Donald Teuma-Castelletti
ISLE AUX ALLUMETTES
Sept. 30, 2018
Serving up nearly 40 turkeys and 120 loaves worth of stuffing, an annual parish supper in the northern Pontiac continues to draw a line nearly out of the Upper Pontiac Sports Complex.
Serving roughly 1,100 hungry guests, St. Alphonsus Parish held their annual fundraiser Sunday afternoon from noon through till six, continuing a tradition that is well over 50 years old.
“We use [this fundraiser] to pay for our heating bill,” said Father Tim Moyle, of the local church. “It’s an historic building, so it takes between 30 to 40 thousand dollars in oil bills.”

Now the 18th year that Fr. Moyle has overseen the supper, he’s proud to have seen the attendance nearly double in size since he’s started. While he originally saw between 600 and 700 guests attend, on average the meal attracts upwards of 1,000 every year.
“It’s phenomenal, it’s a great community building exercise to us,” he said.
The meal requires the support of 100 volunteers, spread across two shifts, in various roles from selling raffle tickets to cooking and serving the food. As well, many prizes are donated, including 70 silent auction items, tickets to a Sens game, and more.
Fr. Moyle believes the support for their fundraiser is in part because the church sources everything locally. He’s proud to say that all of their money is spent in the Pontiac and that local merchants always appreciate their business.
However, Fr. Moyle also knows of another reason it may be so popular.
“It’s the best turkey supper you can get this side of the river,” said Fr. Moyle. “Of that I’m certain.”