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BARRHEAD - When it came to who Barrhead Royal Canadian Legion wanted to nominate for the King Charles III Coronation Medal, one name came to mind — Charles (Chuck) Mortimer.
Mortimer has been a Legion member for more, closing in on 50 years, including the last 15 years, give or take, with the Barrhead Legion, serving as Legion chaplain and president on two occasions.
The medal is a new award to celebrate King Charles III's coronation as the King of Canada. It is given to residents who have significantly contributed to Canada, their province, or their communities.
The problem was how to keep it a secret until they awarded it.
On Feb. 19, during their regular monthly meeting, Barrhead Legion #75 president Karen Cartwright presented Mortimer with the medal.
"He was a bit surprised and taken back. He was teary and happy, and we all clapped for him," she said.
Cartwright said it is surprising that they could keep Mortimer in the dark for so long.
"It is quite a process," she said. "All totalled, it took close to a year from when we first applied to when we received the letter that Chuck was going to receive it."
Mortimer said as an Anglican priest, since joining the organization in 1977, he had had the opportunity to be part of many Legion branches.
Some of the branches he has been involved in before Barrhead include Brooks, Grenfell, Sask, Lloydminster, Sask, Athabasca, Beaverlodge, Hythe, and Fairview.
"I was the chaplain in most," he said.
However, Mortimer said he was not happy just being the chaplain.
"I've always been an active member wanting to contribute in other ways," he said.
Mortimer said that, admittedly, the Barrhead Legion has had some issues in the last few years.
He noted two years ago, the branch contemplated selling their building as they were having difficulty recruiting new members and finding volunteers to help host events.
However, Mortimer said the Legion is now on a concrete footing, and the building is no longer for sale.
Legion memories
One of Mortimer's proudest Legion memories came when he was in Fairview and served as its president.
"It came a bit of a surprise. I walked into the building for my first Legion meeting, and after the meeting, the president took me aside and asked me if I would take on the role," he said, adding the president told him that he had held the position for some time and needed a break.
Mortimer said he was willing to do so but noted he would only be in the community for three or four years.
"He said that was fine, and at the next meeting, I was appointed president," he said.
Not long after, two members proposed a plan to construct a bar in the Legion Hall's basement.
After pricing the project out, they learned it would cost $250,000, but replacing the building would be roughly $400,000.
"The hall wasn't a good building, and it is one that they talked about replacing for more than 20 years, but they never got around to doing it," Mortimer said.
He added it did not take long for the Legion to fundraise the necessary funds.
Mortimer said right off the bat the Fairview Ladies Auxillary donated $50,000, and the Freemasons contributed $80,000.
"Several other organizations also contributed to our effort," he said, adding the province also chipped in $200,000. "It took about two years of wheeling and dealing, but we received so much support because our building truly served as the community hall for the area."
Unfortunately, Mortimer never had the opportunity to see it completed, as he was transferred to Barrhead in the interim.
Another favourite memory came early in his Legion career in Brooks.
"I was talking to a man who said, he wanted to join the Legion, but they don't want me," he said.
The problem is that the individual was a German Army veteran.
"This wasn't too long after the Second World War," Mortimer said. "He was well-liked and a good member of the community, but as a former member of the German army."
To be a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, one must be a Canadian citizen or a Commonwealth subject from an Allied nation.
Mortimer, while he believes his friend only told him that he could not join the Legion, as he fought for the Axis powers, said for many southern Alberta communities, it was common for former soldiers from Germany and Italy to settle in small rural communities.
"One of the larger prisoner of war (POW) camps was near Medicine Hat," he said, adding the POWs were often granted leave to work on area farms, including Mortimer's friend, who eventually bought the farm he worked on.
Mortimer said he had an affinity for many of the former POWs, getting to know them as his father served with the Veterans Home Guard of Canada, a militia group tasked with guarding POW camps, including the one at Medicine Hat, which was one of the larger ones with 12,000 POWs.
His father was in the First World War. Trained in Canada and was deployed overseas to England, but soon after, contracted the Spanish Flu and spent the rest of the war recuperating.
"He wanted to serve with the regular forces, but they said he was too old," he said.
Mortimer also credits his father for his desire to serve in the armed forces, joining the militia, or the reserves as it is now called, with the King's Own Calgary Regiment in 1949 when he was 17, serving three years.
"The last eight months, I actually served in the regular forces," she said. "The commander of the militia unit asked me if I would attend an officer training course that was supposed to take eight weeks, and it lasted eight months, most of which was with the regular armed forces."
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
