Paradise cadet lays wreath at Ottawa remembrance ceremony
A sea cadet from Paradise spent Remembrance Day in the national spotlight, after being selected as one of four Canadian youths to lay a wreath during Monday's service at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
As part of being picked by Royal Canadian Legion from a nationwide competition to be its sea cadet of the year, Maggie Lewis took part in the ceremony that included dignitaries like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Governor General Julie Payette and the 2019 Silver Cross Mother Reine Samson Dawe.
As she and the other cadets walked up to the memorial, surrounded by armed sentries, it felt like the city and the thousands of onlookers had come to a standstill.
"It was completely silent," said Lewis.
"It was an incredible experience. Words can't even explain how amazing it was."
Lewis placed the wreath alongside the army and air cadets of the year, as well as the Junior Canadian Ranger of the year, who also happens to be from Newfoundland and Labrador: Zoe Stevens from Mary's Harbour.
In the crowd watching the ceremony unfold was Lewis' mom, who flew up to Ottawa with her daughter for the event.
"I may have shed a few tears throughout the day, just watching her. I'm just so proud," said Isabelle Lewis.
Cadet confidence
A few days earlier, as Maggie Lewis chatted easily to the other cadets upon their arrival in Ottawa, Isabelle reflected on how much the cadet program had influenced her daughter since joining the Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps 3 Terra Nova just after her 12th birthday.
"She was very shy. She wasn't the type of child who would go up and meet new people and introduce herself," Isabelle Lewis told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show.
Isabelle Lewis had been a cadet herself, and said the program develops leadership skills and other talents that her daughter is carrying forward during her first year at the nautical science program at the Marine Institute in St. John's.
"Her love of being on the water, and seamanship, etc. has been derived from the cadet program itself," she said.
"I don't think Maggie would be who she is today without the cadets."
While one day Maggie Lewis hopes to become a master mariner, in the short term she's enjoying the Ottawa experience, which has also included tours of Parliament Hill and meals with the governor general and legion officials.
She also received the Legion Medal of Excellence, a plaque and a scholarship.
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