Annual dinner fosters Christmas bonhomie

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This article was published 27/12/2024 (536 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Beginning in 1985 at a small church located on the corner of Eighth Street and Victoria Avenue in Brandon, the late Rocky Addison introduced a long-standing Christmas tradition that continues to be held in high regard by the Westman region’s community.

On Wednesday, about 400 volunteers channeled the holiday spirit to serve more than 3,500 meals at the annual Westman and Area Traditional Christmas dinner, held at the Keystone Centre.

Since its inception, the annual Westman and Area Traditional Christmas dinner has been held at the Prairie Oasis Tourist Complex and the Victoria Inn, but primarily at the Wheat City’s Keystone Centre — which has hosted the annual dinner at least 25 times. Connie Lawrence, Keystone Centre’s CEO and general manager, has been instrumental in ensuring the smooth and successful execution of the annual event.

The festive tradition not only serves the needs of community members, helping those who would otherwise be alone or unable to afford a warm meal on Christmas, but also provides an experience for western Manitobans who are motivated by fellowship, holiday spirit, some live music and lifting up their fellow neighbour.

“They want the fellowship. They might be alone, and what better place to come to. It’s beautiful. They can enjoy a meal, some fellowship, some music and just a bunch of people getting together to help a bunch of people out,” said Gladden Smith, the chair of the event. Smith has worked as an organizer for the dinner for more than 35 years.

Putting together an annual event of this magnitude for the community, however, is not a task taken on by just one or two caring souls. It is more of a collaboration between many proud volunteers and engaged Brandonites who believe that Christmas is a time for communities to gather and unite.

As per usual, Santa Claus was on hand to distribute presents for children, while volunteers served warm and scrumptious meals to the attendees. Some volunteered as cooks, while others participated as drivers to deliver the food to locals who were unable to attend the event in person.

Organizers praised the community’s involvement in the annual tradition, which continues to grow from year to year. The City of Brandon even provided buses for attendees without a car, and several local and non-local businesses offered monetary donations and supplies that added to the dinner’s success on Wednesday. The mild weather also likely inspired a higher turnout than usual.

“Normally when we do this, a lot of it is based on the weather. If the weather’s good, the turnout is higher. But we do have transportation set up. I heard about the Brandon Transit with a couple of routes for people that don’t have transportation,” said Frank McGwire, the event’s director of public relations, who has been active in the radio industry for three decades.

“It’s just amazing how a community can all come together. And it’s a tradition for a lot of families. You see families here signing up as volunteers to serve tables, clear tables and even to drive meals out to people. It’s nice to see that. I’ve even seen families here that I saw three, four or five years ago or more who keep coming back,” added McGwire, who compared the community to family.

“Our committee is like a family, too. We’ve known each other for many years. It’s nice to have those individuals that when you assign certain chores to people within our committee and you know that it’s going to get done. We’ve got it like clockwork now after all these years, and it’s just nice to be a part of.”

Even as this year’s dinner is celebrated as another significant accomplishment, next year’s event will mark the dinner’s 40th anniversary. McGwire suggested that there might be an additional theme to commemorate the tradition’s history and to serve even more people who do not live far from Brandon.

“We want to make it better year in and year out, but 40 years is a milestone that we’re probably going to put a special twist on it. I think if we can be even more accommodating and get more corporate sponsors on board, we can just make it even more grandiose for the City of Brandon, but also for the entire region, because it’s become a tradition for folks just outside the area as well,” McGwire revealed.

This year, the non-profit group announced that it had enough volunteers for all areas of operation signed up a week in advance, which is rare considering it usually relies on people who sign up to help at the very last minute, “I’m happy to announce that all of our areas of volunteering were filled last week,” McGwire told the Sun.

Volunteers, such as Sirena Browett, who answered phone calls leading up to, and during the dinner, has been helping out annually because of the positive impact the event can have on those who might feel neglected during the holidays.

“I think for me, it means that I can help someone to have a good Christmas because we don’t know what people are going through and what’s happened this year for them,” said Browett, whose father Terry also volunteers with his wife to help spread the holiday’s joy in their hometown.

“The last few years, we just come out with our family. It’s kind of our tradition to come and volunteer and just help out and with us, having been a part of it before we were kind of placed into different areas to help organize, prepare the food going out, and co-ordinating a good group of volunteers,” Terry Browett said.

He also acknowledged that Brandon’s lasting Christmas tradition does not discriminate when it comes to anyone’s socio-political or economic circumstances.

“It’s not your money status or what you have or don’t have. It’s just that you have some place to be at Christmas, and that fellowship with other people really is what it’s all about,” Browett told the Sun.

Santa Claus told the Sun that opening presents and giving them to children has always been his favourite part of Christmas.

“It’s the same feeling every year when you wake up and you get to open up your presents that are under the tree. It never gets old,” Santa Claus said.

Post-dinner and with cleanup in full swing, organizers were already shifting their attention to 2025, and planning a celebration of the four decades spent serving the local community on Christmas.

» dstein@brandonsun.com

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