Ontario Aeries to be reassigned to 2 Regions

Ontario’s five aeries are to be redistributed to two different regions in a realignment of regional jurisdictions by the Fraternal Order of Eagles’ Board of Grand Trustees. The decision was communicated today to all State and Provincial Presidents and Secretaries, including Ontario Provincial Aerie President Robert Williams (London 4060) and Secretary Dana Leisk (Toronto 2311).

London 4060 and Toronto 2311, now together designated as Ontario East, will become part of Eastern Region, which also includes Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Sault Ste Marie 3991, Heyden-Goulais River 4061 and Webbwood 4269, now Ontario West, will become part of a reconfigured Great Lakes Region which will also include the upper portion of Michigan State Aerie and Wisconsin State Aerie.

The change takes effect with the 2015-2016 fiscal year.

Ontario will be the only Provincial Aerie and Michigan the only State Aerie where individual Local Aeries are not assigned entirely to single Regions. All other States and Provinces will be assigned entirely to their respective Regions.

The Ontario Provincial Aerie is currently part of the Eastern Canada Region along with Quebec, a Region that will no longer exist. Quebec Provincial Aerie will become part of New England Region, along with the State Aeries of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts/Rhode Island and Vermont.

In fact, all Canadian Local Aeries will become parts of primarily US-based Regions. British Columbia will be part of Pacific Northwest Region with Alaska, Oregon and Washington. Alberta/Saskatchewan Provincial Aerie will join Idaho, Montana and Wyoming in Mountain Region.

Until the mid-1990s, Ontario East was comprised of Toronto 2311 and the now-defunct Ft Erie Aerie, and was part of New York State Aerie (as were the Quebec Local Aeries). The remaining Ontario Aeries (including at that time London 4060) were Ontario West and were part of Michigan State Aerie. When Ontario and Quebec formed Provincial Aeries the two Provinces were joined as Eastern Canada Region.

Want to visit a New York aerie the easy way? Take the train.

Fully half of New York State’s 26 aeries are easy to visit via the Maple Leaf, the CN Rail/Amtrak route from Toronto to New York City that leaves Toronto’s Union Station at 8:20 every morning. Union Station itself is only a short distance from Toronto Aerie 2311.

The table below shows 13 New York aeries with the stations closest to them, the cab ride time and distance to the aerie from the train station, and the same-day arrival time if you took a cab immediately on arrival. Even including the two-hour stopover at the border, every trip is all-daylight, arriving at the latest by 7:00 pm.

Why the train? First, the cost is low enough to rival the cost of driving (even if you have no car trouble). Return fare ranges from $99 to Buffalo to $206 to Albany-Rensselaer for a senior’s coach seat.

You can take your own food and beverages to eat on the way. You can sleep, read, listen to music, walk around or enjoy some pretty spectacular scenery.

Luggage is another factor. You can take two carry-on bags of up to 50 lbs each plus a purse or small personal bag, plenty if you plan on some cross-border shopping.