OLDS — The annual Henry’s Christmas Dinner attracted 509 people last year and organizers anticipate they’ll serve at least that many again this year.
The free dinner takes place Dec. 25 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #105. Those who prefer to take out meals or have them delivered can call Al at 403-507-5204.
The meal is organized by the Royal Canadian Legion branch and Lions Club of Olds members, along with several other volunteers and is named in honour of Henry Sonnenberg, who ran a bakery in Olds on 50th Avenue for many years.
In 1978, he met a woman who had no place to go for Christmas dinner so he invited her in for one. From then on, each year he organized Christmas dinners for people who had no place to go.
After several years, the Olds Lions Club began helping him run those dinners. In 2015, Sonnenberg had to give up organizing and participating in the event due to illness, so the Lions Club and Royal Canadian Legion teamed up to run it.
Sadly, Henry passed away on July 29, 2017.
“We fed 509 meals last year. We did 232 sit-downs, so we’re looking to feed another 500 this year,” Linda Anderson said during an interview with the Albertan.
Anderson, a member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 105, organizes volunteers for the event and helps cook the supper along with her sister Shayne. Fellow Royal Canadian Legion member Sheila Peters has also helped out for years.
Anderson estimates she has at least 60 people ready to volunteer to make the meal happen this year, not including 10 to 20 Lions Club members who will also assist.
That said, there’s one big volunteerism need: they need people to help clean up, from about 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Anderson says it can get pretty crazy in there a day or two beforehand, not to mention on the day of the event.
“The Lions club are going to come on the 22nd and 23rd boys and girls, and they’ll peel potatoes and carrots and yams,” she said.
“On the prep days, everybody, we put them in different rooms. They’re peeling potatoes in the back room and carrots in the hall.”
Anderson was asked if more and more people are attending the dinner due to the difficult economy.
“A lot of families last year came. I don’t know if it’s that they can’t afford it, but it’s a bigger space, and they can all sit together,” she said.
“Actually last year we had some people coming from the other towns around us: Didsbury and Sundre, so it’s not just Olds, right? They’re coming in from the other towns.
“And the volunteers – lots of families -- lots of moms and dads want to bring their kids in to volunteer, like serving coffee or doing dishes or whatever, to see what it’s like to give back to the community.”
Anderson said helping to make the dinner a reality is close to her heart.
“The last few years that I’ve been doing it, the volunteers are wonderful. They’re there for the right reason and they just love going out and mingling with the people that are there.
“And seeing some of the people that come in for the meal, it warms their hearts. It’s very heart-warming,” she said. “I love doing this.”
Olds Lions Club treasurer Marty Konsmo helps organize the dinner from the Lions Club side.
He too predicts that at least 500 people will show up to share in the meal again this year.
He said work on organizing the dinner usually begins way back in about October.
Konsmo solicits donations in the community.
“They keep donating,” he said. “The funds put the whole thing together.”
A couple of days or so beforehand, Konsmo, fellow Lion Dennis Wilkins and others obtain groceries and goodies. Then, along with some other volunteers, they help cut up all the vegetables as well as peel and mash the potatoes.
“I like to say it's a marriage made in heaven. You know, I have been one of the chairmen for the Christmas dinner for a lot of years, and Linda Anderson and Sheila Peters have been there to help us put the whole thing together,” Konsmo said.
“In a sense, we couldn't do Christmas dinner without the Legion and their help. And basically, that's how we get it done.”
“I'm just blessed that they're there.”
Konsmo believes that the big crowds the dinner attracts are a result of the current difficult economy.
It’s just the times you know,” he said. “It's getting harder for people to put a Christmas dinner on the table for their family.
“The other thing is the social aspect of this Christmas dinner.
“People shouldn't be alone at Christmas time. It's a time for being social with family, friends and being thankful for what you have, I guess, and you should be sharing it with somebody and not sitting at home.
“And, of course, it's a bad time for people that are grieving, and losses and all that other stuff.”
Konsmo said in over the years, the event has come to play a key role at this time of year.
“It's hard to put the cost of a Christmas dinner together and no work to do it,” he said.
“You know, people are getting older and so people show up there and they’ll be sitting beside families and other people, and it's all very warm and fuzzy.
“There's lots of smiles, and they enjoy the atmosphere, and they get to sit with a bunch of other people, just enjoy the season and a good meal.”
And of course, the other thing, it’s free to come and eat. If you want to leave a donation when you're there, then that's a blessing too.”
There have been rumours that Clint’s Kitchen, the weekly soup kitchen held every Wednesday at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church will be holding a Christmas Day meal too, but Pastor Olav Traa of St. Paul’s, who helps organize Clint’s Kitchen, says that won’t be happening.
“As Christmas Day falls on a Wednesday, we have decided that we will pause operations to honour the long-standing history and legacy of Henry Sonnenberg’s Christmas Dinner at the legion here in Olds," a Clint’s Kitchen social media post says.
“Clint’s Kitchen will resume operations on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025.”
