It was a busy place on Friday at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 22 (the Legion) in Drumheller.
A fundraiser was held to help the Legion with their costs involved with building improvements, specifically the wiring of the building. The fundraiser was called “Bail Me Out” where locals were “arrested” and had to raise funds to be bailed out of the jail at the Legion. According to Jackie McTavish, one of the organizers of the fundraiser, they were ecstatic on the amount raised. “The last one we did was in 2022, and we raised $19,000. This year, our goal was due to the economy, I thought if we raise 15,000, we would be very, very happy. As the money came in for three people, we had 15,000, so we upped our tally very quickly and money was still pouring in last (Sunday) night. We are now at $40,000.25 raised.”
The Legion was also able to obtain a grant from the Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce for a portion of the expenses and with these funds raised, it should help significantly admits McTavish. “ Thank you very much to the Chamber for that grant. This money will be used towards (the electrical work). It is an older building and things are always cropping up. If it’s not this, it’s that. We will have a little bit of reserve, thank goodness, just to get us through because you never know, tomorrow we might have something else crash in our older building.”
There were a number of volunteers involved in the event, including the Judge, Nick Contenti, who kept things entertaining throughout the day.
“Judge” Nick Contenti at the “Bail Me Out” fundraiser.
McTavish shares that a number of new faces came into the Legion during the event. “We had some people we’ve never ever seen come into the Legion. There was families with their children, grandmas, grandpas. We were so grateful. Me as an organizer, I had some tears a couple times because it was a little overwhelming . We’d really, as a committee, need to thank so many people. I’m not going to single out anybody at all, other than my judge, my cousin Nick, who really made the day a lot of fun. It is hard work prior to (the event), but it’s so well worth it.” McTavish and her committee thank all who volunteered, donated funds, and help make the day so much fun. McTavish also reminds everyone that the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 22 is celebrating a milestone this year as this is their centennial anniversary, being in the Drumheller Valley since 1926.
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