Fall Events Report
October 21st Dinner Meeting
Jim Copp - President
Hepworth Shallow Lake Legion - Branch 586
President Dennis began the meeting by welcoming everyone in attendance followed by a moment of silence in memory of Dave Corbett a long-time member of the Men’s Club who passed away suddenly on Sunday, October 19th.
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We had 47 people attending and one guest. Dennis welcomed our guest speaker Jim Copp.
​Reports were given on various Men’s Club updates since our spring meeting.
Don Riddell advised that he will be stepping down at the end of the year. Alec Moore has been the club treasurer for 23 years and will also be stepping down at the end of the year. Unfortunately, the number of events, along with the participation levels in those events has been declining over the last few years. Covid hit many organizations hard in 2020 and our membership numbers have been dropping ever since due in part to attrition with the lack of new members joining.
Dennis reached out to the membership to encourage anyone willing to participate on the executive to come forward. Without the replacement of executive members, the club will fold at year end.
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In conclusion, we regret to advise the club will be disbanding as of December 31, 2025.
A motion was made by Don Riddell to disperse the Club funds to be donated equally to the following organizations: the Hepworth Shallow Lake Legion, the Salvation Army Food bank in Wiarton and the food program for children at the Amabel-Sauble School. The motion was seconded by Alec Moore. All in attendance were in favour, none opposed, motion carried.
Future event details:
The Salvation Army Christmas Kettle Campaign
A volunteer signup sheet was passed around to begin our process for volunteers to man the Kettle this December. More information to follow via email to the membership.
The Remembrance Day Wreath on behalf of the Men’s Club will be placed by Don Zimmer.
​​Following the blessing by Rev. Gerry Hofstetter, we all enjoyed a delicious Ham dinner with scalloped potatoes, roasted potatoes, corn, coleslaw, juices, dessert, coffee & tea.
Trish & the ladies of the Hepworth Legion who prepared the savoury meal were thanked by Vic & the membership.
Dennis thanked Jim on behalf of the Men’s Club for his presentation and provided him with a cheque from the club as a small token of appreciation.
Jim thanked us for inviting him to our meeting to share some Legion facts and history with the group.
Today’s Legion is recovering from a serious decline in membership and the closure of a lot of small town branches.
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The Legion is changing to survive. In spite of the decline, the Legion continues to donate to and support the country’s Veterans, their dependents, homeless veterans and disabled vets. At the last two Zone and District conventions that Jim attended, there was over $375,000 donated from all the different branches in attendance.
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The poppy campaign is totally separate from anything else that the Legion does and 100% of the funds raised go to Veterans and Veteran programs. Every year millions of dollars are donated to our Veterans or Veteran programs.
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In 1960, members from Hepworth and area received a charter for Branch 586 Hepworth. This happened to be the same year that the Queen gave Royal Ascent to the Legion and the Legion became known as the “Royal” Canadian Legion. In 1976-77 they purchased the former Hepworth Country Music Hall and converted it into the Legion Hall and Auditorium. Due to declining membership around 2007 and 2008 the small legions, Shallow Lake Branch 282 being one of them were closing. So, on May 1, 2008 the amalgamation of the Shallow Lake and Hepworth Branches was finalized and officially became known as the Hepworth Shallow Lake Legion, Branch 586.
In the early hours of Jan 21, 2022, a devastating fire destroyed the Hepworth Shallow Lake Legion. Site cleanup and insurance investigation took until early spring.
June 1st marked the start date for the newly elected Legion executive committee and Jim had arrived just in time to start negotiations with the insurance company. On November 10th, 2022 Jim advised they finally had a final offer that he and the membership would be pleased with. Jim sat down with Gary McMillan of Gary’s Drafting in Shallow Lake and drew up the plans for the 7000 sq ft main building with additional 2000 sq ft mini storage attached. Soon after, on the recommendation of the Building Committee the membership selected Dave Haack of New Heights Building Group out of Hanover. From the first shovel full of dirt being excavated to the Grand opening it was almost one year to the day! Jim was a big driver of the entire process.
Jim explained the change in requirements to join the legion has changed from being restricted to only those who have served or are serving in the armed forces to people who appreciate the legion and what it has to offer.
Jim was disappointed to hear that the Men’s Club may be dissolving, however on a more positive note he promoted joining the Hepworth Shallow Lake Legion Branch 586. There is presently a promotion offer on that if a person joins in 2026 the membership fee for that year will be waived.
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Your Sauble & Area Men's Club
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