Every year Royal Canadian Legion Branch 260 leads 100 Mile House's Remembrance Day Ceremonies.
For the first two weeks of November, the Legion and the veterans they honour and look after are the centre of attention. Yet during the other 50 weeks of the year the Legion remains a pillar of the 100 Mile House community.
"Essentially the Legion is a safe haven for (veterans) to come to where they can talk and be around folks who are like-minded," Bobby-Jack Evans, Branch 260's public relations officer, said. "It's a good safe haven and a beacon of hope."
A longtime member of the Royal Canadian Legion organization, Evans has been involved with Branch 260 for the last three years. He said Branch 260 has been serving the community for decades ever since its doors first opened on June 1, 1959. Today they have over 360 members including veterans, police officers, the families of veterans and community members with no military or law enforcement affiliation. Evans noted they are one of the fastest-growing Legions in the region currently.
Evans said he believes deeply in the cause of the Legion, noting he comes from a family with several soldiers who have served and in some cases gave their lives in wars. The Legion gives people a place to remember the sacrifice of those men and women while supporting those who served.
That's why one of the main things the Legion offers is veteran support services, where the Legion will assist a veteran with anything they may need. This can include financial support, counselling or just helping them out with a project. Right now the Legion's veterans liaison officer is Ray Carlson, who also serves as the Legion's president.
"If they're a veteran and can prove they're a veteran, they have a process they can go through and then the executive will make a decision with the veteran liaison officer as to how we're going to support and what funding we're going to give," Evans explained. "We've had requests of everything from headstones to windows being replaced, roofs being replaced to a new fireplace and hospital support. It could be any kind of support the veteran may need."
Evans noted that as a volunteer-run not-for-profit, the Legion runs several functions for their membership throughout the year and uses the money it raises from them to invest back into the community. This includes donations to various other community groups such as 100 Mile House's Girl Guides Troupe, the 2887 Rocky Mountain Rangers Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps, 100 Mile House Hospital Auxillary, the 100 Mile House & District Blind & Visually Impaired White Cane Club and other organizations in need of funding.
"This year our targeted goal was to give $30,000 back to the community. Last year we hit $22,000 so we've upped our hopeful target and we're on track for that," Evans remarked. "We have our meat draws, our dance functions, our different Halloween parties and all that generates revenue for us. Outside of our operational costs, which is generally about 15 per cent or so, the rest of everything else goes back to the community."
The only exception to this rule is the Legions' annual Poppy Sales which is used exclusively for veteran-related affairs and carries over year after year. The fund is also used to pay for the Legion's annual Remembrance Day Ceremony held at the 100 Mile House Community Hall.
While the Legion was founded with veterans as their focus, Evans remarked they always welcome non-veterans to join the organization. Despite public perception, he said their membership has been open to the general public for years now.
This Remembrance Day after the Legion's ceremony the Legion's doors will be open from noon to 3 p.m. for anyone who wants to come in and see what they're all about. Evans encourages the entire community to take advantage of this opportunity and to consider joining.
"You can be part of something that is not only so important to the Cariboo and B.C. but nationwide as a support network of all veterans and their families," Evans said. "We're also always looking for volunteers. Volunteers who don't necessarily want to be a member of an organization like ours but want to help us in our kitchen or different functions around the community."
Legion Branch 260 is open 12:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday with pool and darts taking place on Wednesday and Thursday after hours respectively.
