Legion's war memorabilia saved, but building will be demolished

The good news is that all the priceless and irreplaceable military memorabilia from the Vets Room at the Millville legion that was damaged by fire last week have been saved.

Carolyn Braun, the president of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 54 in Millville, poses for a photo at the back of the building, which caught fire last week.

The bad news is the building will have to be torn down and rebuilt.

"We could never replace it, so that is a wonderful thing that we were able to get it," said legion president Carolyn Braun about the memorabilia.

"The fire was in the back room and the Vets Room was in the front."

Braun said the military memorabilia has been sent to a cleaning company to clean it and get rid of the smoke smell.

The military memorabilia included uniforms from the First and Second World wars and many pins, hats, buttons, medals, swords, bayonets and badges, she said. Most of them had been donated to the legion by veterans over the years.

"There were things I didn't even know we had," said Braun.

In another room, there were large pictures of men from the area who died in the wars, she said.

There were seven pictures and five were saved, she said.

"We may be able to get them back from someone," Braun said about the lost photos.

Anyone who has duplicates is asked to contact her.

Unfortunately, the pictures of every Millville legion president since 1946 were downstairs in the club room and those were destroyed, she said.

The building, the back of which was badly damaged in the fire, will have to be demolished.

"They said it has got to be taken down," said Braun.

"It is quite the mess up there."

She said the building was insured, but it won't be enough to pay for the entire cost of rebuilding.

The legion also lost big coolers, freezers, stoves and grills.

"We will never replace it for the money we had on it, that's for sure," said Braun.

The legion, which has about 186 members, intends to rebuild as soon as possible, she said.

"We're hoping (to start reconstruction this year) because it is the only big building in the village where we can hold big functions," said Braun.

"We do a lot of fundraising for the needy people and people with cancer and weddings and things like that.

"The seniors use it when they have their suppers."

Eventually, there will be a community fundraising effort to help pay for a new building, but nothing has been planned yet, she said.

Braun said the community support since the fire has been strong.

"All the community is willing to help us get back up and going," she said.

"We've already had some offers of help.

"That makes me feel good."

SOURCE: The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton, NB) - August 5, 2011.