In its heyday, Roy Lamore estimates Port Arthur Branch No. 5 of the Royal Canadian Legion had 1,500 members.
Today, that number has dwindled to less than 300.
Across the region, the trend is no different.
In Nipigon, membership has dropped to 50. In Red Rock just three paid members were current at the end of January. Fort William’s Branch No. 6 has just 107 members left, while the Slovak Legion is down to 225. Kakabeka Falls has slipped below 100.
Lamore said local Legion officials are hoping the decision to open membership to the general public, and not just military veterans and their families, will help boost those numbers back to sustainability.
The 89-year-old Lamore, who’s been a Legion member for 69 years and today stands as the past president of Branch 5 and the face of the organization in Thunder Bay, said it would be a sad day if the Legion disappeared.
“I’ll tell you, I would really be sad, disappointed and heartbroken because of what the Legions have done, not only for the community, but for Canada alone deserves a bit of a pat on the back for what they’ve done,” Lamore said.
But without support and more members, the end to Canada’s Legions is not out of the realm of possibility.
In Thunder Bay, Branch No. 6 still exists in name, but has been without a home for years. And costs continue to grow. They were left with little choice but to seek new membership sources.
“Our veterans are slimming out,” Lamore said.
Unfortunately, he added, the newest crop of veterans doesn’t seem interested in joining, at least not in great numbers.
Afghanistan veterans have found their own hangouts, leaving them little choice but to expand their membership options.
“We want to keep it alive for what they’ve done. We want to keep it alive for the veterans. We want to keep it alive for the public to come out and help us let them know what we really were meant for,” he said.
“We’ve done it since 1926 and we want to carry that torch.”
Lamore said it was the veterans themselves who have led the charge to admit non-military members.
The young generation is the Legion’s future, Lamore added. And they’re willing to adapt.
“We want to change our atmosphere, we want to change our style. We don’t want it to just be an old-folks home or something. We want to bring in the younger group and we’re trying our darndest right now to do that.
“We’re changing our style in our music, changing our style in our events. We have shuffleboard, we have darts, we have pool. We have Family Night on one Tuesday a month. We have fish Fridays. We have breakfast once a month.”
Individual branches have been encouraged to use every tool at their disposal, including social media, to increase memberships.
