Princess Lodge’s kitchen served 52 Christmas Dinners on Thursday, Dec. 20. That is a record, says Lisa Verhaeghe who has been the cook for the Lodge for 14 this December. “It’s awesome, nice to see people coming out,” she says.
About 35 of those meals were served in Princess Lodge’s dining room, with 14 going out into the community through the meals-on-wheels delivery and three meals were prepared to be frozen and used as needed.
In the past the cook has provided as many as 24 meals. This year, the dish cupboard was laid bare. “We had to say, ‘bring your own plate and cutlery,’” Verhaeghe chuckles.
The brand new kitchen, renovated and enlarged just months ago, is providing nutritious meals to Virden seniors. But it’s much more than just food. Verhaeghe sees the dining room as an important opportunity for socializing.
This year, along with turkey and all the fixins, a traditional desert of Christmas pudding with rum flavoured sauce is served, along with a couple of other choices.
At the end of November, Verhaeghe provided an information day to let people be aware they could buy meal tickets. “Somebody could be a secret Santa,” she said.
She felt there were more people who could benefit from a week-day meal being provided.
