Community dinner sounds like Christmas to me

Christmas dinner.

The culmination of Tom Turkey floating in your bathtub for two days, thawing in such a way that my food inspector would be pulling her hair out.

The bag of potatoes waiting to be mashed with butter and milk and a garlic clove or two. Parsnips, carrots, fresh rolls, turnip - only one tablespoon covered in brown sugar please - brussel sprouts for the unlucky ones, cranberry sauce and buckets of gravy to pour over the volcano built squarely in the centre of your plate to ensure even lava gravy flow. Does this sound like your house?

If not, you too can have it all including a visit from the big man himself at the Bridgetown Volunteer Fire Department’s hall, 31 Bay Road on Dec. 25 at 1 p. m.

Hardworking Volunteer of the Year, Maureen Publow and her husband, firefighter Jerry Publow as well as the community ecumenical group, come together to put on the free Christmas Dinner - now in its third year at the fire hall - because the numbers keep growing.

Expecting 120 or more folks to feed for this event isn’t easy! Volunteers give their time on Christmas Eve and morning to prepare the feast, decorate the hall and wrap gifts for all who come. The people who attend are there for many reasons - families, singles, and those just looking to share in a meal that celebrates the happiness and togetherness that food brings to the table.

My husband and I will be attending this year. We have been building our own home and are almost finished but not close enough to have an oven installed. And there is no way we can fit even the smallest bird in our toaster oven. So, I will be happily cooking up two turkeys at The Mason Jar Café to take with me and sharing a table with my community. Sounds like Christmas to me.