MONTAGUE, P.E.I. — For Anne Van Donkersgoed, Christmas Day has never been a small family celebration.
The Valleyfield woman’s mother, Jean Forrester, played a big role in how Van Donkersgoed and her eight siblings look at the holiday. Forrester would never hesitate to invite non-family members over for their Christmas Day meal.
“I mean, that’s just who Mom was," Van Donkersgoed said. “When you’re cooking for 11, five others isn’t really that much.”
One of her mother’s main reasons for this generosity was to ensure people didn’t spend their Christmas alone.
“(It’s) a day where you just don’t want to be by yourself,” Van Donkersgoed said. “It’s nice to share a meal with other people.”
Having more than just family around on Christmas became normal for Van Donkersgoed growing up, and it proved a valuable foundation when she faced some family hardships later on.
“2014 was a really tough year for us.”
That year, her mother died very suddenly in July, and her father died that October. Then, that December, her three-year-old daughter, Sarah, died due to heart conditions.
It wasn’t an easy time, and it was also the year that Sir Isaac’s Restaurant in Montague closed, which always held a Christmas day dinner. As a way to stay positive and honour her family, she decided to organize a free dinner herself.
“We just needed something bigger than ourselves,” she said. “In the midst of all the pain we were in, it brought joy to our Christmas that year.”
This year marks the sixth annual Three Rivers and area Christmas dinner, which will take place at Montague Bible Fellowship on Dec. 25. Van Donkersgoed and a group of volunteers will provide a free turkey dinner to anyone who’d like to celebrate Christmas with company.
People tend to think the dinner is to help those with financial problems, which isn’t necessarily the case. Anyone is welcome to swing by, be it someone who is new to the area, elders whose families live far away, or a family who is looking to avoid the stress of making dinner for themselves, she said.
“We won’t turn anyone away. We’ll have lots of food.”
This year has been busy for Van Donkersgoed, which caused her to consider not running the dinner. But when she mentioned this to her nine-year-old daughter, Emma, she realized the tradition from her upbringing was being passed on.
“Who will those people eat Christmas with, Mom? We want to hang out with them,” Emma said to her. “That’s what we do for Christmas.”
It was an encouraging thing for a mother to hear, and one of many reasons Van Donkergoed continues to receive joy from inviting others over for a holiday meal.
“This has become our Christmas,” she said. “My mom would have loved it.”
The free dinner starts at 12:30 p.m., and anyone planning to attend should RSVP if they can by calling Van Donkersgoed at: 902-969-3190. Montague Bible Fellowship is located at 123 Sackville St., Montague.
