It was a special kind of Canada Day celebration for staff at the Cold Lake Air Cadet Summer Training Centre in Alberta this year as they joined a crowd of cheering music fans to watch a fellow officer perform at Bonnyville’s Lakeland Idol competition.
Captain Alex Pike, company commander for the fitness and sports instructor course, won third place after entering the contest on the spur of the moment. When she arrived at Cold Lake, a colleague who had heard an advertisement for Lakeland Idol suggested she try out at auditions.
“I got here and stepped into it,” the Maple Ridge resident explained.
The competition, sponsored by local radio station Kool 101.3 FM, featured vocalists performing songs from a variety of genres to pre-recorded music.
Pike chose Gretchen Wilson’s Here for the Party as her first song and Sin Wagon, by the Dixie Chicks, as the second.
She won a four-day rental of a hot tub and two tickets to a comedy show featuring performers from Just for Laughs.
Pike, who works with 777 Neptune Air Cadet squadron in Maple Ridge, has always enjoyed music.
“I’ve been singing since I was a little kid,” she said.
Pike started out in church and school choirs, and has been performing solo since she was 17. She was also involved in music in cadets, playing the flute in her squadron’s marching band.
Pike also volunteers her skills as a vocalist in the community. She sings the national anthem for sports teams, and performs at Christmas events.
In her spare time, she writes poems that she hopes to eventually make into song lyrics.
Pike added that she hopes to see other staff members and cadets showcase their musical abilities at a talent show planned for this summer at the training centre.