I am hoping that you and your families have enjoyed the holidays and you have been able to get some rest and relaxation.

As we put 2024 in our rear-view mirrors, a lot of good things have happened at the Branch this year, laying a solid foundation for 2025. Our membership levels have remained steady, and we are within reach of having 300 members.

Work is nearing completion on our renovations, with the walk-in cooler scheduled for completion in January and the washrooms adjacent to the Lloyd King hall and our new front entrance scheduled for a mid-February completion date. The entire exterior of the building has been freshly painted, courtesy of SA Construction and Rainbow Painters and the west wall of our building has been excavated and waterproofed. The new front façade gives our Legion a refreshing look, again thanks to SA Construction.

Legion volunteers led by Comrade Shawn McKelvie have rebuilt the Men’s washroom off the Lounge and have also created a new room for Legion memorabilia in the southwest corner of the building. These renovations are timely and well-needed.

The kitchen and catering team had another busy year providing delicious meals to attendees of various functions held in both the lounge and Lloyd King Hall. The team also catered several functions outside of the Legion and continues to produce Heat and Serve meals. I am pleased to remind everyone that Branch Director, Jacqueline Schwenker received a 2024 Peer award from the Town of Pelham for her countless hours of volunteerism! She is one of the valued members of the kitchen and catering team.

The Lloyd King hall continues to be a very active gathering place, regularly hosting exercise classes for Seniors on the Move, Ax Throwing competitions and Friday night Cornhole competitions, amongst other activities. And speaking of the Ax Throwers, we thank them for their fundraising efforts on our behalf again this year resulting in another $10,000 donation to the Branch.

The 2024 Poppy Campaign established a high mark for donations. Almost $23,500 was raised during this year’s campaign. We also had a very successful Literary and Poster contest in which 111 students from 5 schools participated. The Veterans Banner program continues to grow as we now have 70 veterans who are honoured through this initiative. We also hosted the Healing Waters initiative for the 6^th year in partnership with volunteers from Soldier On, Hamilton Fly Fishers and Tyers and Trout Unlimited Canada, Niagara Chapter.

We also provided scholarships to students of Notre Dame, Centennial and E.L. Crossley high schools and a bursary to a Broadcasting student of Niagara College. Donations to various initiatives in our community and beyond were also made.  All in all, these activities amounted to approximately $24,000.

I would be remiss not to mention those members who we lost in 2024. Gone but never forgotten are Rick Gretsinger, Charles Leguerrier, Jim Wellington, Murray Ferguson, and Jake Dilts. They will be missed. Lest we forget, lest we forget.

In closing and on behalf of the Legion Executive, I wish you all the best in 2025 and I look forward to visiting with you at the Branch. I also encourage all members to attend our monthly membership meetings and get involved! There are some great synergies happening and with more volunteers, we can keep our momentum moving forward.

Kindest regards,

Toni McKelvie
Branch President

Total donations to this year’s campaign as of November 22, 2024, are $22,883.15. Our goal was $22,000 so we exceeded our goal by 4%. We are extremely grateful to all those individuals, organizations, associations, and entities for donating to our campaign. Pelham is an amazing community, and we thank everyone for their generosity.

Campaign expenses amounted to $2,662.15. Expenses include the purchase of poppies, poppy centres, poppy pins, poppy stickers, coin boxes and trays, inscribed ribbons for wreaths, stamps for postage, coin wrappers, awards for the Poster and Literary contest winners and cadets luncheon costs related to canvassing.  Shipping costs and HST also form part of the expenses.

Our Remembrance Day service was very well attended. We thank the citizens of Pelham and surrounding areas for taking the time to attend the service and honour our Veterans. We also thank all the Remembrance Day service participants. The feedback we have received about the service has been very positive.

Once again, the staff and students of Niagara College’s, Broadcasting, Radio, Television and Film (BRTF) program live-streamed our service, enabling those who wished to watch the service from the comforts of their home, office, or elsewhere to do so.

Forty-eight (48) wreaths were laid in Veterans Park prior to the November 11^th service. Wreaths were also placed at Centennial Park in Fenwick, at the Ridgeville cenotaph and at the memorial in Peace Park for Remembrance Day observance.  On November 8^th, we also placed a wreath at the cenotaph in Veteran’s Park and had a brief ceremony to recognize Indigenous Veterans Day. We thank all those who sponsored a wreath during this year’s campaign.

The Veterans Banner program continues to grow in popularity. This year, there were banners on the utility poles honouring 70 veterans along Pelham Street, Pelham Town Square, Summersides Blvd., Wellspring Way and Meridian Way.

This year’s edition of the Poster and Literary contest was also very successful. With 111 entries from the students of five schools, the judges had a challenging time choosing between the submissions. In addition to the students, we thank the parents and teachers for encouraging participation in the contest. Postcards made by students also added to this season of Remembrance.

Finally, all of this cannot be achieved without the help of many, including the Poppy Campaign volunteers, our Lincoln and Welland Regiment cadets and their supervisors, our Ladies Auxilliary who actively canvassed on October 27^th, the Niagara College staff and students, Remembrance Day service participants, Town of Pelham staff, Niagara Region staff, those individuals who assisted in the donation counting, the House and Grounds volunteers and our Kitchen staff who came in very early on November 11^th, to prepare a breakfast for those assisting with the Remembrance Day service. Special mention to Jean Lalonde for tracking all donations and expenses during the campaign and to the staff of Pelham Today for providing excellent coverage of our Poppy Campaign and Remembrance Day activities.

Good things happen when volunteers are committed to a cause and as Chair of this campaign, I extend my heartfelt thanks to all who made this 2024 campaign a very successful and memorable one.

Jim Garner, 2024 Poppy Chair

Our Branch volunteers have finalized our plans for our annual Poppy Campaign and Remembrance Day service. We hope that after you read this article, many if not all your questions will be answered.

Our Poppy Campaign committee has been meeting regularly since the beginning of September, developing our 2024 plans. We know that in previous years in late October and early November, the citizens of Pelham have pinned a poppy to their lapels and then on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, they have paused for two minutes to honour and remember those who have served and continue to serve our country. For that, our Branch members and especially our veterans, say “thank you.”

Our November 11th, service will begin at approximately 10:40 am. and will once again take place in Veterans Park on Legion grounds. To enhance attendee safety, the Region has agreed to close the right westbound lane of Highway 20 in front of the Branch for the duration of the service.

Once again, we are pleased to advise that our service will be live-streamed to allow Pelham residents to participate virtually, courtesy of Niagara College’s students and staff from the Broadcasting – Radio, Television and Film (BRTF) program. The live stream link is https://livestream.com/accounts/15502389/events/11189135. Weather permitting, there will be a fly-over during the service sponsored by our Town of Pelham.

Our annual Poppy Campaign will take place from October 25th to November 11th, inclusive. Members of the planning committee have canvassed businesses and organizations in Pelham, and we are pleased to advise that approximately 165 Poppy boxes will be distributed throughout our Town. You will also see volunteers canvassing at store locations from time to time during the period of the campaign. Unfortunately, we will not have Tap Boxes available for this year’s campaign at De Vries Farm Market or Sobeys.

With a campaign goal of $22,000, we are asking the citizens of Pelham for your continuing support of our Poppy Campaign which raises funds to sustain a variety of programs and initiatives to assist veterans and their families as well as sponsoring cadet and youth programs and making available bursaries for the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of our veterans. We also make financial donations to entities like Camp Maple Leaf, a not-for-profit sleepover camp for children of military families, the Homeless Veterans program, the Niagara Health Foundation, and the Juravinski Cancer Centre through our Poppy Fund. More information on the uses of the Poppy Fund can be found at www.on.legion.ca.

If you are inclined to support our campaign in 2024 without accessing the Poppy collection boxes, you can send us a cheque payable to the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 613. We also accept payment at our Branch via cash, credit card or debit card. You can also process your donation by sending an e-transfer to br613rcl@cogeco.net. Under the “comments” section, please insert “Poppy Fund donation.” Please note the best time to visit the Branch is between the hours of 12:00 pm and 7:00 pm each calendar day.

During the week beginning October 7th, the banners depicting veterans with a Pelham connection were placed on the street poles throughout the downtown core on Pelham Street, Pelham Town Square, Summersides Boulevard, Meridian Way and Wellspring Way. Please take the time to check out these banners.

On behalf of all our veterans and members of Branch 613, we thank you in advance for your continuing support of our Poppy Campaign. Pelham residents have always responded favourably to community-based initiatives, and we are hoping you will do so again for our 2024 Poppy Campaign!

Best regards,
Members of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 613