A beloved community tradition returns this holiday season in Altona.
Last year, the Altona Community Christmas Dinner took a break after over 35 years of serving up food and fellowship on Christmas Day.
The longtime organizers felt it was time to step back, and though they had hoped someone else would step in to fill the gap, no one did in time for 2023.
That’s changed this year, with Margarita Friesen spearheading the dinner’s return.
“Ang Stoesz has passed me the torch,” Friesen says. Stoesz led the dinner’s organizing team for decades. “I’m going to try very hard not to fumble it, because she has left some very big shoes to fill.”
Friesen met Stoesz while the pair were volunteering with the local food bank. Friesen, a newcomer to the area, was sharing a bit about her family’s Christmas traditions.
“I was just talking to her about how I grew up volunteering on Christmas Day and how important that was to be able to continue that tradition with my family.
“We were very blessed to be able to have Christmas in the traditional sense, so it was a way for [my parents] to instill in us the importance of volunteering and giving back to the community while also being a gentle reminder that not everyone is as lucky as we were.”
Friesen was wondering where she might be able to continue that tradition of Christmas Day service in Altona, and the conversation turned to the community dinner and how much it was missed.
“Long story short, that’s how I ended up in the role—through a conversation with the right person at the right time,” Friesen says. “Ang has been amazing about guiding me through the process. She’s been a phone call away, but she has also opened the door to and been supportive of me having ideas for this year as well.”
The 2024 Christmas dinner will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 25 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Rhineland Pioneer Centre (197 10th Ave. NW, Altona).
Admission is by donation. Thanks to local sponsorships that help cover most of the event’s costs, the bulk of the donations collected that day will go to the Rhineland Empty Stocking Fund.
“In no way do we make any money from this,” Friesen notes. “We have churches that have come on board to help us. The Town of Altona has given us a grant. It’s really a community-run even that I am just so honoured and humbled to be helping to put together.”
This year’s event will keep many of the traditions of the past—as always, it offers a hearty Christmas dinner (turkey, ham, and all the fixings)—while also adding some new things.
Chief among them is what Friesen is calling Everyday Angels, a volunteer role that will be filled by local youth. It’s something she recalls from her own childhood volunteering at community Christmas meals.
“Their job was to, if you saw someone sitting by themselves, go sit with them,” she says, explaining kids were encouraged to grab an extra dessert and join the person’s table. “It gave us an opening to be able to sit down with someone.
“I remember hearing some of the best stories from these people’s lives. You would instantly get a smile on their face. And to me, that’s the true meaning of Christmas. It’s community. It’s having a sense of being a part of something bigger and sharing a meal with someone else.”
The dinner is open to all residents of Altona and RM of Rhineland, regardless of economic need. They’re preparing for upwards of 300 people.
“It’s not just for people who might not have a Christmas meal,” Friesen stresses. “It’s also for people who might be looking for that sense of community, that connection, that social piece. We invite absolutely everyone.”
A Handivan driver will be on hand that day to help people get to and from the dinner.
Friesen recently put a call out for the small army of volunteers needed to put the dinner on.
“We are welcoming volunteers for all three shifts,” she says, noting there are a variety of tasks that need to be done, “so people can pick and play to their strengths.
“We invite each shift to be able to also have time to sit down and enjoy the meal, so that’s how we worked out the timing of the shifts,” she adds.
For more information on getting involved, call 204-304-6338 or email altonachristmasdinner@gmail.com.
If you can’t make it Christmas Day but would like to make a donation towards the dinner, you can do so at the Access Credit Union under the Altona Community Christmas Dinner account.
