Issue 001/2005

  Numéro 001/2005




Featured Partner

In This Issue



Featured Partner

What's New at the RMC Club?
Quoi de nouveau au Club des CMR?

e-VERITAS is in transition.  Also, The Club Web site is currently being overhauled and will have an entire new look later in January. In the meantime, we will do our best to keep our members connected with news on or about RMC; and on or about our members / friends of the RMC Club of Canada.

e-VERITAS est en transition.  De plus, le site Web du Club subit présentement une restructuration et aura un nouvel aspect plus tard en janvier.  Entre temps, nous nous efforcerons de faire parvenir à nos membres les nouvelles sur ou au sujet du CMR; et sur ou au sujet de nos membres/amis du Club des CMR du Canada.


 

Keri Kettle, departing Panet House for greener pastures  . . .

Keri Kettle has been with the RMC Club for the best part of a year. He is in the process of cleaning out his desk and moving on to new professional career challenges.   In the short time, that he has been with us - he has made quite a mark at the college; within the Club; and around hockey circles. Many of you will recognize his name as the driving force behind e-VERITAS which now has a  circulation of over 5,000. He has also been instrumental in negotiating a number of successful business partnerships for the Club.

He has shown a real passion in attracting hockey players for RMC. The current edition of the varsity team is loaded with Keri Kettle "nuggets". Much of the team's success this season can be attributed to him and the players he has attracted to the team.

Keri is a highly professional, goal oriented individual who also embraces warm, sensitive, interpersonal skills. He is not afraid of work, and has the knack to determine whether or not the particular individual or business deal will be a good fit for RMC or the Club. He can tactfully get to know the strengths and weaknesses of a potential recruit and a business opportunity in a hurry.

From the rest of the "gang" at Panet House - we all wish Keri every success in the future. His plans are to remain in the Kingston area until the end of the hockey play-offs and the current CF recruiting cycle.

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Club Membership Info
 
Need to renew / purchase your membership?  Go to http://www.rmcclub.ca/www/club/join_e.html and sign-up on-line!  Memberships will also be taken over the phone (1-888 386-3762- please have your credit card handy!)

Voulez-vous renouveler/acheter votre carte de membre?  Visitez http://www.rmcclub.ca/www/club/join_e.html et inscrivez vous en ligne!  Les adhésions peuvent aussi se faire par téléphone au (1-888-386-3762 – veuillez avoir votre carte de crédit à la portée!).

Gift Shop Ideas!

Christmas has come and gone but the RMC Cl
ub Gift Shop has year long specials and bargains!  Remember you can order items from the gift shop and have them mailed to your front door?  It's as easy as visiting our website, 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
 Join the RMC Club /  Partners Team.

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

 

Ads are the lifeline on the quality of our communication.

Pourquoi ne pas devenir l'un de nos partenaires?

Nous sommes à la recherche de nouveaux partenaires d'affaires!  Pour: la revue VERITAS, le site Web et e-Veritas.  La majorité des diplômés des CMR ont un lien spécial avec le Collège et sont maintenant en position dans le monde des affaires pour former des ententes qui avantageraient leurs intérêts et ceux du Club.

Diverses options sont disponibles, si vous êtes intéressés veuillez communiquer avec Bill Oliver ou le Directeur exécutif, Peter Dawe pour de plus amples renseignements.
 
La liste des partenaires du Club des CMR est disponible au:
http://www.rmcclub.ca/www/sponsor/partners_e.html

 Some of our Partners Include

Ken Benoit
Served 1965 – To present

Elected to the Canadian Forces Sports Hall of Fame for outstanding achievement in Multi-sports

Congratulations to 8092 Ken Benoit for his recent selection and induction to the Canadian Forces Hall of Fame.  Ken is only the sixth Ex cadet to receive this honour since it was first established in 1971.

The CF Sports Hall of Fame was established to recognize serving and former members of the CF who brought fame to themselves and honour to Canada and the CF through their participation in sports.


10929  John Czich (1980)
 


15936 Mike Ashcroft (1987)
 


17324  Sharon Donnelly (1999)
 


6676    Jerry Presley (2001)
 


19791  Nathalie Birgentzlen Lund (2003)

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What's happening around the College?

Long time RMC Physiotherapist – Steve Lawless - Departs RMC

Steve Lawless, RMC Head Athletic Physiotherapist for over 20 years has resigned his position effective December 24, 2004.

This is a tremendous loss for the college. All current and ex cadets who had the occasion to be treated and / or attended by Steve will attest that he was extremely committed and dedicated to RMC, in general and the varsity athletics in particular.  
He has decided to spend more time focusing on his physiotherapy clinics in town and on enjoying more free time with his family.

(e-Veritas will have more details on the Steve Lawless departure in a future edition.)

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West Point Exchange Student - A View from James Perkins
Name: James Perkins
Age: 21
Hometown: Bethel, CT
Year: 2006
Major: Triple major – Economics, French and Russian
Intended Branch: Infantry
Intended Post: Ft. Lewis, Washington
Hobbies: Orienteering and adventure racing
Contact: James.Perkins@usma.edu

For the past three months, there have been a few soldiers walking to the beat of a different drum around RMC. The past two years have seen fall semester exchanges with the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), which continued this year with the addition of an exchange with the United States Military Academy (USMA) known as West Point. Cadet (CDT) Gregory Dieterich, i0007, was attached to 10 Squadron and did his best to replace OCdt Brendan Menzies, 23210. Meanwhile, I was embedded with the Stone Frigate Military Academy, while OCdt Joseph Tobin, 23029, was at USMA.
 
The sheer scope of the differences between the academies may be one for the record books. Over the course of the semester I have attempted numerous times to describe cadet life at West Point, and probably failed miserably each time. This article, written at the request of one of my many new, Canadian friends, is an attempt to better illustrate some of the differences and to get a larger audience to hear, for once, what it is actually like. And, to begin, anyone who saw the CBS/48 Hours documentary on socialization at West Point should pay the most attention because that is not what West Point is like anymore; the video dates from when our major enemy was the USSR.

Cadet life starts, for all cadets, on Reception Day. Around July 1 of each year, 1200-1300 high school graduates show up, with crying parents in tow, and begin the 47-month experience. The next seven weeks are unlike anything I have been described in the CF. New Cadets are transformed from civilians into cadets through a physically demanding and psychologically stressful training process called Cadet Basic Training or Beast. They learn to be soldiers: fire a rifle, wear a uniform, march, and do lots of PT.
 
When the finish they are accepted in the Corps of Cadets, but still have no privileges. No civilian clothes, 1 weekend pass a semester; when outside their room, they must walk at 120 steps per minute with their head and eyes straight forward, no talking unless addressed by an upperclassman. After Plebe year, life gets a little better. 2nd years don’t have to meet such strict standards, but they don’t have many privileges either. They have 2 weekend passes per semester, and can leave during the day on Saturday. Nobody can leave during the week except for 4th years; we actually need that time to study. Everyone lives in the barracks, and everyone has a roommate. No, people don’t stab C7’s into the stage anymore. No, we don’t decorate our rooms with sandbags and cammo nets. Yes, we do get real college degrees, and yes we have a full day of classes. The town outside West Point is 1/50th the size of Kingston, and it’s a mile walk from the barracks.
 
Greg and I have had a great time here this semester and want to thank all of you who helped to make it that way. It will be tough to go back, but even tougher to leave you. Come visit whenever you can; it may not sound like fun, but you’ll have two cadets happy to host you.

James Perkins

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2004 – Great accomplishments by the RMC basketball team!

 • IV Year, Kevin Dulude got the 850th rebound of his intercollegiate career in January to become the all-time leader in Ontario University Athletics. The East Division’s player of the year led his team to a record 14 regular-season victories and a playoff berth. In November, he scored 28 points against Ryerson to become the OUA’s career leading scorer as well.

 • Craig Norman was named Canadian university basketball coach of the year before moving to Montreal to be head coach at McGill
Where are they now? What are they doing?
From time to time, E-Veritas will focus on an Ex cadet; former staff member; and / or a friend of the college. Articles will be reproduced in the language received and in most cases not translated.  We invite readers to submit articles in the language of their choice.

Où sont-ils?  Que font-ils?
De temps à autre, e-Veritas mettra en vedette un Ancien, un membre du personnel d'autrefois et ou un ami du Collège.  Ces articles seront reproduits dans le langage reçu et rarement traduits.  Nous invitons nos lecteurs à soumettre des articles dans la langue de leur choix.

Sharon Donnelly: The marks of a warrior, the will of a champion

By Patrick Kennedy
Whig Standard - Saturday, December 18, 2004

The oversized coin, still among the smaller pieces of bric-a-brac inside the tastefully cluttered corner cabinet, is no less eye-catching. The shimmering silver colour helps, as does, upon closer inspection, the familiar symbol engraved near the bottom, the five interlocking rings of an Olympiad.

Alas, it’s but a ceremonial coin presented to all athletes at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and clearly not the kind Sharon Donnelly dreamed of winning in the months and minutes before the inaugural women’s triathlon four years ago.

And here’s a doozy of a sports oddity: The shiny medallion serves at once as a lasting reminder of both the high and low moments from Donnelly’s exemplary career.

“Isn’t that sick!” she exclaims on the rarity. “But it’s true – my best and worst moments, both from the same event.”

She bursts out laughing.

“Pumpkin” – the nickname she acquired and left behind in childhood – is now 37 going on 28, her age belied by a youthful appearance and a perpetuating cheerfulness.

The body? Ahh, that’s a different story. The body is a 1967 model no matter how you look at it. Assorted nicks and numb spots serve as mementoes of mishaps from old. A surgical scar less than a year old snakes down from the left shoulder. In some areas, new layers of skin have long ago replaced old ones grated away in nasty collisions with pavement.

All of which means this: If you are an elite triathlete gunning for a berth on the 2008 Canadian Olympic team, 37 turns into 40 mighty fast and all of a sudden top-tier triathlon doesn’t quite have the same appeal.

“I really would have liked to compete in 2005 and maybe at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, but the next Olympics? I’d be way too old,” she concedes. “Why take the [government] funding and maybe take a spot away from the next person coming up if you’re not seriously looking to qualify [for the Olympics]."

The Scarborough native, lauded by former national team coach Barrie Shepley prior to the Sydney Games as “the most focused triathlete I’ve met, maybe the most focused athlete period,” has always strived to finish what she starts. And after two straight seasons hampered by illness and injury, and time marching on, Donnelly was unwilling to commit to another four-year project.

Accordingly, this week’s visit from a reporter finds her two weeks into retirement from the World Cup circuit and one week into her and husband Maj. Dave Rudnicki’s bright, airy new home east of the town, hard by Treasure Island.

“All the races I’ve done, the 40-some World Cups, the many different championship races, the Pan-Am Games, the Commonwealth Games – they all sort of blend in when I look back,” she points out.

“Not the Olympics. I remember every single detail.”

As for the aforementioned commemorative coin and the contrasting images it conjures up, fortunately Donnelly’s best moment ran considerably longer than her worst.

She experienced, first-hand, the delights and drama of participating in one of these renowned carnivals of exercise. The Pan-Am Games gold medal and the three Canadian championships notwithstanding, she treasures mostly the race Down Under that bestowed upon her the enduring title of Olympian.

The worst moment lasted all of four or five seconds, or however long it took for three bikes to pile up at 45 kilometres per hour.

On the second loop of the 40-km bike ride, Donnelly’s carbon-built two-wheeler went down in a heap when two bikes directly in front touched wheels and crashed. She somersaulted over her handlebars and on to the Sydney asphalt, hopes for a place on the podium dashed on the spot.

Bloodied and bruised, she carried her broken bike until a volunteer fetched her a new back wheel.

Undaunted, she completed the triathlon. In her one and only Olympics, Donnelly came home 38th, meaning only 37 others on the face of the earth were faster. Put in perspective, if you’re the world’s 38th-best anything – lawyer, reporter, nurse, carpenter, architect, whatever – you’re walking in high clover.

What many remember is not where she finished but that she finished.

“When we finally came out [after the ill-fated second loop] she was bleeding and banged up from an obvious fall – and still she kept going!” recalls longtime friend Ken Barker, whose Ottawa-based Sirius Consulting Group was Donnelly’s first and longest-serving corporate sponsor. “She was determined to finish in spite of everything that happened.

“That cemented it for us in terms of confirming whether we picked the right athlete to support. The way Sharon dealt with the spill, her sheer will to go on, the way she dealt with the whole ordeal after the race, it was all truly inspiring.

“Sharon has a calm, positive, professional demeanor,” adds Barker, whose company flew the athlete’s husband and mother to Australia for the Games. “She’s well-spoken, sincere and confident – not cocky. The way she competed and carried herself professionally impressed on us that this was the type of athlete we’d be proud to help.”

Local businesses, too, generously supported the top-flight triathlete. Empire Financial Group, Kingston Volkswagen Audi and the law firm

of Nelson Tranmer were instrumental in helping Donnelly fulfil her dream.

“To be an Olympian, one has to live an Olympian’s life each and every day,” lawyer Gary Tranmer said in announcing Donnelly’s withdrawal from World Cup competition. “This means more than athletic excellence. It means taking on a leadership role as a person, volunteer, member of the community, member of the country, a friend, a family member, and living that role at a world-class standard. Sharon ... lives and breathes that Olympic standard every day.”

Retirement from the circuit will afford Donnelly more time for several new challenges such as: part-time phys-ed teacher at St. Lawrence College; part-time coach with the Blue Marlins swim club (as a 17-year-old she narrowly missed making the 1984 Canadian OIympic swim team); member of the executive board at RMC (the couple’s alma mater); race director for the inaugural base-sponsored Limestone Charity Tri (May 29); national spokeswoman for an 11-race women’s triathlon series commencing in 2005; athlete’s representative for Triathlon Canada. And so on.

There’s also the new two-storey home in a treed neighbourhood a stone’s throw from Lake Ontario.

“The house is on our bike route, which was important for both of us, and it’s an easy commute from Dave’s work – eight kilometres, door to door.” A moment passes before a listener realizes she means a motorless commute. “We just have one car. So he can run to work in the morning or run home at night.”

Although no longer competing in World Cup events, Donnelly plans to race triathlons in North America.

One other undertaking is in the works, a plan that, if successful, supersedes all others: motherhood.

“We’re trying,” says Pumpkin, all grown up and ready for new challenges.
 

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Extra Innings

As written earlier, Keri Kettle, the founding editor of e-VERITAS has departed Panet House.  To ensure this service continues for members, we have agreed to accept the challenge of producing it for the near future.  We appreciate your feedback but even more - articles from readers in French or English that we may be able to "copy & paste" would be much appreciated.

Manches supplémentaires

Tel que mentionné ci-dessus, Keri Kettle le rédacteur fondateur de e-Veritas, quitte la Maison Panet. Afin qu’il n’y ait aucune interruption de ce service aux membres, nous avons accepté le défi pour le moment. Nous apprécions vos commentaires, mais encore plus – des articles de nos lecteurs en français ou en anglais qui pourraient être « copier-coller », seraient grandement appréciés

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

S125 Bill & S134 Rolande Oliver

The eVERITAS electronic Newsletter reaches over 5,000 readers . It is a service provided by the RMC Club for Members in good standing with current addresses in the data base.  It is designed to provide timely information on current events at RMC and to keep Members "connected".  Occasionally, it will be distributed to non-members to entice them to join or renew their membership.  Membership information is available at www.rmcclub.ca

Newsworthy articles from national or local papers that may not have been available to the majority of our readers may be reproduced in e-VERITAS.  We will also publish articles in either official language as submitted by Cadets and Staff, on "current life" at RMC.  Other short “human interest stories" about Cadets, Ex-Cadets, Alumni and current and former Staff at the College will appear from time-to-time.  Readers of e-VERITAS are encouraged to submit articles in either official language to william.oliver@rmc.ca.  In particular, up-to-date “Where are they now?” articles on Ex-Cadets, Alumni and current and former Staff would be most welcome.

eVERITAS is intended as a supplement and not a replacement of Veritas, the highly popular magazine of the RMC Club printed and distributed three times a year to Members by mail.


Chaque édition du bulletin électronique e-VERITAS rejoint plus de 5,000 lecteurs.  C’est un service fourni, par le Club des CMR, aux membres dont les adresses sont à jour dans notre base de données.  Son but est de fournir des renseignements à point nommé sur les actualités au CMR et de garder en communication les membres du Club.  Occasionnellement, il sera distribué aux membres qui ne sont plus en règle espérant qu’ils renouvelleront leur carte de membre annuelle ou qu’ils deviendront membres à vie.  Les renseignements sur l’adhésion au Club sont disponibles au www.rmcclub.ca.

Articles d’intérêt national ou local qui ne sont pas disponibles à la majorité de nos lecteurs seront reproduits dans e-VERITAS.  Nous produirons aussi des articles dans l’une des deux langues officielles soumis par les élèves officiers et le personnel du Collège sur la vie actuelle au CMR.  Nous offrirons de temps à autre de courtes anecdotes sur les élèves officiers, les Anciens et les membres du personnel d’hier et d’aujourd’hui. Nous encourageons les lecteurs de e-VERITAS à soumettre des articles dans l’une ou l’autre des deux langues officielles à Rolande.Oliver@rmc.ca.  En particulier des articles récents sur « Où sont-ils présentement? » seraient grandement appréciés.

e-VERITAS est un supplément et NON une substitution pour VERITAS la revue populaire du Club des CMR imprimée et distribuée aux membres en règle, par la poste, trois fois par année

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