It was quite the occasion.
Attendees included professional and elite amateur athletes including a Canadian Olympian. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson was there, as was Ontario Provincial Cabinet Minister Yasir Naqvi.
In fact the event was so exclusive there was only one qualification that could get you in.
You had to be a kindergarten to grade 6 student at St. Elizabeth Elementary School in west Ottawa.
Welcome to the 4th annual St. Elizabeth Christmas dinner.
Or, as 6-year-old Brigid Waghorn puts it, “We’re having a baby Jesus luncheon.”
The school holds the luncheon because, as Principal Donna Palmer-Doddes puts it, the community is rich in many things but money isn’t always one of them. For some of these students, this might be the only Christmas dinner they get. “I can tell you right now there’s not a single child missing today,” she says.
So teachers and volunteers cook and serve a full turkey dinner. The local Loblaws supplies the food, Walmart the plates. “We got to eat mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce and we even got to drink apple juice,” says 7-year-old Jabari Khaemba.
But as good as the food is, it can’t stop the cheers from erupting when the special guests walk in. Members of the Ottawa Redblacks, Ottawa Fury, Ottawa 67’s and Carleton Ravens took time out to mingle and sign autographs.
And for many of them it brought back memories. Ottawa Redblacks wide receiver Jamill Smith says he grew up in a poor neighbourhood in Muncie, Indiana. He remembers the thrill of athletes coming to visit his school. “When we had people like from my college, Ball State University, come around it turned our day all around and made the whole day just bright,” says Smith.
Brendan Bell of the Ottawa 67’s says it was Toronto Argos who visited his school. Coming to St. Elizabeth makes him feel like a kid again. “It really does. And I can't get over the kids’ faces when we walk in here and they're all laughing and yelling and stuff. It brings back good memories."
Says 9-year-old Deidre Louise Folliet, "I think this is awesome!"
