THE FORTYNINER - Alberta Genealogy Research "The Recents"

The Forty-Niner
Members of A Company LER in front of the new Armories1953. Capt. Bernie Ackerman and CSM Bert Moore (centre front) Photo
LER Archives. (Capt Henry)
emphasis was placed on the need for civil disaster
preparation. Flood , fires, and other natural disasters
were taken very seriously. The threat of nuclear
war was taken most gravely. The need for rural
reserve units to respond to the aid of major cities
to assist the civilian population was clearly spelled
out in the local newspaper articles. This was part
of the National Survival Program and Diefenbaker’s
Army. This time frame would later be called the
“Snakes and Ladders” period in the history of the
Canadian Military.
54
The town of Vermilion, like many towns, formed
a Civil Defense Committee. The new Armouries
was the social centre of Vermilion for many years.
Numerous weddings and one funeral were held in
the building. Annual military balls were held by A
Company and Vimy night dinners and dances were
hosted by the Royal Canadian Legion in the Armouries.
On more that one occasion, the P.P.C.L.I. band
played for these balls. In honour of the Queen’s coronation
on June 2, 1953, a pyrotechnic night-time
display was conducted by the LER in Vermilion. On
October 16, 1953, the Vermilion Standard reported
that a bingo was held in the building as a fund
raiser for the Company and that 840 people attended.
Originally, I thought that the number (840)
was an error. However, I checked records and that
number was accurate. The Army Cadet Corps of the
LER was formed in October 1959 in Vermilion. This
Corps has always enjoyed a close and beneficial
relationship with the LER.
n 1968, the Armouries was purchased from the
Dept. of National Defense by the town of Vermilion
for one dollar ($1). The building had been closed
for two years after the departure of A Company.
(Many Western Canadian rural militia units were
closed at this time.) During the two years that the
building was closed, the Cadet Corps would parade
in the old wooden hockey rink affectionately called
the “Ice Palace.” From 1968 to 1993, the town of