'Our well ran dry': Campaign launched to save the Arnprior Legion

The Arnprior Save Our Legion Campaign has been launched to help the Arnprior Legion survive during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Dylan Dyson/CTV News Ottawa)

ARNPRIOR — Across Canada, hundreds of legions have become forgotten victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Ottawa Valley, there is a campaign underway to help save the Arnprior Legion.

"We knew we couldn’t lose it," says Tracy Smith, one of the organizers of the Arnprior Save Our Legion campaign.

"Our town would lose a huge asset. Remembrance Day, our veterans would have no place to go, military have no place to go."

The Arnprior Legion closed its doors in March when the pandemic began, and has only recently reopened on Fridays and Saturdays for a few hours.

"Most of our income comes from hall rentals," says Steven Darling, kitchen coordinator at the Arnprior Legion. "It comes from events we can put on. The bingos have had to stop. We don’t know if we’re going to be able to do a poppy campaign this year. Our well pretty well ran dry."

Darling says monthly bills for the legion amount to close to $10,000. The campaign to save the Arnprior Legion is hoping to raise $60,000 as soon as possible. Donations can be made at the local Giant Tiger in Arnprior, an online auction is set to start Oct. 1, and a boot drive on the Arnprior Bridge is planned for Oct. 9 and 10. The legion is also accepting e-transfer donations to [e-mail].

Next Saturday, Oct. 3 may be the biggest barbecue fundraiser Arnprior has ever seen.

"It has come to my attention that not just this legion but all legions are in trouble in the territory and they’re historical and apart of our lives," says Kyle Miller of Big Red BBQ in Renfrew.

Miller is planning to bring all five of his giant red barbecues to cook up hamburgers, hot dogs, beef on a bun, and pork on a bun to serve hundreds of people and hopefully bring in thousands of dollars.

"My grandfather was a veteran of this legion, and he would roll in his grave right now if he knew what was going on," says Miller. "So it’s my duty to make sure this happens."

The goal of the campaign is to keep the doors to the Arnprior Legion open for as long as possible. But those at the legion like Darling, are still hoping to community pillar can get back to its roots soon.

"We would like to have money to donate to the community too. But that may not happen until we can get things like our bingo and our lotteries and stuff like that [running again]."

Darling has a personal connection to the legion, with his father, two grandfathers, and father-in-law all serving in the military. He fears that the pandemic could shut the legion’s doors for good.

"If it disappears, it will never get back.”