Longtime friends Leona and Gloria often arrive at the Royal Canadian Legion’s Cochrane Branch #15 like clockwork on Mondays. Leona orders a pitcher of beer to mix with her Clamato juice – while Gloria sips on her own drink, but gets a second glass … just in case Leona needs help.
“We sit and yack,” said Gloria, as Leona ripped through a handful of 50-cent pull-tab tickets.
The two women met in the late 1960s and are still neighbours, living just a few doors down from each other. They have a lot in common, including a love for the legion, where they both have been members for more than 30 years.
“All my friends were here,” remembered Leona of the early days. “I would come when I got off work and I knew everybody.”
As the ladies wet their whistles, former legion president Gerry Crippin joined the table to share stories of his time as an aircraft mechanic in the RCAF. Another dedicated member of the branch, he remembered the first time he came into the building in the 1970s, wearing shorts and a shirt with cut-off sleeves.
“(You) don’t come in here like that,” he recalled with a laugh. “The next time I came, I put a different shirt on.”
The trio reminisced about changes to the décor of the legion’s main hall – and about the parties in that same very room they used to attend.
“We used to have some rip-roaring times,” Gloria said with a sly smile. “We had a juke box and a piano. Some of (the guests) would get up and play. Everybody was just having a good time.”
“We used to cut a mean rug,” Leona echoed. “This place was packed all the time. It’s different now.”
Canada’s 1,443 legions – whose mandate is to support the country’s veterans and their families – have been dealing with a drop in active membership as their core group of members gets older and younger veterans find other social places to gather.
On the eve of its 90th anniversary, Cochrane’s Legion is not immune to the shift. While it currently boasts more than 400 members, Leona said “they don’t come in.”
“They’re not getting the younger crowd as fast as they need to,” said Gloria.
It’s been nearly nine decades to the day since the “Men of Vision” Branch #15 received its charter on Oct. 25, 1926. The original legionnaires gathered in a small house on a lot donated by former mayor Fred Maggs.
The membership moved into its current location in Historic Downtown in the mid-1970s.
Today, the legion runs special events once a month, like the recent Octoberfest celebration that drew a full house. There’s also weekly barbecues on Fridays, as well as regular crib and darts nights.
Current president Paul Graham said members are continually working hard to increase awareness of their presence and drum up activity in the old barn.
“We’re really wanting people to come into our branch,” he said.
Another longtime legionnaire, Doug Bateman, said he has supported the legion over the years for its great volunteer and charity efforts in the area. He believes it’s that aspect of the club that can revive its membership – and bring back the energy of the organization.
“It’s a meeting spot in the community. We’re getting more and more people involved,” he said. “We’re going to do some good.”
