Nine turkeys, 60 pounds of potatoes, 25 pounds of carrots, 25 pounds of apples and a lot of love went into the eighth annual community Christmas dinner in Keremeos.
George Spencer one of the organizers of the Christmas dinner presented by the Keremeos Community Church said about 170 people were fed on Christmas Day at the seniors centre.
“It’s progressively becoming bigger,” he said. “Last year there was about 90 people and we took about 20 dinners out. This year there was about 170 people and we took about 10 dinners out.”
The dinner attracts a variety of area residents from seniors who might be alone or in a small group to families with young children and singles of all ages.
“The motor to this is loneliness. We want people to come out and be with us and not be alone,” he said.
Spencer said the annual dinner takes about three days to prepare and about 30 volunteers helped out throughout.
“It’s everything from the waiters and waitresses to the cooks to those washing dishes and even people who did prep the day before. We worked for about five hours the day before getting what we could ready. It’s certainly not just me there’s a big team involved in doing all this,” he said.
The dinner included traditional turkey with all the trimmings and apple betty for dessert.
“We get so much donated. We couldn’t do this without the generosity of the community. The seniors centre is wonderful. It’s the one time of year they are closed so we hold our dinner there. We just got too big to hold it in the church and they really stepped up. We love having it there,” he said.
Throughout the day there was music and singing.
“It’s an amazing mood. It was just full of love,” he said.
Those that came paid by donation which was used to cover the cost of the dinner. Spencer said by having it by donation it means the dinner is accessible to everyone no matter their financial circumstance.
The community dinner in Hedley held at the Hedley seniors centre attracted about 80 people on Christmas Day.
“These things are all about community, nothing more and nothing less,” Spencer said.
