The sweeping power outages that hit the Pontiac on Friday night had nothing on the small but determined team behind the Fort-Coulonge Club d’Âge d’Or’s sea pie supper.
With just over 100 tickets sold for Saturday evening’s feast, the club’s seven committee members were in the final stages of preparing the food when the electricity cut out around 5 p.m. Friday.
“My first thought was we can’t not do it. It’s the last one [before the summer],” said club secretary and treasurer Rosalie Denault. She said the club had already cancelled a sea pie supper earlier in the year because she had to have knee surgery, so she was determined to see this one go ahead.
The sea pies had been assembled, but still needed to be baked. The carrots still had to be steamed and the potatoes boiled and mashed.
Head cook Rachel Denault, also Rosalie’s sister, spent the first half of Friday night crossing her fingers that the power would return before morning. But by 3 a.m. much of Fort-Coulonge was still in the dark, so she shifted to plan B, which she still had to devise.
Remembering that Rosalie had access to several large generators, and that it was also possible to cook a large sea pie on a barbecue (she had, in fact, already done so herself), she assigned the feast’s four sea pie dishes and all of the sides to be cooked in various locations across town.
“Today was a challenge. We’ve never had a challenge like this,” Rachel told THE EQUITY around 6 p.m. Saturday as she served the meals she and her team had spent many days preparing.
“We managed to cook everything but we’re running back and forth [between different kitchens], getting the sea pies, getting the carrots, getting the beans, and whatever. When I have a meal, I want to make sure there’s food for everybody — we don’t run out of food — and that everything is perfect.”
The club is raising money for some much-needed upgrades to its original building on rue Baume, which will include installing new flooring and overhead lights, buying new chairs, and making the building more wheelchair-accessible.
Rosalie said the total cost of these projects will come in around $60,000. So far, the club has raised about $17,000, including a $10,000 donation from CHIP 101.9.
“It’s a heritage building. I knew of the people that were the founders of the club, that helped to build it,” Rachel said, describing the central role it’s played in hosting community events over the past 40 or so years.
“It needs a revamp. It’s been 40 years that nothing has been done,” Rosalie added. “We want to provide a hall [the community] can rent at a good fee, that’s affordable for the families, and a place where the elderly people can come.”
Rosalie joined the club after the pandemic, the youngest member at the time, and has been working to bring in more young members. But she said she’s also getting ready to put her feet up.
“I’m 74, I’m still working full-time, plus all my volunteering. Now I kind of would like to just have this place be nice, and just come in as someone who’s going to relax in it. My turn is coming. I’m ready for it.”
Editor’s note: Credit for this headline is due to the kind but anonymous diner who poked his head into the club’s kitchen to suggest it.
