Now that COVID restrictions allow, the New Hamburg Legion will open the patio for camaraderie, weather permitting, on Saturdays beginning 12 June from 1-5pm. We will also be serving food.

Covid restrictions will be in place as per local and provincial regulations. Specifically:

• All patrons will have to answer covid-related questions, and sign to the effect that all responses are negative before being permitted into the patio area.
• Tables will be socially distanced with a maximum of 4 people at a table.
• Masks need to be worn while in the building to get drinks.
• We are also seeking volunteers for contact tracing should it be needed. If you are able, please indicate this to Ross Eichler or one of the staff at the branch.

We are very excited to be opening the patio and welcoming community and branch members. Please be safe, and we look forward to seeing you!

As summer time approaches the New Hamburg Legion will be scaling back operating hours. This has been a challenging year for all of us, and we’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all who supported the Branch this past year.

We had a very successful series of drive-thru dinners, the funds of which helped support Branch operations and the local community. It was needed this year more than others. Also thank you to everyone that bought 50/50 tickets that helped raise over $12,000 for the Branch and the local Firebirds hockey team.

Our drive-thru dinners will pause until the fall, but we do plan to host events on the patio throughout the summer once COVID restrictions allow. Keep watching the web site, Facebook, Twitter for details. Also watch for announcements on Branch Executive elections that we anticipate holding this year.

Finally, we haven’t forgotten our 16 new members that have joined the Branch during the pandemic. We want to take time to welcome them properly at the next opportunity.

We wish everyone a safe and happy summer season and we look forward to seeing everyone in the fall for camaraderie.

New Hamburg Legion, Br 532 Executive team

Branch 532 New Hamburg has completed the annual Poppy Campaign for 2020. What a pleasant surprise to find that we are a little ahead of last year 2019, for donations from the Poppy Boxes in the retail stores, donations into the Donation Boxes at No Frills and Sobey’s as well as our Postal Mail out Campaign. Thanks to all the Donors, to our outdoor distributors standing out in the cold and rain at Sobey’s and No Frills, Comrades Mike, Jim, Reg, Bob and Bill, thanks for your outstanding dedication to this very worthwhile portion of our Poppy Campaign. Thanks also to the many Volunteers that helped stuff envelopes, deliver them to the Post Office, and also the many volunteers that helped deliver the Poppy Boxes to the retail outlets throughout the Townships and 10 days later going out and retrieving them. Thank you to all the retail stores that allowed us to place a Poppy Box in your stores, and keeping them safe. Thanks to our Treasurer, Leann and President Bob for all the computer entries, the counting and rolling and depositing and the list goes on.

Our Poppy Campaign is the largest fund raiser our Branch 532 has in order to give back to our Veterans, past and present. We were able to donate approximately $23,000.00 to various organizations, 3 local hospitals, Training of service dogs for Veterans, Legion
Bursary Fund, Military Resource Center, Veterans Hospital and a Veterans Dinner at the Branch. Your Branch 532 also has a Youth Education Program which is run in conjunction with the schools in our area. It is one that we hope our students from Primary Classes right on through to High School will participate in to show our Remembrance for VETERANS, and say thank you for Their Service .Our program at the present time is a poster contest, poem and essay contest that has had 125 entries for color and black and white posters as well as numerous poems and essays. The thought and effort to detail is amazing to say the least.

The Poppy Fund also provides some awards for the top three in each category and the top entry in each category goes on to our Zone for further judging.
This is a busy time of year for our Branch 532, normally we would also have dinners and silent auctions and entertainment of some kind, however with Covid-19 rearing its ugly head, we have had to scale back, at least for now. Hopefully in the not to distant future,
we will be back to semi-normal.

Thanks everyone for your generous donations and support of your Legion, BRANCH 532.
BE SAFE EVERYONE.

Ross Eichler (Poppy Chairman and Youth Education Chairman Branch 532 New Hamburg)

The Remembrance Day ceremony looked very different this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However we ensured a ceremony was held, albeit scaled back. We won’t have our normal gallery of photos this year, but we do have a couple to share, as well as a video.

Thanks to all who participated in this year’s ceremony to remember those that gave so much.

Lest we forget.

Here is a video of the 2020 New Hamburg Remembrance Day ceremony published by CTV News Kitchener. The New Hamburg segment starts at 1:09.