With over 2,000 members Innisfail’s Royal Canadian Legion Branch 104 remains a vibrant part of the core of the community, manager Richard Black said.
“It’s the community hall,” Black explained. “The Legion itself donates the hall to each service club in town once a year, (and) minor hockey, minor sports, minor football, and church groups once a year for their fundraisers.”
It is also a popular venue for wedding receptions.
“Everything takes place here,” Black said.
The Legion also contributes about $50,000 annually to the town through donations to minor sports, the Christmas Bureau, the Innisfail Food Bank and other groups.
Founded in 1925 as a non-profit veterans organization, the Royal Canadian Legion currently has over 400,000 members worldwide.
Branch 104 boasts 315 ordinary members – those who have served in the regular forces, reserves, RCMP, Canadian Coast Guard, Merchant Navy, or a city, municipal or provincial police force; about 1,300 associate members – family members of a past or present ordinary members, those who have served in the Cadets program as a cadet or civilian instructor for at least three years, or have served in the Navy League of Canada, Polish forces, or the fire service; and about 400 affiliate members – those who have not served but support the aims of the Royal Canadian Legion.
“Our membership is still strong,” Black said. “We have over 2,000 members.”
The Ladies Auxiliary, the Legion’s largest support group, celebrated its 80th anniversary earlier this year. The group features over 200 members and is responsible for catering many of the Legion events, organizing the branch’s poppy campaign and provide donations back to the community.
The branch is making preparations to move the Memorabilia Room, also known as the Lest We Forget Room, to the branch’s lounge in order to display more memorabilia.
“We’re running out of space,” Black lamented.
The new space will have one wall dedicated to World War I, a wall dedicated to World War II, one wall dedicated to the Korean War, and a fourth wall dedicated to the peacekeeping efforts of Canadians.
A bugle belonging to J.J. Letcher, a founding member of the Innisfail Legion and its president in 1938, was recently donated by his family. The bugle, which Letcher blew during World War I, will have a place of honour amongst the growing collection.
“Those are things we have to put up,” Black said.
Black said the Legion hosts bands and live entertainment from September to June, as well as district sports, and weekly darts and shuffleboard nights. The Dominion Crib playoffs will also be coming to the Innisfail branch next year.
A lot of the local members have gone on to serve on provincial command, Black said, explaining the Legion’s big push remains to encourage younger residents to join its ranks.
“We’re an active branch,” he said. “We’re fortunate that we have some younger members that stay active whereas a lot of the other branches, for whatever reason, the older members can’t keep going.”
Memberships cost $40 for adults and $30 for seniors.
