For almost 30 years, the Backyard Friends Community Supper has helped connect people through a home-cooked meal at Lacombe Memorial Centre (LMC).
It is held every third Wednesday of the month, taking a break in the summer and Christmas and often sees 300 attendees.
The event, organized by the Lacombe & District Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) uses nearly 40 volunteers serving about 200 hours to make the gathering possible.
Volunteers range in age, with many kids helping out.
“It's a great way to teach them when they're young to do acts of service,” said Wendy Griffin, the community projects manager with FCSS.
Griffin has been involved with the supper for nearly four years and sees it as an opportunity for community connection.
“We just want to make everyone feel like you’re sitting at table with your family or neighbours and not going to a restaurant,” said Griffin.
“It’s a home cooked meal prepared by loving hands.”
Yesterday’s Easter supper started with a bunny-themed game of Head and Tails.
All participants used their hands to show bunny ears or a tail before each round.
If your sign was called, you would advance to the next stage, if not you were eliminated.
The few people who lasted the longest took home prizes supplied by FCSS.
Garth Chilton has been attending the community supper for almost three years and sees the impact it has.
“It benefits everybody in the community ... it's friendship and it just brings the community together,” explained Chilton.
The meal is made possible through sponsors and donations.
Sign up to get the latest local news headlines delivered directly to your inbox every afternoon.
Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@centralalbertaonline.com.
CentralAlbertaOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the CentralAlbertaOnline app.