$1 including gst
Your LOCAL Media since 1918! Volume 106 Issue 32
www.tofieldmerc.com
Tofield Hockey Awards Page 19 Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Pipe burst floods Tofield Legion
Ceiling tiles missing on account of an April 1 flood at the Tofield Legion. The flood, caused by a burst pipe, left several inches of water on the floor, damaging some tables and a donated wool uniform. JIM WARREN PHOTO Jana Semeniuk Staff Reporter
Tofield Legion members were not laughing on April 1 when they encountered their building flooded from a burst ceiling pipe. President Jim Warren said he saw water running from the building across the sidewalk when he got there. “I walked past the Legion on my walk at 10 o'clock in the morning and everything was fine,” he said adding he got a phone call from the Legion secretary who was there at 2 p.m. dropping off supplies. “She found the flood. When I got down there water was running from the building out across the sidewalk.” Warren said one of the overhead boiler lines burst, spilling water over the covered pool tables and several enclosed uniform displays. He said that although the pool tables were covered, saving them from water damage, one of the wool uniforms was not so lucky. “One of the uniforms was damaged so we’re hoping we can fix it,” he said. “It was just soaked and it’s a wool dress uniform. (Wool) doesn’t do water all that well. His boots were in there (too) and they were soak-
ing wet. We had to very carefully make sure that we dried it properly. And then off to the dry cleaners to get it cleaned professionally.” Warren said the uniform was donated by a longtime member of the Tofield Legion, Keith Tiedemann, who passed away last year. “Keith was a 30-year member of the Air Force,” said Warren. “He retired in the 80s and donated the uniform to us.” Meanwhile, Warren said several Legion members rolled up their sleeves and got right to work, using five shopvacs to suction several inches of water from the floors of the building. He said they had to hurry because they had two memorials booked for the coming weekend. “We had dehumidifiers and fans going all week long so that we could get things dried out. And then we got new ceiling tiles and put the ceiling tiles back in so it was presentable for the memorials,” he said. “We were able to get it cleaned up enough and serviceable enough to facilitate the two rentals, but that was a hard go.” Warren said Red’s Plumbing came in right away to
fix the pipes. He added that in addition to some ceiling tiles that were lost, some tables were also damaged beyond repair. He estimated the damages and loss at $5,000 that was not covered by insurance. “For the type of building we have, it’s a $10,000 deductible. Because insurance is so expensive and we haven’t had any issues, we went the cheapest way we possibly could. We don’t have a lot of money coming in,” he said. “We figure $5,000 but it could be more.” Warren said the Legion gets by on donations in addition to ticket sales for their events. Their next event is Decoration Day, scheduled for May 25 and includes a dinner. “(Decoration Day) is a way of supporting our veterans. We have a supper for them,” he said. “At the Legion, we have them and a guest come and we have a service out at the Cenotaph in our Field of Honour, and we like to have a service out at our Wall of Honour at the cemetery and we put Canadian flags on our veterans that are in the Field of Honour and then we come back to the Legion for a little bit of fellowship and a supper for them.” Tickets are available by calling 780-662-3112