“We had dinner there once.”
Some lucky Edmontonians won’t be referring to the newest downtown restaurant or exclusive eatery when sharing foodie highlights with friends. Instead, Wednesday night’s Feast on the Field invited attendees to dine on the turf at Commonwealth Stadium.
The long-table style dinner seated nearly 400 guests in honour of the CapitalCare Foundation.
CapitalCare houses 1,400 residents in ten centres across the city. A further 300 people attend daytime programming. About three-quarters of the clients have Alzheimer’s Disease or some other form of dementia.
Due to funding constraints, some of that daytime programming — like music therapy — is at risk. Foundation Director Sherry Schaefer says music can be a key tool in combatting memory loss.
“Our funding for that is not very much.
“Without the support of the community we can’t make that happen,” Schaefer said.
Past Foundation Chair Jackie Rae Greening captivated the crowd with stories about her mother, a CapitalCare resident. At turns funny and heart-wrenching, Greening detailed the importance of the music program to residents — telling a story about singing the Eskimos fight song with her mom. Her mother’s reaction following their duet? “She said, ‘What’s for dessert?'” Greening told the crowd to a round of laughs.
“She didn’t remember that we had just sung it — but that’s ok — it’s a memory I will have.”
Donations collected during the evening will benefit the music programs, which Greening said are at risk of being cut in some centres. The goal for the evening was $50,000 and funds are still being tallied.
The second annual Feast on the Field was served up by three of the city’s favorite chefs: Brad Smoliak of Kitchen by Brad, David Omar of Zinc, and Steve Buzak of the Royal Glenora Club. The feast had a southern flair, with BBQ chicken, beans, ribs, coleslaw and brisket. Dinner was capped off with a pie bar.
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After dinner, guests were invited to toss a football around on the Commonwealth Field with Eskies alumni. Organizers are already planned to remount the event for 2017.
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