Holy Hannah that was wild! There was a lineup forming 30 minutes before start time, which quickly spread halfway through the parking lot. Ritchie and friends sure love a free BBQ!
This annual tradition is beloved by everyone, from the retirees across the street, to families across the district, and we’re so happy to be able to bring everyone together and to feed our community – even if it’s just for one meal.
We’re sooooo grateful for:
The rain holding off until literally everyone was done eating and headed out the door
The small but mighty crew of volunteers
Char and the team at Barb and Ernie’s for cooking up and delivering the excellent brats and veggie dogs
Youth Council for bringing a bit of Canadian sparkle and cheer to the event (this is a new initiative for the league and we are soooo pumped to share more soon!)
Men’s Shed keeping the kids entertained with crafts and tools
In our new values statements, we focus on:
relationship-building activities
opportunities for people to gather
face-to-face interactions between members of the community
The annual BBQ hits on all of these, plus there’s ice cream! Community leagues provide the space for residents to come together to engage in dialogue, as well as play. And play we did!
The splash park was in full swing, and the slide had a line up. Our newly formed Youth Council set up a table beside the Men’s Shed crafts to engage attendees with crafts and activities, and the Kind Ice Cream cart was a huge hit (was there ever any doubt?!)
Inside, we had volunteers running hot brats from the kitchen to the serving line, and cold sauerkraut to the condiments table. We could barely keep up refilling the bowls of apples and chips. Note to volunteers - more chips next year!
In conversations with attendees, we heard the same thing over and over: “thank you for hosting, Ritchie is the best community,” and we couldn’t agree more. The world is a scary place these days, but we created an oasis of joy and belonging that night, and hopefully reminded people that there are still pockets of ease right in their community!
Our small, but mighty team of volunteers made this happen and Ritchie Community League is grateful for your willingness to step in and find a job when the chaos started, and your hard work getting the hall tidied up before the end of the night!
From the entire board of directors, thank you to all residents, members, and friends of the league for showing up again and again, and proving Ritchie is an amazing, caring community. We are so excited to continue this work alongside you.
