CARLYLE
The Carlyle branch of the Royal Canadian Legion held its monthly meeting on Dec. 13. But it was not a regular meeting.
The session started with a lovely Christmas dinner with turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and all the accompaniments that make Christmas dinner so special. It was all prepared and served by legion members. Many thanks to everyone involved in that wonderful meal.
The meeting was also special because presentations of financial assistance were made. The legion supports a number of causes in our community. One recent example was during the Dickens' Village Festival, the legion prepared and served pancakes and sausages during Saturday morning’s Breakfast with Santa in support of the Carlyle and District Food Bank. The Legion members who participated in that event enjoyed it and are very positive about doing it again next year.
The legion runs a Provincial Track and Field Camp, and in 2023 three students from Carlyle attended: Liam Thompson, Sawyer Tomaszewski and Dane Petterson. Petterson was ill and could not attend the supper and meeting, however he sent a letter that Thompson and Tomaszewski read, detailing his experience and thanking the legion for the support that he received.
Thompson and Tomaszewski gave a talk about their experiences at the camp. The coaches and instructors at the camp were either high performance athletes still competing in the disciplines they taught or high-performance athletes who have retired and become coaches. Both Liam and Tomaszewski emphasized that the learning available at the camp was hugely beneficial to their training.
Both tried things that were not available locally. Examples of disciplines they studied were pole vaulting, hurdles and various jumping events. Both had attended this camp previously, and were planning to return next year. They answered any questions that were asked.
The legion presented them with financial assistance to this camp and the youths expressed their thanks.
The legion also supports local health organizations. A presentation for $887.60 was made to the Arcola Family Health Clinic to pay for an iPad used in the operation of the C3 HD3 Wireless Sound Scanner. This presentation was accepted by Deb Bourhis and Dr. Nalin Fernando of the Arcola Family Health Clinic.
Another presentation was to be made to a representative of the Arcola Health Centre for $3,390,24 to pay for the purchase of a Hyfrecator machine, which is used for skin treatments of various kinds and can be used to stop bleeding. Due to workload, no one from the Centre was available for the presentation. The hyfrecator machine was purchased and paid for by the Legion.
Following the supper and presentations the regular monthly meeting was held.
