404 KITCHENER-WATERLOO WING R.C.A.F.A. 510 Dutton Drive Waterloo N2L 4C5 519-884-1272 www.404wing.ca

WE PROUDLY PERPETUATE THE GLORIOUS TRADITIONS OF THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE

February/March2018

THIS ISSUE

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Doug Arnold

The Wing Ding is published monthly. The opinions expressed are those of the editor and contributors and in no way reflect opinions of the Air Force Association of Canada or of the 404 K-W Wing, who jointly and separately assume no liability.

GENERAL MEETING NOTICE

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 1 GENERAL MEETING 1PADRE’S CORNER 2LADIES AUXILIARY 3LAST POST 3SATURDAY GAMES DAY 3 ENTERTAINMENT 4ON THE LIGHTER SIDE 4SIT & BE FIT 4JUST US JAMMIN 4EDITOR’S NOTE 4BID EUCHRE 5FRIDAY LUNCHES 5BAR HOURS 5EUCHRE 5LADIES AUXILIARY FEB 6BLOSSOMS OF SPRING 6FRIDAY FLICKS 7 IRISH PUB DAY 7EXEC’S PHONE LIST 8CALENDAR FEBRUARY 9 CALENDAR MARCH 10

Upcoming meeting dates – February 1st ~ March 1st ~ April 5th

Meet & Greet 5:00 pm Dinner at 6:00 pm Meeting starts at 7:00 pm

Meetings are held the first Thursday of the month. All members welcome.

Please order your dinner ticket on the Tuesday prior to the meeting.

I hope everyone is keeping warm and avoiding the flu and colds. I cannot help but envy our members and friends who are wintering in the sunny south even though it seems from the news that the weather there is cooler than normal, and my sympathies go out to anyone who is suffering from a cold or the flu. Oh well, this is just one of our old fashion Canadian winters so as hardy Canadians we just have to make the best of it.

We had a very successful New Year’s Eve party and New Year’s Day Levee, and my thanks to all those who worked very hard on making these two events so enjoyable.

Congratulations to Sid Kenmir on being recognized for his many years of service to 404 Wing and the Royal Canadian Air Force Association by being awarded the Meritorious Service Award by the RCAFA National Executive Council. This is the third highest award given by NEC and there are no more than six of these awarded in any given year Congratulations Sid, this is well deserved.

At the general meeting in January a motion was passed to produce The Wing Ding every two months starting in February; therefore the next Wing Ding you receive will be in April. Each Wing Ding will have calendars covering the events for the next two months, so I urge you to review these

calendars for the upcoming Wing events.

I must say it is great to see the numbers attending the Wing on Saturdays is growing, I understand that some people would just prefer to play cards and not participate in other games and this is fine. I would also like to point out that there are dart boards in the Rondell Room so if anyone would like to play darts the Wing can accommodate this as well. If you are just looking for a place to drop in and meet up with friends this is fine also. The important thing is to use your Wing. I would also encourage anyone who has any suggestions as to what they may like to see at the Wing to please speak to myself or anyone on the Executive, and we will do our best to accommodate your ideas.

There are some special events coming up as you will see in the Wing Ding and in the future the Wing will be limiting the number of tickets sold for each event so as to meet the numbers allowed by our Liquor Licence, as well as to prevent uncomfortable overcrowding; therefore I would suggest that you purchase your tickets early so you won’t be disappointed.

I hope everyone feels loved and appreciated this Valentine’s Day, and just remember, the best cure for a bad day is a good friend. Happy Valentine’s Day.

I look forward to greeting you at the Wing .

Per Ardua Ad Astra

This edition for February and March encompasses Easter and is also a time that we prepare for spring. This season has always been welcomed as a time of new life and, perhaps, new beginnings. I feel it appropriate, therefore, to share this piece from John O’Donahue about the thresholds of life.

“Thresholds” by John O’Donohue

Within the grip of winter, it is almost impossible to imagine the spring. The gray perished landscape is shorn of color. Only bleakness meets the eye; everything seems severe and edged. Winter is the oldest season; it has some quality of the absolute. Yet beneath the surface of winter, the miracle of spring is already in preparation; the cold is relenting; seeds are wakening up. Colors are beginning to imagine how they will return. Then, imperceptibly, somewhere one bud opens and the symphony of renewal is no longer reversible. From the black heart of winter a miraculous, breathing plenitude of color emerges. The beauty of nature insists on taking its time. Everything is prepared. Nothing is rushed. The rhythm of emergence is a gradual slow beat always inching its way forward; change remains faithful to itself until the new unfolds in the full confidence of true arrival.

Because nothing is abrupt, the beginning of spring nearly always catches us unawares. It is there before we see it; and then we can look nowhere without seeing it. Change arrives in nature when time has ripened. There are no jagged transitions or crude discontinuities. This accounts for the sureness with which one season succeeds another. It is as though they were moving forward in a rhythm set from within a continuum. To change is one of the great dreams of every heart – to change the limitations, the sameness, the banality, or the pain. So often we look back on patterns of behavior, the kind of decisions we make repeatedly and that have failed to serve us well, and we aim for a new and more successful path or way of living.

But change is difficult for us. So often we opt to continue the old pattern, rather than risking the danger of difference. We are also often surprised by change that seems to arrive out of nowhere. We find ourselves crossing some new threshold we had never anticipated. Like spring secretly at work within the heart of winter, below the surface of our lives huge changes are in fermentation. We never suspect a thing. Then when the grip of some long-enduring winter mentality beings to loosen, we find ourselves vulnerable to a flourish of possibility and we are suddenly negotiating the challenge of a threshold. At any time you can ask yourself: At which threshold am I now standing? At this time in my life, what am I leaving? Where am I about to enter? What is preventing me from crossing my next threshold? What gift would enable me to do it? A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms and atmospheres. Indeed, it is a lovely testimony to the fullness and integrity of an experience or a stage of life that it intensifies toward the end into a real frontier that cannot be crossed without the heart being passionately engaged and woken up. At this threshold a great complexity of emotions comes alive: confusion, fear, excitement, sadness, hope. This is one of the reasons such vital crossing were always clothed in ritual. It is wise in your own life to be able to recognize and acknowledge the key thresholds; to take your time; to feel all the varieties of presence that accrue there; to listen inward with complete attention until you hear the inner voice calling you forward. The time has come to cross.

To acknowledge and cross a new threshold is always a challenge. It demands courage and also a sense of trust in whatever is emerging. This becomes essential when a threshold opens suddenly in front of you, one for which you had no preparation. This could be illness, suffering or loss. Because we are so engaged with the world, we usually forget how fragile life can be and how vulnerable we always are. It takes only a couple of seconds for a life to change irreversibly. Suddenly you stand on completely strange ground and a new course of life has to be embraced. Especially at such times we desperately need blessing and protection. You look back at the life you have lived up to a few hours before, and it suddenly seems so far away. Think for a moment how, across the world, someone’s life has just changed – irrevocably, permanently, and not necessarily for the better – and everything that was once so steady, so reliable, must now find a new way of unfolding.

Though we know one another’s names and recognize one another’s faces, we never know what destiny shapes each life. The script of individual destiny is secret; it is hidden behind and beneath the sequence of happenings that is continually unfolding for us. Each life is a mystery that is never finally available to the mind’s light or questions. That we are here is a huge affirmation; somehow life needed us and wanted us to be. To sense and trust this primeval acceptance can open a vast spring of trust within the heart. It can free us into a natural courage that casts out fear and opens up our lives to become voyages of discovery, creativity, and compassion. No threshold need be a threat, but rather an invitation and a promise. Whatever comes, the great sacrament of life will remain faithful to us, blessing us always with visible signs of invisible grace. We merely need to trust.

From To Bless the Space Between Us, John O’Donohue

Regular Features The Wing Ding Feb/Mar 2018Page 2

PADRE’S CORNER Dr. Bruce Sweet

Page 3 Regular Features The Wing Ding Feb/Mar 2018

President, Bev RylottLADIES AUXILIARY

Hi Ladies,

We had our meeting on January 17th. While I was disappointed with the number of members, we had a good meeting. Beginning February 1st, our Wing Ding will only be available every two months. This was moved and seconded at the General Meeting and will save the Wing over $200 every other month.

The Executive of the Wing met with the City to bring us up to date on our premises. The Wing will remain open until 2021. Our building is not for sale yet. Let us enjoy our place for at least another 3 years.

February 21st. will be the Ladies Appreciation Lunch hosted by your Wing Executive and Past Presidents. Happy Hour is at 12 p.m. and lunch will be at 1:00 p.m. So come out and enjoy.

April 18th at 6 p.m. will be our chili supper and card party. Tickets will be distributed at the luncheon. Chair of the Card Party, Carol Totzke, has requested members to solicit their stores for gifts or gift cards, such as your regular grocery store, hair dresser, or spa.

Now, a very IMPORTANT MESSAGE, May 16th will be our nominations. Please consider letting your name stand for a position on the Executive. Without an Executive there will not be a Ladies Auxiliary. Hopefully this will not happen. See you at the Wing.

LAST POST

Gerth Daub passed away in his 91st year on Tuesday, December 5, 2017. “Dauby”, a long-time member, joined the 404 Wing in 1957. He will be missed.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we shall remember him

Regular Features The Wing Ding Feb/Mar 2018Page 4

ENTERTAINMENT

On March 17th we will be having an Irish Pub Day and Dinner. There will be Entertainment by Just A Few Of Us. We are only selling 40 tickets, so if you wish to attend, the tickets will be at the Bar. Cost for this Event is $15.00 a person. Entertainment will begin at 4:00. Dinner will be at 5:30. Hope you will join us.

Games Day is every Saturday starting at 2:30. Come out and enjoy.

Nancy Ellis

Why is it that when someone tells you that there are one billion stars in the universe, you believe them but, if they tell you there is wet paint, you have to touch it to check?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

WEDNESDAY ENTERTAINMENT SIT & BE FIT 2018

EDITOR’s NOTE

At the General Meeting in January, the membership voted to change the newsletter to bi-monthly issues. Calendars for two months at a time will be included with each issue, along with notices of known, upcoming events. Any additional events, added in intervening months, will be posted at the Wing.

Page 5 Regular Features The Wing Ding Feb/Mar 2018

EUCHRE by the Desslers

Tuesday Night Euchre is in full swing starts at 6:45 pm.

Come out and enjoy !

FRIDAY LUNCHES Ladies Auxiliary

BAR HOURS Larry Allenson

Friday Lunches 11:30 to 1:00 pm.

We’re happy to see and serve youChoice of soups and sandwiches

Monday 1-4:30 pm

Tuesday 6-9 pm

Wednesday 6-10 pm

Thursday 1-4:30 pm

Friday 11:30-1:00

Friday 5-10 pm

Saturday 1:30 – 5:30 (+) pm

Except for statutory holidays

HappeningsPage 6 The Wing Ding Feb/Mar 2018

LADIES SPECIAL LUNCHEON

EventsThe Wing Ding Feb/Mar 2018 Page 7

IRISH PUB DAY

Saturday March 17, 2018 IRISH PUB DAY

4:00 pm - Entertainment by Just A Few Of Us

5:30 pm - Dinner TICKETS - $15 Limited Seating 404 K-W Wing, Air Force Association 510 Dutton Drive, Waterloo

404 WING EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 2017 - 2018

EXECUTIVE OFFICE DIRECTORSPresident Douglas Arnold 888-0902 Director (R) Howard Dessler 885-36661st Vice President Larry Allenson 716-0266 Director (R) Adrian Vath 888-09802nd Vice President Ronald Beaudreau 578-0238 Director (R) Bob Drummond 226-972-2528IMM. P.P. Donna Kuehl 744-3146 Treasurer Ernie Dyck 746-0496Secretary Nancy Ellis 579-4583 Appointed Chairpersons and Committees

Air Cadets (P) Ron Beaudreau cell 591-8249 Poppy Fund Rep(P) Ron Beaudreau 578-0238Bar Officer (P) Larry Allenson 716-0266 Public Relation (P) Donna Kuehl 744-3146Dinner Meetings (1) Ron Beaudreau 578-0238 Regalia (1) Wilf Dippel 664-2669Entertainment (P) Nancy Ellis 579-4583 Sgt-At-Arms(P) Larry Allenson 716-0266Events Booking (P) Donna Kuehl 744-3146 Sports (P) Hal Werner 747-4288Historian(1) Vic Snowden 744-1206 Visiting (1) Howard Dessler 885-3666House (2) Larry Allenson 716-0266 Veterans Council(P) Sid Kenmir 748-1778 Membership Committee(M) Donna Kuehl 744-3146 Western Region RVP(P) Rene McKinnon through President Ontario Group President(P) John Hooper through President Wing Ding (Editor)(P) Donna Kuehl 744-3146Padre Dr. Bruce Sweet 580-3899 Wing Ding (Ass’t Editor)(E) Kitty Tsang 886-8573 Parade Co-ordinator(P) Ron Beaudreau 578-0238 Wing Ding (Producer)(E) Trish Walker 747-3773

LADIES AUXILIARY EXECUTIVE 2017 - 2018 EXECUTIVE OFFICERS President Bev Rylott 579-4583 Secretary Anne Mulhall 885-7030

Vice President Donna Kuehl 744-3146 Treasurer Barbara Cooper 226-647-1876Past President Carol Totzke 885-6173

DIRECTORS Dinner Meetings (Wing) Brenda Bennett 578-9517 Phoning Jean Ross 885-5235 L.A. Meetings (kitchen) Gretta Fletcher 725-1527 Phoning Jean Jarosz 743-7333 Liaison Bev Rylott 579-4583 Publicity Pat Snowden 744-1206 Membership Dorothy Dippel 664-2669 Sick & Visiting Anna May Trapp 896-0143

Page 8 EXECUTIVES 2017-2018 & MEMBERSHIP

E Reports through Editor

P Reports through President

M Reports through Immediate Past President

1 Reports through 1st Vice President

2 Reports through 2nd Vice President

(Call 519 area code unless otherwise stated)

The Wing Ding Feb/Mar 2018

February 2018

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3

1-4:30 Bid Euchre General Meeting: 6 pm Dinner 7:00 Mtg

11:30-1 Friday Lunch 5-10 pm Lounge Fri. Nite Flicks 7:30 Singles Selective

1:30-5:30+ pm Lounge 2:30-4:30 Games Day

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

CLOSED

1-4:30 Bid Euchre

10-11 pm Sit & Be Fit

6:45 pm Euchre

1-4 pm Private–N.F.C

7 pm Just Us Jamming

1-4:30 Bid Euchre

11:30-1 Friday Lunch 5-10 pm Lounge Fri. Nite Flicks

1:30-5:30+ pm Lounge 2:30-4:00 Games Day

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

CLOSED

1-4:30 Bid Euchre

10-11 pm Sit & Be Fit

6:45 pm Euchre 7 pm Optimist Exec

1:30-3:30 Shuffleboard 7 pm Just Us Jamming

1-4:30 Bid Euchre

11:30-1 Friday Lunch 5-10 pm Lounge 7:30 Singles Selective (big hall)

1:30-5:30+ pm Lounge 2:30-4:30 Games Day 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

CLOSED

1-4:30 Bid Euchre

10-11 pm Sit & Be Fit

6:45 pm Euchre

10 am WEC

12 Auxiliary Lunch

7 pm Just Us Jamming 7 pm Just Us Jamming

1-4:30 Bid Euchre

11:30-1 Friday Lunch 5-10 pm Lounge Fri. Nite Flicks

1:30-5:30+ pm Lounge 2:30-4:30 Games Day

25 26 27 28

CLOSED 2-4 pm PRIVATE

1-4:30 Bid Euchre 2-4 Old Salts 6 pm Optimist Dinner

10-11 pm Sit & Be Fit

6:45 pm Euchre

1:30-3:30 Shuffleboard 7 pm Just Us Jamming

404 K-W Wing, R.C.A.F.A. 510 Dutton Drive, Waterloo 519-884-1272 airmail@404wing.ca

March 2018

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3

1-4:30 Bid Euchre

General Meeting: 6 pm Dinner 7:00 Mtg

11:30-1 Friday Lunch 5-10 pm Lounge Fri. Nite Flicks 7:30 Singles Selective

1:30-5:30+ pm Lounge

2:30-4:30 Games Day

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

CLOSED

1-4:30 Bid Euchre

10-11 pm Sit & Be Fit

6:45 pm Euchre

1-4 pm Private–N.F.C

7 pm Just Us Jamming

1-4:30 Bid Euchre

6:30–9:00 PRIVATE

11:30-1 Friday Lunch 5-10 pm Lounge Fri. Nite Flicks

1:30-5:30+ pm Lounge

2:30-4:30 Games Day

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Daylight Savings Time

CLOSED

1-4:30 Bid Euchre

10-11 pm Sit & Be Fit

6:45 pm Euchre 7 pm Optimist Exec

1:30-3:30 Shuffleboard

7 pm Just Us Jamming

1-4:30 Bid Euchre

11:30-1 Friday Lunch 5-10 pm Lounge 7:30 Singles Selective (big hall)

1:30-5:30+ pm Lounge

4:00 IRISH Pub Day & Dinner at 5:30

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

CLOSED

1-4:30 Bid Euchre

10-11 pm Sit & Be Fit

6:45 pm Euchre

10:00 am WEC 1:00 Auxiliary Exec. 2:00 Auxiliary Mtg. 7 pm Just Us Jamming

1-4:30 Bid Euchre

11:30-1 Friday Lunch 5-10 pm Lounge Fri. Nite Flicks

1:30-5:30+ pm Lounge

2:30-4:30 Games Day 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

CLOSED

1-4:30 Bid Euchre 2-4 Old Salts 6 pm Optimist Dinner

10-11 pm Sit & Be Fit

6:45 pm Euchre

7:00 Cadet Exec.

1:30-3:30 Shuffleboard

7 pm Just Us Jamming

1-4:30 Bid Euchre

CLOSED

GOOD FRIDAY

1:30-5:30+ pm Lounge

2:30-4:30 Games Day

404 K-W Wing, R.C.A.F.A. 510 Dutton Drive, Waterloo 519-884-1272 airmail@404wing.ca