Prince Albert ANAVETS Unit 222 was chartered in 1934. Our first president was W.J. Dobson, an employee with the C.N.R.

Throughout the years we as an Unit have strived to maintain a strong community involvement. We are proud to serve our community and country. For our 80th year celebration we have invited our community to take part. Our secretary manager, Holly Chow and entertainment officer, Sid Burns have been hard at work planning many festivities.
We have invited the Prince Albert Farmer’s Market to sell their produce and baking. There will be entertainment, a petting zoo, pony rides, beer garden, door prizes, food venues and raffles. The public has been invited to come out to display their crafts and baking etc.
Our clubroom will be open for the community, with information on what we are all about, how great we feel about volunteering, helping seniors, visit nursing homes and much more. Our celebration took place at our club on June 28, 29 and 30th.

Caption: Introducing our current executive:
Front row from left. Second Vice – Richard Fulton, First Vice – Sid Burns, President – Dave Fidler, Third Vice – Marion Lee
Back row from left. Stan Jenkins, Darlene Michel, Floyd Bartsch, Mike Stranquist, Audrey McInnis, Glen Stieb, Joyce Fidler and Darnella Petruniak

Army Navy Air Force Veterans in Canada Unit 400 Orillia invited local Veterans to dinner May 9th to commemorate the end of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan. They came from their homes, nursing homes; some from work in the community and at Base Borden.

The National Day of Honour was also celebrated in Ottawa and across Canada to mark the end of the 12 year engagement which over 40,000 members of our Canadian Forces participated. Canada’s mission in Afghanistan focussed on safeguarding the Afghan people from extremist insurgents and providing education, medical and economic assistance. This freedom came at a great price. 158 brave Canadian men and women paid the ultimate sacrifice. Over 2,000 of our members were wounded.

Unit 400 President Jack Gillard, his Executive, and President of the Women’s Auxiliary Barbara Allen, were at the head table along with current Member of Parliament for Simcoe North Mr. Bruce Stanton and his wife Heather. The guests of Honour were our Veterans: Afghanistan, WWII, Korea, former Peace Keepers, United Nations Emergency Force
as well as Southeast Asia (Vietnam). They stood together in reverence and appreciation for those who served and the fallen. Neither to be forgotten.

“This day we are honouring our young veterans on their return from their final deployment in Afghanistan. With their return, we also remember our past veterans who have assembled here to honour them” Jack Gillard said as he welcomed everyone. In his final address, Jack thanked our volunteers “for bringing together our past and future freedom providers.”

Mr. Stanton conveyed the position of the Government of Canada who has committed to commemorate the sacrifices provided by our Canadian Armed Forces by Royal Proclamation declaring May 9, 2014 a “National Day of Honour”. Mr. Stanton stated he was proud to be a part of the day of Honour and after dinner he shared many conversations and stories with the Veterans.

A wonderful dinner was prepared and served by ANAF Women’s Auxiliary and Unit Volunteers who interacted and chatted with the Veterans. The meal was a great success. There was laughter, camaraderie and reflective thought on the closing of yet another engaged conflict for Canada.

Barbara Allen, Women’s Auxiliary President, read aloud two poems written by WWII Army Veteran Charles Warrall in which he expressed insightful and perceptive thoughts on war. Afghanistan Veteran and ANAF Unit 400 member Corporal. Kyle Giffen was asked to stand and be acknowledged for his contribution and also for the contribution of his fellow servicemen and women who served in the Canadian Afghanistan Campaign.

“What it boils down to, is that we live in one of the most free countries in the world. For the most part our land has been unscathed by war and the reason for that is YOU” Barbara Allen voiced, “Webster never invented a word that can express our gratitude so we are left with a simple but heartfelt THANK YOU”

Reta Keeler
ANAF Unit 400 Orillia

In the late 1960s the Anavets Senior Citizens’ Housing Society constructed three buildings in North Vancouver to house veterans, their widows and other seniors in the community living on fixed incomes.  In 2010 those buildings, on separate parcels adjoining each other, were fast becoming outdated and in need of replacement.

Quoting Society President Bill Calvert:  “Because of this facility’s age, it lacks things that seem so standard to more modern developments, like a sprinkler system, kitchen fans and proper ventilation.  A fire would have been devastating.  Our attention was focused on creating a safer more comfortable environment.”

For 15 years the Society looked for a way to replace the aging buildings.  Available property for new housing is hard to come by in North Vancouver so figuring out a way to redevelop the current location was a challenge.  With available land for development opportunities limited in North Vancouver, BC the Society came together with developer Intracorp in a redevelopment project that will deliver safe and affordable rental housing for seniors.

Intracorp approached the Society with a redevelopment proposal that we could not turn down.  Their proposal included constructing our new building at 245 East 3^rd Street.  Then, with the new building complete and the tenants moved into it, Intracorp would purchase the remaining two parcels of land for construction of a market condominium building.  Other developers that we met wanted to build their building first and then our building later, which would require us to move 88 tenants elsewhere during construction.  Intracorp being willing to build our facility first, meant that we would only have to move 18 tenants during redevelopment.  Those 18, along with the tenants remaining in the other two buildings will move right into the brand-new building upon completion.

Construction is now well underway and when the new building is complete it will include 22 studio apartments and 54 one-bedroom apartments.    Construction will be complete by the fall of 2012 and the facility will meet LEED Silver certification.

ABOVE: Ground Breaking pictured from Left to Right:  Bill Calvert, ANAVETS President; Mary McLeod ANAVETS Administrator, Naomi Yamamoto, MLA North Vancouver–Lonsdale; Mayor Darrell Mussatto, City of North Vancouver; Don Forsgren, Intracorp – President, West Region.

PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

The driving force behind the $16.3 million redevelopment was the partnership created between the Province of British Columbia, Intracorp and ANAVETS.  Through this partnership, the province will provide $12.8 million in construction financing while ANAVETS will provide three parcels of land, including the property for the senior housing valued at about $3.5 million.

The Portage la Prairie Unit #13 has been running a weekly draw called “Chase the Ace”. The game managed to run for 43 weeks and accumulate to a pot worth $18,235.00.  During this 43 week period we have had a very busy unit on Saturday afternoons.  As the pot got bigger and bigger the line ups at the door to come in also got longer and longer.

The Scarlet Lounge would be full of prospective winners, well players at least…. Our executive and some volunteer members were a great help in making this game a big success.  From Vaughn working the door to Linda helping cook the hot dogs and smokies, the afternoon would be busy with members and guests, playing card games and shuffleboard while waiting for the Meat Draw to begin and then the Chase the Ace to be drawn.  This game helped our unit raise over 75 new members and became the talk of the town.  We heard of places where on Monday morning the staff would talk about the events of the Saturday’s draw and discuss their strategy for the next Saturday.  It gave us a boost of morale that we so desperately needed.  As this event did not need publicity (word of mouth seemed to be enough), we were very surprised when the local paper wanted to come out and see it for themselves. So on Saturday February 11^th; with the local paper in attendance one of our members, Kora-Lee Thornsteinson picked the Ace of Spades.  The crowd erupted and many offered congratulations to the winner.

Now that the Big Pot was won we are starting our next game and hope that this game will be as much fun as the last one.

Pictured Far left – Angela Hourie (executive) Betty Roe (president) Kora-Lee Thornsteinson receiving the cheque and family members in attendance.

Lennoxville Unit 318 recently held their annual Children’s Winter Fun Day, under beautiful, sunny skies on Sunday, February 26, 2012. We had a fair turn out for this traditional event, with around 24 kids, ranging in age from 2 to 12 years old, who showed up at the club to participate in this fun filled day of both indoor and outdoor games, sleigh rides, sugar on snow and much, much more. Unit 318 has been organizing this special day for the kids for many years now and we structure the many activities to encourage team work and participation, with a healthy dose of physical activity and fresh air. Team trophies are awarded for the different events and individual medals are awarded to all of the kids that participate. Many thanks to the volunteers, who organize, supervise and make sure that the kids have fun, particular thanks to Bruce & Pat Neil, Andrew & Marie Letemplier and Fred Wright for all that they do to make sure that the kids all enjoy their Winter Fun Day experience.

Mr Hsu presented The Army, Navy and Air Forces Veterans in Canada Martello Unit 377 with Canadian Flags to fly in front of the Unit. The flags were presented during Mr Hsu’s visit to the Unit at the Levee.
Pictured left to right: Chris Carter Sgt @ Arms, Jack O’Brien President, Mr Ted Hsu, MP, Tom Burke 1st Vice President and Jim Pine 2nd Vice President. Source: Kingston East News – February 2, 2012

Army, Navy & Air Force Veterans, Unit 26, located just south of the Kensington Cedar Cottage 41 Avenue border, presents their $406.00 donation to South Vancouver Community Crime Prevention Association, April 9, 2009. The South Vancouver Anavets Unit 26 organized a bottle and can recycle drive at their Fraser Street and 43 Avenue club house to raise funds for the South Vancouver Community Crime Prevention Association (SVCCPA). During the month of March 2009 members and guests dropped of recyclable cans and bottles totalling $406.00 which has been presented to the crime prevention association on April 9, 2009.

The Anavets Unit 26 has been located in the South Vancouver since the early 1920’s, providing charitable donations to the community to help improve the services these groups provide our area. Unit 26 provides over $70,000.00 of support in this way back into the community each year. For more information on joining the Anavets see our website at www.anavets.ca or drop into our club house for a visit.

The Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans in Canada (Anavets) was created in the 1840’s to provide a non-profit ex-military organization for British Army troops defending the Colonies in Canada. Since this time the Army veterans have been joined by Navy veterans in 1812 and again by Air Force veterans in the 1940 to become the organization of today with over 18,000 members across Canada.

The South Vancouver Community Police Centre (SVCPC) community crime prevention office is a place where community members and businesses can meet and work with the police, in a non-crisis environment, to address crime and safety concerns.

Activities are organized by a full-time coordinator with an office staff of community volunteers. Day to day activities include coordination of police crime prevention programs such as Bike Patrol, Foot Patrol, and Speed Watch programs, and participation in community projects such as clean-up campaigns, graffiti paint-outs, public awareness initiatives, and generally helping the public with non-emergency crime-related problems. Volunteer drivers are currently needed to transport our Foot Patrol volunteers to their various patrol sites.

Police officers use the office to write reports, make telephone calls, and meet with community members. This office is NOT a precinct or a police substation.

Volunteers with the South Vancouver CPC come from all walks of life. Many of our volunteers are aspiring police officers seeking to gain police related experience, and numerous others are simply doing their best to help make our city a safer and more enjoyable place to live. To become a volunteer with our organization one must fill out an application form as well as a form granting permission for a criminal background check to be conducted. These forms are available in the office. Once these forms have been processed the volunteers are trained by the Vancouver Police Department. For more information on how you can help the Crime Prevention office visit their website at www.southvancouvercpc.com

Pictured from Left: Rudy Eylmann, Executive Unit 26, Adrien Balazs, Executive Director SVCPC, Constable Chip, John Yates, Executive Unit 26, Gail McKay, Vice President SVCPC.