On the Sunshine Coast, a dynamic new generation of leadership has emerged to keep its four Legion branches open for the area’s 1,500-plus members as well as the general public and user groups. Their challenge: to make the Legion relevant for our current community demographic. For a new, younger crowd in Gibsons, Roberts Creek, Sechelt, or Pender Harbour, this is not your grandpa’s Legion.
The youngest branches—Roberts Creek and Pender Harbour, established in the 1940s—also boast the youngest membership demographic. Closely in tune with their respective communities, each works to cement community support by responding their area’s culture.
Open late and with limited food service, Roberts Creek’s eclectic “Little Legion” has evolved into a virtual night club, reflecting the Creek’s music-loving culture. President John Davis notes their success in attracting top touring bands to “probably the Coast’s best venue under 200 seats” makes financial sense for all involved.
“They have to drive right past us anyway on their way to Pender Harbour and Powell River, so we provide a kind of paid rest stop.”
Drawing attendance from across the Lower Coast, he is pleased to see “people barely old enough to be in the bar rubbing shoulders with older generations.”
In Madeira Park, the Pender Harbour Legion focuses on community-building with a roster of well-established and well-attended events, providing a venue for cross-Coastal favorites like the annual Rotary Scotch Tasting and the Pender Harbour Blues Fest. Thanks to its family-friendly restaurant, Pender Harbour’s Legion now boasts 300 members, all justly proud of its recent formal recognition as an emergency centre and community hub.
President Bob Baker noted that during the recent February cold snap (AKA “Sunshine Coast winter”) Branch 112 opened its doors to provide shelter, meals, charging stations for phones and laptops, activities for adults and kids, and above all—warmth. A newly-acquired generator stood by if needed as volunteers worked the bar and served up hot meals from the kitchen.
As branch Secretary Carolyn Farrand notes, “We know we need to broaden our horizons, and keep current. We are getting a lot of younger people now, especially since we’ve been making these changes.”
Just a decade ago, the Coast’s two largest and oldest branches—Gibsons (1930) and Sechelt (1934)—faced potential closure by the BC and Yukon Command. Soaring operating costs for their two cavernous buildings coupled with a diminishing volunteer base and membership were driving the venerable clubs into debt. With land values soaring, the two clubs faced pressure either to close, or sell their property and relocate to a more sustainable location, or redevelop the property into a marketable entity capable of supporting the Legion’s operation.
Sechelt Legion chose to sell, then purchased a former auto repair shop on Inlet Street for a new, smaller, but more sustainable location. The cement floors, cinder block walls, and garage doors opening onto a view of the Post Office across the street didn’t exactly scream “come on in.” But when the garage doors opened on the new venue last fall, the re-imagined and redesigned “140 Bar and Grill” is the envy of other Legions.
Like Pender Harbour, the Sechelt Legion offers meal service for lunch, dinner, and Happy Hour daily except Sundays in a welcoming venue honoring the service of past and current generations through a stunning display of memorabilia paying respectful tribute to the various branches of the armed services, RCMP, and first responders.
Designed and largely built by volunteers under the direction of vice president Mike David, the warm and welcoming space reflects wartime British pubs. A retired fire captain and longtime Legion member, Mike David indulged his passion, vision, and artistry as a woodcarver in the Legion’s décor. The beautifully-finished live edge bar top, central table, and ledges by the pool table gleam invitingly. A “snug” draped in parachute silk provides more intimate seating, and a gas fireplace flanked by two easy chairs adds a special ambience of comfort.
Look carefully to find many touches that reflect the Legion members’ past service. A central pillar includes a tribute to the RCMP and first responders: fire, search and rescue, Coast Guard. Above the bar, lights are shielded by genuine First World War army helmets. Mike developed a new respect for those helmets as he attempted to drill holes to accommodate the light fittings. “I can’t tell you how many drill bits we broke!”
In Gibsons, the 470-plus members of Branch 109 are determined to keep their 1960s-era hall and lounge although, as president Steve Baker says ruefully, BC and Yukon Command have not taken the possibility of redevelopment off the table. That large angular lot between Gibsons Way and School Road is prime real estate adjacent to the town’s major business district and growing high-density residential area. The municipality has also eyed the property as an ideal site to develop low-income housing, perhaps building apartments above a redesigned Legion on the ground floor (as has been done in other communities.)
Since at least the 1990s, revenue from memberships, bar sales in the 120-seat lounge and rental of the capacious hall with commercial kitchen has been in decline. But in 2019-2020, the pandemic closures also presented an opportunity: a chance to draw in residents eager to finally leave the lockdown behind. A new generation walked in the doors to join darts league and singers’ circles, and recognized possibilities for the largest licensed public hall on the Coast.
Coastal Hosts & Entertainment (coastalhosts.ca), operated by Scotty Collison and Faye Kiewitz, stepped in to host events with game-show pizzazz and cross-generational appeal. Their Rock and Roll Bingo, Name That Tune, Family Feud, Trivia Nights, monthly Bob Ross Painting sessions and weekend music events regularly pack the house. Coastal Hosts brings in their own caterer to provide meal service for the family-friendly events (otherwise, the Gibsons Legion is limited to bar service only). With membership and attendance growing, the Gibsons Legion’s future is looking bright.
With their ongoing focus on community building, and their respect for the service past and present, of members of Canada’s military and first responders, the Legions define us as a community and a nation—while helping shape growth for a new generation.
