Addressing the families of the members McLaren said “I will do everything in my power to keep your loved ones safe.”
Since the 1880’s the RCMP have had a presence in the Gleichen area. Today there are 21 members and four support staff at the Gleichen detachment.
McLaren, who is in the final months of his posting to Gleichen, spoke highly of the detachment and the communities it serves. “This is my ninth post in 22 years of service and it has been one of my favourites,” he said.