The Kemptville Legion Meeting Hall an exhilarating tale of empowerment

Historical Significance

submitted by Roy Brown

The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 212 Kemptville was granted a Charter, dated April 17, 1932, under the authority of what was then known as the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League. During the early years, Legion meetings and social events were held in the old Kemptville Armoury Building (present day Pte. B. Williamson Memorial Hall) and at other public venues in the Town of Kemptville.

As the local membership base increased, the Legion members took that opportunity to design, fund and erect their own meeting hall. The Town of Kemptville Municipal Council kindly provided a parcel of land for the proposed structure at the entrance to Riverside Park and a group of Legion members began sourcing materials and building supplies to commence erecting the building.

It is interesting to note that the majority of the lumber and other building materials came from a military "H" hut at a former Canadian Army Camp in Brockville, Ontario. The building was dismantled piece by piece and transported to the Kemptville Legion site. Volunteer labour, in-kind donations and fundraising were essential in covering the costs to erect the Legion Building. The Grand Opening took place on Saturday, July 6, 1957 and was held in conjunction with the Kemptville Centennial Celebrations that year and the July 6, 1944 Anniversary of D-Day.

A major renovation to the building was undertaken in the years that followed, but the dates are not known. The new addition was designed to increase the overall size of the building, in order to incorporate what was described as being an Auditorium along with kitchen facilities.

The original Auditorium, later known as the Upper Hall, has become an important community hub that is used by numerous organizations, groups and individuals for meetings and social events.

At the General Membership Meeting of Wednesday, March 15, 2023, the Upper Hall was commemoratively named as the “VETERANS MEMORIAL HALL” with the intent that all who enter therein, will remember and reflect upon the sacrifices of Canadian and Commonwealth Veterans who served; continue to serve; and to those who ultimately forfeited their lives to protect our Rights and Freedoms.

by Barbara Lacelle, Artistic Director

KYMTC

Kemptville Youth Musical Theatre Company is back and staging Matilda April 15 - 30 at the Urbandale Arts Centre in Kemptville. Music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and a book by Dennis Kelly, based on the 1988 novel Matilda by Roald Dahl. The musical's narrative centres on a precocious 5-year-old girl with the gift of telekinesis, who loves reading, overcomes obstacles caused by her family and school, and helps her teacher to reclaim her life. Matilda the musical has received widespread critical acclaim winning 7 Olivier awards including Best New Musical in 2012 and 5 Tony awards in 2013 including Best Book of a Musical.

Working with these young people has been my privilege. They are hard working, caring and full of passion and they are excited for you to come and share this amazing adventure with them. It has been hard for them because they lost three years of KYMTC and therefore 3 years of taking chances and growing their skills but they make up for it in energy.

Three years ago, we were so close to staging Matilda. It was heartbreaking for everyone, but especially the young people who had been working since the previous September. As a company it was also devastating because we had paid for everything and received no revenue to cover expenses. The major expenses for each production we stage total over $25K and these include securing the rights, renting the scripts, rehearsal space, the venue, musicians and insurance. This amount does not include costumes, sets, props, lighting and sound equipment, etc. I am explaining this because we had to raise our ticket prices this year and that hurts you. We try very hard to keep our ticket prices low so that everyone can enjoy the show. Everything has gone up. Also, we do not charge the kids to be in this program and we do not get paid. All ticket revenue goes to pay for the next show.

Jack Lalonde, RSE, President, Operator

Serving The Ottawa, Dundas and Cornwall Areas Residential,

Valleyairwaymechanical @gmail.com http://oliverpaintingottawa.ca/

Matilda is an exhilarating tale of empowerment. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter said the stage show captures "the unique flavour of Roald Dahl’s classic 1988 children’s novel", and added, "this funhouse fairy tale is by turns riotous and poignant, grotesque and menacing, its campy comic exaggeration equaled only by its transporting emotional power”. We are hoping that you will come out and see this wonderful, heart warming musical that is chocked full of energy and naughtiness.