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Ladies Auxiliary needs ‘new blood’

The Royal Canadian Legion is recruiting. arbara Burnett, president of the Royal Canadian Legion Lacombe Branch #79 Ladies Auxiliary,

The Royal Canadian Legion is recruiting.

Barbara Burnett, president of the Royal Canadian Legion Lacombe Branch #79 Ladies Auxiliary, said the auxiliary is in great need of new members.

“We need new blood,” she said.

In total, the Lacombe Branch Ladies Auxiliary has 38 members, but many of them are long-serving members who will not be around forever and the club needs to replenish its ranks.

Eight new members have already been installed in the Auxiliary. Burnett added that a few other have expressed interest in joining the club, but there is always a need for more.

Legion and auxiliary branches across the country are struggling, she added. Many of the long-serving members of the clubs who formed their foundations are getting on in years and cannot continue serving their clubs and communities as they once did.

“Our veterans are all passing away and they were the backbone.”

Because of this, the legion is intensely seeking new members to continue its work. Burnett said the Royal Canadian Legion and Ladies Auxiliary clubs need to continue existing because it is important for people to remember. That is, it is important for people to remember the wars, the veterans, and those who died fighting for the country’s freedom.

She added this is one of the club’s objectives and it is something that the people of today cannot afford to forget. Burnett said that, in way, people here today are too far away from war in that some people have begun to forget the significance of those wars and the people who fought in them. She added that if citizens forget about the wars, they forget about the people who fought in them and forget about the importance of the sacrifice they gave.

New and old auxiliary members, as well as those considering joining, should be proud of what the club represents, said Burnett.

“I think they should be proud to wear the uniform, because it represents remembrance.”

In December of last year, the Lacombe branch of the Royal Canadian Legion Auxiliary was in danger of losing its charter. Some members of the club, tired of constantly having to step up and take executive positions because no one else would, were adamant on giving up the charter, said Burnett.

However, Burnett thought the charter was worth keeping, and voted to do just that.

Others shared her beliefs and acted in kind, meaning the charter is still active and operating today.

June marks the 65th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Legion Lacombe Branch Ladies Auxiliary. At the organizational meeting in June of 1948, 16 prospective members put their names in a hat to draw the 11 members that appear on the charter. Burnett said the club is planning an event in the coming months where it will invite other auxiliaries to celebrate this anniversary.

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