The Westlock Legion’s new president says he is proud to help continue with what the organization has done in the community, but worries about its future with fewer and fewer new members joining.
Chuck Naylor was elected as the new president at the organization’s May 14 AGM, and said his main priority is to continue with the work the Legion has done in the community and continue to make donations to different local organizations.
“The main aim is to continue to contribute $25,000 to $30,000 to many community organizations in this town,” he said.
In the past 20 years, the organization has contributed nearly $2 million to community organizations, including some big donations for projects like the Westlock & District Community Hall and the Westlock Affordable Housing unit.
“We think we’ve bought in very helpfully to this community, so we’re quite active within it,” he said.
That money is raised through the efforts of the 400 or so Legion members, with just a fraction of those being fully active within the organization.
Naylor, who is 76, said he’s concerned because the age of the people involved with the Legion is ever increasing.
“When we go into the coffee room in the morning, the average age around the table is 84, and I’m picking up the low end,” he said.
Ideally, the Legion would pick up some members in the 35 to 50-year-old range, but Naylor said he understands why that’s easier said than done.
“That’s hard to do in this economy. You need two salaries to raise a family,” he said.
The issue of an aging membership is not just affecting Westlock, but also every other Legion in Canada.
“The age recidivism that’s going on within our Legion is taking every Legion Canada-wide down by 10 to 12 per cent each year, because they’re dying off faster than we can replace them,” Naylor said.
Ultimately, he believes the Legion and other service organizations such as the Rotary, Lions and Elks clubs will have to change in order to survive — whether that means the Legion shifts focus from veterans onto the community as a whole, amalgamates several local branches into one, or even merges with one or more other service clubs.
“For a society to evolve properly, they have to change. For a business to evolve properly, they have the change. For an individual to evolve properly, they must accept change,” he said. “Our Legion is going to be forced to change.”
Several other new members were also elected to the Legion executive. Paul Taverner is first vice-president, Jim Klassen is second vice-president, Fern Klassen is treasurer, Dave Lindsley is treasurer, John Fallows is the Sgt.-At-Arms and Marjorie Steele is the branch chaplain and service officer.
The executive committee now includes Mel Primrose, Janice Fallows, Tom McConaghy, Ernie Wood, Marjorie Steele and Corinne Gilmour.
