No one dines alone: Man brings holiday lesson from Newfoundland to Lower Sackville

Canadians are known for being polite and hospitable, but Newfoundlanders tend to lead the pack when it comes to those two characteristics, Eldon Turner says.

“Everybody was a part of every family, so wherever you were, you could go in,” Turner said. “You didn’t even have a lock on the door, you basically just go on in and sit for supper.

“Nobody’s going to say anything.”

READ MORE: Restaurant’s offer of free meal for the holidays a ‘Christmas gift to Halifax’

Turner grew up in a small Newfoundland village called Happy Adventure, a community nestled on the Eastport Peninsula. Turner, he says, was raised to welcome everyone to the dinner table.

It’s a warm gesture that he has decided to bring to the community of Lower Sackville.

“This is going to be like their wedding day, okay,” he said. “They’re going to be served, they’re going to be happy to sit and talk to the other person in front of them.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This is going to be like their wedding day, okay," he said. "They're going to be served, they're going to be happy to sit and talk to the other person in front of them."

Turner runs a small soup and sandwich business out of the lower level of Knox United Church in Lower Sackville.

This fall, he started thinking of all the people who may not get to enjoy a holiday meal with others, let alone at all.

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That’s where the idea to cook a massive Christmas dinner for the community came from, free to anyone in need of a warm meal or good company.

“It has nothing to do with how rich you are or how poor you are, it has to do with your status on being alone for Christmas. Nobody likes to be alone when everyone else has family and friends around,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It has nothing to do with how rich you are or how poor you are, it has to do with your status on being alone for Christmas. Nobody likes to be alone when everyone else has family and friends around," he said.

Once word spread around the community of the ‘No one dines alone’ event, it didn’t take long for volunteers like Maureen Cyr to jump at the chance to help.

“It’s for people that don’t have family,” Cyr said. “They may be come from aways. It could be senior citizens, it could be people who are sick, it could be anyone who’s down on their luck — anybody that is having dinner alone, this is where we want them to come.”

Donations have poured in from the community, from food to bags filled with toiletries for those in need.

Dozens of people also showed up in advance of the meal to donate their time by helping to peel and cut prepare endless amounts of vegetables for the feast.

“I’d have to say we peeled about I’d say 300 pound of potatoes, probably 200 pounds of carrots [and] about the same for turnip and some squash,” Turner said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I'd have to say we peeled about I'd say 300 pound of potatoes, probably 200 pounds of carrots [and] about the same for turnip and some squash," Turner said.