Mess Dinner

Tonight was the NCM Mess Dinner for all of our cadets above the rank of Sargeant. It was a really nice dinner with senior cadets from three of the squadrons in Calgary and the squadrons in Airdrie and Strathmore attending.

The Mess dinner is a formal affair, but with alot of fun as well... many "pranks" are played on others throughout the dinner.

I attended my first mess dinner at the age of twelve when I first joined Air Cadets. We were taught the "proper protocol" for a mess dinner and also which fork and spoon is used for what once the meals are served. I have to admit that tonight I couldn't recall which fork was for the salad and had to stall in order to see which fork the others at the table picked up!

There are strick rules against such things as having your elbows on the table, or bad etiquette which can result in one having to get up and sing "I'm a little teapot" or something equally embarrasing in front of the group.

We used to have a mess dinner annually at my squadron when I was a cadet and it was a huge affair. We would be in uniform but still able to dress up a little more than usual, there was usually a dance following the mess dinner and it was a great chance to have a fancy dinner with friends and to celebrate our year. If I was not an air cadet I don't think that I would have ever learned about formal dining and etiquette and I have definitely used those skills over and over again in the real world whether it be a wedding or a formal business dinner.

I really liked how all of the squadrons got together and put this mess dinner on for the senior cadets. It gave them a chance to meet cadets from other squadrons and it also gave a lot of them the chance to catch up with people they have met at camp etc that they may not have seen for a while. I used to really love these types of events and it was nice to be able to attend this dinner and also to see teh kids enjoying it so much... we really do work with some great youths :)