Regina marks 100th anniversary of Royal Canadian Legion

The Royal Canadian Legion is celebrating 100 years of service, with special significance in Regina, home to Branch No. 1. Wayne Mantyka has the story.

Veterans, Legion members and community supporters gathered in downtown Regina on Friday to mark the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Legion.

An honour guard and pipe band led a march to the cenotaph, where a ceremony recognized the organization’s century of supporting veterans and their families.

“Longevity and showing the success of an organization that has been around a lot longer than all of us and has survived many ups and downs and a continuation of being one of the most important veterans’ assistance programs in our country,” said Legion Branch 001 President Reid Hill.

The parade was led by Henry Sobchyshyn, a veteran who served 33 years in the regular and reserve forces.

He said the Legion provided important support while he was deployed in Afghanistan, including sending care packages to service members overseas.

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“They sent me a Christmas care package, just a care package but it was kind of nice to get this thing and I was thinking, ‘Why not, when I get back I’ll have to look into the Legion again,’” he said.

The Legion also continues to focus on educating younger generations about remembrance and the sacrifices made by veterans.

The Legion has 1,350 branches across Canada and more than 300,000 members. Regina was designated as branch number one although there is debate about whether it was actually the first Legion Branch.

“The Regina Branch was in the top two. We’ll put it that way, but it wasn’t necessarily the first branch,” said Roberta Taylor, president, Saskatchewan Command, Royal Canadian Legion.

It might not be possible to say which Legion branch was the first in Canada but when it comes to meeting the needs of veterans, the Legion says all branches are number one.