BOWDEN — For the second year in a row, a free community Christmas dinner will be offered Dec. 24 at the Bowden Event Centre, previously known as the Bowden Friendship Club.
It will run from 12 noon to 2 p.m. and everyone is welcome, says Edie Salé, who is organizing it along with her husband Gene.
“We just don't want anybody to not have a Christmas meal or eat alone,” Salé said during an interview with the Albertan. “You know what I mean?”
Last year, 37 people turned out for the inaugural Christmas meal. This year, Salé anticipates about 80 will show up, now that more people know about it.
Those who do show up will be treated to a full Christmas meal with all the trimmings, including turkey, ham, stuffing and gravy, cranberries, sweet potatoes, corn, carrots, two salads and “lots of dessert,” Salé said.
She said donations for the meal have been provided from local residents.
The Salés got the idea to start up the Christmas meal after retiring and moving to Bowden from Red Deer in 2019 to be closer to their grandchildren.
“Prior to that, we used to always volunteer at the Salvation Army. And so then we thought, ‘well, let's just start our own (event) in Bowden, so that's what we did,” she said.
