The RMC Club Gift Shop continues to have year long specials and bargains!  Items ordered Online from the gift shop can be shipped to your front door at a very reasonable S&H charge.   It's as easy as visiting our web site, selecting some gift items, and placing your order! The Club Gift Shop has numerous gift ideas; a lovely new throw, winter clothing, children's clothing, framed prints, just to name a few.  Check out some of our items at http://www.rmcclub.ca/www/kitshop/kitshop_e.html  or call Mary Darlington or Nathalie Jean on the toll free number 1-888 386-3762.

Boutique!

La boutique du Club des CMR offre des prix réduits à l’année longue!  Les articles commandés en ligne peuvent être expédiés à votre porte moyennant des frais de livraison raisonnables.  Vous n’avez qu’à visiter notre site Web, choisir des articles et commander!  La boutique offre un éventail d’articles entre autre un nouveau jeté, des vêtements d’hiver, des vêtements pour enfants, des gravures encadrées, etc..  Vous pouvez examiner nos articles au http://www.rmcclub.ca/www/kitshop/kitshop_e.html ou téléphonez à Mary Darlington ou à Nathalie Jean au numéro sans frais : 1-888-386-3762.

Veritas magazine has earned a well deserved reputation over the past few years as a first class journal which keeps members and friends of RMC connected with happenings going on within the Club and interesting articles on the life & times of Ex cadets & current cadets. Currently, we are also striving to attain this level of excellence with the Club web site and the e-Veritas

We greatly appreciate the support of our ever growing list of business partners. To ensure we can move to this next level of excellence - readers are urged in assisting us to obtain more Ads and secure more partners.

If you or somebody you know is in a position to place an ad in: a) the main Veritas magazine b) and / or this electronic version c) and / or the Web site contact Peter Dawe or Bill Oliver.  Rates vary based on local, regional & national exposure (size of the ad, frequency, placement in the magazine / newsletter etc.)

A list of the RMC Club partners may be found:
http://www.rmcclub.ca/www/sponsor/partners_e.html  

 Some of our Partners Include

  UP

What's happening around the College?

By CAS 23241

The Cadets have returned to begin a new semester after an unprecedented three weeks of Christmas leave (more for the artsmen of course).  The new bar slate took effect on Monday, replacing the old barmen with a fresh list of people excited to take over their new posts.  As well, all received their first semester marks both good and otherwise.  More importantly though, everyone is looking ahead to plans for Spring Break!    There is a contingent travelling the France on a Battlefield Tour of the sites and cemeteries of the First and Second World War, others are travelling with the College to Holland on a cultural tour, while most travellers will be headed to the warmer climes of the southern United States and the Caribbean.  For the graduating class, preparations are in full swing, tunics and Mess Kit are being tailored, grad rings are arriving, grad photos are being taken, and the countdown grows ever closer (127 days).  If all goes well, the entire Graduating Class will be successful in marching back out through the Arch as they marched in September 2001.

Varsity Sports:  All the teams will swing back into action by this weekend.  The hockey team will be competing in the annual Carr / Harris series on Saturday 22 Jan at Constantine – 2PM.  This will be the first meeting between RMC and their cross-town rivals from Queens University this season.

The full schedule, results and standings of all seven RMC varsity teams may be found at www.oua.ca  just follow along the menu of (Sports).   Check out a game in your area.  Also, part of our new look web site – which will be available soon - will have its own sports section.

RMC Cadets to compete in military skills competition at West Point – in April.

RMC will enter one 9-member team in the 2005 Sandhurst Competition to take place at the U.S.Military Academy (USMA) in West Point, N.Y. on Sat., April 30. The two-hour time limit skills competition includes equipment inspection, boat movement, marksmanship, grenade throwing, river crossing, wall obstacle, rappelling and other challenging tasks.

Team Captain is Officer Cadet Reid Surkan.  Names and details of the rest of the team will be the subject of future articles in e-Veritas and the regular Veritas magazine. .  

Last year, RMC's member team of OCdts completed the competition with 951 points, out of a maximum score of 1,000 - just 3 points behind the winning British team. Canada competed against 45 teams from the U.S. and U.K. In 2003, the team also finished second, receiving the trophy for the best marksmanship score.

  UP

National pride fuels international competition south of the border 

Readers will be thrilled to know that the annual hockey competition between officer cadets of the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) and their American counterparts from the United States Military Academy (USMA) will take place, Feb. 5, in West Point, N.Y. This traditional and unique exchange between the two military universities, which began in 1923, is the longest-standing annual hockey competition in the world and will continue with its 74th game.

The RMC Paladins and the USMA Black Knights hockey game is the highlight of a weekend full of athletic competition and social gatherings aimed at fostering the ties of friendship between the future Canadian and American military officers.

The time-honoured rivalry between the two institutions began in 1923 after Lt.-Gen. Sir Archibald Macdonell, then Commandant of RMC, and Brig.-Gen. Douglas A. MacArthur, then Superintendent of USMA, agreed the cadets of the two institutions would benefit from meeting each other in an annual sports event.

Other weekend events include a band workshop, in addition to Taekwondo, rifle, pistol, and debating competitions.

Officer Cadet, 7301 E.H.C. (Earle) Morris marched “in” through the Royal Military College of Canada Memorial Arch in 1963 and marched “out” in 1967.  The Commandant at RMC for this time period was none other than - A/C L.J. (“Birch”) Birchall, OBE, DFC, CD, ADC

From most accounts Earle Morris was a pretty ordinary cadet in a class that had more than its share of outstanding “future leaders”.  He left RMC as the CSSO for 4 Squadron - determined to have a career in physical education and recreation (PE&R). In the early years he distinguished himself as one of the truly outstanding athletes in the Canadian Forces. He won the CF Curling nationals as a skip three years in a row out of Chatham (1968-70). Captured three national fastball titles and played a dominating role as both a pitcher and an excellent hitting short stop: Chatham; Uplands; & Ottawa (1970, 71 & 73) including the MVP award in 1970.   He was inducted into the CF Sports Honour Roll in 1995.

Following the 1974 ball season he changed his focus to mainly three areas:  family; competitive curling; and his day job – in that order. 

Earle achieved his goal and became the first RMC graduate to serve in the Canadian Forces P.E. & Recreation Branch. Hi-lights of his 25 years in this MOC included: secondment to the 1976 Montreal Olympics, stints as Director of Athletics at CMR Saint-Jean (‘80-‘83) and a key player in the establishment of the CF EXPRES for Physical Fitness.  He was also a very popular & successful BPERO at both Chatham and Ottawa.  In particular, intersection and base team athletes (men & women) really appreciated his leadership in their programs.  

During this time he nurtured his love affair with curling, the sport he had grown up with in Saskatchewan. He became the only curler in the World to play in the Brier (Canadian Men’s Curling Championships) representing 3 different provinces – Manitoba in ‘80, Quebec in ‘82 and Ontario in ’85. “It’s thanks to the military constantly moving me around that I got that opportunity” says Morris with his trademark smile.  He also worked at Sport Canada in the mid 80s as the General Manager of the Canadian Curling Association. 

He has remained active in curling all of his life and was Chairman of the Canadian Juniors in Ottawa in 2003. He also is the inventor of the Stabilizer – the curling sliding device that is used by Canadians Colleen Jones and David Nedohin both of whom are world champions and 2002 Olympic Curling Champion Paal Trulsen of Norway.  His product sells in 9 countries world - wide.

Earle coached Little League Baseball for a number of years in the Ottawa area and his teams have captured provincial titles and have competed at the Canadian championship level. But this ’67 RMC grad is probably best known in recent times as a curling coach.  During the 1990 /91 curling season, he commuted from Ottawa to help the RMC Men’s Team win the only OUAA Team Championship dating over three decades. He also conducted a number of curling skills’ clinics at the college for a number of years.  In 1998, he coached his son John Morris who went on to win the World Junior Curling Championships. John also won the World Juniors in 1999 and was runner-up in the Brier in 2002.  This season, Earle will be coaching the Australian National Men’s Team at the Worlds Championships in Victoria, B.C. in April.

Earle, well done – “Birch” would be proud.

WJO

Trivia.  

Name at least four RMC graduates other than Earle Morris who followed in his foot steps and went on to become PE & R officers in the Canadian Forces?  Answer below in Extra Innings.

What others have said about 7301 Earle Morris

“Of all the nice people involved in curling, Earle ranks up there as one of the nicest. He could sit across the table and talk about himself and his many accomplishments -- including the fact that he's the only curler to represent three different provinces at the Brier (Manitoba, '80; Quebec, '82; Ontario, '85), but he'd prefer to talk about his family and the event unfolding in front of us.”

Dave Gross – Ottawa Sun (Feb 4 2003) describing Earle Morris in his role as 2003 Chairman  of the Karcher Junior Canadian curling championships held in Ottawa. 

“Earle and I quickly became best of friends when we entered RMC some 40+ years ago and I am proud to say that friendship lasts ‘til this day.  We both live in Ottawa now and enjoy our frequent get-togethers with the same energy, enthusiasm and humour as we did at the outset. 

Earle has accomplished remarkable things over the years.  He is an all-round athlete and sportsman, probably best known countrywide for his never-ending accomplishments on the curling rink. He married a beautiful lady and together they brought up three great kids who have each gone on to accomplish extraordinary things in their own right.  Ever the entrepreneur, Earle, after a long and dedicated career in National Defence, has recently built a highly successful and world-renowned curling equipment supply company.

Perhaps his singular exceptional talent throughout his life has been the unwavering ability to be honest, kind and caring with everyone he meets. You can’t go into a restaurant, curling club, baseball park or other public place in Ottawa -- or across the country -- without someone recognizing Earle and vying for a few minutes of his time.  And Earle, who has great balance in his life, always seems to have those few minutes to offer.” 

7264 Ross Betts – RMC Class of 1967

  UP

We are very appreciative for the tremendous amount of feedback we have received for our efforts with this electronic newsletter. We will do our best to implement many of your suggestions for future articles. We realize that we still have a very long way to go in improving the format and providing articles that are relevant to all the readers. Distribution has been a challenge!  Our aim is to have a fresh Newsletter posted on the Club Web site each Friday before noon.  So, if you don’t receive your “weekly reminder” by e-mail just log on to this site each Friday.

 We can’t mention it often enough because Ads and business partnerships are the lifeline on the quality of our communication. To sustain a high quality product requires $$$$$.  If you’re in a position to do so please contact us in this regard.  Local – Regional – National rates can be negotiated.

On a final note, the Earle Morris article was a labour of love for us.  We go back with Earle to shortly after his RMC days. We would like to publish more articles like this one.  But we need your help! Many of you are aware of people like him who are either an Ex Cadet or have a connection with RMC – who have done well and have made a mark in society. We shouldn’t have to wait to “copy & paste” a story from the front page of a major newspaper before we write about them. Or even worse only hear about their great deeds in the obituary section of the Veritas magazine.  So, please keep us busy by submitting some original human interest stories.

Manches supplémentaires

Nous apprécions les commentaires que nous avons reçus.  La diffusion est notre plus grand défi! Nous projetons afficher un nouveau bulletin, sur le site Web, tous les vendredis vers midi mais si vous ne recevez pas  par courriel votre « rappel hebdomadaire » veuillez vous connecter avec ce site tous les vendredis.

Vous connaissez sans doute des Anciens et des personnes qui ont ou qui ont eu des affiliations avec le RMC/CMR.  Nous aimerions recevoir des articles sur ces personnes qui seraient d’intérêt à nos lecteurs, trop souvent nous devenons conscients de leurs exploits et de leurs succès lorsque nous lisons les nécrologies dans Veritas.  Vos articles en français ou en anglais seraient grandement appréciés.

Trivia answer: 7693 Mal Scott; 8092 Ken Benoit; 9370 Al Kimick; & 9699 Chris (CC) Ouimet.  Did we miss anyone? 

"Many Hands - make the burden light".   « L’aide de plusieurs rend la tâche facile »