Ladies Auxiliary celebrates 65 years in the Community 
posted by (Gananoque Reporter)

The Gananoque Legion Ladies Auxiliary is celebrating 65 years in the community in June and to mark the occasion, they will host a sit-down dinner for up to 150 people on May 30 at Branch 92. 

“It’s very exciting to be celebrating 65 years,” said Marjory Robertson, Zone Commander for the Ladies Auxiliary and also a member of the local auxiliary. “We will be having a roast beef dinner with all the trimmings and the provincial president, Joan Fenech, will also be in attendance.” 
Currently, there are 81 members of the Ladies Auxiliary and they help support such community events as the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope, the Kingston General Hospital Foundation, and provide provincial and local bursaries for students. They also support the Heart and Stroke foundation, the Legion’s poppy fund and the two breakfast clubs at Linklater Public School and St. Joseph School in Gananoque. 
The women fund-raise throughout the year with such events as catering, raffles an bingo nights. Their Friday luncheons have been postponed due to renovations to the hall, but they plan to be up and running again by the first of June and continue through December. 
Rochefort is a life member of both the Legion and the Auxiliary and has been involved for about 36 years. Robertson has been involved for 38 years and only as an auxiliary member. 
“We work for the veterans... for their widows and their dependents,” said Rochefort. “It’s a great organization if you want to help your community. There are many opportunities to do that.” 
It was in June of 1944 that the Ladies Auxiliary started in Gananoque. 
“It started with women making knitting articles of clothing and sending them to the soldiers,” said Rochefort. “It was the British Empire Service League.” 
During the First World War and in the years following the Armistice, groups of devoted women worked for the interests of the men overseas and endeavored to assist their families at home. 
As the soldiers returned, the tasks undertaken by them increased, due to the mounting unemployment situation, the low rates of pensions and the limited amount of relief available. When local units of returned men were formed, these groups of women more or less automatically became Auxiliaries to these organizations. 
“We are the support team for the Legion,” added Rochefort. “In 1983, the ladies were finally allowed to join the Legion, unless they (the women) were service people. I joined in the spring of 1983.”
Robertson says she is only an auxiliary member and is content to offer her community service. 
“And we get to play sports, too,” Robertson said with a smile. “Cribbage, euchre and darts. We start at the zone level and then if you’re lucky enough, you can go on to the district.” 
You do have to be a member of the auxiliary though, she added. 
For people wishing to become a member of the auxiliary, there is an application to fill out, and dues to pay on a yearly basis. 
Its $15 a year, and applicants do not need to be associated with the military in any way — having an urge to help the community is a good prerequisite.


Gananoque Legion Ladies Auxiliary members mark 65 years of serving their Community
Posted May 7, 2009 BY ROY LEWIS   (Brockville EMC newspaper)) 



For more than half a century, the Ladies Auxiliary of Gananoque Branch 92 of The Royal Canadian Legion have assisted the local service organization and by extension the entire community.

This month, Branch 92 Ladies Auxiliary will be celebrating its 65th anniversary culminating with a formal dinner at the Branch on Saturday, May 30. Special guest speaker at the invitation-only dinner will be Joan Fenech, president of Ladies Auxiliaries' Provincial Command followed by honours and awards.

From the time of its inception, the Ladies Auxiliary has been assisting both current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces as well as the community. The early beginnings of the Gananoque Ladies Auxiliary can be traced back to World War II when a group of local women were knitting socks or Afghans for their husbands, brothers or other relatives serving overseas.

By then, Gananoque Branch 92 of The Royal Canadian Legion had been in existence for over a decade. In 1944, this group of women formed the nucleus of the first ladies auxiliary at the branch.

On June 7 of 1944, Mrs. R. J. Pegg, president of the Ladies Auxiliaries Provincial Command visited Gananoque to assist with the organization of the first auxiliary. A week later, she officially installed the first 49 charter members.

"Our mandate continues to be to work with and assist the branch to care for veterans and their families including widows," said Mary Battams, president of the Gananoque Legion Ladies Auxiliary.

Also through the decades of its existence, the all-volunteer Ladies Auxiliary has donated funds for school bursaries for local students and more recently made donations to the Kingston Hospital Foundation, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Terry Fox Run and Easter Seals.

The auxiliary provides additional financial support to Branch 92 which uses the funds for various Legion projects including renovation work to the organization's headquarters building on King Street in Gananoque. The Legion provides space in the basement of its building for the local food bank operation.

All of the auxiliary's charitable work is carried out through funds raised by its members catering to a wide variety of meals and receptions held at Branch 92. Along with dinners held by branch members, including the veterans' dinner in the spring and Remembrance Day in the fall, the auxiliary also caters for funeral receptions, lunches, weddings, anniversaries and birthdays.

For the past 10 years, the auxiliary has held its weekly Friday lunches at the branch from May to December. Open to the public, the lunches between 11 and 1 p.m., are particularly popular with seniors in the community "who will often stay and visit long after they have finished lunch," said Battams. The auxiliary charges $8 for a full lunch or $7 for soup and a sandwich.

While supporting branch projects, the auxiliary also pays for items that will improve its catering operations. One very welcomed addition to the branch's kitchen equipment was a new, upright freezer to replace an old, chest-type model.

"By the time you bent over to get something outside of that old freezer, you were almost standing on your head so we thought we were in heaven when the new freezer went in," said Battams.

The auxiliary also organizes special activities including an event during the Year of the War Bride in 2007. A war bride is a term applied to women who marry servicemen stationed overseas primarily during wartime and return with them to their country of origin following their tour of duty. An estimated 44,000 war brides, mostly from the United Kingdom, returned with Canadian servicemen between 1942 and 1952.

In 2007, the Gananoque Ladies Auxiliary invited any war brides still remaining in the area to join them at their annual Christmas dinner. Each war bride, including one member of the auxiliary, was given a certificate of appreciation and a medallion emblazoned with the local Cenotaph on it in appreciation "for what they have done for Canada since coming to this country," said Battams.

Two years ago, the Ladies Auxiliary started organizing dinner celebrations to coincide with special holiday events. A Robbie Burns dinner was held as well as a St. Patrick's Day meal.

"We went from the wearing of the tartan to the wearing of the green," noted Marjory Robertson, twice past president of the Auxiliary and now commander of the ladies' auxiliaries in zone G2 of the organization. 

The auxiliary currently has 81 members but like many organizations, it is always looking for new and if possible younger members according to Robertson.

In the past, only women who had a father, grandfather, husband or brother in the armed forces could join but that rule was changed in 1983.

"Any woman who is at least 19 years of age and is a member in good standing in the community is welcome to join," said Robertson.

"We certainly welcome younger members who have new and innovative ideas and they will be given the opportunity to fully participate in the group," she added.

Members pay dues of $15 annually which also allows them to participate in several social activities organized by the Ladies Auxiliary. Among those activities are an annual tea and annual Christmas dinner as well as the sports program featuring competitions in euchre, cribbage and darts.

"Many of our members have gone on to compete with other auxiliaries at the zone and provincial level with a couple of members winning in their category at the provincial level," said Robertson.

Mary Battam-Rochefort on the left and Majory Robertson on the right. Talking with the reporter Roy Lewis from EMC Brockville newspaper.

Mary is the current President for the Ladies Auxiliary and Marjory is the Zone Commander.

Congratulations to all our Axiliary members for a job well done!!

 On behalf of Branch #92 members, we wish you many more years of success.
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication over the years.

A. Parker 
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Mary Rochefort (President Ladies Auxiliary Branch #92, Joan Fenech (President Ontario Provincial Command and Guest Speaker, Marjory Robertson (G-2 Zone Commander) cutting the 65th Anniversary Cake on 30 May 2009
Mary Battams-Rochefort (President Ladies Auxiliary) receiving the Meritorious Service Award with her son Larry looking on.
The 65th Anniversary cake
 The Meritorious Service Medal is the highest award that can be granted to life, ordinary, associate or affiliate voting members.  The award may be recommended by a branch, a zone, a district or a command (Provincial or Dominion).  Only the most deserving are recommended for the M.S.M.  The M.S.M. is usually awarded after the member has received all of the lesser awards.  The Dominion Ritual and Awards Committee has the responsibility of approving this award. 

In granting the Meritorious Service Medal, the committee considers the following. 

•How long has this member been a continuous member of the Legion?
•What has this member done to be set apart from other members of the Legion at the recommending level, and which contribution is considered to be above and beyond that which may be expected of any devoted member?
•Has the member made an unusual personal sacrifice which has brought great credit to the Legion and to the community, or which has enhanced the prestige of The Royal Canadian Legion in the community.
•Have the services rendered by this member been so much above those of any other member that it is felt these services can only be recognized by granting of the Legion's highest honour?
For continued outstanding service after the member is awarded the M.S.M., the member may be awarded a Palm Leaf to be affixed to the Meritorious Service Medal.  The criteria for awarding the Palm Leaf is the same as the M.S.M. 
   
The Royal Canadian Legion Ontario Provincial Command