Brussels' George Adams looks back at time as reservist, decades with Legion

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

Now in his mid-90s, George Adams of Brussels remains one of the Brussels Legion’s most dedicated and supportive members, though he’ll be the first to admit that he doesn’t quite get out to as many events as he used to.

 

Adams was born and raised in Howick Township and enlisted as a reservist when he was just 15 years old, sneaking in under the radar and biding his time for the few weeks until he turned 16. (He celebrated his 16th birthday at the base in Petawawa after dropping out of school to keep up his spot in the reserves.) 

 

In an interview with The Citizen, he said it was pretty straightforward in that a lot of his friends and people from the neighbourhood were enlisting, so he thought he might as well do it too.

 

He was part of the Reserve Class C and the 99th Field Battery from 1944 to 1945 when World War II ended.

 

Adams then worked as a beef farmer for years and lived his life as an avid woodworker and fisherman whose trove of stories is overflowing. His creations are now the stuff of legends, with nearly 1,000 handmade birdhouses being installed personally by Adams on light standards and hydro poles all over Huron County. He has also sold them to people for $10 each for many, many years, with all the money going to benefit prostate cancer research. That figure now exceeds $16,000 and Adams figures he’s built somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000 birdhouses over the course of his life.

 

He has also crafted plenty of other creations for the Legion over the years for their fundraising activities, also contributing items to charitable actions for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Gorrie Hall Board, Wingham and District Hospital Foundation, Clinton Raceway and more over the years.

 

As far as his career with the Legion, Adams joined the service organization in December of 2001. He has been an active member ever since, though his participation has slowed down a bit in recent years due to his age.

 

However, when he first joined, he began working with the members on their regular meals, Remembrance Day services and any other fundraising activities that the Branch would be carrying out. He also did odd jobs at the Branch as they were needed, while he was still physically able to do so. He also spoke with local school children about his experience in the reserves and assisted the Branch with its annual Poppy campaign.

 

He was also part of the Property and House Committee for the local Branch for a time and has constructed many of the frames for the Branch that now contain valuable items or displays that have come into the Branch’s collection over the years.

 

He said he joined the Legion because of all the good it did both in the community and with veterans of World Wars I and II and still thinks of himself as one of its newer members, only joining when he and his wife Maxine moved to Brussels when George retired.

 

He still gets to the Branch for a meal when he can and has been awarded a Life Membership to the organization for all of his hard work and dedication over nearly 25 years.