The Masons plan to serve Christmas dinner to up to 500 people on Dec. 4 at the community hall. Macleod Gazette file photo
It takes a community to feed a community.
And Fort Macleod has rallied to get that done, stepping in to help the Masonic Lodge resurrect the Community Christmas Dinner.
“If it wasn’t for the businesses and volunteers helping to support this, we would not be able to do it,” Mason Brian Reach said Friday.
The Masons, and their cast of supporters, will serve a ham dinner with all the fixin’s on Friday, Dec. 5 at the Fort Macleod and District Community Hall.
There is no fee to attend the dinner, but donations of cash and non-perishable food items and toys for the Heart of Fort Macleod program will be accepted at the door.
The Community Christmas Dinner had become a fixture on the Fort Macleod social scene, bringing together people from all corners of the community to share a meal.
“It really brought people together from all over the community,” Reach said.
The Masons were serving around 500 people every year until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and regulations prevented such large social gatherings.
Then the Masons — and Fort Macleod at large — suffered a blow with the death of Henry Hagen, who with his wife Bev had operated the Westerner Restaurant and who spearheaded the cooking for the Christmas dinner.
Those factors served to prevent the Masons from hosting the annual dinner.
“That was a big thing we were missing, was somebody to cook the supper,” Mason Ken Hahn said.
This year, the Fort Macleod community has responded with offers to support the Masons in staging the popular dinner.
Partners include Family and Community Support Services, Fort Macleod Healthy Aging, and Windy Rafters Barn.
Other groups helping to stage the event include Fort Macleod Royal Purple, Hand-In-Hand Out of School Care, Kids First Family Centre, the Foothills Centre, the Town of Fort Macleod, and the North Pole, which freed up Santa to attend.
Hahn said when people learned the Masons were planning to hold the dinner in 2025, they were quick to offer to help.
David O’Connor and the Windy Rafters crew will prepare supper, with plans to cook 250 pounds of ham.
Dinner will also include scallop potatoes, mixed vegetables and pie with whipped cream for dessert.
Volunteers will begin serving dinner at 3:45 p.m. on Dec. 5 and continue to about 7:30 p.m.
In addition to dinner, the event will feature craft tables, a balloon artist and face-painting.
Santa Claus will drop in to visit with children and adults, and pose for photos.
The F.P. Walshe school band will perform Christmas music throughout the evening.
More volunteers are needed to stage the Community Christmas Dinner, including helping to serve and to assist at the craft tables.
“It really will take the whole community coming together to put on this dinner,” FCSS director Sharon Brown said.
Anyone interested in making a donation, or in volunteering, can contact FCSS at 403-553-4491.
