Royal Canadian Legion Branch 375 Richmond Hill

06/24/2025

06/18/2025

Legion Member and WW2 Veteran Rex Arnett passed away today. Rex turned 100 years old last November 12. He flew 23 missions over Germany as a Wireless Operator on a B-24 Liberator. Just before his 19th mission, he was grounded due to illness and the plane was shot down, 6 were killed.

At the time of his 100th birthday Rex was still driving and playing golf.

His funeral service will be at Lady Queen of the World, Bayview and Crosby, on Tuesday, June 24 at 11:00 AM. The flag at the Branch will be lowered this Saturday and will remain so until after his funeral. RIP Comrade Rex.

We Will Remember Them …..

06/18/2025

The Richmond Hill Historical Society presented the Bert Hunt Heritage Certificate Award to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 375 Richmond Hill, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to preserving and honoring Richmond Hill’s history.
As the Legion celebrates its 80th anniversary, their unwavering support for our veterans, active military, and their families is more important than ever, especially as we mark the 80th Anniversary of the Victory in Europe (V-E Day) in 2025.

Royal Canadian Legion Branch 375 has played a vital role in:
- Organizing the annual Poppy Drive to support veterans in need
- Coordinating the Remembrance Day Service at the Cenotaph
- Sponsoring two local Air Cadet squadrons, 778 Banshee and 8 Globemaster (the former for 57 years and the latter for the past 13)
- Honouring veterans through the No Stone Left Alone program, ensuring over 2,500 graves are remembered
- Contributing to community events and making donations to various Richmond Hill organizations

We honour the Legion’s legacy in keeping our military heritage alive and ensuring that future generations understand the sacrifices made for our freedom. Congratulations to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 375 Richmond Hill for many years of dedicated service in our community!

06/18/2025

Pleased to be so honoured .....

06/18/2025

Due to low ticket sales our Annual Sock Hop Dance scheduled for June 21st has been cancelled. If you purchased a ticket and require a refund, please contact Lori Caruk at [email protected] or (905)884-7030

06/17/2025

Maple Lions Electronics Recycling

We are again supporting an Electronics Recycle event in conjunction with our partner organization, Maple Lions. The Lions team will be set up in our parking lot for 4 days next week: June 24 thru 27 from 8 AM to Noon.

They accept Industrial, Commercial, Medical, Aviation & Residential ewaste, as well as scrap metal, and all Media, VHS, C/D, DVD, (no home movies, please).

Cassette tape, 8 Track, Laser disc & Records, & all cameras Film type as well.

Phones and Fax Machines (Cordless, Landline and Rotary included), Radios, Speakers, Amplifiers, Electronic Music Equipment, Record Players, Cassette Players, Alarm Clocks, Memory Chips, Sticks, USB Drives, Cables, Wires, Chargers, External Storage Media Devices, External Hard Drives, Floppy, Battery backups, almost anything with a cord. Many more items, too many to list.

As always, they Guarantee to destroy anything with information on it.

Take a shot at some decluttering in your house, garage or storage and drop it at the Legion.

06/15/2025

On June 7, 2025, we hosted our annual bbq for the cherished Veterans from Sunnybrook Hospital. It was a wonderful afternoon filled with stories, reflections and great music provided by the Chapman Family Band. One of the Veterans in attendance was Ed Marshall who was a paratrooper in the Second World War. For Ed's 100th birthday last year he wanted to skydive one more time while at the same time, hoping to raise $100,000.00 for The Hospital for Sick Childen. He did both! (he pointed out that he actually raised $105,000.00). Big thank you to the Sunnybrook staff for arranging for the Veterans to attand, the Chapman Family Band for their continuing and dedicated support of our Veterans, the numerous Legion Volunteers who decorated the tables and walls, prepared and served the food and cleaned up afterwards. And finally, thank you to our beloved Veterans for their service and for continuing to be a source of pride and inspiration for all Canadians.

06/14/2025

Things just a hopping this afternoon at the Branch with the band Twisted Covers, running until 5pm

06/09/2025

On Saturday, June 7th, 2025, the Legion was privileged to host a barbecue for our cherished veterans from Sunnybrook. It was a wonderful afternoon filled with lots of storytelling, reflection and great music provided by the Chapman Family Band. One of the many honured guests was Ed Marshall who was a paratrooper for the 1st Canadian Paratrooper Battalion during the Second World War. For his 100th birthday last year he wanted to skydive one more time while at the same time raise $100,000 for the Hospital for Sick Children. He did both! (actually raising $105,000). Thank you to the Sunnybrook staff who helped make this visit happen, the Chapman Family Band who performs several times a year for our veterans and the many Richmond Hill Legion volunteers who helped prepare the meals, serve, make decorations for the walls and tables and clean up afterwards. And to our veterans, we thank you for your service and continued inspiration for others and we look forward to hosting you again next year.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/100-year-old-skydives-for-charity-1.7264399

06/07/2025

778 Banshee squadron Drill Team display ... great show !!

06/04/2025

Our newly elected Branch President, Comrade Bernie de Paulsen was one of the special invites at 8 Globemaster Air Cadet Squadron Mess Dinner on June 1st. The event was held at Dragon Legend Buffet in Markham, where the food was excellent and the setting was great. Comrade Bernie was joined by Treasurer Ross Toms and they were both called upon to present some of the awards, especially the Legion themed awards.

The awards were as follows: Top Athletic Award-Sgt Daniel Huang; Top Uniform- FSgt Valerie Ip; Proficiency In Drill- FSgt Adrienne Wu; Top Instructor- FSgt Alinna Wang; ICE- WO2 Kaitlyn Chit; Junior NCO- Sgt Emily Aziz; Senior NCO- FSgt Saige Zhai; Globemaster- WO2 Chris Chau; Bill Renwick- LAC Kiarash Khatibi; Best Level 1- LAC Allison Jiang; Top Bandsmen-Sgt Lucas Sun; Most Improved Bandsmen-Fcpl Ray Tang; Marksmanship- FSgt Angie Chan; Groundschool-Sgt Jayden Cheung; Flight Cup- FSgt Megan Poovathingal, FSgt James Lee.
Legion Treasurer comrade Ross Toms also presented a cheque to the Sponsoring Committee Chair Lesley Yan which they will use to continue to support squadron operations.

Well done 8 Globemaster ….. Go The Distance !!

06/04/2025

Last evening our Treasurer dropped by the Elvis Stojko arena where 778 Banshee Air Cadet’s were running a practice session for their upcoming 56th Annual Ceremonial Review. He interrupted their session for just a few minutes to make the annual donation to the Squadron from our Poppy program. Well done 778, without your active participation every November our Poppy program and our Remembrance service would not be as successful as they are. Thank you.

Comrade and Treasurer Ross Toms is seen presenting the cheque to the Sponsoring Committee chair Terrence Wu. On the left we have 778 Commanding Officer Captain G. Beros and on the right 778 Chief Warrant Officer Eason Mak. Bravo Zulu 778: To Learn / To Serve / To Advance