August 2021 President Report
August has been another busy month for the Executive and the Office Staff and Bartenders. Pool has been available and a few tournaments have been held. Darts are played on Tuesday and Thursday nights, so Schooners has been fairly busy. We still have the tables on both sides at 50% capacity. Hand sanitizer is available everywhere and the girls are doing a super job cleaning. Please, if you are not vaccinated, we request that you wear a mask.
Revenue for the Legion for this time period has been mainly grants and wage subsidies. This will change shortly as we have opened the Legion for Meat Raffles and Chase the President. The Revenue for Schooners has been greatly increased with our VLTs but July’s revenue was still $11,000.00 less than this time period last year. Should want to see the financials for each month they are available from the office.
We have started a new Raffle to help pay the bills. It is another 50/50 and you can find the information at www.rafflebox.ca/raffle/rcl17. Thank you in advance for your support and good luck.
We need volunteers willing to step up and help with the Meat Raffle and Chase the President. The same people are not always willing to do it all the time. Contact the Office if you would like to help out. We need members to start thinking about helping with the Poppy Campaign as well as serving on the Executive. Our first General Meeting in a long time will be held on Wednesday September 29th at 7:00 in the Ortona Room. If you attend three General Meetings in a calendar year and have been a Branch member for at least 1 year, you may run to be on the Executive. Please think about it. Your Branch needs you.
If you are interested in volunteering in any capacity please call or email the office and give them your name and where you would like to help. It is fun and you get to know a lot of very interesting people and they get to know you.
On Thursday, Sept 9th, the Legion Canteen will move to regular times. Senior Darts will be starting again on Monday and Thursday afternoons. Thursday evenings the Live Music Dances will also start up. If you wish to have supper, come on down at 6:00pm as the Live Music and Dancing begin at 7:00. Also, the LA have started their Meat Raffles on Saturday beginning at 4:30.
During the month of August some of your Executive attended the virtual Dominion Legion Convention. It was very interesting and encouraging. The Operational Stress Injury Special Section explained that it is primarily engaged in helping Veterans access services in their communities and to help peers connect with those who have not been willing to seek assistance. This Committee just established a few years ago, is trying to be the leading organization to which Veterans and their families will turn to for support for OSI. We will try to put together a comprehensive Convention Report over the next few weeks and post it on our website. Comrade Bruce Julian is the new Dominion President.
August 15 and 16, in between breaks in the Virtual Convention, the Branch was invited to send representatives to the Tribal Memories Celebration. This involved 4 times throughout the 2 days. I would like to thank Wayne Donner, Eldon Wells, Jack Bennett, Roy Gale, and Don Hamilton for attending. The Ceremony included the Grand March which honoured our Veterans, so it was an honour to be present for this Celebration.
The Branch has provided Poppy Services for 2 Veterans this month. Many thanks to our Padre Ron MacDonald and all those who attended the ceremonies for Harry Newman and Sharples Keith Moore. Thanks to Ken Farrer for his assistance with these ceremonies.
Redcliff will be holding their Annual Veterans Dinner on October 23. This is open to all Veterans and their spouse, significant other or care giver. Just call the Redcliff Legion and register. Branch 17 will be holding their Annual Veterans’ Dinner on November 13. More information to follow in the coming months.
The District 6 Rally will be held at Branch 17 on Sunday September 19th starting at 12:00. If you are interested in attending, please contact the Office. Lunch will be provided for the registration cost of $10.00. The charge is covered by Branch 17 if you are a member in good standing of Robertson Memorial.
Jack and Lola Bennett have resigned from the Executive. They will be greatly missed and we thank them for their commitment and dedication to the Branch. We will miss them on the Executive. The remaining Executive will be having an emergency meeting to appoint members for the next three months to take us to the November election.
On behalf of the members, a big thank you is extended to Eldon Wells, Don Hamilton, Roy Gale and Dan the Painterman for painting the parking lot dividers yellow. Also, a big thank you to Eldon for purchasing a refurbished gas stove for our Ortona Kitchen. It sure looked bare without a stove after the culinary school moved out. Thanks Eldon for this wonderful donation.
If you are interested in playing in any Legion Sport this fall and Winter, please see the attached schedule or go to our website at https://legion17.org/ or call the Legion Office at 403-527-7184 or come on down and we can give you a schedule.
Coming Events in September:
September 6 Legion and Pub closed
Poppy Service for Norm McLeod
September 8 Wednesday Night Pool Begins
September 9 Senior Darts Begins in the Canteen
September 13 Monday Night Pool Begins
September 18 Vet Build- Open to all Vets to meet and get together and build models
September 19 District 6 Rally (See above)
September 29 General Meeting 7:00pm Ortona Room
As you can see we are really beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We need to be careful and keep safe. Please call us or email the Branch if you need anything at all. We are here to help our veterans and members and to be there for each other.
Sheila Donner, President
