Sturgeon Heights holds seniors dinner
Sturgeon Heights Collegiate seniors dinner enters 35th year
Advertisement
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/12/2019 (2088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Students at Sturgeon Heights Collegiate showed appreciation for their elders by serving them a full-course turkey meal.
The school held its 35th annual Seniors Dinner on Dec. 12. Seniors enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and dessert, most of which was prepared and served by student volunteers.
Lynn Briand, organizer of the dinner, said it’s a way to show appreciation for the seniors in the area.
“It’s important to bridge that gap between young and old, to get them to appreciate each other. We want to give back to them and show that we love having them in the (area) by inviting them to enjoy a nice turkey dinner,” Briand said.
The event featured a full-course turkey dinner with all the trimmings, served to around 300 seniors. Briand said organizing the dinner is a huge undertaking, with student and staff volunteers coming together to do everything from decorating the cafeteria to cooking the turkey.
Briand said over 100 students volunteered for the dinner. The students served the seniors, bringing them coffee, tea as well as the main course. Students from the Sturgeon Heights Collegiate Choir sang Christmas carols as the seniors walked in, while the photography department took and published photos that the seniors got to take home after the meal.
Briand has been organizing the dinner for 20 years. She said the event is very important for the area.
“It’s amazing, when I retire one day I’ll be sad to not be doing it anymore. It’s something that we feel is important to our community. We have some grandparents that get served by their grandchildren, which is absolutely special,” Briand said. “The students love being with the seniors, we never have trouble finding volunteers.”
The event was created by a retired Sturgeon Heights Collegiate principal named Don Timmerman in 1985. The dinner was originally intended to treat the taxpayers in the St. James area and thank them for supporting the school.