Purple Thursday

Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent

Service clubs are always ready to make a difference in their community.

Vegreville Royal Purple Lodge No. 125 were aiming to do this again when special guests- Directors for Alberta Royal Purple Association, Ida Jorgensen and Barb Bambrick were invited to the meeting for on October 6 at Vegreville Elks Hall.

After the meeting, Tim MacPhee, Mayor of Vegreville proclaimed October 16, 2025, the third Thursday of October, as Canadian Royal Purple’s National Purple Thursday.

The reasons were because the Canadian Royal Purple recognizes the intersection of acquired brain injury and the incidence of interpersonal violence, which affects as high as one in three women in Canada.

The third Thursday in October each year will be declared a special day of connection between the Canadian Royal Purple, our communities, and women’s shelters across Canada to stop the violence.  

The Canadian Royal Purple has adopted brain injury awareness and prevention as their official cause.

The Vegreville Royal Purple Lodge No. 125 is a valuable asset to our community.

President Mary Karbashawski said Royal Purple did a proclamation for Purple Thursday before, but doesn’t believe they did anything special to observe the day. This year, they will do something, but have not determined what it will be yet. “We want to participate in this as brain injuries is one of the major charities which we work for. Our goal is to get out into the community and help them.”

At this time, Susan Stecyk was also honoured with a 15-Year Service Pin. Stecyk shared that these years were very rewarding. She made a lot of friends with Royal Purple ladies locally and throughout Alberta. “It’s a great organization. We help a lot of charities.”