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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It's been just over two years since the Vincent Massey Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion reopened.

The struggling branch had been at the same location on Franklin Avenue, in what is now called the Danarey Building, since 1979. The legion shut down in May 2009, in debt and unable to afford the building it had called home for 30 years.

Dan Hayward and Nancy Hayward bought the building, which now houses Headgear, Dan's Place and the Legion, which finally paid off its debt in October.

"We bought the building in December 2009," said Nancy, who has been a long-time member of the Legion and the Elks Club. "We had to rebuild the top and redo all the electrical, it was about $300,000 worth of renovations."

After the sale of the building, the Legion was still approximately $130,000 in debt.

"When all the government and tax stuff was done they were still in the hole," said Hayward. "There was no money to hire staff or do anything."

Now, with the branch out of debt, it is once again donating money and needed items to organizations around town. Since October, the legion has donated more than $5,000 to the Army Cadets, the Yk Food Bank, Avens Seniors' Centre and the Mary Murphy home, with more donations due to start up in the new year, said Nancy.

"It feels great to be giving back to the community again," said Francine Clouston, president.

"Hopefully we'll have found our reputation again and we've sponsored some pool and dart teams."

When the Haywards bought the building, they said it was really important that the Legion stay in the same location.

"When we bought the building my husband volunteered us to run the bar," said Nancy. "I've been acting as a liaison between the executive committee and the bar staff."

With the Legion now out of debt, Nancy said it can go back to donating to the community while building up its cash reserves at the same time.

"When the building was bought, it was decided that the Legion wouldn't have to pay rent for five years," she said.

"There's still two-and-a-half years of no rent and there's enough money in the bank in case anything were to happen."

Former president and current second vice-president of the Legion, Lloyd Lush, said all the bills are paid up, adding he was happy some of the creditors gave a discount on the amounts owed.

"We have time to build up our reserves and it's been getting busy Friday nights," said Lush.

"It's really good to see the Legion supported."

The Vincent Massey Branch, like other legion branches across Canada, has had its membership drop significantly since its peak in the 1980s.

Currently, there are around 170 members, down from 350 to 400 in its prime, said Hayward.

"They're not all active," said Hayward.

"We'd like to see them all, but recently I've been renewing memberships for people, some of whom haven't been here in six years but now want to rejoin. It's a nice, quiet, less expensive place to have a cold one. It's nice and small, so you get to know everyone."

Clouston confirmed membership has been slowly starting to climb over the past few years.

"We lose some members from moving but our membership is like a living document, this is a moving town," she said.

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