BILLY BISHOP / KERRISDALE LEGION - B.C./Yukon No.176

Spitfire

In the spring of 1929 Meraloma atheletes started construction of a very respectable clubhouse, now the front part of this building. Some documentation hangs on the wall of the Dart Room. As the only sporting venue in the Branch, it bears their name.

During the Depression the Meralomas failed to pay their taxes. The city seized the propery in 1939 and in 1947 sold it to the Air Force Association, which then constructed the Lounge and Bar.

The Air Force Association, a group of veterans returned from Europe, received a Charter for Branch 176 from the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League on April 9, 1945. Lapel pins of their badge are available at the bar.

Fill had been placed over all low-lying land on Kits Point before buildings were constructed- except our building, which sits at the original level of the marshy parts of Kits Point. A west wind, a high tide and heavy rain may still occasionally back water up into the Billy.

Outside the dart room, to the right of the door, see a man in a rowboat beside the fireplace! It was October 13th 1967 – of course a Friday – and the building flooded so badly that President Walter Buswood could paddle about in that flat-bottomed craft. A few years back we spent over $6000 renovating our drainage, and it has since been much dryer.

A Short History and Tour, 1998, John A. Macdonald, Leanne Frid. Updates: Ron Crawley, Derek Irons, Arthur Hughes. Revised 2015: Derek Allen, Archivist. Online publication 2016: Jennelyn Boyadjian.