On Saturday, September 24th, Callander’s Royal Canadian Legion celebrates its diamond anniversary—branch 445 is turning 75. To commemorate the milestone, a dinner is planned followed by a performance from North Bay’s Fran Hanover, and tickets are on sale until September 16th for $25 each.
You can purchase those tickets at the Legion’s bar between noon and 5:00 p.m. While there you might run into Kathy Landon, who’s been a Legion member for 31 years, and has served as treasurer for 15 of those years. The milestone means a lot to her.
“I’m proud of the Legion for lasting this long,” she said. “There are a lot of Legions that are closing, which is sad, because you need a place for people and for comradeship” within the community. “It’s important to gather for dinners and events, and to have a good time.”
After 75 years, the Legion has hosted many of those, and there are more to come, Landon noted. But for now, plans are finalizing for the gala dinner. Many Legion members will be there, as will Vic Fedeli and mayors Pauline Rochefort from East Ferris, Randall McLaren from Bonfield and Callander’s own mayor Robb Noon. Anthony Rota explained to Landon that he was unable to make it but is providing a video message to play at the occasion.
Dinner is being catered by the Carriage House in Powassan, Landon explained. Usually, Legion members would cook and serve the dinners, but since a 75th anniversary comes but once, “we thought it would be nice to let our members sit and relax and enjoy” the evening free of culinary duties.
“There will be some speeches,” throughout the evening, she noted. “It’s to congratulate the Legion and its members for being in the community for this length of time.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
