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Legion bestows honors on minister, bikers

The Royal Canadian Legion gave out two entirely different honours Sept. 27, one to a minister for service, and the other to bikers who have fundraised for the organization. In an emotional ceremony, the Legion Branch No.
By Alex Mcphail Staff Reporter
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Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 70 honoured Fred Tinio and the Legion of Riders Sept. 27. In the photo are Shellee Higgs, the Canadian Legion of Riders treasurer Kim Donahue, Marilyn Clark of the Royal Canadian Legion and Buff McGovern, CLR executive.Photo by Alex McPhail

The Royal Canadian Legion gave out two entirely different honours Sept. 27, one to a minister for service, and the other to bikers who have fundraised for the organization.

In an emotional ceremony, the Legion Branch No. 70 honoured Padre Fred Tinio, who was retiring. Tinio had given the Legion's Nov. 11 addresses, officiated at funerals of Legion members and been active in the Legion community.

That night, the Legion also honoured the Canadian Legion of Riders for their contributions to the Legion Unmarked Graves Fund. Five years ago, the CLR approached the Legion to ask them if there was anything that they could help the orgnaization. Over the next five years, the Canadian Legion of Riders, who number about 30, have collected funds to mark the graves of veterans.

To date, the CLR have collected around $15,000 for the Legion, which has allowed them to mark all but 16 of the nearly 100 unmarked veterans' graves.