The Strathmore Royal Canadian Legion Branch no. 10 supports local veterans, active service members and their families in the Strathmore and Wheatland County region. It’s a place where like-minded people can sit down for dinner, community or a drink on a weekend

You might not know it, but it also serves as a community meeting place, where parties, rallies, information nights and even political rallies are held.

Retired Air Force Veteran Sheldon Provo explains that when he first moved to the Strathmore area, the Legion was one of the first places he visited. Now Provo also volunteers as a member of the planning committee for the Legion’s Centennial Celebration.

Provo was born in Calgary, but he grew up in Manitoba west of Winnipeg near Portage La Prairie. He says ever since he was a little boy he wanted to be in the military.

“I actually wanted to be a pilot,” he said,. But after realizing he needed corrective lenses his path was steered in another direction.

“It still didn't stop me from joining. I wound up joining when I was 25 years old. And I joined because I always wanted to serve,” he said. “I always wanted to serve my country and give back what it gave to me. It gave me a nice nice place to live, lots of freedoms and lot of rights, so I wanted to give back a little bit to the country that gave that all to me,” Provo says.

“I actually came to Strathmore on almost two years after I retired,” he said.

“We were living in Calgary and then we were looking for a house. We didn't want to live in Calgary,” he said, they wanted to be just outside of the city.

“We drove to a lot of our little communities just to you know, get a feel for the towns and things like that, and we really liked Strathmore,” he said. “I guess it's a lot slower pace.”

Provo served in the Air Force for 23 years. He comes from a fine military family with a son who served for five years in artillery, and his father who was a member of the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry.

He was what is called an Electrical Generating Systems Technician.

He says, “The Air Force and the Army and the Navy all have different trades. My trade that I was in the Air Force actually could be an army trade as well. I was Royal Canadian Air Force and the trade I started out as was electrical generating systems technician.”

He explained that his work could be done here in Canada and overseas because he worked with diesel generators and electric alternators which were deployable.

“That means all of our camps are deploying power, so you'd be in charge of running all that power, then maintaining all that equipment, so that operations could carry on.” He said that in Canada as well there were power plants that were run and maintained by the military,

Before he retired like other service members he visited local schools to speak with children and attended community events, but he says COVID-19 put many of those special occasions on the back burner.

Sometimes it can be daunting for people to step into a new place and new community.

The Strathmore Legion is a welcoming place for everyone in the community to enjoy.

Provo says, “I've always been a supporter of any legion in any city I've lived. Only because they actually provide service to veterans. Whether they're just recently released or they've been out of the military for a long time, they're still there is a great mediator in between the member and the government.”

“They can go and lobby on your behalf if there is something you need that was from your service in any of the branches of the military,” he said. He noted that some people can be leery of going in, or think they need a membership.

“It's actually a very, very nice place to go and meet different people in the community. That's the first place I went when I moved here because I really didn't know anybody. It was the place to meet other like-minded people that had served like I did or were retired or just just had an affinity for the legion,” he said.

The Strathmore Royal Canadian Legion Branch No 10 is located in the middle of downtown Strathmore on Second Avenue. Find out more about Legion events here https://www.facebook.com/RCLStrathmore/