Westmount, Quebec – 11 April 2016: On Saturday 19 March 2016 the members of Branch 14 (RMR Association) Royal Canadian Legion celebrated their 80th anniversary in style. Organized by the Branch President, Comrade Sue Guerin, the celebration consisted of a mixed dinner with dancing. With close to 50 guests in attendance, the dinner was a great success – with certain members travelling all the way from British Columbia to attend!
The guest of honour was the RMR’s Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel, LCol (ret’d) Colin Robinson, CD – who has been a member of the Branch since 2009. In his after dinner address he spoke about the rich heritage of the branch, the very real impact that they make in the local community in supporting veterans, the importance of the Poppy Campaign in promoting Remembrance, and the power of a strong & united Royal Canadian Legion. He also reminded the members and their guests that while we are celebrating our 80+ years as part of the Legion, in fact the RMR Association is nearly 100 years old – having been founded in September 1919, a few months following the Regiment’s return from the First World War.
The dinner was held in the officers’ mess and the evening followed the pattern of a traditional mess dinner, with toasts to the Queen, our Fallen & Missing Comrades, the Regiment, and finally the Branch. All the toasts were drunk with port except for the toast to the Regiment which was drunk with the RMR’s regimental drink: dark rum.
Just to be sure that everyone would remember the evening, one of the members had a medical emergency which necessitated a call to 911. Thankfully the room was full of trained & qualified first aiders, given the nature of the RMR Association, and with Warrant Officer Brent McNair taking firm control of the situation the Westmount Fire Department was on the scene within minutes, followed closely by the Paramedics who took the member to hospital. He was released the following day, thankfully it appears to have been a simple case of overheating coupled with a bad reaction to medication.
After dinner was concluded, the guests retired back to the Warrant Officers’ & Sergeants’ mess to enjoy their company and some hardier souls ventured out to the dance floor. A professional DJ played an excellent assortment of music which kept the guests entertained into the wee hours of the morning. All in all the 80th anniversary dinner was a great success – looking forward to the 100th anniversary dinner in 2019!
