Legion looks to younger generation

It’s not just about meat draws, cheap beer and activities for the elderly at the Jasper branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, but live music, community dinners, fundraisers and much more to come in the future.

With more than 160 members, the Jasper Legion is beginning to look for new innovative ways to draw the younger generation back into the facility.

Currently, the Legion leases space to Écoles Desrochers, which generates a substantial amount of funding, but plans for the Francophone school to move into a new building means the Legion will see a significant decrease in funds.

Spokesman Ken Kuzminski said it’s important for the Legion to “see beyond” the lease and start planning ahead for when the french school leaves. “Thats why we’re looking at new projects to utilize the space that we have [now],” he said.

Kuzminski said people are unaware the Legion can be used for meetings, conferences, parties or other events for 100 people or less.

With a new executive team due to be sworn in within the next couple of weeks, the plan is to sit down and discuss the future direction of the Legion, said Kuzminski. “I think we have the facility and I don’t believe in the past it’s been used to its full potential, but if we market it to different groups we do have the opportunity to be able to have the Legion prosper into the future,” he said.

With no pipeliners in town and an aging membership, Kuzminski admits that business has been significantly slower than last year. “A lot of the Legion members are getting older, they don’t come out as often as they used to, but we’ve got to try and get younger people to come out, become members, become active.”

According to Kuzminski, being an active part of the community is at the core of the Royal Canadian Legion ethos. “It’s not just a bar,” he said, “It is a group in town that does a lot of giving back to the community ... that’s kind of what the Legion is all about.”

He offers the example of the $10,000 donations given to various groups in the community, including the seniors’ lodge, gymnastics club, and regular community functions that are on at the Legion, including this week’s Thai dinners to raise money for the Jasper Climbing Association.

Kuzminski suggests the Legion is also a great place where “all generations in the community can come and meet,” referencing to the many people of the older generation that he’s come to know throughout his time as a Legion member. “The whole family can come down and get together... children are allowed in the Legion until eight o’clock,” he said.

For Jasperites looking for something different to do, the Legion may just be the place, with regular darts nights, meat draws and soon there will be live music once a week as well. 

It’s not just about new activities and events as the facility itself has been undergoing a few minor renovations, that aim to “spruce the place up” a bit, which is all done by donated time by volunteers from the community.

“It’ll be on an on-going basis as it’s all done by volunteers so it’s just whenever we have the money to do a bit more upgrading,” said Kuzminski.