Volunteers serve traditional Christmas foods to the more than 400 visitors who came out for the community meal held at the Tatamagouche Farmer’s Market on Christmas Day.

TATAMAGOUCHE: The sixth annual Christmas at the Creamery celebration was a giant success again this year serving meals to more than 400 people over the two hour event. The holiday dinner was held Christmas Day at the Tatamagouche Farmer’s Market.
More than 100 take-out meals were also served to those unable to attend.
Av Singh, one of the coordinators of Christmas at the Creamery, said this year’s community dinner felt more like “family serving family” than “neighbours serving neighbours.”
“There was an effortless flow to it,” said Singh. “It wasn’t flawless, but they were flaws that happen at a normal family function. There was a real community ownership over what happened.”
The first sign the event would be smooth sailing was the vegetable prep day. This process would normally take about two hours from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. This year 45 volunteers came out to lend a helping hand and had all the vegetables washed, peeled and prepped and had their workspace cleaned by 12:15 p.m.
In order to feed the hundreds of hungry community members who flock to the annual event, the Christmas at the Creamery team cooked up 40 pounds of carrots, 65 pounds of squash, 70 pounds of rutabaga, 85 pounds of potatoes and 220 pounds of turkey, among other items.
The food is purchased locally as much as possible. Some is also donated by members of the community. The money used to buy the food also comes straight from the community. Individuals drop off monetary donations to the Village Florist in support of the event.
This year the community raised more than $2,400. Almost $800 was spent on food. The rest was given back to the community.
Organizers donated $500 to Langille Fuels’ Home Heating Fuel Fund, which anonymously covers all or part of fuel bills for families who need an extra boost over the winter months.
They also donated $500 to Chris and Vicky Partriquin to support their family.
The remainder of the funds, as well as leftovers from the meal, were donated to Alice MacRae for the food outreach program in New Annan.
The event has become an important part of Christmas Day for many families in Tatamagouche and its surrounding areas.
“It really is a community gathering as opposed to a meal for the needy,” said Singh. “People just sat around and chatted. They enjoyed coming together.”