From The President’s Desk

Thank you to all of you for your continuing support of your Bells Corners Branch over the past two difficult years.

Covid 19
It is now your choice if you wish to continue to follow any of the protocols. (Masks etc.). Please respect the choices of other members and guests if they wish to continue to wear a mask.

As we and other businesses try to return to pre-pandemic operations, we are currently dealing with rising costs, (rising cost of beverages) supply, (availability of certain beverages), and staffing issues. (bartenders) These issues are also similar with Legion Branches and other businesses across Canada.

Bartender Note
Your bartender on Thursday afternoons (1 to 6 pm) is taking a leave of absence and therefore without a replacement bartender we will now be CLOSED during the afternoon on Thursdays. If another bartender steps forward to help, we can reopen Thursday afternoons. However, the Branch will reopen Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 10:00 for the Pool League as we still have an evening bartender.

Bingoland Update
Bingo has returned to Bingoland South, and we will now be covering the Monday afternoon shift, (4 to 6 pm) instead of our past Friday mornings. Major changes have occurred over at Bingoland South on how they operate. Our volunteers actually do much less now, but we need your support by volunteering some time. Beginning this April, we are required to have 1 volunteer each Monday afternoon. Beginning in May, we are required to have 2 volunteers attend. Dave Treleaven is our Branch Bingo co-coordinator. Please contact the Branch, 613 829 4609, or Dave at Sports@legion593.com if you can volunteer some time. This is a major fundraiser that supports our 2 Cadet Corps, so we need your help.

Branch Election
It has been three years since our last branch election.  We will be holding our election on Tuesday, May 24^th, 2022.  This is now your chance to help shape the future of Branch #593 for the future. If you are interested and would like more information on any of the Branch positions or committees, please speak with one of your current executive members for details.

Branch Meetings Resume

Be sure to mark your calendar for our next important Branch General & Election meetings

Monday April 18^th, 7pm – General Meeting & Nominations

Tuesday May 24, 7pm – Election Meeting

Monday June 20, 7pm – General Meeting
 

BARTENDERS NEEDED - NOW!

This is a notice to all members of Branch 593. Your Branch is in a position where Bartenders are urgently needed. Now is the time to step forward and volunteer. Complete the Ontario Smart Serve course (online) and we will reimburse you the cost. You will be trained on site with another bartender until you are comfortable with the processes and procedures.

Currently we do not have enough Bartenders to operate as we did before COVID introduced itself.  The only chance we have of getting back to normal in the future is to have enough trained bartenders! We will require at least 5 or 6 volunteer Bartenders to meet the future workload as we return to normal. If we do not get enough Bartender volunteers, there is a good chance that the Bar hours will be reduced and the chance of having, Friday Night Dinners and Dances or any other function will be in jeopardy. There are no spare Bartenders, so if no one is available, the Branch will be closed on that day.
 

Support your Branch and become a volunteer Bartender. You will meet lots of other members and have a rewarding experience knowing that you are helping keep your Branch open. This opportunity is open to anyone. The only other option would be to hire paid bartenders which would be expensive, cut into profits drastically and is unsustainable. If necessary, we would use paid bartenders only for functions and parties where bar sales would be able to support their cost.

Talk to me or any of the Bar staff about signing up today. It will be worth it!

Bruce May
2nd Vice
Bells Corners Branch 593 (RCL)
2nd-Vice@legion593.com