HARRISTON – The local Legion branch plans to combine the celebration of a major anniversary with an annual dining event and the launch of a new fundraiser on Sept. 6.
“I refer to it as a triple-header,” said Harriston Legion spokesperson Terry Fisk.
Royal Canadian Legion Branch 296 Harriston is celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2019 with the addition of some additional features at the annual fish fry held at the branch each fall.
In addition to the dinner, served between 5 and 7pm, the evening will include a presentation on branch history by past president Judy Tuck and live entertainment by The 12th Line, a local country and classic rock band, which includes some members who hail from Minto’s 12th Line. Cake and ice cream will be served to celebrate the occasion.
The evening will also feature the first draw for the branch’s new Catch the Ace raffle.
“Our initial draw is going to be that Friday night, but we’re going to have a draw every week after that and it’s going to be on Thursdays,” Fisk explained.
“Once we get to our Thursday nights, which is going to be our regular night … we’ll be having five meat draws each night and a 50/50 draw as well as the Catch the Ace draw. So we’re trying to encourage people to come in and socialize for an hour or so and participate in our draws and witness the Catch the Ace draw every week.”
Fisk said the anniversary party/fish fry event seemed like a good time to introduce the branch’s version of the popular fundraising raffle to local residents.
“It’s the most people we’re going to have together at one time,” he noted.
Fisk said the branch is aiming to sell 500 tickets per week for the raffle.
Participants choose a number between one and 52 to place on their ticket. Each week, a ticket is drawn for a weekly prize and an envelope with a number corresponding to the prize winner’s is opened, revealing one of 52 playing cards. One card is eliminated in this fashion each week until the envelope containing the ace of spades is opened and the jackpot is awarded.
One dollar from each $5 ticket sale goes to the weekly prize winner and $150 goes toward the jackpot. The remainder will help the branch fund the Legion’s ongoing work with veterans and local community projects.
Fisk noted that providing assistance to homeless veterans is a current Legion focus, while locally the branch supports a wide range of causes.
“We’re quite active in the community. We support minor sports, school programs, youth education, public speaking – Remembrance Day is one of our big days of course and the kids are quite involved in that with posters and poems,” Fisk pointed out.
More information on the anniversary event and the Harriston Legion can be found on the Branch 296 Facebook page.
