A SPIN ON THANKSGIVING
Kenneth McGillicky enjoys the annual community Thanksgiving dinner at the Millbourne Laundromat at 109 Millbourne Road East on Monday.
Edmonton newcomer Heather MacAulay and her family had company Thanksgiving Monday when they joined about 1,300 people eating dinner at the Millbourne Laundromat.
“We were invited about a month and a half ago by the owner … This was wonderful. I think it made a lot of lives easier,” said MacAulay, who moved to the neighbourhood two months ago from Waterloo, Ont.
“They should be (given) an award … for outstanding achievement.”
The laundry in the Lee Ridge Shopping Centre at 109 Millbourne Rd. E. has hosted a community Thanksgiving dinner for 24 years.
Tables for about 100 people were set up between the washers and dryers as volunteers handed out an international mix of dishes that included turkey, spaghetti, Mundare sausage and wontons.
The laundry hosts one of Edmonton’s two big annual Thanksgiving celebrations.
The other, which usually serves about 1,000 people at Boyle Street Community Services, was shifted to the Boyle Street Plaza Sunday after a water main in the street broke and flooded the basement.
It was the first trip to the Mill Woods event for Kenneth McGillicky, who travelled from his downtown home to take part.
“I just wanted to come out and meet some people, some new faces — (I’m) a little stressed on finances,” he said.
“I heard it was a very good meal and it was. On a rating from one to 10, I rate it as a 9.5.”
He plans to bring his sleeping bags to be cleaned at the facility.
“I had a good meal. I will come and give something back.”
Much of the work is done by the Rotary Club of Edmonton Southeast. Club service administrator Victoria Ewert said it spent $6,000 buying food, more than last year because they expected a larger crowd.
She had more than a dozen volunteers at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church to cook and cut up 30 turkeys, prepare vegetables and do all the other tasks required.
The dinner is so successful they’re looking at moving it somewhere larger next year, possibly to the church, so they can fit more diners, she said.
Shaun Hwang, son of laundromat owner Jane Hwang, said he has been helping with the event for about a decade as his family carries on with the service commitment made by previous owners.
They start working a week in advance with shopping and collecting donations, he said.
“Since we have so much, it’s good to give back what we can, even if it’s only a small dinner.”
He’s not worried the feast would suffer if it was held in a bigger spot.
“Getting together, handing out hot meals for people who can’t really afford it — if we moved location, it might change a little, but the spirit would be the same.”