To the Editor,
Re: Musical ride becomes trip down memory lane, Aug. 8.
That was a heartwarming story about the 93-year-old former RCMP musical rider Cliff Hobbis and his father before him who was a member of the North West Mounted Police.
My grandmother had a framed photo of a mounted RCMP officer in scarlet uniform with majestic mountains behind him on her living room wall, so that’s what she thought of them.
I recall an RCMP officer with a beautiful voice who often sang, in uniform, for a group of mentally challenged people in Prince George. They were so fond of him that they would wander over and hold his hand as he sang at the microphone, or even curl up at his feet. That was 20 years ago, but that is an image I don’t think I will forget.
I like to think of the RCMP as uniquely Canadian, and symbolic of Canadian decency, and guys who will not cross over the line, and I bet that’s how all Canadians want to think of them. They are something historical which makes us different from the Americans.
Madeline BruceNanaimo