CHRIS LOWREY
LADYSMITH Nov. 16, 2019
The hall was decked at the TCRA on Saturday as community members turned out in droves for the . . .
annual TCRA Christmas dinner.
The annual event attracts large crowds and this year was no different with more than 150 people turning out.
The event was organized by volunteers from the TCRA and anyone could get in the doors to get their share of turkey with a small donation.
More than a dozen of those volunteers hustled around the kitchen and dining room ensuring everything was up to snuff for their hungry guests.
In order to satisfy that hunger, volunteers prepared five turkeys, three hams and more than 100 pounds of potatoes – not to mention some leftover sauerkraut from the community’s Oktoberfest celebrations.
Many of the guests in attendance brought desserts and donated door prizes.
“They’re very generous,” said TCRA member Susan Ouimet.
The event even serves up new experiences for long-time TCRA volunteers like Louise Tol, who was working hard in the kitchen as the dinner service wrapped up.
“A lot of the German people here have great recipes,” she said of the historical impact on the community’s cuisine.
The dinner serves as a fundraiser for the TCRA, which acts as a social hub for many in the community.
“I do yoga every Friday here,” attested Tol.
The efficiency on display when dinner came to an end hinted at the fact that this wasn’t the first rodeo for many Christmas dinner diners.
“They’re well trained,” laughed Ouimet as she pointed to an orderly queue patiently waiting in the dining room for their turn to hand in the night’s dinner wear.
