President’s Message:
Joe Gowing – President@PrestonLegion.ca
Welcome back! I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable summer. Thank you to everyone who took the time to attend our Special General Meetings over the summer. Your participation was important as we made significant decisions about the future of Branch 126.
Our new building project continues to move forward, and our The Next 100 fundraising campaign is now kicking off. This will be a major focus for the Branch as we work toward building a new home that will serve our members, Veterans and community for generations to come. There will be many opportunities for members, local businesses and the community to get involved and support the campaign.
We are also looking to fill two vacancies on our Branch Executive until June 2027. If you are a member in good standing and would like to become more involved in helping guide the Branch, please reach out to me directly. I would be happy to speak with anyone interested about what is involved and where they may be able to help.
Our 2026 Poppy Campaign begins October 24, and volunteer sign-up sheets are now available. The success of the campaign depends on our members and volunteers. Even a few hours of your time makes a difference in supporting Veterans and their families.
There is a lot happening at Branch 126 this fall, and I look forward to seeing everyone back at the Branch and involved in another busy season.
1st Vice President/ Bar Manager/ Entertainment:
Al Clark – 1vp@prestonlegion.ca
Hello comrades
I hope everyone has had a great summer. It’s been a bit of a hot one.
This summer has been busy Attending building committee meetings and getting approval from the membership to forge ahead.
In August, I attend it the 50th Dominion convention in Winnipeg Manitoba it was a busy convention with the last day seeing many new resolutions passed and a beautiful gala dinner to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the legion. For those of you who are interested I have a hard copy of the committee reports and resolutions I can also email you a copy if you care to read it.
As fall approaches, October will bring new lounge hours starting October 5th
Monday to Wednesday 1 to 6
Thursday 12 to 10
Friday 1 to 10 and
Saturday 1 to 9 Saturday’s
hours may be flexible due to due to entertainment.
Entertainment:
We have a great lineup of entertainment planned for the Branch. Karaoke will take place on September 12 and October 10. Our Seniors’ Dance is September 20, followed by the Seniors’ Dance on October 18. We will finish October with our Halloween Dance on October 31, featuring Midnight Special.
Thank you to everyone helping organize and support these events. Watch our Facebook page and Branch calendar for further details.
2nd Vice President/ Ways and Means:
Gary Staveley – 2VP@prestonlegion.ca
Hi comrades. Welcome back from summer.
I would like to give a big Congratulations to Jeff on his leadership of putting on a great golf tournament. Also, to all the players who made it so great as the numbers continued to climb. And a huge thankyou to all who volunteered their time as it takes a big crew to pull this off. From prizes to the meals and everyone in between.
I'd like to give a personal thank you to everyone giving so much, very needed support with the passing of my Father, Brian Staveley. This is a huge loss but not only for his family, but for all of his Legion family and Comrades that is absence can't be filled in this Legion. For over 50 years Dad has been a constant here from working with the Meat draw crew, to all of his recipients of his Muffin man status to the breakfast club for years with his Blueberry pancakes. Then to the poppy campaign and his long time commitment to the colour party.
And of course to many years of his support as a mainstay at the BS table. He has made some amazing friends and I thank everyone of you for being there right to the very end.
Brian Staveley, Dad was loved by so many and is missed deeply.
I hope to see everyone for his Celebration of life on Sunday, September 13th from 1-5pm in the members lounge, My daughter is asking that if you have something representing England, to wear it in Dad's honor. We are expecting a large crowd and are looking for volunteers to help with serving and cleanup of the meal and the hall so if anyone knows any students needing some volunteer hours for school please have them contact me at 2vp@prestonlegion.ca.
Again, thank you for your support in getting through this very tough time.
Welcome to Fall and the start of this year's poppy campaign, with all of out new members this year, hopefully we see a bunch of new members filling the spots on the campaign sheets. The more pages that are filled, the more funds will be raised to directly support our Veterans which is why we are here.
Please come out during the week, it would be nice to see some new faces joining the regular crew for some fun and the making of new friends.
Secretary:
Gwen Whittaker – secretary@PrestonLegion.ca
Hello Comrades,
Welcome to fall!
I have had a busy summer at the branch assisting with a variety of things. Not just minute taking as the Secretary but I have been helping with the 4th annual golf tournament, taking a turn in the kitchen on Saturday's and gearing up for the monthly Seniors dances that resume in September. I was also fortunate to attend the Royal Canadian Legion's 50th Dominion Convention with several other executives. This was a great experience, and I am looking forward to attending the next one in 2028. Always looking for volunteers to help on Saturdays in the kitchen, Seniors dances and Sunday breakfasts. Feel free to email me if you are looking to assist with any of our events.
Seniors:
Next Dance: Sept 27 & Oct 18
Thursdays Euchre 12:30pm start $5.00 to play.
Treasurer:
Steve Howlett – treasurer@pretonlegion.ca
Hello Fellow Comrades,
Goodbye to summer and welcome to September! I hope everyone had a great summer and that we still have a few warm seasonal days ahead of us.
I’m pleased to share some good news on the financial front. We’ve just experienced our lowest month of expenses in quite some time, and hopefully this positive trend will continue.
We’ve also implemented a few new tools to assist with the operation of the Branch, with more improvements to come over the next few weeks.
A few members of the Executive had the opportunity to participate in the Royal Canadian Legion’s 50th Dominion Convention, which also coincided with the RCL’s 100th anniversary. It was a very well-attended event, with close to 1,000 participants from coast to coast. We learned a great deal and hope to bring some of those ideas and practices back to Branch 126 where applicable.
It’s exciting to finally see some light at the end of the proverbial tunnel when it comes to the new Branch 126 building. There are certainly exciting times ahead, and it’s a great time to be a proud member of the Royal Canadian Legion—and especially Branch 126!
Stay tuned to the Legion’s Facebook page for updates, but more importantly, please attend our General Meetings, held on the third Tuesday of every month. Your involvement and support are what make our Branch strong.
Here’s to an exciting September and an even more exciting future for Branch 126!
Lest We Forget.
Branch Service Officer:
Joe Gowing – BSO@PrestonLegion.ca
Renewals of your veteran banners are due by Sept 20. - $50.00 e-trans
fer to prestonrclbr126@gmail.com with your name and the veteran’s name.
If you haven’t renewed your veteran banner please do so by Sept 20 so we can get them organized for installation. If you do not wish to renew and would like your banner back please email bso@prestonlegion.ca.
Membership:
Debbie Page-Bruce - membership@PrestonLegion.ca
HELLO COMRADES!
Branch 126 has welcomed over 404 new members to date, and applications are still coming in. This brings our Legion to over 780 members, which is an incredible milestone for our Legion.
With this growth, we are working hard to officially welcome and initiate our new members. For each General Meeting, between 30 and 40 new members are contacted by phone or email with the hope of having them attend and be sworn in as official members of Branch 126.
Unfortunately, attendance has been much lower than expected, with only approximately five or six new members attending each meeting. As a result, we still have well over 250 new members who need to be officially initiated.
We are currently looking at additional ways to complete our membership orientation and initiation so these new members can be fully welcomed into Branch 126. Please watch for future announcements this month regarding upcoming opportunities for new member orientation and initiation.
Finally, a sincere CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME to all new members who have already been initiated into our Legion. We are proud to have you as part of Branch 126 and look forward to seeing our new members at future events.
Poppy Chair:
Sherrill Hyde – poppy@prestonlegion.ca
Well, summer is over and we are back to getting ready for another Poppy campaign.
All the donation cheques have been mailed out. Poppy funds help support several different Veteran programs this year – Leave The Streets Behind, Wounded Warriors PTSD dogs, Parkwood Hospital, CMH Foundation, Veterans Transition Network, Veterans Sports Clinics, Quilts of Valour, Heroes Mending on the Fly, RCL Charitable Foundation, RCL Bursary Fund, District C Hospital Fund, Service Bureau
The Poppy campaign starts on Oct 24th and ends on Nov. 11th. 3 weeks long. The signup sheets for the campaign are posted in the lounge. Please think of our Veterans and volunteer a couple of hours of your time to canvass to collect donations. The Veterans appreciate your efforts and thank you in advance. Dinner tickets are at the bar. Dinner tickets cost $30 / person. Veterans meals are free and are covered by the Poppy Fund.
Branch 126 has booked 7 tap tribute boxes well in advance of the campaign as these boxes raised over $3,000 in Poppy donations last year.
As of today, our Poppy account balance is $25,041. 00 I'm constantly working with our VSO, Terry Smith, to assist Veterans in times of crisis.
House and Ground/ Building Committee/ Leadership Development:
Dan Welsh - facilities@prestonlegion.ca
Welcome back everyone from a warm summer season. I hope everyone enjoyed their summer and got to do everything they were hoping to get done and went everywhere they planned. Welcome to all new members that joined the legion over the summer. Thank you for supporting the Legion and we hope you continue to enjoy what the legion has to offer. As always, ideas and suggestions are always welcome and we accept ideas, improvements and help that comes with it from volunteers. This summer we have had lower numbers as people are busy with friends and families which is expected. As we move into the fall and cooler seasons the legion will be busier. I will be putting up sign up sheets at the front entrance for upcoming events and please feel free to sign up to volunteer for them as we can never have enough volunteers. It is a fun way to help out and really get to know others in the legion. You can easily become a familiar face and find a number of great friends which is why I myself got involved in the legion. I encourage all those that have volunteered in the past and those who have not yet had a chance to help out to give it a try and choose something you like to do. Remember that the volunteers are the reason we made it to 100 years. A huge Thank you to all of those people who got us to where we are today. It was your endless hard work and time you gave that built this community.
On the house and Grounds side of my role we have had some roof issues recently that Jeff and Nathan have helped to rectify. With the age of the building it is always a work in progress and with the hard rainstorms we have been having doesn’t help. We will try to solve the puzzles and keep the water outside where it is supposed to be. If there are any roof specialists that are members of the legion that could help us out we would love the help and support. Jeff and his team have been cutting the grass and looking after the lawn of our Legion all summer in the hottest temperatures of the year. This was probably one of our record summers as far as heat goes and these guys did it with not a single complaint. Thanks guys! Their team is still trying to get sponsorship from Alexander Keith’s but still no luck! Peter has always been the man that knows the heart and soul of the building. He is the go to person for knowing what controls what and has dealt with almost every issue our legion has had. He fixes things before I even know they are having issues. I’d be lost without him. As well, on another note, Peter has always dealt with a very important role our legion supports in our community. He looks after our wheelchairs, walkers, scooters and other medical equipment that we take as donations and lend out to anyone who needs them. This has been ongoing for years and we are now probably one of the only places left doing it. If you know someone that is looking to donate or in need of any equipment right down to crutches, let us know as we would be happy to help out. There is not a week that goes by that Peter is not helping a family with getting their loved one outfitted to improve their quality of life whether it be for a short term injury or a long term requirement. We are always accepting good equipment. Spread the word! And thank you Peter for all that you do!
Volunteers:
Dan Welsh - facilities@prestonlegion.ca
If you would like to volunteer in any of our Branch activities such as Remembrance Day, Poppy Campaign, Sports Program, Committee Work, Kitchen on Saturday afternoons, Sunday breakfast, etc., please feel free to contact me via computer at facilities@prestonlegion.ca
Sports:
Jeff Whittaker – sports@prestonlegion.ca
Hope everyone had a great summer. Our Branch golf tournament was a big success. Thank you to all the participants and our volunteers.
Zone sports sheets are up. Thursday cornhole will be starting up Oct 1st. Darts and progressive euchre on Fridays.
