In an impressive comeback since its three-month shutdown a year ago, the Royal Legion's Branch 46 in Revelstoke has grown sevenfold by membership and has its eyes set on replacing its trusteeship with a board if volunteers can rise to the occasion.

At the Legion's annual general meeting Tuesday, March 26, trustees gave an impassioned recap to a couple dozen members of an eventful year for the long-established collective, which was rebuilt in the 1960s and hosts popular events such as trivia, karaoke and meat draws. It also supports members with discounts on travel, eye care and hearing aids.

In March 2024, following years of compounding challenges for Branch 46, the Legion BC/Yukon Command ordered Revelstoke's trustees to close shop. Locks were changed within 24 hours, according to Lindsay Gowin, who is president of Branch 98 in Enderby and has helped get Revelstoke's Legion back on its feet.

At an emergency members' meeting with more than 100 people attending, Branch 46 rallied the community for more support. It had a measly two dozen members at the time, but reopened in June 2024 and has since skyrocketed to 170 members. Membership costs $60 per person, which meant nearly $9,000 poured in from membership support alone.

Some $100,000 that Lindsay said was "sitting around" in Branch 46's bank account was finally put to work over the last year to pay off debts. This included repaying $25,000 to the CRA, and $30,000 in PST that was owed. Now, trustees' big ambition is changing the Legion's governance structure to a volunteer board, with hopes that members will put their name forward to help chair it.

"We need volunteers to step up, to take this Legion to the next level," Revelstoke trustee Peter McKenna told attendees Tuesday.

The current plan is to elect up to 10 board members in September, to oversee the Legion until a next election in November 2026. McKenna explained this would simplify things for Branch 46's various operations, including the Ladies' Auxiliary upstairs and Bargain Basement downstairs.

For example, "anything that goes through the Bargain Basement must go through the board, so your donations go through the board," he said, reasoning that a centralized board system "stops a lot of fighting."

McKenna clarified to attendees that the Ladies' Auxiliary and Bargain Basement would be able to appoint their own board representative and alternate, and so would the bar management.

"Representing the bar is very simple," McKenna said. "Someone will be appointed (unpaid) to the bar and gaming."

Bar manager Stacy Paseska emphasized to trustees that her staff, who are paid, navigate a major gap between the Legion's business and hospitality operations.

"No one on the management understands anything about the hospitality side of the bar," Paseska said.

It will help the Legion's bar side that staff anticipate finally receiving a liquor licence that will enable a wider array of 19+ events, including lounge rentals, parties, a darts night and extra hours of operation Saturdays after meat draws. Trustees also expressed gratitude for every volunteer who has already stepped up the last year.

"I have all my respect for anyone who's put their hand up to volunteer," Legion chairman Mark McKee told members. "Why are we here? Because the Legion is too important to the community."

Branch 46 is also seeking more volunteer support to help manage its website and social media. In whatever way members can pitch in to assist with Legion operations, McKenna said, a little is a lot.

"Once you work for the Legion, you never not work for the Legion," Paseska told Black Press Media affectionately. "They always welcome you back."

Also going forward, the Legion's laundry list of improvements for its dated building includes a new kitchen, roof and exterior wall work, and replacement of its 70-year-old heating system. That said, the upstairs bathrooms have been renovated, and McKee intends to preserve the upstairs ambience of the building's performance hall, which hosts judo, band and dance nights.

"It's like going to a party in the '50s," he remarked. "It's cool."

While last year's three-month closure "took a lot of our thunder," Paseska is optimistic the Legion, a community pillar bringing together everyone from age "19 to 90," will continue to make a comeback.

"We're definitely open to ideas," she said.

Contact information for the Royal Legion's Branch 46 is posted online at .