Former Stratford Legion president and current zone commander receives King Charles III Coronation Medal
- Galen Simmons
- Apr 17
- 3 min read
A former Royal Canadian Legion Branch 8 president and current Legion zone commander who has served the Stratford community in many capacities over the past 60 years was recently recognized for that community service with a King Charles III Coronation Medal.
Currently serving as the C2 Zone Commander and second vice president at the Stratford Legion, Ken Albert was awarded the medal on March 22 by Royal Canadian Legion Ontario Command vice president Lynn McClellan at the Zone C2 Convention in Preston.
“I kind of knew it was coming, but I expected it months ago,” Albert said with a laugh, having waited for months after first being notified of the honour. “ … They asked me to send in a bio, and I said, ‘Am I getting it or not?’
“It’s awesome, actually. It’s great to be recognized for what you do, the volunteer work you do. It was at a convention – I’m chair of the convention because I’m zone commander – and it was nice. They had another ceremony for another member in my zone in Elmira, so it was really nice.”
For 41years, Albert worked with Sea and Air Cadets, first as a Cadet Instructors Cadre officer and then as a civilian instructor, until 2022.
Albert has been a member of the Royal Canadian Legion for the past 30 years. He holds a life membership and was previously awarded a Meritorious Service Medal. He’s held many positions at the local Legion from executive member to two-term president. He has served on numerous committees, as sergeant-at-arms and he’s helped organize the branch’s Decoration Day and Remembrance Day parades, ceremonies and church services.
During the first two weeks of November every year, he works with the poppy campaign delivering, refilling and collecting the donation boxes, and rolling the money to be used to help Stratford and area veterans in need. He also helps the Legion’s Ladies Auxiliary by setting up the hall for their fundraising meals, driving to get groceries and, since the COVID-19 pandemic, delivering meals to shut-ins.
As zone commander, Albert regularly travels to 11 other Legion branches offering advice and helping their executives run those branches efficiently.
While Albert has enjoyed his work on behalf of the Legion, he is concerned about the future of the Legion in Stratford. As membership continues to dwindle without the influx of younger members the local branch needs to remain active, its members and volunteers are struggling to raise enough money and do the work necessary to keep the doors open and the lights on at the Branch 8 hall in Stratford.
“That’s the problem we have here is we’re all getting too old. It’s a struggle,” Albert said. “The ladies that work the kitchen and do the funeral lunches; there’s three of them who are over 80 and the rest of them are over 75. And they gave notice to the branch, they said in three to five years, they won’t be here. The ladies pay half the rent from the meals they put on and things like that.”
Albert says the work the local Legion does is still important, whether it’s raising money for the care of veterans at the Stratford General Hospital through the annual poppy campaign, connecting local veterans with the supports and services they need with the help of Legion service officers who work directly with Veterans Affairs Canada, or helping get homeless veterans off the street.
“It’s not your father’s Legion anymore. The Legion was formed by veterans to help veterans. Now, we don’t have that many veterans in the Legion. Now, it’s civilians who need to step up,” he said.
Outside of his work with the Legion, Albert coached a girls softball team for two years and a boys minor bantam hockey team for six years. He was also a member of his church council for two years.
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