Domestic Stories

I’m Here for a Tour of Your House

By A/SLt Jordan Holder, MARPAC Public Affairs

Credit:  Duncan Ayre, MARPAC Public Affairs Lt(N) Anne Bank from HMCS Calgary, and Ed Liukaitis, a resident of Calgary, meet each other again at a Pancake Breakfast hosted by the Calgary Stampede Committee, at Victoria's Inner Harbour, on May 13. Lt(N) Bank paid a visit to Mr. Liukaitis during the 2004 Calgary Stampede Week, when she visited Calgary as part of her ship's Stampede contingent.

Late one night during last year’s Calgary Stampede Ed Liukaitis, a resident of Calgary, received a knock on his door. Groggily he opened it to find Lt(N) Anne Bank, dressed in her Navy Whites and Stetson, standing on his doorstep. “Hello, I’m from HMCS Calgary,” she said. “When you were last visiting San Diego we gave you a tour of our ship. Now that we’re here visiting Calgary I’d like a tour of your house.” Liukaitis could remember asking for a tour of the Calgary when he was last down in San Diego, yet was altogether bewildered by this request. He nonetheless immediately opened his door to oblige. Some of his friends then jumped out from around the corner and confessed that they had put Lt(N) Bank up to this.

Liukaitis and his family were previously in San Diego on a vacation when they noticed two Canadian Warships in the harbour. Despite being on their way to the airport, they stopped, and went down to see the ships. Inboard was HMCS Winnipeg, and outboard was HMCS Calgary. When they got on board they were told that tours were arranged that day for Winnipeg exclusively. “That’s nice,” Liukaitis replied, “but we’re from Calgary and we’d like to have a tour of our ship.” The crew from the Calgary couldn’t refuse this request. “They went out of their way to show us around – it was really great. We were even able to got a photo with the ship’s name-board,” exclaimed Liukaitis.

Liukaitis, an executive with Alberta’s Army Cadet League, was one of between one and two thousand Calgarians who travelled to Victoria in mid-May to join in the 10^th anniversary celebrations of HMCS Calgary. Events scheduled over a three-day period included Pancake Breakfasts, Day-Sails, Ship’s Tours, the actual Commissioning Anniversary Ceremony, and the annual Cowboy-Up Party.

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