Hungry to help
No stopping a runaway train as Christmas Day meal reaches 10-year milestone
WOODSTOCK – The Christmas Day meal, hosted every year at St. Anthony’s Hall in Woodstock, is like a runaway train, says Preston Murphy, one of the organizers.
“Once you start something, they look forward to it. You just keep carrying on,” he says. “As long as we have lots of volunteers and we’re able, we’re going to do it.”
This is the 10th consecutive year for Preston and Helen Murphy, along with a cast of volunteers, to prepare a Christmas meal. Last year was their biggest one yet, with close to 300 sit-down and take-home meals provided.
This year on Dec. 25, about 300 meals were served, including take-outs. One volunteer delivered 25 to 30 meals, and some diners brought meals home to neighbours. Organizer Preston Murphy said attendance was probably a little more than last year.
"Everybody enjoyed themselves. Nobody went away hungry, and everybody went away happy."
The dinner is provided free of charge, but a donation box is available for anyone who wants to give. This year, the donations – about $3,000 – will go to the area’s hospitals and manors.
Murphy said it was a great day, with lots of volunteers, including more than 20 in on Christmas Eve to help with the preparations. About half of them were back on Christmas Day to help out.
"In all, (there were) over 30 volunteers on Christmas Day. Local entertainers sang Christmas songs throughout the meal."
Some people, including Emeline Botts from Fortune Cove, have been to all of the meals. She recalls she was encouraged to attend the first couple of events “because they wanted extra people there, and they wanted somebody who would kind of talk to some of the people who were there.”
“I said, ‘Why not, I’m not doing anything' so I went along," she said prior to this year's Christmas meal. "The meal was delicious, and I had great conversations with different people and enjoyed it.”
Without such a communityminded event to attend, Botts says the afternoon would be long. She would otherwise prepare a meal for herself and then go visit neighbours and relatives that evening.
“They don’t care if you’re rich or poor or what; you just go in, you have your meal,” she says, describing the experience. “I think the best memory of it all was getting to talk to a couple of people who were kind of shy, and really enjoyed a conversation with them."
Botts added she equally enjoy the meal and the socializing.
I think it’s really a great thing. I know 99.9 per cent of the people who go there really, really enjoy the outing, the socializing as well as the meal. It’s a great service.”
Murphy has heard from some people who have put off their own Christmas Day meals until Boxing Day so that they can be part of what has become a Christmas Day tradition. He knows it has attracted people from all over the Island, and he says they’re all welcome.
“They’re all amazed when they come in and see the set-up we’ve got, especially people who weren’t here before.”
Prep work this year started at 9 a.m. Christmas Eve. By that time, the core organizers already had their first batch of turkeys in the oven.
‘The best thing about the whole meal and everything,” Murphy says, is “all the volunteers, they’re here because they want to be here.”
Christmas Day diners were able to choose from turkeys, hams, salt fish, baked beans and vegetables galore, or they can have some of everything. Diners also helped themselves from a big spread of cakes, pies, cookies and other desserts.
“Everybody enjoyed themselves. Nobody went away hungry, and everybody went away happy.” Preston Murphy