Barbara Latkowski
Caledonia Courier
Despite the Legion building closing its doors for good last spring, Branch 268 of the Royal Canadian Legion in Fort St. James is determined to stay.
The legion has re-established its executive committee and plans are being made for the installation of a new team.
“We are currently running as a management team rather than in an executive capacity as we are considered a trusteeship for now,” president of the Legion, Marylou Flora Fonda said.
“We just want the community to know that we are up and running again and that there is a legion presence in Fort St. James even though the building isn’t here anymore.”
And it’s this presence that Flora Fonda is determined to keep alive within the community.
“My father was a veteran. That’s why it’s important to me personally, to keep the legion going, to have a legion presence in the community and to allow people the opportunity to remember,” Flora Fonda said.
The Legion in Fort St. James received its charter in 1965. It opened its doors in 1972.
Since the building closed, the community is still feeling the loss.
Gladys Hart, current legion secretary/treasurer says that despite the closure, the legion must remain in Fort St. James.
“It’s so important,” Hart said. “The legion is much more than a building. It means more than that.”
And for Hart, it’s also about making local youth aware of those who sacrificed their lives before them.
“We really want to get information out into the community. We want everyone to know that we are still here,” Flora Fonda said.
The legion meets at 7 p.m. on the last Monday of every month at the Community Centre in Fort St. James and welcomes any new members.
For more information and if interested in joining the Legion, please contact Marylou Flora Fonda at: mffonda@hotmail.com