~ building.

 buil

2, THE HERALD, Wednesday, November 10, 1976

’ by Sam Kirkaldy

I thought it would be ver
befitting at this time to loo
back over the years,

especially since this year is’

our Golden. Anniversary
year. mo
I realize so many of our

'* glder and younger veterans

have no idea whatsoever
‘how the Legion started in
Terrace ri
War I, or its fight to carry on
over the difficult years that
were ahead of us and how it

-*- was to survive as a veteran

t after World 4

organization as well as.

| - + bringing into being the great
~ organization we have today.

‘It all came about by
dedication and hard work.
The workers were not too
numerous; it seemed we

- had to rely on a certain few
. ta get some Of the project

underway.

- . . Building number one was
~~ constructed by the Great

War Veterans themselves. :

a They held weekend bees and

a loan was obtained ‘to

’ purchase lumber and other
_-, Materials. ot
"Ina matter of five months

we “were holding our
meetings

Building

in the “few | ;
".- gtill located. on. Lakelse

- number one ‘was ..

- ‘located on Lakelse Avenue -
-where Totem TV Store.
-. operations are now carried:

out. This building had two

‘storeys. We occupied this
ing until the early

THE.” [REASON
~~ On. .Remembrance

_ Looking ba
thirties when Terrace had a |
very heavy snowfall (with |

wet snow) which caved in |
the roof and destroyed the :

top storey. © ,
The balance of the loan
had been pending for some
years and now we came to
the point where we had to
.§tart. again from scratch
and procure new Legion
uarters.
The Great War Vets
Association Charter which
was issued in the year of
1919 -by the Dominion

Command: in the name of - ;

John Kirkaldy, first
president > and Sam fj
irkaldy, second president.

’ This charter of the Great

War Vets Association was |

‘superseded by a new
charter.issued in 1926 after
the Unity Conference of 1925
in Winnipeg under the name

of the Canadian Legion -

British. Empire Service
League. :

_ About this time | our
membership was down to a °
very low ebb; there could
-not have been.more than a
quorum active -‘membership

paidup.
Building number two is

Avenue now known as ‘All
‘Seasons- Sporting Goods.
The building and-land cost
the Legion $400,

_ During: the Second War
years our Legion building
was confiscated by the

“The soldiers who died due

ea

| TERRAGE INTERNA
| TRUCK AND EQUIPMENT LTD,

REMEMBRANCE. -

-."~other’s. bad temper
~ They. were | ‘ied
-.,.. But finally enemy. nations did yield —
~.-Qn-November 11th at eleventh hour we pray -
For. the soldiers
0 that day. >.
oo Rul Batista

buried

Itwas those millions of men who died for us
Freedom was important so they thought of-us)
Qn . November ( f
We all sit still and remember.their power.
They: had a_ choice to~ fight or. surrender
This is one important thin

_. [REMEMBER THE DEAD ©.
wero Six. feet under, -
“..- “Their graves in rows, poppy bound. ~ 7
“Remember those who died in vain; =
‘There was blood and gore and lots of pain. - _
“Every day they went out.to fight? =
-» Many did not come back, a few thenextnight..

OF | REMEMBRANCE
Day, we
tothe

who .

lth. on

they -. lie’.

685-7211.

Army for use for billiting

incoming troops. Our
membership was then
obliged to hold aur meetings
in the various halls that
could be rented at random.

You can now understand
the many problems that we

had to contend with to-

supply and maintain unity
as a branch ... also to meet
the obligations which were
dedicated to fulfill the duty
to those comrades who
required help. .

I would like to mention. our
poppy. campaign was
always well attended with

the felp of the ‘Ladies,
uxiliary and the Boy, build up the unity — of

Scouts.

remember,

in Flander‘s - Field.

ever lived to see

- the’ eleventh — hour

g we must remember. 9
. Betty Ruygrok 2 abiemi sees

‘in: “ the: ground; ;

Ao

-f} Rollie Beecher,

We always went over our’

expectations until World
War II when the Terrace
population was quite low.
it was Madame- Guerim,
of France, who proposed the
Poppy Day to be held in
Canada. She did so af a
national conference of the
Great War Vets Association
held in July 1921 at Port
Arthur (Thunder Bay)
Ontario. The first poppy
campaign was held on
November 11, 1921.

Now all the veterans of
World War I had managed
to. survive the Hungry
Thirties and the Second War
was now in the making.
Many of them, especially
around Terrace, offered
their services to go overseas
a second time.

The others joined the
Veterans Home Guard and
the Pacific “Coast Militia
Rangers and served well in
Canada. We were now close

~to the end of the second
conflict.

Members of the Legion
branches across the
Dominion were making
plans to receive the young
veterans when they
returned to Canada so they
could be rehabilitated bac

‘ into civilian life without all

the grief and hardships they
faced after the Great War. ©

‘Our job was to secure
their memberships and

strength to force the

government to our

demands. Our hopes were

dashed tosome degree when .

the second War veterans
had other plans that had to.
come before the mem-
bership of the Legion. It was

only natural their wives and
_yo families had to be

cared for and permanent
jobs found. i
Let us not forget that six

ears of their lives were |

‘lost. To assist them to take

their place in civilian life
: was a real, problem. .

When the Second War was
over we found ourselves
-without adequate quarters
to accommodate the new

; membership applying.

Terrace having an army

. _camp meant many of the

huts were up for bid. The old
‘executive was brought
together and they decided to

‘put together $100 each and

make a bid to the War

’ Veterans Corporation at

Vancouver.
: ‘We-sent in our bid of $605
‘to the corporation with an

.accompanying letter saying
‘returning war veterans

dL ishould be given all con.

sideration for some reward
for their services to Canada.

Finally our bid was- ac-
cepted, The comrades that

: | financed the purchase were

John Barman, Cece Muhle,
Frank:

| >So. let. us remember those who fought; . |} Morris, M. Dubeau Sr. and
ee Ror Ht was peace that they sought. ......_, | Jack Kirkaldy.

ee was the lth) day of the 11th month t now occupy Ita ey we
Pp ee So the slaughter was over; , ; _ | 6 weed tye
q "And many of the men lie under popples and clover. | ‘start because we had only a. -

| es wate t om a. fl building with no property:

7 .., Patsy owe os ‘and.as it happened George

| . . Little owned the five lots

ry 5? which our building is now

TIONAL: “<"l), located on. .

We talked to George with

ol pesy ct to purchase. It took
a bt p |

of persuasion, hard

“pg bargaining and we settled at

" J) .4 Brice of $1000. The Ladies
~{}-- Auxiliary. came ‘to our: aid:

and turned over. the only

ck over the years — |

$200 we had for a down

yment. ot oe

A good dea] of. recon-
struction was required .s0
the building could be made
ready for our use. All the
reconstruction was carried.
out by the membership.at no
cost to the bank,

Our inside furnishings
were very limited for the
new building. It came to our
knowledge that the ‘Prince’.
Rupert branch was
disposing of its old furniture
and a deal was proposed. to
purchase them. =

The outset was most of the
furniture was donated; our -
only cost was the freight to
Terrace. a”

Now the interior of the
building had to be
renovated. New floor
covering, drapes, kitchen
facilities were purchased.

I would like to point out
that this was the first effort
and a great many changes. .
occurred over the years. .

To facilitate the financing ©
of these improvernents it
was decided the branch
should obtain a bond issu of
debentures at a set price of
$25 each. The total issue was
around $3,000. They were. to
be renamed over a period of
five years at four percent.
To my knowledge $1400 were
sold. Many of our mem-.
berships and others donated .
back to the branch their
holdings. Some were paid
back with interest.

At this point. our mem-
bership increased to include
the old members and the ©
Second War veterans and
with their help it made it
possible to extend better
services and facilities to our
membership. . I © can
remember a fund was set up
to help veterans travelling
to different parts of ‘the
province. os

I must not forget to pay’
tribute to those people who —
were not Legion members
and who helped over the
years. The Ladies Auxiliary
can be well recommended
for their valued help, both
financial and many hours of
_work over the years. If they
had not come to our aidina .
crucial time our -charter. |
would have been suspended.

I was very pleased when I -
heard legislation had been
passed to allow the sons and
daughters of veterans into.
the Legion.as the associate. .
members. This has given.
the Royal Canadian Legion
the opportunity to function
indefinitely. ,

It is possible some joined ~—
for the privilege and. the —
entertainment. we enj y io
‘our Legion and give nothing
in return. It is my hope that
the new membership., will
realize that an unselfish.
attitude must be main- |

tained and they must be _

willing to give for. the

fellowship among their’ .

members. . a
The sons and daughters ~
can be well proud of their -

fathers and mothers that —
service with respect in the

two great wars: They risked."

their lives and in so doing -
made it possible for you:and.

I to enjoy the fre om we. °

have today,

high:

Please comrades hold the’
‘old torch and the new flame =