Legion Longevity

The Ladies of Auxiliary of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 23 held a celebratory dinner tonight at their headquarters on First Avenue to commemorate their 80th anniversary.

“Our Ladies Auxiliary formed in 1926, and our Charter President was Margaret Richardson,” says Doreen Beauchesne, Ontario Provincial Command President.

“We have had 22 ladies take the job on as president since then, and tonight, we are going to have nine past presidents with us.”

Beauchensne says the focus of the Auxiliary projects is to support the Branch 23 and support the community and veterans.

“It was born out of wartime when we formed in 1926. Most of the ladies were the wives of the veterans that just came back,” explains Beauchensne.

“They had three jobs then, looking after their husbands, raising the children and working at the Legion … nothing has changed.”

The Provincial President understands the struggles that some Legions are going through in recruiting new members for sustainability, but says she anticipates Branch 23 to continue on as it always has.

“I think we will be around as long as the branches are, our constitution and our bylaws say if the branches can not carry on the ladies auxiliary, automatically folds.”

“But we are hoping and praying that we will be here for a long time in the future.”

Beauchensne adds that the benefits of being a member are well worth the time and effort and that younger women should consider joining to help sustain the longevity of the institution. And quickly points out that the ladies have great sports programs and run crib and euchre tournaments.

“You meet so many beautiful people, we have such good programs and it's not all work we do have some fun.”

MP Anthony Rota, MPP Monique Smith and Mayor Victor Fedeli all attended the dinner to celebrate the milestone and offer their congratulations.