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Published Jan 03, 2025 • 3 minute read
Photo by KEVIN McSHEFFREY Some of the major organizers in the 2024 Berghammer Christmas Dinner include Paula Kendall, Alice Forest – of Grace Christian Centre, Mary Margaret Fuller – of the Counselling Centre of East Algoma, Val Spencer – of the Renaissance Active Living Centre, and Linda Kilfoyl – of the Club des Aines L’Etoile D’Or D’Elliot Lake. The major sponsor of the 2024 Berghammer Christmas Dinner is Suzanne Rogers – of the Edward and Suzanne Rogers Foundation (not in photo).Article content
The 2024 Berghammer Christmas Dinner on Christmas Day saw about 225 people go through its doors at the three locations on Dec. 25.
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This year the Berghammer Christmas Dinner was held at the Renaissance Active Living Centre, Grace Christian Centre, and at the Club des Aines L’Etoile D’Or (French seniors club).
Mary Margaret Fuller, executive director of the Counselling Centre of East Algoma (CCEA), says the number they got “was a little bit lower than we were anticipating but it sounds like there are a lot of people battling the cold and flu, and other kinds of viruses that are going around. So, I think that impacted our numbers a little bit.”
“But the people who came enjoyed themselves and we had lots of positive feedback that people enjoyed the food, the time together. I would say it was a great success.”
Fuller adds that based on the feedback they received those who attended felt it was “nice to have a smaller atmosphere, and the sites were all easy to get to. So, I think that was appreciated.”
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The 2023 Berghammer Christmas Dinner drew about 295 people.
Among the three sites she explains that they had about 40 volunteers sharing the work on Christmas Eve in preparation for the dinner and on Christmas Day to serve the meal and clean up.
“It was just wonderful to have so many people reach out in the days leading up to Christmas, and wanting to attend and help in whatever way that they could. It was really fantastic, and many hands make for light work.”
They also had entertainment at the three sites.
Fuller says over the next couple of months they will have a review of the 2024 Berghammer Christmas Dinner to see what worked well and what could be improved upon. Some of the things they might look at might involve more community agencies in the event; how did the entertainment go at each of the locations, and more.
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“And none of this would be possible without the generous donations from Suzanne Rogers and others in the community who have made donations to support this event. We are extremely grateful for that continuing support and the renewed support from the community each year.”
Suzanne Rogers, of the Edward and Suzanne Rogers Foundation, was born in Elliot Lake and her father, Miklos Kolev, died in an accident at Pater Mine (located on the North Shore) in 1968. Her father is buried here and she still considers this her home.
Berghammer Christmas Dinner
This event was originally organized in Elliot Lake by Canadian artist, Richard Berghammer for those who were alone on Christmas Day. In his first years in Elliot Lake, he invited strangers into his home for Christmas dinner. When there became
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too many people to hold it in his home, he rented a venue.
Berghammer had originally started holding the Christmas dinner many years ago while living in southern Ontario. He took over the tradition of hosting the Christmas dinner from his parents John and Emily Berghammer. He recalled his parents serving a Christmas dinner to whoever needed it when he was a young boy growing up in northern Saskatchewan.
In 2003, Berghammer was too ill to host the Christmas dinner. Berghammer passed away in February 2014.
To help, Al and Penny Collett took over the event with the assistance of volunteers. They continued to hold this dinner at the St. Peter the Apostle Anglican Church hall every year until 2013.
The Christmas dinner was cancelled in 2014 when Al Collett became too ill to host it, and there was no time for others to take it over that year. Sadly, Al Collett, who was a city councillor and deputy mayor and served the community for many years, died in July of 2015.
After Collett’s death a group of volunteers led by Roland Aube took over holding the Christmas Dinner in Collett’s honour. This group hosted the Collett Christmas Dinner until 2019. For 2020 and 2021, the Christmas Dinner was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, the Counselling Centre of East Algoma (CCEA) took over the Christmas Dinner and returned to its original name, the Berghammer Christmas Dinner.
Photo by KEVIN McSHEFFREYSome of the major organizers in the 2024 Berghammer Christmas Dinner include Paula Kendall, Alice Forest – of Grace Christian Centre, Mary Margaret Fuller – of the Counselling Centre of East Algoma, Val Spencer – of the Renaissance Active Living Centre, and Linda Kilfoyl – of the Club des Aines L’Etoile D’Or D’Elliot Lake. The major sponsor of the 2024 Berghammer Christmas Dinner is Suzanne Rogers – of the Edward and Suzanne Rogers Foundation (not in photo).
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