Wayne Gorrill recalls a time when the legion in O’Leary was a major hub.
He was one of roughly 165 members at the time he joined Branch 2 as an affiliate member about 30 years ago.
Membership has since dropped by two-thirds to just 55 or so members today.
“It’s not very busy,’’ says Gorrill, the branch’s president. “That’s the sad part.’’
A few years ago, the branch was close to closing. It still may.
“It’s day-to-day sort of thing,’’ says Gorrill.
That’s not exactly the climate for upbeat celebrations to mark the 90th anniversary of the O’Leary Legion, which got its charter on Oct. 1, 1928.
Still, ideas are being tossed around on how to mark the milestone.
“I think it’s a very important part of O’Leary – probably not as important as it used to be,’’ says Gorrill.
The Charlottetown Legion turned 90 earlier this year.
Branch 1 received its charter April 1, 1928 – half a year before O’Leary, a somewhat bone of contention over the years considering O’Leary is believed to have existed longer than Charlottetown as an unchartered legion.
Like the O’Leary Legion, the capital city’s branch has had its struggles to stay open.
On Jan. 4, 2015, the provincial command installed a board of trustees to run operations at the Charlottetown Legion because the branch was losing money and the president had resigned.
The branch was forced to sell the Pownal Street building in late 2015 but remains as a tenant in the basement of what is one of the city’s familiar structural landmarks.
Charlottetown Legion president Dave Howatt is hopeful the branch will soldier on for many years.
Branched out
- There once were as many as 33 legion branches on P.E.I. before several started closing in the 1960s.
- The most recent branch to close was in North Rustico about 10 years ago.
- There are currently 17 branches in the province: Charlottetown; O’Leary; Souris; Mount Stewart; Summerside; Tignish; Eldon; Montague; Kingston; Kensington; Borden; Wellington; Miscouhce; Cardigan; Ellerslie; Morell and St. Anthony.
The branch has the option of moving to another location in two years when the current lease runs out or inking a deal for another five-year lease agreement in the familiar digs.
“The owners of the building gave us a very generous offer for another five-year term and they have done nothing but to help us out to the best that they can to maintain the place (and) to maintain us,’’ says Howatt.
Most important to Howatt, who retired from the military 10 years ago, is keeping the branch open in order to continue providing help to veterans.
“The thing that I’d like people to know is the legion is here year-round to support the veterans and their families, and in order to do that we have to keep the doors open,’’ he says.
“If our doors aren’t open, we can’t help anybody.’’
Howatt, who suffers from PTSD, has derived a great deal of comfort and help out of being a part of the legion.
“For me, personally, I get to volunteer and help people,’’ he says.
“It’s therapeutic and it is something that I’ve always sort of done throughout my career in the military.’’
Long-term viability of the branch, however, calls for a considerable boost in membership, which is currently 259 members. Howatt would like to see the number eventually doubled.
“It’s therapeutic and it is something that I’ve always sort of done throughout my career in the military.’’
Charlottetown Legion president Dave Howat
Owen Parkhouse, vice-president of the P.E.I. Provincial Command of the Royal Canadian Legion, would like to see more success in attracting the “modern day’’ veterans to join legion branches across the Island.
He estimates there are roughly 4,500 such veterans on the Island.
Parkhouse, who served on several military missions including in Afghanistan, would like fellow veterans to enjoy the comradeship of the legion.
“The legion isn’t just beer and bingo,’’ he adds.
“I think for the longest time that is what it has been thought of. It’s giving back to the community. It’s service.’’
While some P.E.I. branches, like Wellington and Kingston, are doing well, many others are struggling, notes Parkhouse.
In addition to Charlottetown and O’Leary working hard to keep their branches alive, the Eldon Legion has a very small membership, and both Morell and Mount Stewart remain “legions in name’’, despite having no building to house the branch.
Poll: Does the legion have a future in Prince Edward Island?
Parkhouse says each branch must find a way to draw more members, whether veterans (known as ordinary members), associates (members who are direct descendants of veterans) or affiliates (basically the general public).
Catherine Kerr, membership chairwoman with the Charlottetown Legion, says the focus of the branch is always on veterans. She says members regularly visit members, checking on their needs.
An associate member under her late father, Ennis Brewer, a Second World War veteran, Kerr enjoys the social nature of the branch. She comes in five to six days a week to play cards with her regular crew.
Wylie Acorn, 68, of Cornwall joined the Charlottetown Legion roughly 20 years ago as an associate member at the urging of his late fathe,r Bill, a Second World War veteran.
He quickly grew fond of the place as both a social and nurturing environment.
“Attached to the place, attached to the people,’’ he says.
“They were always there for you.’’
Acorn says he feels privileged to support veterans and considers the Charlottetown Legion a second home.
Parkhouse would like to see more Islanders embracing the legacy of the Legion with similar gusto, celebrating how the storied organization is a part of the fabric of Canadian life.
“I think we have to remember as Islanders that we’re lucky to have 17 legions on the Island, that they do an incredible amount of work in the community. They have for 90 years and they’ll continue, hopefully, for the next 90, but they have to be supported.’’
“We need to get the membership up,’’ he adds. “New blood is good blood.’’
