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These ladies are celebrating 90 years

Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 Ladies Auxiliary has long history; looking for new members
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Shelley Jones, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 Ladies Auxiliary president, Elva Marshall, Ladies Auxiliary member, Debbie Rouleau, Branch 25 public relations officer and Kathy Moggy, Royal Canadian Legion Provincial Command officer, at a ceremony celebrating the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 Ladies Auxiliary's 90th anniversary, Apr. 21, 2017. Darren Taylor/SooToday

Members of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 Ladies Auxiliary celebrated the group’s 90th anniversary at Branch 25 Friday with a banquet, a presentation of the auxiliary’s history and speeches from Legion officers and special guests.

The mission of the Legion and its Ladies Auxiliary is to care for veterans and their families, remember those who have fought for our country and to serve the community.

Elva Marshall has been an auxiliary member for 45 years, having served as its president, and remains a member of the Legion’s executive committee.

“It’s very important, I think, that we’re still going,” Marshall told SooToday.

The Ladies Auxiliary’s membership has dwindled in recent years, Marshall said, partly because so many women are now working mothers, with less time to spare for the Legion (and other service clubs, for that matter).

Today, the Ladies Auxiliary has approximately 165 members.

With that, Marshall and Shelley Jones, current Branch 25 Ladies Auxiliary president, are encouraging women to join.

These days, one doesn’t have to be a veteran or have a military connection to be a Legion or Ladies Auxiliary member. 

“It’s social, it gets me out of the house…I love the Legion.  It’s a great organization,” Marshall smiled.

“When I joined, I didn’t realize how historic we are,” Jones said.

“For me, it’s about helping out who we can…I enjoy meeting all the veterans and hearing their stories.   For me, it’s about learning more about our history,” Jones said.

“I enjoy helping out, the comradeship, meeting people from other auxiliaries,” Jones said.

“We are the oldest charity bingo in Sault Ste. Marie, we started back around 1930, and we rented St. Ignatius Church because the old Legion building downtown was too small,” Marshall said.

The Ladies Auxiliary also raises money through its catering for weddings, stag and doe parties, anniversary parties and celebrations of life.

The Ladies Auxiliary’s work has benefitted local college and university bursaries, ARCH, the Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian Red Cross, Christmas Cheer, CNIB, Crime Stoppers, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Kidney Foundation, the Ontario Finnish Resthome Association, Special Olympics Ontario, Pauline’s Place, Sault Area Hospital, the Legion’s Poppy Fund and many others.

The Ladies Auxiliary received its charter from the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League in 1927, but its history dates back farther than that.

On Apr. 23, 1918, an Auxiliary to the Great War Veterans Association was formed. 

They earned money through holding bake sales and other such activities.

Membership dues were 25 cents per month. 

The Association had a committee to welcome back Great War veterans and their War Brides arriving from overseas.

Their pledge read as follows:

‘I pledge myself to this organization, to perpetuate a close and kindly feeling among mothers, wives, widows, sisters and daughters of men who served with the forces of Great Britain and her allies in the Great War, or in any previous British campaigns and work in conjunction with the members of the Sault Ste. Marie Branch of the Great War Veterans Association, in helping to render assistance to the families of returned men to foster loyalty to the British Empire.’

The ladies worked hard and received their charter for the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League Jan. 11, 1927, with 17 members at that time.

The Ladies Auxiliary has been a long time supporter of the Legion’s Drum and Trumpet Band.

When the band was formed in 1935, the auxiliary sold tickets and raised money to buy equipment. 

The auxiliary has worked alongside Branch 25 since moving into its existing building at 96 Great Northern Road in 1967 in raising funds for veterans and other causes.

Over the years, many honours have been bestowed on Ladies Auxiliary members, including the coronation medal from King George VI in 1937 to member Eleanor Hoodless, a special commendation from Queen Elizabeth II in 1975 to three members, and the Ladies Auxiliary Meritorious Service Award to Edith Bennett in 1987.

Like so many other members over the years, Marshall has a military connection to the Legion and the Ladies Auxiliary.

Marshall’s brother was a Prisoner of War (POW) in Germany during the Second World War.

Her husband of 60 years, Floyd (who died in 2011), joined the military in World War II, but didn’t go overseas.

“He was signed up to go to fight Japan, then the war was over, so he was only in the service five months…he was very fortunate,” Marshall recalled.


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Darren Taylor

About the Author: Darren Taylor

Darren Taylor is a news reporter and photographer in Sault Ste Marie. He regularly covers community events, political announcements and numerous board meetings. With a background in broadcast journalism, Darren has worked in the media since 1996.
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