Christmas lights will be judged on carol evening

It is nice to see Lyle Sutherland in the community again. He returned home recently after spending a year working at Langley, B.C.

Waseca council is once again sponsoring a Christmas lighting program. Judging will be done, as usual, during the Christmas carol evening.

On Remembrance Day our thoughts turn to those who gave their lives during the wars. Altogether 64 young men from the Waseca area joined the forces during the two World Wars. Five of them made the supreme sacrifice.

After the First World War the veterans association was known as the Great War Veterans Association and a branch of it was formed in Waseca on Feb. 14, 1920. Their first recorded activity was to build a memorial hall, dedicated to those who lost their lives in the First World War. It was built by volunteer labour. One member veteran, Tommy Rolfe, made a round trip of 28 miles on horseback, every second day, to help. With the whole community behind the project the building was paid for by 1922, but the official opening was on Nov. 19, 1921.

The piano, which was bought by the veterans at the time, is still in use at the present time and still kept in good condition.

The hall was later sold to the community for $1 with the stipulation that the word "memorial" be included in the name of the hall forever.

The memorial, which was built in front of where the hall stood at that time, was built by John Evans in 1930. It, too, was dedicated to those who lost their lives in the First World War and was unveiled on Nov. 11, 1932.

The day of the Waseca Canadian Legion and Ladies' Auxiliary are past but their legacy still exists.

Despite the minus - 23 C weather, a good crowd attended the Waseca fall supper on Sunday evening. Turkey and all the trimmings was a feature of the supper. Road conditions were good so people came from far and near. A big thank you to hall board members who had spent extensive time notifying people of the postponement Nov. 3 and taking care of the food that had arrived on that day. It was good to see so many young people helping serve the tables. Keep up the good work.

A grant writing workshop was held at the community centre Nov. 2. This workshop was organized by Rivers West District Sports Recreation and Culture and ran from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a lunch break supplied by the community centre committee. Those attending were made aware of the many grants that are available, how to write applications for grants and the need to apply regularly for the grants.