The Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 47 in Weyburn was closed for 90 days this spring. In fact, they were one of the first local establishments to close their doors due to the COVID pandemic.

While they reopened at half capacity in early June, they're accustomed to being a lot more busy at this time of year.

"As a Legion Hall, we're one of the first places brides were looking to get married, or anniversaries to be held," explained Secretary-Manager Connie Nightingale. "With the closure, or the way we are today in the world, we don't have those, and that really is one of the more important aspects of the Legion's business, so we are, just like all the rest of the Legions, we're struggling."

The COVID shutdowns have created yet another hit for the Legion, in addition to an emergency furnace replacement of 2017, when they had to take out a mortgage in order to make the repair. They continue nonetheless to try raising funds to cover that added cost.

"Things have really slowed down, and we're just going to be introducing more raffles and things as time goes on and as the province reopens," said Nightingale.

"Currently we don't have meat draws at the moment, just because of the regulations," she noted. "We know once the VLTs turn on, then we can start hosting our meat draws again, which, once again, was an important aspect of our business. We don't have a date, but as soon as we do, we'll be announcing it through Facebook." Find the link HERE.

Nightingale said in addition to extra cleaning routines, they also have their patrons sign in, which helps with contact tracing.

"We have a member sign-in book. We always ask people to sign in when they join us at the Legion Today, that book is actually at the front door. So anybody who comes in must sign that book. Of course, it's not going to prevent the spread of COVID but it is going to allow us at the Legion to track our patrons to ensure for safety in the future."