President’s Report January 2023
A new year has arrived with hope and thoughts of a prosperous year for Robertson Memorial Br #17. A big thank you is extended to all those who helped over the past three years to keep our Legion viable. This year we are going to need every members’ help as well as our community as we raise an extra $60,000 to repay the Federal Government for the loan we needed for the Legion. The due date is December 31, 2023.
The Legion Canteen is now open in the afternoons for cards, so bring your friends and come on down and have some fun. Our Lunch menu continues to be very popular. We are also looking for volunteers to visit our Veterans in the local Senior Homes. If you are interested in being part of this visitation, please give the office a call.
Just a heads up for those interested in working for our Casino on June 30th and July 1st. Please call the office with your name. We are getting new volunteers to sign up for the meat raffle and we thank them all. It is so nice to see everyone having a good time with friends and family at the Friday Meat Raffle. More people are joining as they realize they do not have to be a veteran. We need new members with new ideas so this is good for our Legion.
On Jan 13th I was invited to the Medicine Hat Brewing Company to receive a donation of $400.00. Thank you to them for this kind donation. At the General Meeting on January 25th Manitoulin Transport will be making a donation to the Branch. The Legion is very appreciative of all the support we receive from our Community.
Our Sports Officer is busy planning Pool and Dart Tournaments so stay tuned. Welcome and thank you to all our loyal Pool and Dart players. In fact our Legion will be sending a team who placed 2nd in the District Darts held in our Legion on January 14th AB/NWT Provincial in Innisfail. Good Luck from the Branch to Diane, Tina, Joseph, Mark and Jason who make up the team. Just a reminder that Senior Darts meets on Monday and Thursday afternoons. Please be there by 12:15 to register. Drop in Darts happens every Tuesday evening in the Pub and Trivia Night takes place in the Pub every other Friday. Next one is January 27th. If you are interested in Dinner and Dancing, every Thursday in the Canteen there is music for the 50+ group. Lots happening, so plan to come down and enjoy yourself with your friends.
Thank you to Roger for advertising on “What’s Up Medicine Hat” and to Holly for posting our Menu on the Schooner’s Facebook page. As you are all aware we have a daily special and Diane makes the best homemade soup.
Our Committees and Executive will be very busy over the next year. We are planning on highlighting all our Veterans from all the different Missions right up to the present. Your Legion and Executive will never lose sight of the fact that our Mandate is to help Veterans and their families in need and to keep Remembrance alive.
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A big thank you to Scott Schall for his work with Vet Build. This group meets every other Saturday. If you are a veteran and would like more information, please call the Office and we will let Scott know or just drop into the meeting as they would love to have you join them.
Our Lotteries Committee is planning exciting Raffles for the future. Presently, the Legion has a Valentine basket. With wine, chocolates, a $50.00 gift certificate to Safeway/Sobey’s. Four Valentine hand towels, chocolates of course and a couple of Valentine stuffies. Tickets are available in the legion. $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but the money will go towards our loan fund. Support this fund raiser if you can. Ken and Teresa have great ideas for the Branch and their enthusiasm is to be commended. If you know anyone or a business that would like to donate an item for raffle or Silent Auction, please let the office know. Your Legion Executive is hand delivering letters to various businesses asking for assistance if they are able. Together we can put the fun in fundraiser and get this loan paid off in record time.
Wes Krause, our Archives Chair, has been working hard organizing our artifacts. He is doing an awesome job. Come on down and have a look at he has been arranging and organizing our Military artifacts. We are anticipating that students in the Fall will be able to come to the Legion and learn about the involvement of our Veterans over the years as they served their country. We are looking forward to the students from the schools visiting our Legion in the future and learning the history and contribution of our veterans to their country, Canada.
On behalf of the Executive and members I would like to thank the Ladies Auxiliary for the generous donation of $4000.00 to the Branch. As you know we asked them for assistance in replacing the roof on the garage. This will certainly enable the Legion to go ahead with this project. Have a look at the garage roof and you will see that it needs to be replaced asap.
As you can see, your Executive and staff have been very busy. Your Legion is alive and active every day of the week.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sheila Donner
