聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 The Canora branch of the Royal Canadian Legion is well on its way to having raised enough money to re-shingle the roof of its hall 鈥� the Dugout.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Most of the executive members are new and they wanted to promote the Legion more, said Gina Rakochy, the new president. Not only is the goal to have better visibility in the community, but to have the branch be better known and supported for all the community work that it does.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 On Thursday, the Legion held a spring social, and from how well it was received, this will be only the first of an annual event, she said.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Last year, the branch was facing a severe membership shortage so a group of friends got together and joined, Rakochy said. As a member of that group, she said each was willing to take an active role and their combined efforts are paying off.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he Legion is proud to pay tribute to the veterans, both of military and police services. It is one of the longest running not-for-profit organizations in Canada.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淎s well as paying recognition to veterans through Remembrance Day services, education is promoted around the year through Legion programs such as the Remembrance Day poster and poem contests.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In addition to Remembrance Day, the branch also honours its deceased members through Decoration Day, held the Sunday nearest to June 6 each year.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Legion branch鈥檚 hall, known as the Dugout, has the been branch鈥檚 meeting place since the early 1920s.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淥ur hall is showing her age and recently, we have begun the process of giving her a much needed facelift,鈥� said Rakochy.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Estimates have been received that renovations will cost in excess of $25,000, she said. The first priority is to have the roof re-shingled and the estimates received place that cost at $10,000.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The tree auction is the Legion鈥檚 first effort to raise funds for the roof project, Rakochy said. 鈥淲e were very honoured to receive a grant from Crossroads Credit Union to cover part of the cost.鈥� With the money raised at the social, the branch is close to begin planning the next step.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 would like to thank our generous sponsors and all the volunteers who worked so hard to get this social evening going.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The trees and shrubs were acquired from Lakeshore Tree Nursery at wholesale prices, Rakochy said. The business also provided a number of items from the raffles at the social. So many businesses were very generous with donations when the owners learned that the prize canvass was for a Legion project.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淥ur trees and shrubs are all prairie grown trees from Lakeshore Tree Nursery in Saskatoon. They grow everything on sight from seedlings, so these trees already have a prairie winter under their belts,鈥� said Rakochy. 鈥淭hey only sell what will grow in Saskatchewan.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The auctioneer for the evening was Adam Stuart, who works for Key Chev in Yorkton as well as 小蓝视频 an auctioneer on a part time basis.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 There was a lot of good feedback from the buys, the main point 小蓝视频 raised was to bring in more trees, said Lorrie Negraff, a Legion member. When the event was planned, the Legion members thought they would give it a try and use the success of this event to decide future social/tree auctions.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t will definitely be an annual event,鈥� said Negraeff.
