Ingraham acclaimed as legion president
FLORENCE — Joan Ingraham recently made history when she became the first female president of the Royal Canadian Legion in Florence.
Ingraham, 72, was acclaimed as the new leader of branch 83, which celebrated its 75th anniversary on Dec. 7, during a recent meeting.
“I love the legion — I'm there all the time and I work hard,” said Ingraham, who was born in Bras d'Or and raised in Florence.
“I feel excited and I feel pretty proud. That it is the honour — the first female president. And when I accepted the presidency, the applause from the membership made it twice as good.”
Of course, Ingraham is assuming her new role under challenging circumstances.
Normally a busy gathering place and the heart of the community, the legion has been dramatically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. They no longer serve breakfast on Sundays or host bingo on Thursdays, and hall rentals are non-existent.
“Right now it's pretty quiet. No functions going on, no New Year's Eve (party) — we couldn't even really celebrate my installation because we usually have a dance afterwards and stuff like that,” she said. “It's a very difficult time with COVID and there's only so much we can do right now. We're usually very, very busy.”
However, Ingraham said they have been able to host small pool tournaments, washer toss games and darts while following public health guidelines.
A branch member for the past 26 years, she joined the legion because her father Harry MacRae was a Second World War veteran and her late husband William (Sonny) Ingraham served with the Royal Canadian Regiment.
She served on the ladies auxiliary from 1980-94, has served on the board since 1995 and was elected first vice-president in 2002.
While legions may conjure up images of older men sharing war stories over drinks — and Ingraham said there was indeed a time that was very much the case — things have changed in recent years and many of the branch's nearly 200 members are women, including her first vice-president, Amber Bernon.
“We have a lot of ladies who are very, very good active members,” Ingraham said, fondly recalling listening to veterans talk about their war years. “It used to be like that but a lot of the veterans are gone and now with COVID, none of them are coming out to the branch. But there was a day when it was like that and we used to sit with them and listen to them and enjoy their stories — comical stories, we didn't like the sad ones. But they would tell you a humorous one and it would be fun to sit and listen to them.”
In the meantime, Ingraham said she's looking forward to when they can properly celebrate the branch's diamond anniversary.
“In the future after COVID we'll celebrate that somehow,” she said before being asked whether they would eventually hold a dance to mark another milestone — her becoming the branch's first female president
“It would be nice,” she said with a laugh, adding that her late brother Gregory (Bowser) MacRae, who is the subject of a David Francey song, the “Ballad of Bowser MacRae,” had encouraged her to run for the post. “I'm very honoured very pleased and looking forward to it. It's something the Bowser wanted me to do."