The Herschel Legion branch #7 was given that number as it was the seventh town in our entire province to register as a service club to honour veterans. They join many other clubs in the area that have decided to close their doors due to lack of members.
Outgoing president Ian Cross said that they had 14 or 15 memberships and not many were local, "most are inactive or not living around here anymore. They were born in Herschel, and took out a membership because their parents had been involved in it, and then moved away." The one's who are local can transfer their membership to any other active branch.
"I don't know what the majority of members are going to do, but my plan is to transfer my membership to Rosetown." said Cross. That decision will have to wait until the Legion's national governing body (Dominion Command) gives its approval to fold up the small club.
They're not the only ones. Recently Unity's Kilwinning Mason lodge closed it's doors. It's a problem that many clubs face these days, and many towns will have to deal with old building. Cross said that won't be an issue in Herschel, "we didn't own a building, we just used the community hall."
Cross said that he's now 80 years old, and that he and his wife had done a lot of the work in recent years.
Thu, Apr 25, 9:30 AM
