Photo courtesy of Kevin Kyle

By Jayson Taylor

Redcliff Legion hoping to continue operations for years to come

Jun 19, 2023 | 5:00 PM

REDCLIFF, AB – The Redcliff Legion has operated in downtown Redcliff since 1926. Throughout those 97 years, the Legion has been proud to serve and help the community. Now, it is looking to the community for help.

In 2022, a financial audit revealed that $64,000 were misappropriated, adding this to recovering from the pandemic and renovations in recent years, the Redcliff Legion has been in dire need of financial support. RCMP are investigating the misappropriated funds, but the damage has been done.

B.J. Brooks is the vice president of the Redcliff Legion and a former veteran who served in the British Army. He was stationed in Suffield and has lived in the Medicine Hat area ever since meeting his wife here. He says that the legion is in desperate need of support or else the community could lose the legion. The lack of support has inhibited the legion’s ability to help support the community of Redcliff, something that Brooks describes as heart-wrenching.

“Like every legion across Canada, we are in dire need of support from our members, our community, local businesses in any way, shape, or form. Whatever they can help support us with, whether it is the sponsoring of bands in the future down the line, or any items that we could raffle off for the silent auction, the list is long. We just need as much help from the community as possible to help us get to our centennial,” Brooks says.

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“We’ve raised funds for the community, we do scholarships for the local schools, and in recent times, since Covid, things like that have had to stop,” Brooks added.

The Redcliff Legion would be celebrating its centennial in 2026, just three years from now. Brooks says that he wants to see the legion around for then.

Zahra Willis works for the Redcliff Legion, she says that one of the biggest misconceptions among the public is that one has to be a veteran to join the legion. She says this misconception has heavily contributed to a lack of visitors.

“It’s the lack of patronage coming through the door. Lots of people have the misconception that we are just membership only, but anyone can come in, you don’t have to be a veteran to come to the legion. We want to open up to the community and have people come in and see that being a part of the legion is being part of a great community,” Willis says.

She notes that the legion has had some success with hosting events and getting people to come, but they still have not had all the support they need.

A GoFundMe page was set up in November to raise $20,000 for the legion with an additional $20,000 being matched by Frankie Harth, whose late husband Gordon was a retired military member.

A large fundraiser is scheduled for July 14 for the legion as a community event to help keep the legion’s doors open for the years to come. Brooks says that support from both within Redcliff and from other parts of the region are appreciated to keep the historical facility standing.