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Chronicie Staff So, you think the Legion is just a place where old véeterans go to have a drink and talk about the war days? Well, there may be some truth to this, but according to local legion members, there‘s a whole lot more to it than that. **‘There‘s this idea a lot of people have that we‘re just a bunch of drunks; that all we do is sit around, drink and rehash the old days of the war â€" going over the ridge and that stuff," said Lou Aldworth, public relations officer of the Waterloo Legion. ‘"That attitude is not fair." "It‘s not exactly a church function, but we try to help the community in every way we can," said Aldworth. _ _ While providing assistance to war veterans remains the primary focus of the group, today, Aldworth explained, the 1,800 branches of the Royal Canadian Légion are closely tied to their communities ~offering special programs for seniors, handicapped people and youth, plus support for charitable organizations and institutions. "When it was started after the First World War, the Legion was about the only place you could drink because of Prohibition," Alworth said. That image stuck. He remarked that this public misconception of the Legion largely arises from its origins in 1925 as a "place for veterans to gather."‘ â€" oo i Even then, though, the Legion served its members as more than a gathering place: it offered financial support to veterans and the families when they were in need, and through Legion Service Bureaus, advice to veterans on It is a day set aside to reâ€" member: Each year on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month Canadians of all ages stop to honor those who fought in past wars, especially those who died in battle. *‘To veterans it becomes more important as years go on. There is a remembrance that has to be passed on to the youth of today, of what actually happened â€" that certain people did give up a very important businessman Harold Beaupre. For Beaupre, who served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War I1, was shot down in 1943 and spent the last years of the war in a German prisonerâ€"ofâ€"war camp, November 11 is a time to remember part of their lives, that some actually gave up their lives, that some are still suffering today beâ€" cause of handicaps, paying the price for the freedoms that people enjoy today," says wellâ€"known Waterioo buddies to remember Legion members rightfully proud of contributions to community War dead â€" a lot of the "close buddies‘" he fought beâ€" "Of my class that went overseas, I‘m the last survivor of 40 â€" that‘s a lot of buddies to remember .‘ Aldworth feel a growing sorrow because community interest, parâ€" ticularly amongst Canadian youth, in observing Remembrance Day and honoring the war dead seems to be waning. Aldworth‘s answer to this involves greater emphasis on the wars, their causes and events, in school proâ€" grams. Joe Oberholzer, chairman of the Kâ€"W Legion‘s 1983 Poppy Fund, sees reinforcement of the day‘s signifiâ€" cance as perhaps one of the Legion‘s main objectives for the future. Remembrance Day memorial services will be held Friday mornâ€" ing, beginning with a 10 a.m. parade from the Regina Street Legion Hail to the Waterioo cenotaph. in remembrance of war dead how to make the most of available government assisâ€" stance programs and allowances. ‘‘*We‘re taking care of our own; we see that veterans get the funding they‘re entitled to from the government," Aldworth said. More than 1.6 million Canadians served in the First and Second World Wars and the Korean conflict. Of those, 114,000 fell in combat. Today, some 40 years after the end of World War II, Canada‘s veteran population stands at moe than 700,000. Currently, the Royal Canadian Legion has 1,752 branches located across the country, with an additional 47 branches in the United States and two in West Germany. Total Legion membership tops oneâ€"half million, not including some 90,060 women who have joined Legion Ladies‘ Auxiliaries. ‘ The Waterloo Legion was established in 1951 and now has a membrship of 1,100. c "At one time we didn‘t have much to do with the community, but it‘s opened up now,"" he said. Aldworth attributed this evolution to a change in the composition of the Legion‘s membership, due to increasâ€" ing numbers of nonâ€"veteran "affiliate members‘"" and the declining population of aging veterans. According to Aldworth, the role and orientation of the Legion is rapidly changing; "getting more and more away from the military and more into community things. ‘"We‘re smart enough to know there‘s fewer veterans, so we‘re allowing more people in," he explained. "At one Andrew Adams, who served with the Royal Engineers in France during World War !I, joined hundreds of volunteers from local legions, legion auxiliaries as well as army, navy and air force associations who took to the streets last Friday to sell poppies raising money for needy war veterans and their dependents. Melodee Martinuk photo The following poets were judged top winners in the countryâ€"wide Royal Canadian Legion Student Poem Contest 1982â€"83. LIAM LAURENCE Vermilion, Aiberta First Place 1 know not of war, for l was far from born I saw not, whet ravages were left, what cities were destroyed, what homes were left buried under the sea of bombs. And I do not understand I heard not, the screams of human life which pleaded to exist, the screams of innocent children, who could not fathom But 1 see those who are left of the war, those who knew the war, those who saw the war, those who heard the screams. and felt the pain. when its icy hand gripped each heart, and tore our countrymen from their what it all was for felt not, the pain, the despair, the loneliness, the fear of life, of death. SPEAK NOT OF WAR ‘‘Spesk not of battles lost or won, but Legion Poem Contest Chronicle Staft It‘s November and once again the red poppy is in blossom al} across Canada. But, while many people wear the poppy on their lapels how many know what the money raised is used for or exactly why the poppy was tle? Each year the Royal Canadian Legion sponsors their Poppy Fund campaign during Remembrance Week, November 4 to November 11, raising money to aid war veterans and their families. 114,000 C Locally, the Kitchener and Waterâ€" loo legions have purchased 200,000 of the poppies for distribution. Approximately 150,000 have been mailed to househoiders, with return envelopes for donations, and 500 were allocated to schools and canâ€" vassers for distribution in area shopping malis. dians who died in batâ€" And 1 watch them as they stand alone on CHERYLANNE WADE Conception Harbour, Nfid So far away in France . Thet listened to the guns boom And waiched war‘s game of chance Saw young men perish weeping . Bathed in poois of red The same that now lie sleeping An innocent scariet bloom Beneath the poppy‘s bed SHOND1T BLY corners, and give their priceless popâ€" pies, and 1 look into their eyes, and on their faces. Aud I understand, for deep remember those who fought them for you. Speak not of death but remember the dead. Speak not of war, but of glory. our glory, aird the glory of our purpose Speak not of war." within their eyes they seein to say, Each year natiaonally, the Legion spends some $2 million sponsoring youth activities, ranging from the Army, Sea and Air Cadet programs, to minor sports teams and public speaking contests. As well, the national group has allocated $500,000 for research fellowships in geriatric medicine, and individual branches allocate more than $200,000 yearly for bursaries. * At the local level, the Waterloo Legion spends some $12,000 yearly on its community activities which include: sponsorship of minor sports teams; funding of day trips for the area‘s blind population plus sponsorship of a blind bowling league and annual youth public speaking conâ€" time command only allowed 10 per cent affiliate members. Now they allow any number ... that‘s what keeps the Legion going." â€" â€" The Legion ailso heips fund numerous programs for seniors, including inâ€"home support services like Mealsâ€" Onâ€"Wheels, and the association provides 3,200 lowâ€"rent housing units, valued in the millions, for seniors in 60 Canadian communities. Information compiled by the Royal Canadian Legion shows that each year across the country, Legion branches contribute money, goods and services valued at an estimted $8 million to community programs and serâ€" vices. o Any individual with a family member who has served in the armed forces can belong to the Legion. Membership fees are $25 a year. most $3 million last year, money collected locally stays in this area and will be used to provide help to war veterans, fund bursaries and supply a broad range of community The Legion has been distributing the poppies since 1926, the year after its formation. It is perhaps ironic that the poppy , the flower of forgetfuiness, should have been selected as the symbol of remembrance for Canada‘s war dead. But, the connection between the poppy and battiefield deaths extends back to the Napoleonic Wars of the 19th century when a writer noted the fields barren before battle exploded with the deepâ€"red flowers after fighting ended. Canadian doctorâ€"poet, Lt.â€"Col. John McCrae observed the same phenomenon nearly 100 years later during World War I, and made the While the poppy fund is a national} First Place Junior Poem Terrible dreams of war, They suffered too â€" Just loneliness in the cold. No parents â€" They cried â€" those children who were left to suffer . WAR‘S CHILDREN