What鈥檚 better than a luau at a Legion?
A meat draw at a luau at a Legion 鈥� the on Kits Point to be exact.
Before visiting the Billy on the B.C. Day long weekend, it had been a while since my husband and I had been to any Royal Canadian Legion. We used to visit the Maple Ridge branch annually on Remembrance Day with my husband鈥檚 dad, but with his passing several years ago we gave up that ritual. We also used to visit the Billy for fun, but since we moved to the most south-east corner of the city听 it鈥檚 just too far for us to drop in for a beer 鈥� or meat draw.
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But when we got an invitation from friends to join them at the annual Hawaiian luau at the Billy on the long weekend, it was an offer we couldn鈥檛 refuse. For some background, the Kerrisdale Legion closed earlier this year and its members and board of directors recently transferred to create a new joint operation, the Billy Bishop/Kerrisdale Legion, but still fondly known as the Billy.
Dressed in our finest aloha-wear, we made our way to the Legion ahead of the 4:30 p.m. meat draw, which allowed me an opportunity to observe the couples, single women, single men and even a family with a toddler as they wandered into the outdoor patio of the Legion. Who knew the Billy had a patio? And did I mention the drinks are cheap?
And while much of the crowd was made up of baby boomers and seniors, there were enough younger, hipster types meandering in to show that one of Vancouver鈥檚 best-kept secrets is slowing being leaked to the masses. I mean if a bearded hipster dressed like a Hawaiian tourist from the 1950s taking part in a meat draw at a vintage Legion isn鈥檛 the epitome of ironic, I don鈥檛 know what is.
But they were having fun 鈥� and so were we. Everyone was so friendly it reminded me, sadly, that oftentimes in this city of glass many folks aren鈥檛 exactly the most welcoming. And after a couple of people asked us our names, we just became part of the pack. I also really enjoyed how much everyone had gotten into the spirit of the day and dressed the part. We would have made Don Ho proud.
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And when it came time to eat, everyone lined up politely with not a soul attempting to cut in line, which is pretty much unheard of these days. Prior to the luau feast, which included a whole pig roasted on a spit on in an over-sized barbecue, a group of Polynesian-style dancers from Vancouver-based Wailele Wai Wai entertained us with hula performed by both men and women. Following their performances we all happily contributed to a tip bucket after hearing the dancers had volunteered their time to perform for us. I mean, who does that? Following the Hawaiian-style buffet dinner a live band performed inside.
Our afternoon at the Billy was a reminder there are still friendly folks left in this city who know how to have a good time and not take themselves too seriously. You don鈥檛 need to buy a membership to visit the Billy, though we would have if we lived a little closer. Instead we signed in at the bar and that was it 鈥� as the sign out front says, 鈥淓veryone is welcome.鈥澨�
@sthomas10
