Churches begin prepping for annual fowl suppers
October 21, 2024, 9:08 am
Ashley Bochek
Churches and community groups in the area are preparing for fowl suppers. From the rural St. Andrew’s Church south of Wapella to the Moosomin Legion to Welwyn United Church to many more, fowl suppers are an annual tradition.
Many communities see fowl suppers as a place to gather and socialize with community members, as well as fundraise for churches and community groups.
Maryfield St. Andrew’s United Church Fowl Supper
Maryfield will be hosting their annual fowl supper on Sunday, October 27. It will be held at the Maryfield Auditorium Lower Hall from 4:30-7 pm. The cost of the supper for adults is $20 and for 11 years and under is $10.
Barb Swallow of the Maryfield United Church board says their fowl supper is a way to get the community together.
“Our fowl supper is to raise funds to help the United Church with general expenses. It is a service to the community and there are lots of people that enjoy coming out for a turkey supper that they don’t necessarily get most of the year. We love seeing the community come out and be together.”
Swallow says the church has been hosting a fowl supper for many years and everyone is welcome.
“The church has been putting on a fowl supper for the past 50 years or more.
“It is open to the entire community. We usually get people from Redvers, Moosomin, Virden, and Wawota. We get people from a wide area coming for the supper.”
Swallow explains the work in preparing for the supper.
“The United Church board looks after hosting the supper and each of us has a full list of things to do. We canvas for potatoes, vegetables, buns, and pies. Then, we purchase the turkey and we have a crew that cooks and cuts the turkey for us.”
She says Horizon Meats has offered to supply the turkeys for this year’s supper.
“This year, Horizon Meats was able to bring the turkeys in for us. They’re actually going to debone them for us as well and then David Hill is going to oversee the cooking of the turkeys.
“In years past, it was always Jerry Lowe that looked after the turkey, but he had a stroke this year and he wasn’t able to debone the turkeys for us, so then we reached out to Horizon and they were able to do it for us.”
Swallow says they rely on the fundraiser to help maintain the church.
“It really is an important fundraiser for our church. We do rely heavily on the funds that are raised from it and just bringing the community together. Everyone is very good about donating items to us. We very much welcome everybody in the community and surrounding communities to come out and enjoy a very good meal as well as the fellowship. There is just so many that will gather together and sit around and visit and connect with people they maybe don’t see most of the year.”
She says the older generation enjoys coming out and socializing at the fowl supper.
“I think the biggest reason we can keep it going is we do have a very giving community. They understand the importance of having our church in the community whether it be for funeral services, weddings, or baptisms. Our congregation is small, but there are lots of people who do understand the importance of the church and the need to help us raise funds.
“Probably the older generation really, really enjoys the fowl supper, but we very much rely on our younger generation to come out and help us work the fowl supper because it does take a lot of volunteers in addition to those that donate food. We need lots of people that will come and help us serve and clean up that day.”
Welwyn Fowl Supper
Welwyn hosted their annual fowl supper this last weekend, on Sunday, October 20.
Phyllis Harper, a volunteer who helps organize the supper, says the supper always has a great turnout with people from all the surrounding communities.
“It is about making money for our church, and getting together for comradeship in the communities around us because we get a lot of people from all of our surrounding communities like Moosomin, Rocanville, Spy Hill, and McAuley. We always get over 200 people out to our fall supper. We have been putting it on long before my time, and I got to Welwyn in 1968. In 2013, we had 201 people, and it has been going up every year. It is all done by volunteers. We cook the buns, the turkey, everything is done by volunteers in the community.”
The supper is open to everyone in the area.
“Everybody is welcome. It is for everybody. We just like to get together, and it helps our little church,” Harper said.
Harper says she has helped organize the supper for years and the community is very involved.
“I am doing my third batch of buns and we make our own dressing, everything. It is a lot of hours and a lot of prep work. We went last Thursday night to set up all the tables and we get some men that come and help us. We went on Saturday to make our stuffing and grind up our cabbage. We have coffee and tea spots for everybody to choose what they would like. We will be there on Sunday around 2 pm and hope to be home by 9 pm with everything cleaned up and put away.
“I am excited. I am always excited for it to come. Hopefully we get a good crowd. I look after prepping some of the food and then there are four of us who have a list of people’s names and we get so many pies, carrots, turnips from different people. It involves the whole community.”
She says the supper is important because it brings everyone together and it helps the church with expenses.
“I think it’s important to bring all of our communities together, and different churches. It helps our little church keep going. We don’t have too many people attending our little church anymore. Nothing goes down, our power bills stay the same and our insurance goes up.”
The supper is organized by young and old volunteers in the community of Welwyn.
“We have very good volunteers in our community. Most of us are over 75 and some are over 80 that are making buns and pies for our supper. They never say ‘no.’ Our young people in the community are more than willing to donate and if they are able, they come and work. They clean tables and do dishes to help.
“It is a busy time, but it is also exciting. Hopefully we have some of our Sunday School children again this year helping clear tables. We had quite a few last year help. The men sell the tickets, call the numbers, and help put away the chairs and tables, and mop the floors because it is at the rink. It has to be cleaned out by the end of the night and if we ever have a whole bunch of food left over, we serve a dinner the next day for not a lot of money, but just so nothing is wasted.”
Wawota United Church Supper
The Wawota United Church Fall Supper is coming up on Sunday, November 3.
The supper will be held in the Wawota Town Hall, and runs from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. It has been a tradition for as long as anyone can remember.
St. Mary’s Roast Beef Supper
St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Moosomin will be hosting its annual Roast Beef Fall Supper on Sunday, November 3.
The supper has two seatings at 4:45 pm and 6 pm with tickets available at Home Hardware and Sew Creative in Moosomin, or at the door while supplies last.
