Limerick Friends’ Club host Harvest Dinner

By Mike Riley

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Limerick Township Friends' Club hosted a Harvest Dinner takeout event on Sept. 26, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Limerick Community Centre. While they had initially planned to have this fundraising dinner back in August, COVID-19 restrictions delayed those plans, as it has for the rest of their events this year up until now. Proceeds from this dinner will go toward supporting local charitable programs within the community. 

At the Recreation Committee Meeting on Sept. 23, the Limerick Friends' Club's Joanne Carrol gave the committee an update;

“So, we're going to go ahead with the dinner on Saturday. So far, the girls have it under control. They'll be somebody coming Friday to do the prep work and somebody coming on Saturday to do the cooking and to take the money for the takeout,” she said.  

Carrol mentioned that while washrooms are available for the staff working the dinner, they are going to be closed to the public. Mayor Stefanski suggested having privies brought to the site for the public to use, just in case it was needed. He mentioned that the township owned them from when the septic lines froze at the Recreation Centre last winter. Everyone thought that was a great idea, and indeed on the day of the dinner, they were there for the patron use. 

Patrons at this Harvest Dinner were in for a culinary treat, as they picked up their meals. They were served roast pork, scalloped potatoes, roasted vegetables and coleslaw. Dessert was apple crisp. Joanne Carrol and Diane Percy were there, along with several other volunteers cooking the meals. The Friends' Club had a bunch of roasts from other dinners they had planned that couldn't happen due to COVID-19, so in addition to this dinner, they also donated several pork roasts to Tudor and Cashel Township for the dinners they put on for their seniors. The cost for this dinner was $12 for adults, $6 for kids aged six years to 12 years, and kids five years and under ate free.

Orders were served as takeout, and all patrons respected and observed physical distancing. According to Dawn Lockheart, the chair of the Friends Club, the whole event was a success.

“It went fantastic. It went really well. We're very happy, as we had about 75 people come out. So, it was great,” she says.

As one would expect, COVID-19 has really impacted the Friends' Club itinerary, as it has for most organizations.

In a typical year, Lockheart says they have something going on every month except January and February, like brunches, dinners, a booth in August at the Coe Hill Fair, and a craft sale in November.

As far as how much money was taken in from the Harvest Dinner, Lockheart still isn't sure, as they need to figure out the grand total of money raised versus all the expenses incurred. “We may be having another dinner in October,” according to Lockheart, “We haven't decided yet, but we're going to discuss it. But I think it will happen.”