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There was once a time when the interior walls of the Army, Navy, Airforce Club in Dartmouth was bustling with past and present members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

“When you think about 1970s Canada, drinking was apart of everybody’s life and it was actually a way of socializing, so you socialize through drink,” Wendell Kitchen said, president of ANAF Unit 349 Dartmouth. So you needed drinking facilities for people to socialize, so back then we had roughly 500 members, this building was full every day.” Tweet This

Wendell Kitchen is hoping to collaborate with the broader Dartmouth community to keep a “safe haven” for veterans and first responders open. Alexa MacLean/Global Halifax

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Kitchen says ANAVETS has been around longer than legions and was initially created as a place for veterans together, but over time has grown to be a place for all members of the first responder community to connect.

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“The main purpose of the Army, Navy, Airforce, Veterans of Canada is to provide a safe haven for veterans and their dependents and a place for veterans to gather. It’s not just veterans anymore and that’s what people have to remember. So it’s policemen, firefighters, paramedics are active members and welcome at an Army, Navy, Airforce,” he said.

Over the years, membership at the Dartmouth club has dwindled to the point where Kitchen says the facility is in danger of closing its doors.

“The culture of the forces has changed so places like this don’t hold as much sway with the young members of the Army, Navy and Air Force. What they don’t understand though is it’s the Army, Navy and Air Force units and it’s the legions that are the primary interface between them and Veterans Affairs in Canada,” he said.

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Kitchen is hoping to collaborate with all members of the Dartmouth and surrounding communities to spark new ideas for keeping the doors open.

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“We need an influx of young people to start joining facilities such as this and the legions and actually interjecting their new ideas as to how we can change the model to make it more palatable to the younger crowd.”