Skip to content

Red Deer Legion, Branch #35 celebrates anniversary

Games, live music and delicious food highlighted the festivities at the Red Deer Legion on Saturday
web1_161017-RDA--Legion-celebrates-for-web

Games, live music and fresh-cooked food highlighted the festivities at the Red Deer Legion, Branch #35 on Saturday.

The Red Deer Legion celebrated its 35th year at its Bremner Avenue location along with the 90th anniversary of the Legion in Canada.

Red Deer MP Earl Dreeshen was on hand for the event and presented Bev Hanes, Red Deer Legion president, a certificate congratulating the legion on its milestone.

“The legion has meant a lot to people in Central Alberta. They have been such a major part of the community and it’s great they have chosen to celebrate their 35 years here. It was a great honour to be here,” said Dreeshen.

Hanes has been an official member of the legion since 2000 and president since 2014.

She said the legion has been a big part of her life and it was great to see all the people show up to support the event.

“The people who showed up here today are wonderful. I think some of them didn’t expect to have as good of time as they did, but we are glad people enjoyed it,” laughed Hanes.

The legion is a non-profit organization that relies heavily on volunteers for events such as these. With close to 1,700 members in area, Hanes said she can’t say enough about the people who have kept the legion running for the last 35 years.

“Volunteers are the life blood of this place because we can’t afford to pay for the amount of the staff that we would like. They’re important and we could definitely use more. Like most places, a handful of people are doing all of the work,” said Hanes.

One of those volunteers is Edie Eddy, said Hanes. She has volunteered at the legion for 20 years.

“The legion is a wonderful place to come and meet new people and the staff are great. I’ve been coming here for a lot of years and everyone has always treated me really well. It’s been a pleasure to help out,” said Eddy.

The Bremner Avenue location was put on sale in May and the owners are now looking for a smaller space.

So far there have not been any offers.

The legion launches its poppy campaign on Monday.

jonathan.guignard@www.reddeeradvocate.com