While some provincial commands and their branches have celebrated some form of Legion Week since the 1980s, earlier this year Dominion Command established an annual National Legion Week observance from coast-to-coast-to-coast.

National Legion Week is designed to educate visitors on the good work their local branch does in their community. It reinforces the important role branches play in our shared mission to serve and support our veterans, as well as contribute to the well-being of so many communities. It serves as a vehicle to drive new traffic to branches, attract new members and sign up new volunteers. This year, it can also include a salute to Royal Canadian Mounted Police veterans who celebrated the 150th anniversary (May 23).

National Legion Week will be held each September, with start and end dates that vary slightly from year to year. It kicks off on the third Sunday of the month in honour of Battle of Britain Day and wraps up on the following Saturday.  This year’s first annual national observance runs from Sunday, Sept. 17 to Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023.

As a US-based branch, we do not have a physical location like most Canadian branches.  However, we do undertake almost all of the other activities that would be traditionally associated with a branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.  Throughout National Legion Week we will be posting items to this space to:

• highlighted different types of membership available in the Royal Canadian Legion through profiles of our own members,
• outline some history of the branch and the Royal Canadian Legion in the Bay Area, and
• describe the activities and how the general public can become involved.