COVID-19 cancels Traditional Christmas Dinner
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/10/2020 (1940 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Volunteers won’t be able to serve up a plate of Christmas cheer this December.
The Westman & Area Traditional Christmas Dinner has been cancelled this year — the latest holiday tradition to fall victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event, which would have celebrated its 36th edition in December, regularly brings thousands of people to the Victoria Inn for a hot meal and a bit of cheer on Christmas Day. But given health restrictions and social distancing requirements, that won’t be possible this year, said board of directors chair Gladden Smith.
“There’s no way we could feed the numbers in the hall that we’ve had in the past,” he said.
“We feed around 2,000 meals in the Victoria Inn and so the health and COVID-19 won’t allow that to happen. … We weren’t sure how else we could do it and keep our volunteers and the rest of the public safe, so we made the hard decision.”
In addition to the thousands of guests, the dinner also took approximately 400 volunteers to hold last year. With so many people in a single room eating together, Smith said it just wasn’t possible.
While thousands of meals are served in person, volunteers also put together meals to be delivered to people who couldn’t leave their homes. Last year, approximately 1,500 meals were delivered.
One of the most important parts of the event is the fellowship it brings to people, Smith said. There are other ways to get a Christmas dinner, including through the Brandon & Westman Christmas Cheer Board, but smiles and company will be missing for many this year.
“It was built on fellowship and getting people out on Christmas day and don’t sit at home alone,” he said.
The board is still meeting to brainstorm ideas, Smith said, but with the number of people who normally attend, members aren’t sure how to do it safely.
Smith himself has volunteered at the dinner for more than 30 years, but he said it hasn’t quite hit him yet that this year won’t be going ahead.
“As we move closer to Christmas time, it will definitely hit me. It has been my dinner for over 30 years and we’ll just see what happens,” he said.
“I believe it’s going to be a big hit to the community, for sure for those who attend the dinner and rely for someplace to be on Christmas Day and not sit alone.”
While it is only October and the board still has some time to organize if things drastically improve, Smith admitted it would take a true Christmas miracle to hold the event this year. The plan is to proceed “full steam ahead” for Christmas 2021.
“We’ll be cooking (next year) and we’re just really hoping COVID-19 is gone and we can all do this together and make sure no one is home alone.”
» dmay@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @DrewMay_