The Canadian flag that now stands proud in a display cabinet at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 21 was carried to Europe back in 1995 for the 50th anniversary celebrations marking the end of the Second World War.

One of the men who carried it back then, Bill Holliday, will once again have the honour of carrying the Maple Leaf Aug. 8. That's when the Legion parades from its building on Eastleigh Crescent to its new branch at 20570 56th Ave.

"For the parade, we'll have our pipe band, our colour party, our executive and also our veterans," explained Legion president Bill Kerton. "We're also asking our cadets to be involved."

After the parade, the community is invited to the new site for treats, tours and more.

St. Catherine's Elementary School student MacKenzie Wynne, the Langley student whose essay won the national Legion Remembrance Day contest, will be part of the festivities.

The parade, and celebration after at the new branch caps off several hectic months as the branch sold its one-acre Eastleigh Crescent site and did a complete gut on its new building.

As the building nears completion, the members are preparing to move the contents of the old site to the new location.

The cenotaph outside the Legion is moving, too. The memorial marker is meant to honour Canadians killed in wars.

Remembrance Day 2010 will be at the new site with the moved cenotaph but the intention after that is to have the services at Douglas Park Spirit Square.

The move resulted in finding a few lost treasures, including some medals that had been misplaced and a movie projector the members didn't know the branch had.

The packing has also got members thinking about the history of the place.

"The history is going with us," Kerton noted.

Members have been packing up the artificacts from the Memory Wall which will be reconstructed in the new site. Kerton added that a digital time capsule will be put in the new site with DVDs and sound recordings of members and the Ladies Auxiliary.

Kerton said the branch needed to move because the Legion built back in 1947 is now too large to keep up, is aging and doesn't attract the community use it once did. As well the neighbourhood as become rougher and the building wasn't designed to cope with an aging population.

"It really kills a lot of them [branches] - the taxes they have to pay," added Poustie.

Branch 21 has 1,425 members and 27 in the Ladies Auxiliary, and its only income is through hall rentals. Other activities - poppy sales and meat sales - must go toward Legion charitable causes such as scholarships, emergency assistance, and help for veterans. Last year Branch 21 gave out about $73,000. Poustie noted the Branch has contributed about $5 million to the community since it started.

The new Legion Branch 21 has about 5,200 square feet on two storeys.

The first floor has: the kitchen, senior vets hall washrooms and storage.

The second floor includes: a 140 seat capacity lounge with a dance floor and an outdoor deck,

To make the site accessible, the Legion had to do upgrades as part of its $600,000 in renovations.

The Legion sold its old 12,000-plus building and land to Marcon Construction for $2.2 million and the new building cost $800,000.

The renovations included extensive seismic upgrades and an elevator. The new site includes a sandwich bar and is open to the public with parking on site.

"We're trying to entice the work crowd into the Legion because we're more downtown now," said member Bryon Berry.

It's part of the effort by the branch and the Legion nationally to change the public's view of the organization as only open to veterans and just old men sitting around swapping war stories.

"It's getting better," said Kerton about the public perception.

He noted that any Canadian citizen can be a member. With veteran numbers declining the Legion is retooling to boost member numbers by opening up eligibility and adapting its programs and services.

Walter Poustie, the Fraser Valley Zone commander and former Langley branch president, noted that the Legion nationally spends more than $500,000 annually on its track and field program for young athletes, but not many Canadians know about that and other programs.