The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 59 Moose Jaw’s Canada Day street dance went above and beyond their expectations. 

The Legion initially thought they had raised over $10,000 after the dance was over. But now that the bills are paid, the final total came to $16,143, about 50 per cent over their expectation. 

Heading into the event, they were expecting 500 people but had the capacity for 700. The Legion ended up selling 641 tickets, bringing them nearly to capacity. 

“We greatly appreciate everyone just embracing our event, coming out, having a good time, and we can wholeheartedly say thank you very much because we kicked off this event with nearly 700 people and we never had one incident. We never had to talk to one person about leaving or having to deal with anything negative from the public,” said Legion Branch 59 public relations officer Justin Eddison. 

The money from the event will go towards finding the Legion a new home. In 2020, the Legion sold its building because the overhead was more than what they were taking in. Since then, they’ve been paying rent to a landlord to use the space. 

The ultimate goal is to find a smaller building where they can still offer a lounge and a place for the community and veterans to visit. 

Eddison said the $16,000 raised from the street dance is a big step forward in finding a new building. 

“We keep striving towards getting that money for our new building, but to be able to put on a big event like this, to bring in $16,000 in one shot was a huge plus and a side effect of that, is it allowed us to put on a great event for the community of Moose Jaw, especially given the situation in the last few years with COVID,” he said. 

Eddison added that, during the planning process, the Legion discussed holding the Canada Day street dance yearly. Due to its overwhelming success, the Legion is already beginning the process of acquiring permits, insurance and liquor licenses for next year in the hopes it will expand year in and year out.