In many ancient civilizations, March was regarded as the time of change, new beginnings and the start of the New Year. Before we move forward to look at what is coming, lets take a look back at what the Regimental Family has been up to during the dreary months of Jan and February
The Primrose Hackle 2023 -2024 Edition
After a long wait, the new edition of the Primrose Hackle has been released.
Editor Cpl Darren Kowlessar and his PR team finally managed to assemble stories from across the Regiment, Cadet Corps and from individuals describing what the Regimental Family has done along with stories of service and from Regimental History.
This year’s edition is available on-line and in hard copy. To get your copy, you will have to go to www.lornescots/ca., click on News in the drop-down list, and open the article on the Primrose Hackle.
To get your printable copy, a donation is kindly requested. The money raised will be used in support of the Museum and other historical initiatives.
According to the Editor, this has already raised $1,000! Thank you to the generosity of all who have donated so far.
To the entire Regimental Family, start working on your stories for next year, because the 2025 edition deadline will soon be approaching.
Lorne Scots on Ice
Skate Canada is the oldest figure skating body in North America. With over 200,000 members in 1000 clubs and schools across the country, it sets competition standards, trains and qualifies coaches and works to develop figure skating.
Skate Canada has developed a new national competition for Pre-Novice and Novice level skaters, the Skate Canada Trophy.
Cadet Sergeant Subham Panchal of 676 Cadet Corps in Georgetown was one of the competitors at this year’s event in Edmonton.
Skating in the Pre-Novice level, Sgt Panchal and his partner Miss Cate Goode were required to perform a tango, waltz and free dance in the final on 09 February. After all the ice chips and snow sprays settled, Sgt Panchal and his partner achieved 4th place among the 17 pairs in their group.
Well done and congratulations to you both and best wishes for your future success in the sport.
Sgt Panchal wasn’t the only member of the Regimental Family to take to the ice in February. Sergeant Adam Phelps, an avid member of the Wild Boars Hockey team, once again took the lead in organising the 2nd Annual Wild Boars Food Drive.
Family Day saw past and present members gather for a spirited game of hockey followed by an hour of free family skating. A food drive was also part of the afternoon to benefit a local food bank
The Old Guard team is in green, the New Guard is in white below. The Old Guard won 7-5, showing that age and guile will beat youth and enthusiasm.
If any of our readers have pictures from the skate that you would like to share, please contact media@lornscots.ca
Family and Peer Support Training
In January, Major (Ret’d) Paul Hale successfully facilitated the last of three workshops in Family and Peer Support Training. Compassionate Listening was an on-line workshop dedicated to teaching how to listen and not judge someone.
The numbers attending did increase through the course of the workshops, but they were disappointingly small considering the number of both serving members and the wider regimental family.
Paul has formed a Mental Health Committee to help continue the work of educating individuals about mental health and peer support in the Regimental Family. The increasing number of members of the Regiment who will be deploying to Latvia in 2025 and 2026 will make this an area of greater concern for both the Regiment and families.
The committee is still looking for the spouse of a veteran to join the committee and provide wider insight into the needs of families dealing with mental health and support issues. If you are interested in joining the committee, contact Paul Hale at paulhale3vp@yahoo.ca
Burns Night
To many in the Regimental Family, January means the Pipes and Drums Robbie Burns Night. This year’s event was quite successful with over 200 guests enjoying a great roast beef dinner and dancing the night away to the Pipes and Drums and a DJ.
But have you considered how much work goes into putting the event together. One of the biggest jobs in outreach to increase awareness (hopefully leading to more ticket sales).
Pipe Major Jeremy Federico was one of the leaders in this area. His efforts included doing an address to the haggis for the Brampton Rotary Club a couple of days before the Pipes and Drums event.
A “ Rustic, haggis fed,” indeed!
From the Fusiliers
For those who have visited Bury, some good news was recently released about the Fusilier Museum. The Museum has been approved to receive a large grant from the Museum Estate and Development Fund of the Arts Council England
Col Brian Gorski, the Chair of the Museum commented
“We are delighted to hear the news that we have been approved for a MEND 4 grant of just over £81,000 following our application last year. This award follows the award for MEND 2 during which serious issues were discovered in the chimney. The work will ensure further conservation of a much-loved Grade 2 listed building in which the collection of the Lancashire Fusiliers and Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is housed.”
The grant will allow for repairs to the roof and chimney to stop water getting into the Museum elevator shaft.
The Museum is located just a short walk away from the Two Tubs pub and Castle Drill Hall of fond memory.
A piece of our history comes home
Colonel Louis Keene. Love him or hate him?
Many pre- Second World War Lorne Scots thought that his rush to accept the task of No 1 Infantry Base Depot in order to get overseas early in the war kept the battalion from getting a task as a fighting unit.
On the positive side, he was a very good artist and did collect a lot of information about the various units in Halton County that became part of the Lorne Scots.
The Museum has now acquired a telescope owned by Colonel Keene. The telescope was made by Dolland, one of the premier optical instrument makers in London and is complete with tripod and packing case. The case is beautifully lettered Col. Louis Keene Lorne Scots.
The telescope is coming from Calgary and will be a great addition to the collection.
Photographs courtesy of Mr. John Cumming, Crown Surplus, Calgary
If you are interested in Regimental history and have time to spare, the Museum can use your help. Mr. Ryan Goldsworthy, our Director of Collections has started a project to verify the Museum collection, increase outreach and grow the Museum. Call the Museum on Wed or Thurs between 12:00 and 4:00 or contact museum@lornescots.ca
Coming Events
Sat 12 Apr - The 7th Annual Brampton Run for Veterans
Sun 27 Apr – Association Annual General Meeting
Notice – 2025 is the Association Election year
2025 is an election year for the Association Executive.
If you aren’t happy with the way things have been run in the past, or want to see new things added or changed, this will be your chance to step up and get involved.
Think about standing for a position or convincing someone you think would be a good fit to stand for election to the Executive.
The Association is for the benefit of all members, not just ex CO’s and RSM’s. Bringing new faces and ideas into the leadership is vital to ensuring that the Executive is in touch with the whole membership, not just their peer group.
Think about who you want to see running the Association next year.
How to contribute to the Newsletter
If you have a story about an upcoming event, want to pass on how an event went or something that may be of interest to the Regimental Family, please send a short write-up (100 – 150 words or so) with one or two good quality pictures to the President at president@lornescots.com
Please ensure that all people in any submitted pictures have agreed to have their images posted. The Association will assume that such permissions have been acquired before the picture was submitted.
The Association reserves the right to vet all submissions for appropriateness before posting. Items may not be deemed suitable for posting due to inappropriate language or content. Items submitted will reviewed for factual accuracy and may be edited for length.
Any mistakes which may occur are entirely accidental and no malice or harm is ever intended.
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