Quilt raffle will support more Legion building renos
A labour of love by the Next Stop Englehart Quilters Guild has resulted in the completion of a striking floral quilt featuring a field of poppies bordered by a band of butterflies.
The guild, which regularly creates quilts for charities, has now donated the quilt to the Englehart Royal Canadian Legion Branch 104 which will in turn sell tickets on it to raise funds for the ongoing renovations of the Legion building.
Barbara Burrows was the lead quilter in the project to create the large quilt which will be the focus of the raffle over the next year.
The tickets will be sold for $5 each and the lucky winner will have their name drawn on November 11, 2024.
People will be able to begin their bid to own the quilt by buying tickets at the Englehart Fall Fair where both the Englehart Legion and the Next Stop Englehart Quilters Guild will have tables. Ticket sales will continue throughout next year.
Lynn Racicot, secretary-treasurer of Branch 104, stated tickets will be made available through some key members and through local businesses.
The Englehart Legion building has been the subject of renovation improvements over the last few years, started during the pandemic, but the work goes on, and as the finished projects mount, so does the usage.
Branch 104 president Sharell Foster listed the new building projects that are now on the to-do list. The kitchen will be finished, the bar area will be updated, the wiring in the downstairs area will be upgraded, a basement wall will be repaired and "we want to whitewash the building outside," she said. A new six-burner gas stove, and fridges with sliding doors, are also on the list.
Appreciation of the work done so far is obvious.
"It's more like a community centre," said Foster.
Everything from weddings to celebrations of life have been held there. The 355 Polaris Air Cadets meet there, the Lions Club holds bingos there, community dinners take place, and other users include the Englehart and District Horticultural Society, the Englehart and District Agricultural Society, a local union, as well as businesses such as Kirkland Lake Gold which will be using the hall for a training seminar. The hall has also been used as a polling station venue.
This November, the hall will be bustling with seasonal splendour when the vendors' bazaar returns during the annual Englehart Christmas Unveiling.
"We're opening it up to different venues," said Foster.
Englehart Legion members welcome help in the form of volunteers and donations, and even support through attendance of events.
The Legion branch is also the unofficial drop-off point for beer cans and pop bottles which can be cashed in for money to help with the ongoing costs related to supporting the maintenance and improvements. There are no other points in the town where the containers can be dropped off, so they are gladly accepted there.
Volunteers are also greatly appreciated.
"We're running with a skeleton crew," said Racicot.
Although, in Englehart, "we're lucky,” she said. “If we need something or somebody we can make a call and somebody will step up and come in and give us a hand."
Darlene Wroe, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Temiskaming Speaker
