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New president ‘saves’ Legion

Sechelt
Sechelt Legion
Kay Metcalfe was elected the new president of the Sechelt Legion on Sunday, Dec. 14.

There was one qualified person in the room to become the new president of the Sechelt Legion on Dec. 14, and thankfully Kay Metcalfe stepped up so the Legion could avoid shutting down.

“She basically saved us,” said Sechelt Legion member Paul Lith, who was at Sunday’s meeting. “It was very clear that if she hadn’t stepped up, that would have been the end of the meeting and possibly the end of the Legion. We owe her a great deal.”

Former president Irma Mahar announced her intention to step down from the position earlier this year, and a recent letter from B.C. Yukon Command informed members that if no one came forward to fill the position, the branch would likely be closed.

A Legion president must have served as a table officer within the last seven years, and Metcalfe was the only Legionnaire at the Dec. 14 meeting with the experience needed. She was president of the Legion in 2004 and again in 2007.

She decided to take on the president’s position once more because she didn’t want to see the Legion fold.

“I just didn’t feel that we were ready to close the doors yet, and we need to give it some more thought and keep moving,” Metcalfe said. “The community needs us, and we need them. It goes hand in hand.”

She hopes the membership and the community at-large will come out to support the Legion by buying lunches there and attending special events in 2015.

“We need every member to help get this going, because if it doesn’t, then you know there’s a chance that we’ll still have to close if people don’t come back and utilize what we have,” Metcalfe said.

Lith said he thinks Metcalfe will get a lot of support from Legionnaires because, “she is well loved and well respected,” and he looks forward to what the branch can accomplish under her leadership.

Filling the other table officer positions for the coming year are first vice president Francine Caravan-Donati, second vice president Maureen Wilson, secretary Sharron Gravelle and treasurer Trevor Birch.