It's no surprise the members-only luncheons at the Danube Seniors Leisure Centre are popular. Where else can you get a hot meal, including coffee, tea and dessert, for only $10 per person?
And the enthusiastic volunteers who cook and serve up the meals never ask for tips.
On Thursday, the luncheon was a barbecue with a difference. There were sausages and hamburgers with all the fixings – fried onions, sauerkraut, tomatoes, pickles, cheese, mustard, ketchup – and an array of salads from coleslaw to Broccoli-Apple-Pasta.
But the cooking was all done indoors in the kitchen, and diners ate indoors in the air-conditioned comfort of the Danube Centre – far from wasps, mosquitoes, construction dust and heat.
The centre had some help from its community partners. South Simcoe Police Special Constable Elisabeth Aschwanden helped serve, and the Holland Gardens Retirement Residence provided a surprise dessert: mini pastries prepared by its chef, and ice cream bars.
“It’s a real community affair,” said Danube president Elke Pitkin.
The Danube Centre’s seniors will be joining another community partner at Carrot Fest Saturday.
The seniors have been invited to set up a display at The Elden of Bradford retirement residence booth at Carrot Fest and that’s where they will be selling Gwilly Pins for a donation to Ronald McDonald House Children’s Charities.
For years, crafters at the centre have made the orange and green felt pins, representing Gwilly the Carrot Fest mascot. Sales of the pins at Carrot Fest have raised thousands of dollars for the charity and for Ronald McDonald House in Toronto, which provides a home away from home for the families of seriously ill children receiving treatment at Toronto hospitals.
This year, there were worries that the Danube Seniors might not participate in Carrot Fest. The effort, the heat and the long hours were getting to be too much. The offer from The Elden came in the nick of time.
Danube members have made only 514 of the Gwilly pins this year – “We usually make over 1,000,” noted Jan Evans – and a limited number of carrot earrings, which they will be selling at the booth on Aug. 17.
Pins are still only $1 each, which means that even if the seniors sell out, they’ll be looking at a smaller donation to Ronald McDonald House – unless a generous community helps top up the fundraising with their donations.
