The Canora branch of the Royal Canadian Legion is well on its way to having raised enough money to re-shingle the roof of its hall – the Dugout.
Most of the executive members are new and they wanted to promote the Legion more, said Gina Rakochy, the new president. Not only is the goal to have better visibility in the community, but to have the branch be better known and supported for all the community work that it does.
On Thursday, the Legion held a spring social, and from how well it was received, this will be only the first of an annual event, she said.
Last year, the branch was facing a severe membership shortage so a group of friends got together and joined, Rakochy said. As a member of that group, she said each was willing to take an active role and their combined efforts are paying off.
“The Legion is proud to pay tribute to the veterans, both of military and police services. It is one of the longest running not-for-profit organizations in Canada.
“As well as paying recognition to veterans through Remembrance Day services, education is promoted around the year through Legion programs such as the Remembrance Day poster and poem contests.”
In addition to Remembrance Day, the branch also honours its deceased members through Decoration Day, held the Sunday nearest to June 6 each year.
The Legion branch’s hall, known as the Dugout, has the been branch’s meeting place since the early 1920s.
“Our hall is showing her age and recently, we have begun the process of giving her a much needed facelift,” said Rakochy.
Estimates have been received that renovations will cost in excess of $25,000, she said. The first priority is to have the roof re-shingled and the estimates received place that cost at $10,000.
The tree auction is the Legion’s first effort to raise funds for the roof project, Rakochy said. “We were very honoured to receive a grant from Crossroads Credit Union to cover part of the cost.” With the money raised at the social, the branch is close to begin planning the next step.
“I would like to thank our generous sponsors and all the volunteers who worked so hard to get this social evening going.”
The trees and shrubs were acquired from Lakeshore Tree Nursery at wholesale prices, Rakochy said. The business also provided a number of items from the raffles at the social. So many businesses were very generous with donations when the owners learned that the prize canvass was for a Legion project.
“Our trees and shrubs are all prairie grown trees from Lakeshore Tree Nursery in Saskatoon. They grow everything on sight from seedlings, so these trees already have a prairie winter under their belts,” said Rakochy. “They only sell what will grow in Saskatchewan.’
The auctioneer for the evening was Adam Stuart, who works for Key Chev in Yorkton as well as being an auctioneer on a part time basis.
There was a lot of good feedback from the buys, the main point being raised was to bring in more trees, said Lorrie Negraff, a Legion member. When the event was planned, the Legion members thought they would give it a try and use the success of this event to decide future social/tree auctions.
“It will definitely be an annual event,” said Negraeff.
