Royal Canadian Legion Branch 141 closing its doors

Royal Canadian Legion Branch 141 holds final farewell with an open house on March 19

Dozens of people hit the dance floor at Branch 141 of the Royal Canadian Legion on Selkirk Avenue Saturday for a final celebration.

They are saying goodbye to their building with an open house as it has been sold.

The sale comes with declining membership and rising maintenance costs which, when combined with the pandemic, has made keeping the doors open difficult.

“I’m very sad. My sister and I, who is the acting president, have been involved in this branch for many many years. Our father was one of the original members back in 1952 so this has been very hard on us,” said Ron Wachniak, Branch 141 sergeant-at-arms.

The branch has been home Ukrainian Canadian veterans for about 70 years.

“Here there was a lot of North End boys who came up with the idea lets gets together, maybe make some money for sports or something for the community,” said Wachniak. “As they were getting their jobs after the military and having families this became a place for them to hang out.”

Wachniak said the Legion began in a small place next door to its current location before it grew and the current building was built.

As its membership got larger so too did the Legion’s operations, according to Wachniak. He said it began to support more people and programs including those for youth, seniors, veterans, sports and cadets.

Despite closing its doors Wachniak said the legion is keeping its name and exploring future options, which could include opening a new location.

“We were pressed for time because of the financial restraints. We had to sell the building because it was too much of a financial burden and now we have time to check out our options.”