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Pages WEST VANCOUVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY May 1993 ^THE LEGION' The Royal Canadian Legion, West Vancouver Branch No. 60 - Its History and Significance to West Vancouver Ac our March meeting the feature presentation. Years Dedicated to Service - Recollections of Branch 60 and its Predecessor Organization, was unique in several aspects. Not only was it a composite of reflections from different times and points of view but we were privileged to have a large group of members of Branch 60 join us to play a leading role in our proceedings. Jim MacCarthy, our programme Chairman, introduced Dick Davenport, the president of Branch 60, He began the presentation as if he was opening a regular Legion meeting, by calling for the colour party, smartly led by Sergeant-at-Arms Bert Gayle, to bear the L^ion flags to the front of the hall. The flags were dipped to the singing of Oh Canada. After completing the formal Legion opening of proceedings, Dick returned the meeting to Jim MacCarthy who made some introduaory remarks and then called on the first speaker, Rupert Harrison, West Vancouver Archivist and former Municipal Clerk . Rupert's theme was "The Early Years -1919-1925 " . A real sense of the purpose and determination of the Great War Veterans emerged as Rupert traces the evolution of the Legion from a predecessor organisation (called the Great War Veterans Association) to the formation of Legion Branch 60 in 1926. As Rupert quoted from the precise and rather dry extracts from early West Vancouver Council meetings there developd a sense of the group commitment to keeping alive the memory of their fallen comrades. This dedication to those fallen in the service of their .country survived despite the difficult times of those early days. Hardly had the ink dried on the Armistice papers when on March 6, 1919 the first order of business appeared in the Council Minutes; a request for permission to build a Memorial to those killed in the Great War. The organization grew steadily from the first meetings held upstairs in the Ferry Building. The minutes speak not only of a Memorial but of the need of service men to move back into a peace time community that presented difficult challenges. Evidence of the need to meet regularly and to obtain funds to further their aims appeared regularly in the Council Minutes. Members looked to entertainment and dancing very early as a means of satisfying these needs. The first mention of a Memorial Arch appeared in the Minutes in March of 1925 and an opening is recorded in July of the same year. By 1927 the Great War Veterans Association was officially named the Royal Canadian Legion, The push to establish a Legion Hall continued and in 1929 the land on which the present Legion building sits was sold by the Council to the Legion for Five Dollars. Construction was begun on the building and proceeded through to completion. The Council Minutes record that as many councillors as possible were urged to attend the official opening of the Legion Hall on April 23, 1930. The next speaker was Neil Ross, whose theme was Branch 60: Formative Years - 1926-1960. Neil took up where Rupert left off in covering the development of the organization as they moved into their new premises. Money was scarce in those days and much of the work and development was undertaken by Legion members on a voluntary basis. Once the building was completed attention shifted again to funding. Local economy during these years was in the midst of a depression and they decided that operating a licensed premises could provide a continuing source of financing. Unfortunately their application for a license met stiff opposition from the temperance movement within the community and was turned down. Undaunted they operated for many years on the basis of individual event permits by and large on volunteer efforts. By 1954 the Legion had quietly acquired a full beverage license for their premises. To operate under the liquor license required building expansion which entailed a mortgage of $5000, which was undersigned by three Legion members, Alex Lang, Ken Lang and Ray Colpitts. Fortunately there was never any requirement to draw in their guarantee. The third speaker, Jim Irvine, presently the Branch 60 Service Officer, highlighted the Legions recent humanitarian contributions to the community under the topic Branch 60 - The Past 30 Years . During this period members of Branch 60 have undertaken a role in service projects within the community far exceeding the accomplishments of other Legions. For example, during the ten years 1982 to 1992 the Legion contributed $312,000 to a variety of community causes, including Lions Gate Hospital, the West Vancouver Seniors Centre and the Kiwanis Lynn Valley Lodge. In addition, the Ladies Auxiliary has contributed $50,000 to various causes, including a youth drop-in centre. This generally unrecognised public service work should put to rest the myth of the Legion as being a place where large quantities of beer are consumed, and the impression that Legionnaires only become visible on Remembrance Day. Several of our members, their memories triggered by the recollections of the evening, exchanged remembrances with others. Most notably Mrs Jenkins, daughter of former Branch 60 President Colin Turner, came forward and displayed a Past Presidents Medal which her father had been given in the late 1920s. What a treasure for an archive! BertGayle, the Sergeant-at-Arms concluded the presentation as follows: 'The business of this meeting being concluded, let us as we part, remember our duty to our branch, our comrades, our country and our sovereign. May we ever strive for both unity and the spirit of comradeship, never forgetting the solemn obligations we have assumed as members of the Royal Canadian L^on, and remembering them, may we ever pray. Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet; Lest We Forget, Lest we Foi^et. We will now sing God Save the Queen.'