Residents in Swansea Point, a tiny lakeside town south of Sicamous, B.C., got a pleasant surprise last week when two platoons of cadets showed up to clean flooding debris off their beaches.
Army cadet Jonathan Jaspers, a member of Houston corps, got to join the clean-up while on a six-week summer course at the cadets training centre in Vernon.
“It was really great that we got out there to help the community,” Jaspers said by phone.
Heavy had flooding carried tons of logs, rocks, branches and other debris into Mara Lake.
The two platoons, 76 cadets in all, worked all day on July 13 to clear seven public beaches and a boat launch.
Jaspers said a few people from Swansea Point came down to the beaches to say how happy they were for the extra help.
On Wednesday, while taking a quick break from the 33-degree heat, Jaspers said he and his platoon mates were busy building an air rifle range.
The exercise is part of a summer-long air rifle instructors’ course that teaches marksmanship and leadership skills.
At home, Houston cadets practice shooting at a range in Burns Lake, and have competed in the past at international biathlon events.