April President Report

Dear Members,

I waited until the day after the Premier made his new lock-down rules before sending out my report. I am going to be brutally honest when I share what is happening at your Legion. As you are aware we were able to open for a few days at the beginning of April but this soon changed to take out so we had to close our kitchen as we are not equipped for takeout nor did we believe we could compete with the other takeout restaurants in Medicine Hat.

Needless to say we have been struggling, but we are managing to pay the bills. What is a real strain on the finances has been the old equipment which has a way, even when we are not open, of breaking down. Examples are as follows:

· Atron Refrigeration for Compressor, repair walk-in cooler, repair the heating system in basement during the recent cold snap, regular furnace check, replaced control unit etc. Total bill over $5000.00. As I write this the repairman is here to fix the air exchanger. Cost to be determined.

· Plumbing repairs that included fixing leaks in the old pipes in the ceiling, routering out toilet drains and replacing urinals has been over $9000.00.

· Each month we have a utility bill of at least 3500.00, plus at least $2000 for taxes and insurance.

· Year end review for The Legion and Schooners costs $4000.00

The good news is that we have been able to keep the Legion open and pay all the bills because of Federal and Provincial loans and grants and because of the support of you, our members. I will share the total we have received between both the Legion and Schooner’s.

Federal Government $80,000 ($40,000 each)

Provincial Re-Launch Grant $20,000

Federal Wage Subsidies $55,000

Federal Rent Subsidies $1062

Grant from Dominion Legion Command $11,000.

Total $167,000.00 (since April 2020)

We now have approximately $65,000.00 in the bank between the Legion and Schooner’s. We would not have been able to stay open and maintain our Legion without the help from the various levels of government.

Another big help has been the support of our Members. We made almost $8000.00 on the first Raffle and the second one is going well. We are planning another raffle, but this one will be a Wine Crate Raffle which we plan to launch in May. This would include 5 prizes of varying amounts of wine. We are going to sell 1000 tickets at $10 each. Stay tuned for further information.

The Legion Office will remain open from 9-12 and by appointment. Call first if you plan to come down to purchase tickets or renew your membership. Don’t forget your mask.

Hopefully, we can get through this together with our Legion still viable. Get your vaccination, stay home if and when you can and don’t forget to wear your mask.

Robertson Memorial Branch #17 is important to us all, so please know that your staff and executive are working hard to make it through these difficult times.

Take care and keep safe,

Sheila Donner

President