For almost six decades, the members of the Osoyoos Royal Purple Lodge 240 have gone above and beyond to make Osoyoos a better place to live.
Formed in late 1959 by a group of local women who wanted to do their part to provide community service as the Osoyoos Elks Lodge had been formed a year earlier, the Osoyoos Royal Purple have been raising funds and assisting local groups and charities ever since.
With a membership hovering at only 10 members – and many of them well into their senior years after being members for decades – the leadership with the Osoyoos Royal Purple decided to disband effective the beginning of May.
For Anne Stapler, a charter member who has been around from day one, she just couldn’t say goodbye as she and her daughter are going to continue to provide community service through the Royal Purple branch in Oliver.
As Stapler put it so aptly, the reality is the members were getting older and many of them could no longer find the time and effort to give to the many fundraising events sponsored by the Osoyoos Royal Purple each and every year.
“ We’ve done a lot of good work in the community and we’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished, but we just don’t have any new members coming on board and the time has come to call it a day. We only have 10 members and none of us are getting any younger,” said Stapler.
The list of organizations and community groups that have benefitted from the good deeds of the Royal Purple members is almost too long to list.
But some of them include the March of Dimes, student bursaries, fundraising for the South Okanagan General Hospital, raising money for the Canadian Cancer Society and Canadian Heart and Stroke foundation, the Osoyoos Safe House for women and children, Cops for Kids and many more.
There have literally been hundreds of fundraising bazaars, teas and fashion shows sponsored by the Osoyoos Royal Purple over close to 60 years.
While their inspired community work has benefitted each and every resident of this community, the Royal Purple have always taken special pride in helping children.
Many of their fundraising efforts have raised funds to assist local children and there’s no doubt thousands of Osoyoos kids have benefitted from their generosity over the past six decades.
We applaud every volunteer member of this wonderful organization over the past six decades who has taken the time and effort to make Osoyoos a better community to live in.
Your efforts are very much appreciated and won’t soon be forgotten.
The disbanding of the Osoyoos Royal Purple follows the disbanding of the Osoyoos Lions Club back in early 2014 under similar circumstances as membership with that community group had dwindled significantly.
It’s hopeful that younger citizens in Osoyoos will want to continue to great community service work done by organizations like the Osoyoos Royal Purple and join other organizations committed to improving lives and making a difference.
For those Osoyoos Royal Purple members who are heading towards retirement from volunteering, rest assured you have earned the right to be proud of everything you’ve done.
