Susanne Wussow
One thing I love about Meaford is the sense of community; whether it’s the Scarecrow Invasion, the various Friends programs, or just being greeted with a friendly ‘Hello’ by someone I don’t know as I’m walking down the street, Meaford is terrific at making us feel warm and fuzzy about living here. Last Sunday morning, I got that warm and fuzzy feeling all over again, at the Riverside Breakfast.
The Riverside Community Centre on the 7th Line has started their monthly breakfasts again from now through to September, on the second Sunday of the month. Run by ten local volunteers as a fundraiser to help keep the Centre running, breakfast is cafeteria-style, with scrambled eggs, peameal bacon, breakfast sausages, pancakes, toast, and hash browns. Additional goodies are fresh baked scones (I sure do enjoy a good homemade scone) and muffins with a selection of homemade jams, and sliced fresh fruit. A total treat at $10.
This is a good old-fashioned country breakfast, and believe it or not, I really enjoyed the jello salads. They weren’t part of my heritage when I was growing up, and I know that some people may think that they’re old school, but that’s what I liked about the breakfast – it was old school, friendly, and completely un-trendy. Down to earth home cooking suited us just fine.
The breakfasts began five years ago, to help raise funds to cover the bills for the community centre, and the first breakfast had a grand total of 22 people. On Mother’s Day last year, 151 breakfasts were dished up by the volunteers – obviously word has got around.
Background music was by Jim Dunham: I’ve seen him numerous times at various events and always enjoyed his music. He is one of those unsung people in our community who contributes just the right touch of homey feeling in the background, but is rarely acknowledged. Hats off to him for coming out on a Sunday morning and making breakfast that much more enjoyable.
Fresh flowers on each table are supplied free by Simply Unique, and once again I’m reminded how everyone pitches in to make Meaford such a special place.
“No one sits alone.” Those words struck a chord with me when I spoke to Janice Hughes, one of the volunteers. She had mentioned that at first, some people would come and sit alone while they ate breakfast, but over time everyone made an effort to connect, and now, “no one sits alone”. That’s Meaford for you.
We rarely comment on the spirit of a place. We talk about Meaford’s fantastic setting or beautiful countryside, its heritage buildings or the views from Irish or Scotch Mountain. Meaford’s community spirit is something special, and it can take newcomers to the area a long time to ‘get it’. I’ve marked every single date for the Riverside Breakfasts in my calendar – because I ‘get it’, and besides having a great breakfast, I’ll be getting some refreshment in the Meaford spirit.
Riverside Community Centre, $10 per person
9 am – 1 pm 2nd Sunday of the month, April – September.
157707 – 7th Line 519-538-2938 Wheelchair accessible
