After Dark

This is the final post about the Sunset Ceremony at my son Jeffrey's university - Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario. You can scroll down to see the previous posts, or you can find Part One here and Part Two over here.

As the sun began to set, music filled the night air. The RMC Band was originally a Pipe and Drum band when it was founded in 1953. It has grown to include a Brass and Reed Band, a Choir and a small group of Highland Dancers, and is now the largest volunteer band in the Canadian Armed Forces.



They marched in with all of the pomp and circumstance fitting of a military band.



The pipers piped.. the drummers drummed to the beat of our proud history.


Highland Dancers did a fling.



The Honour Guard, with their sixty nine Officer Cadets marched onto the parade square carrying our provincial flags. The graduating Colour Party handed off their duties to the incoming Party.



The darkening night made a clear shot difficult, but you can see how colourful our flags are.



When troops were garrisoned in inns, drummers were sent through the streets to sound the Tattoo (from the Dutch "taptoe" - to close the tap) in order to get the troops to return to their quarters for the night.



The tradition of Feu-de-Joie (Fire of joy) is the sequential firing of rifles to ensure that they were cleared of damp charges, and were in good working condition before the night guard was posted.



A lone piper stands atop the McKenzie Building clock tower and plays a goose bump-forming rendition of "Amazing Grace."



As the ceremony drew to a close, it was time to lower our flag.



The band faced the Canadian flag and played the National Anthem as it was being lowered.

The RMC Band played as they marched out of the parade square, signaling the end of the Sunset Ceremony. It was followed by one of the best fireworks displays I have ever seen - too good for my camera to do it justice.



Back at his dorm, we said good-bye to our boy for what we thought was going to be the full summer. As it turns out, Jeffrey's training has been postponed until mid-June, so he'll be home tomorrow for a couple of weeks. I can't wait!