Placer County Council Adopts the Shasta Division Sea Cadet Corps
By Brett Davis
Shasta Division of the Naval Sea Cadet Corps is newly adopted by the Placer County Council of the Navy League as of Sept. 26. The unit, like many others, struggled during the pandemic — initially losing quite a few cadets due to lack of training opportunities and recently adding new cadets by the handful each month as the community opens back up and the cadets work to establish a presence at many events.
The Shasta Division has a current sea count of 32 and two established color guards — one consisting of league cadets (ages 10-12) and a senior color guard (ages 13-16). Notably, the majority of the unit currently is under age 13, which can be challenging, but offers the division the opportunity to have more years of impact on the cadets’ lives.
This past summer, even with short notice as training evolutions were opening up, the unit was fortunate to have 13 of its cadets attend trainings. Its goal is to have 100% of cadets attend at least one training per calendar year, and to achieve that, it needs parental involvement, cadet engagement and funding to assist those cadets who might otherwise be unable to attend due to financial constraints. The unit fundraises in a variety of ways — volunteering at com-munity events, raffling off items purchased by its boosters club and providing color guard services.
As its color guard equipment is looking fairly rough these days, and to ensure its ability to provide this service in an honorable fashion, it will be using the $500 provided by the Placer County Council to replace several flags, cases and flag staffs. The return on this investment will support the unit’s ongoing efforts to not only honor our servicemen and women in a credible manner, but also to ensure that it can continue to support training for our cadets.
The adult volunteers and cadets are grateful for this. Donald C. Anderson, council vice president and chairman of its STEM committee, and his wife, Ramona, traveled to Redding, California, to personally deliver the adoption certificate and funds.