Jason Stockfish, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
For years before the pandemic hit, there was a tradition of a community Christmas dinner in Jasper. The Jasper Royal Canadian Legion played host, sponsors and volunteers provided and prepared a feast for anyone wanting to join in the festivities, and the night was always a success.
However, with COVID in full swing last Christmas, it was determined that the dinner at the Legion could not safely go ahead as usual.
Rather than accept that the dinner be cancelled, many community members came together to ensure that those looking to enjoy a hearty holiday meal would still have one.
Instead of gathering at the Legion, Lynn Wannop, owner of Coco鈥檚 Caf茅, decided that the meals could be prepared at her restaurant and then delivered to those who wanted them.
With help from her husband, Andrew, their staff and other volunteers, 124 meals were prepared and delivered during Christmas 2020.
While the pandemic continues to take away many of the simple joys in life, one thing COVID has not taken from some Jasperites is their love of community-building.
And so, the Christmas dinner continued uninterrupted again this year.
For the second year in a row the meal was prepared at Coco鈥檚 Cafe. This year, volunteer drivers delivered 150 meals, once again prepared by Wannop and a gang of volunteers.
Knowing the demand for meals would be greater than 2020, Wannop called on Glenda MacDowell, aka Glenda the Great Catering, for her dessert skills. Without hesitating, MacDowell prepared enough pumpkin pie to feed 175 people.
When asked what inspired her to take on responsibility for continuing the dinner tradition, Wannop said, 鈥淟ast year it was born out of necessity鈥�. I reached out to Community Outreach Services (COS), who said it wasn鈥檛 going to happen because there was no one to do it, so I decided I would just do it. And this year, same reason, it just wasn鈥檛 going to happen, so I decided we鈥檇 do it (again).鈥�
Wannop was adamant that none of it would have been possible without support and organization from COS and the Jasper Community Team Society (JCTS).
In speaking with Lisa Riddell, community development manager with Community and Family Services, she put the praise back on Wannop.
鈥淭he key was an offer as generous as Lynn鈥檚. (COS) was more than happy to support her,鈥� Riddell said.
Riddell said her role was more about the logistics, about contacting those she knew to call on to ensure everything for the dinner came together.
鈥淭he funding came from the JCTS (who are) in the business of fundraising for the community,鈥� said Riddell.
鈥淏ecause we have this outreach program, and because we have (JCTS), it allows us to connect the dots, it allows us to take advantage of offers such as Lynn鈥檚.鈥�
Both Riddell and Wannop stressed that having the necessary community infrastructure already in place was essential to the success of the dinner and the many other services made possible by the generosity of the JCTS and its donors.
鈥淲e had somewhere to turn鈥�. That鈥檚 the nice thing about a small town that鈥檚 as close as we are, we鈥檙e so lucky to have access to what we do,鈥� Wannop added.To donate to JCTS and support its causes, visit
