As a result of the\u00a0COVID<\/a>\u00a0shutdown, close to a third of the island\u2019s population turned out.<\/p>\n It was truly a gourmet delight.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n All photos courtesy Noah Davidson and Izabelle Perry<\/p><\/div>\n Cortes Currents sent\u00a0Noah Davidson<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Izabelle Perry<\/a>\u00a0a list of questions, which they chose to answer by email.<\/p>\n Imagine this is Noah\u2019s voice, rather than mine, reading this out.<\/p>\n All photos courtesy Noah Davidson and Izabelle Perry<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAfter the cancellation of all community events, dances, Easter, and Christmas craft fairs, we really wanted to find a way to not have to cancel Christmas Dinner!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCommunity Christmas Dinners at the\u00a0Gorge Hall<\/a>\u00a0have been an annual tradition for as long as anyone can remember. We recently took over the planning and cooking responsibilities from Jim\u00a0Kearney, who believed that everyone should have the opportunity to gather and enjoy a warm meal together on Christmas Day. We hope that people found the take-out meals were a reasonable alternative to gathering.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOn average, the free Christmas dinner in\u00a0Whaletown serves around 125 people at the Gorge Hall<\/a>\u00a0for a sit-down meal on Christmas Day. Usually, 3 or 4 turkeys are prepared along with the fixings, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and veggies. The attending community brings a plethora of potluck dishes that really add something special to the dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n All photos courtesy Noah Davidson and Izabelle Perry<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis year was different, we served\u00a0over 300, free take-out style meals\u00a0<\/a>from the Floathouse restaurant with no potluck items. We cooked 21 turkeys, stuffing, mashed potatoes and veggies, gravy, and cranberry sauce. We also offered a vegetarian option, with a lentil nut loaf, wild rice stuffing, vegan mashed potatoes, and miso gravy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis was our (Noah and Izabelle\u2019s) second year organizing the Christmas dinner in Whaletown, but the first time organizing a take-out style Christmas dinner prepared and served from the Floathouse restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBoth Izabelle and I have past restaurant experience. I worked in the food industry for many years before moving to Cortes and relish any opportunity to get back into a kitchen and make people smile with beautiful, delicious food. Izabelle has plenty of experience processing high volumes of food as she gets lots of practice with her \u201cThat\u2019s Awesome\u201d canning business.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHaving the local\u00a0Whaletown Community Club<\/a>\u00a0as a source of funding for amazing community events like these and, under ordinary circumstances, the Gorge Hall space to facilitate such events is something we should all take pride in.\u201d<\/p>\n All photos courtesy Noah Davidson and Izabelle Perry<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe began planning for a take-out style Christmas dinner sometime in October when we realized that the province\u2019s health orders weren\u2019t going to be lifted any time soon and were most likely to become more restrictive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe had no idea what type of response we could expect from our offering of a free Christmas dinner take out style compared to the usual community Christmas dinner at the hall.\u201d<\/p>\n All photos courtesy Noah Davidson and Izabelle Perry<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe realized the take-out offering was going to garner way more responses than we had anticipated on December 11th<\/sup>, the day after our requested RSVP due date. The dinner requests were still coming in and the count had already hit an unexpected 275 meals.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe gracious contribution of the use of the\u00a0Floathouse Restaurant<\/a>\u2019s kitchen by\u00a0Bill<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Tammy<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0Gorge Harbour Marina<\/a>\u00a0really helped make the planning and execution of such a large volume meal more realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou asked if there was a point at which it all seemed overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot overwhelming really, but some stress came with the understanding that the people lined up outside were having to wait longer than anticipated. We tried to not let those thoughts affect our focus. Our goal was to provide the same attention to detail from the first meal to the last, so that everyone would enjoy the same quality and presentation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur self prescribed limitation of a single family, 3-person crew touching food in the kitchen was our real challenge for this event.<\/p>\n Our vision was to provide as many people on Cortes who wanted one, with a warm, delicious, and beautiful meal for Christmas, and that we believe we achieved.<\/p>\n All photos courtesy Noah Davidson and Izabelle Perry<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n We were absolutely amazed by the overwhelming displays of generosity. Neighbours reaching out to deliver meals to those who couldn\u2019t pick up their own. The many people who made donations of all types. People who donated funds without even attending. The offers of assistance from many islanders. The donation of the Floathouse kitchen usage. The volunteers, Gabriel, Arpad, Yulia and Shiva who helped with traffic control and meal deliveries to vehicles. The 400\u00a0cookies baked and donated by the\u00a0Wrights and the Nielsens. The list goes on and on. It was a real heart-warming experience all around.<\/p>\n \u201cMy brother in Squamish asked me, \u201cwho pays for all of this if it\u2019s free?\u201d It\u2019s funny that I hardly recognise how special it really is anymore. I explained to him that people\u2019s generous donations, and the fantastic resource of our local community club cover all the costs. In many years including this year, donations alone more than cover the cost of the expenditures, and the labour is completely volunteer, so the event is pretty much fully self-sustaining.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve believed for a long time we\u2019re all really lucky, or super smart for living where we do. Only on Cortes have Izabelle or I experienced this level of community engagement and enthusiasm that make volunteering so rewarding. We look forward to another community Christmas dinner again next year when hopefully we can re engage community involvement and gather again at the Gorge Hall.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Cortes](\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20201222_161212.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Cortes](\"https:\/\/cortescurrents.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/20201223_185224-450x600.jpg\")
An annual tradition<\/h2>\n
![\"Cortes](\"https:\/\/cortescurrents.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/20201223_195947-450x600.jpg\")
over 300 came<\/h2>\n
![\"Cortes](\"https:\/\/cortescurrents.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/20201228_222005-800x600.jpg\")
Plans for a take-out style Christmas Dinner<\/h2>\n
![\"Christmas](\"https:\/\/cortescurrents.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/20201224_205619-800x600.jpg\")
An unexpected 275 replies<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/cortescurrents.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20201225_092018-1-450x600.jpg\")
Thank-yous<\/h2>\n
![\"Ready](\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20201226_175445.jpg\")
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