Labelle High School

Stoney Tribal Cadets stand tall

By Jesse Winter

Canmore Leader

"I want you guys to be bad kids."

That's not something you'd expect to hear a cop say to a group of school children, but RCMP Cpl. Mel Calahasen has a different interpretation of bad.

"In my world, bad stands for best at drill. And I want you guys to be the best at drill, so I want you to be bad."

Calahasen stands under the harsh lights of the Morley Reserve's iceless hockey arena teaching parade ground drill to a collection of Stoney children. The kids are part of the Stoney Tribal Cadet Program, now in its second week, and Calahasen's current challenge is teaching the young cadets the finer points of marching, halting and about-facing before their grand opening in October.

Even in the space of a half-hour, the kids are already tightening their ranks and slamming their heels to the ground with increasing precision. In their flip-flops and skate shoes, they are doing their best to suppress laughter and look the part of stoic, dedicated troopers.

"I like the marching and checking and halting," says 13-year-old cadet Chase Kaquitts. "We're just learning that stuff now. It's fun."

"They've come a long way so far, just within the last four classes," Calahasen says with a smile.

The obvious pride and positive energy inside the arena stands in stark contrast to the angry gang graffiti scrawled black across the building's outer wall.

Like many Aboriginal communities, Morley is struggling with the seemingly unending cycles of substance abuse and domestic violence that are all too common in First Nations communities across the country, an ugly legacy of colonialism and intergenerational trauma.

Calahasen's detachment in Cochrane, Alta. handles emergency calls for Morley. He says that 60 per cent of the detachment's calls come from the reserve community of just 4,500.

With a drop out rate of nearly 70 per cent, kids from Morley stand a better chance of going to jail than they do of finishing high school.

That's what Calahasen is trying to change.

"Chief Labelle came to me and said 'what can we do?' So we researched some different programs, and after conversing with Hobbema [a similar community between Red Deer and Edmonton which has a successful cadet program of their own] we went out and met with them. And their program became very familiar within the community and had a big impact positively on the community and the kids. So I came back to Chief Labelle and said, 'Can we start this? Will I get the support from not only the leadership but also the community to start a program?' And it just kind of started off from that…I'd say we have 100 per cent of the community support from the leaders on down.

Concert Review: R Kelly Was A Number 1 Hit! | RNBPhilly - 107.9 WRNB

Sunday, July 3rd was a typical summer night: hot, humid and full of activity. The Mann Music Center was almost filled to capacity with eager spectators anticipating the concert featuring Marsha Ambrosious, Keyshia Cole and R. Kelly.

It seemed like all of urban Philadelphia was in attendance for this show. It turned into an impromptu family/high school/college/old friend reunion; even Patti LaBelle checked out the show from the sidelines. One thing was very clear, everyone came to the show looking for a good time and they found it ten-fold.

Due to heavy traffic and working on the radio until 7 pm, I missed most of Marsha’s performance. I arrived in time to see the adopted Philadelphian dressed in a black leather short set sing her current hit “Far Away.” Her set up was simple, she was center stage with a mic, DJ Aktive was at the turntables, and there may have been a few musicians on stage, but I could not tell because of the lighting. Marsha exited the stage with a “song from her heart” by singing “Let Your Soul Glow” from “Coming to America,” and I could not help but laugh.

Keyshia Cole entered the stage with four dancers, and all wore white. Keyshia sported a white short set with five to six-inch Fuschia Stiletto booties. Keyshia related well to her fans as she spoke and sang directly to them, I could tell they loved her performance. I, on the other hand, was not as impressed. The singing and dancing in her set did not get me hyped or keep me engaged during the performance, even though I could tell she did rock much of the crowd. I admit I am not a huge fan of Ms. Cole, but I can be won over through a great live performance; I was not won over. The choreography was not hype enough or tight enough for my taste. At times Keyshia was off key but overall, her singing was ok. Keyshia sang but I was looking for her to perform. She covered her hits and closed her set after five or six songs.

There was an extremely long intermission before the R. Kelly performance, but when the lights dimmed the screaming began…it was showtime. His show began with a narrative black and white 1940′s style film of R. Kelly and a woman talking. The conversation served as the introduction of the concept for “The Love Letter Tour.” The stage lights brightened enough to reveal the big band style set up including a big voiced announcer (who sounded like the guy on “Showtime at the Apollo”), and dancing girls. “Step in the Name of Love” was the opening song and everyone jumped to their feet. R. Kelly’s show was electrifying, sensual, stylized, theme-oriented, tight, engaging, exciting and fun. The man has 22 years of hits and attempted to roll through many of them during his set. No song was sung in it’s entirety, but that was okay because it was well executed. At one point in the show he offered to strip for the audience if someone would strip with him. I was a bit fearful of what sight I was about to see but thankfully everyone ate a case of “chicken” just before the show. I enjoyed how R. Kelly’s show was pretty fast paced with very little if no down time. He connected with the fans so much he sang three songs from the audience. The finale included audience members joining him on stage to dance to a remixed reprise of “Step in the Name of Love” with him singing Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” over the music.

Hendry County, Florida, Labelle High School, Florida Heartland, Lake Okeechobee, Southwest Florida, Florida's 16th Congressional District

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