A Brief History
In 1987 four retired Chief Petty Officers living in the Halifax, Nova Scotia area, set out to organize a group with the mission statement "To preserve the unique relationship and mutual respect of those who have served, and are serving, as Chief Petty Officers or Petty Officers in Her Majesty's Canadian ships and naval establishments." The group has since developed into an association with a world-wide membership. While becoming a support for its members, it has also provided aid to other organizations and charities in the community and around the world.
Within the first year membership grew to 150. Incorporated in 1988, the association surpassed its original charter of 500 members that very year. Today the Atlantic Chief and Petty Officer's Association (ACPOA) has over 1,230 members, including 100 associate widows and widowers. There are members in every province across Canada, as well as some in the United States, Mexico and Australia.
Serving and retired Non-Commissioned Officers from the post- unification navy and retired Senior Rates from the old navy, see the association as a way of keeping in touch with old friends and messmates. While attending the ACPOA's first reunion in 1990 one member recalls. "I saw this guy walking across the parade square and I said to myself, `Old so-and-so. I haven't seen him since leadership course in 1955.' I saw him, and he saw me and I knew him right away." Another member, who joined to see the familiar faces, recalls attending a recent meeting where she recognized a familiar face from 50 years ago. However, the friend's memory was not so good and she laughs as she remembers, "He spent the whole night running around Stadacona on tip-toe, thinking I was an old girlfriend."
On the other hand, while the association spends much of its time organizing reunions and other entertainment functions for the membership, it is also a generous contributor to community and global aid ventures. Graham McBride, past Coxswain of HMCS Protecteur and a charter member of the association, is particularly proud of this aspect of the ACPOA. "It was exciting being part of the whole thing. Especially after I found out that we were not just out for socializing, we were an outfit that really wanted to do something." The first project undertaken was the creation of the Sailor Statue that now stands on the Halifax waterfront at Sackville Landing. "We didn't know anything about building a statue," says McBride. "We just decided that we were going to put up a sailor in this town. Or else.'" A designer was hired and plans roughed out. An artist worked on the model of the piece in his basement, but not without some difficulties. The statuette, a sailor with a large hammock slung over his shoulder, was being worked in porcelain, and turned out to be very susceptible to humidity. "So, we had problems," McBride recalls with amusement. "When this guy came out of the oven, he was usually slumped over like a drunken sailor." But, problems with the slouching sailor didn't stand in the way of their goal. Financed solely through the members' fund raising efforts, including walk-a-thons and bingos, the statue was unveiled in 1991 at a cost of $300,000. The dedication ceremony attracted people from around the world.
Soon afterward, NATO headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, asked to have a 3-foot replica of the Sailor Statue erected in front of a new building under construction. With the $10,000 commission paid for the reproduction, the association was able to move on to work in other projects. The Atlantic Chief and Petty Officer's Association equipped two rooms in the children's hospital with furnishings and medical equipment, and every year they donate about $3,000 to their charity of choice, ALS - the group that fights Lou Gehrig's disease. McBride says, "Sailors are pretty darn generous when they want to be; they have a real soft spot for kids and dogs and people in trouble." This generosity and love for children led the ACPOA to send clothing and school supplies to Bosnia. Donations were received from all over Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. A total of eight, 20-foot, marine container loads of clothing and school supplies were sent for the relief effort. Four containers went to Bosnian children being cared for in England, and four more were sent directly to Bosnia. At both sites, the "Feed the Children" organization looked after the distribution of the supplies.
Soon afterwards the ACPOA saw an opportunity when surplus hospital supplies became available with the amalgamation of the Infirmary, Victoria General and Camp Hill hospitals in Halifax. They asked the then Provincial Minister of Health, the Honourable Ronald D. Stewart, MD, if the surplus supplies could be shipped to Bosnia. He agreed, as long as the association could manage to direct the equipment over there. "Your initiative deserves recognition in that it sets an admirable standard for all Nova Scotians to aspire to," Ron Stewart said in a letter of appreciation. "Thank you for demonstrating that caring and acting know no borders." With that, there were six more containers sent to Bosnia. "It was almost a complete MASH unit," says McBride. The goods included everything from gurneys and blood machines to operating gowns and prosthetic arms and legs.
The ACPOA again contributed to disaster relief when, in September 1995, the Caribbean was clobbered by hurricanes Luis and Marilyn. Two more container loads of the remaining medical supplies were sent to Antigua, in the West Indies. Ednis Roberts of the Antigua Christian Council wrote the association, "Your expression of kindness and concern for the people of our nation state has provided encouragement and hope for the future." While helping to support the aid efforts in Bosnia and the West Indies, the ACPOA was also helping to preserve the past in their own community. In 1992, Carelton House, built in the 1750's and Halifax's third oldest building, had become run-down and was scheduled for demolition if no purpose could be found for it. The association stepped in and bought the $1.8-million building. Since the the ACPOA has repaired and refinished the entire structure. Carleton House now houses Dalhousie's costume and design department, the Stonehearth bakery, and 24 single live-in suites.
In the spring of 1997 the ACPOA was approached by the Chaplain at the Veteran's Memorial Hospital to investigate the possibility of providing a headstone for the grave of a young seaman from the Isle of Man who died here in 1943. The ACPOA took on the project, found the unmarked grave, raised the funds, contacted the media and local dignitaries and ordered the headstone worded according to the request of the family. The headstone was unveiled in a well attended, dignified, ceremony at St. John's Cemetary in Halifax on 18 May 1997. Throughout all of these projects, the ACPOA has continued to support its members and the activities that bring them together. Reunions were held in 1990, '92, '96 and the next is a mini-reunion scheduled for 1998. Each of these reunions attracts between 500 to 600 people for the three-day event. The mini-reunion planned for '98 is a two-day celebration of the 10th anniversary of the association's incorporation. The next three-day reunion is being planned for the year 2000. These reunions bring together friends from across Canada, as well as other countries. It seems a long time since a few retired members sat down to start the Atlantic Chiefs and Petty Officer's Association. But in 10 years, the membership has grown to well over a thousand members, and it is still growing by an average of 180 new members every year. The members' work has benefited people in their own community and around the world.
The association continues to maintain the fraternal support that is an indispensable element of the Navy. Dick Crowell, who joined the association five years ago, observed "You can't just stop being what you are when you hang up the uniform. You've gone through a lot and gained a lot. Being part of the association gives a feeling of continuity and satisfaction."
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