Scott Kenyon first joined the Royal Canadian Legion for the darts but stayed out the desire to help others.
“That kind of got me into the Legion,” the long-time member of the Fonthill branch said. “The dart league I was playing for moved in [to the Welland branch], and we were playing there every week. That got me exposed to the Legion a little bit.”
That was back in 1989. That exposure turned Kenyon into a member of that same branch.
While he is not a veteran himself, his father, Jim, was.
“He served in World War II,” Kenyon said. “He didn't get overseas, but he was in New Brunswick training others.”
He made the move to the Talbot Trail Branch on Hwy. 20 more than 20 years ago. The reason for the switch was simple.
“I found more of my friends were here — and I actually live a lot closer to this Legion. I transferred up and that's when they kind of conned me into getting involved.”
And get involved he has.
Kenyon has served on the branch executive as secretary, is currently a member of the poppy committee, and is the grants chair for the branch. It’s a team that was created just a few short years ago and is already yielding results.
It was under his watch that the branch managed to secure a New Horizons grant to make improvements to the women’s washroom, but the coup de gras was the team’s securing of a $148,000 Trillium Foundation grant to help pay for renovations to the branch’s entrance and exterior, among other things.
Kenyon said it wasn’t his doing alone.
“There's a team of us. Basically, my role is to say, would you guys put all this stuff together for me? It works really well, and I get all the credit,” Kenyon said with a laugh.
Volunteering makes him feels good.
“It's very satisfying. If you're a retired guy you could immerse yourself in hobbies, and that's fine, but for somebody that needs something to do, there's all kinds of opportunities, the Legion or wherever and it gives you a good feeling.”
He also enjoyed the time – 13 years – he spent on the branch executive.
“With my office background [as an estimator for E.S. Fox], I thought I could help that way — and I think I helped.”
He has no plans to stop volunteering at the moment.
“I’m 69 now and still feeling reasonably good, I guess,” he said with a chuckle. “Yeah, I don't know. I haven't put any thought to that for a while.”
