After
being in Calgary for several days, we dropped by
the Museum of the Regiments, which honors and recognizes those
Canadians who served in the two Great Wars and all conflicts
since. Although Canada produced many regiments over the years
they rarely ever saw action under their own command, being meshed
into British Divisions in most cases. There were infantry,
mechanized and armored regiments and for a short period of time
an airborne regiment. The museum employed the services of a movie
set construction company to present many life-size combat
dioramas. When mixed with the proper amount of sound and light,
it is a chilling scene that presents itself to the audience. Like
all of us, we found out the set creators were human. It seems
that there is a "glaring" error on one of the dioramas.
It took the acting director of the museum to point it out to me.
They showed a wall that was supposed to be
in a European town, which was complete with
address. However, they failed to put the horizontal bar through
the 7 as they would do in Europe. The Director said that after it
was discovered, they decided to leave it there, because the
people who come to visit seem to get such a kick out of
"finding" the mistake and pointing it out to them. Like
all good dioramas, the use of barriers between the audience and
the action is reduced to a minimum. No glass or sealed off areas
Everything is right in front of you, until you lean way over to
get that perfect shot and set off the motion detectors that are
hidden parallel to the scene. Canada has played an ever
increasing role in the world peace keeping requirements, having
served in most of the theaters of unrest over the last several 
decades. As
part of NATO, this roll has widened to encompass more and more
activities. Their reputation for a fair and unbiased approach
along with their lack of involvement in political affairs of
problem countries has earned them a title roll in peace keeping.
Taking a seat in the small amphitheater outside the front door,
we were treated to several skits performed by the museum cadets,
depicting actions taken by peacekeepers in their day to day
duties. Some were amusing and some were sad. In each case it
became more and more clear that the duties of these men and women
were difficult and dangerous. This was followed by the Rocky
Mountain Cadet Pipe Band who played several stirring renditions
on the pipes. There is a common saying when it comes to the bag
pipe. You either like them or
you hate them, there is no middle ground. We
both happen to like them. After this, several more cadet bands
marched in, and a new experience presented itself. I had never
seen a performance in which bag pipes and other band instruments
were played together. It created an all new sound which was most
pleasing. We were treated to yet another first for us. A drum
solo by the Rocky Mountain Pipe Band. This was more than just a
catchy rhythm. Hand and body movement in synchronization using
the most subtle of movements created quite a stir in the
audience. These kids were really good. By the way, admission to
the museum is by donation only. Their website is: http://www.museumoftheregiments.ca/main/.