.jpg)
One of the quickest ways to build community bonds is through food. This weekend, the Ukrainian Catholic Parish of All Saints in Morden (which operates out of St. Thomas Anglican Church) is hosting a Thanksgiving Fall Supper with a menu that is a delicious way to foster connections.
A flourishing community
The fall supper comes after an eventful year for the church. In April, it celebrated ten years in the Pembina Valley.
“It used to be a relatively small community,” says Tykhonova. “Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, we of course increased . . . . Right now, we are a church of 45 permanent families.”
Tykhonova says that the church offers important support for newcomers from Ukraine.
“It's not only about spiritual help, it's about giving them a sense of family and welcoming them here,” she says.
With new members arriving and settling into the community, the organization has established a building fund to work toward its own space. A portion of the funds raised at the fall dinner on October 5th will be put toward this project. But for Tykhonova and the church’s council, the fundraiser is not only about the church itself.
Support here and there
A portion of the funds will be donated to support frontliners in Ukraine through volunteer organizations. Locally, there will also be a donation set aside for the Many Hands Resource Centre, a Morden-based organization that provides food hampers and other services to the community.
Tykhonova says that it is important to the church to support local charities because the “local community really supports [it.]” She notes that the dinner is an opportunity to connect different communities within the Pembina Valley.
A mouth-watering menu
This is the second fundraiser of its type for the church. The last dinner went over well — the group ran out of cabbage rolls and borscht.
“It's a large menu. We tried our best to have it smaller, but we’re Ukrainians. We couldn’t,” says Tykhonova of the latest community supper.
The menu, which itself shows a blend of local and Ukrainian influences, begins with meaty cabbage rolls with ground pork, beef, and rice (there are over 400 made already) and turkey and potato perogies.
“Turkey is not really our kitchen style, but come on. It's a fall supper and Thanksgiving is coming,” says Tykhonova.
There will also be fresh borscht with meat, a traditional Ukrainian staple.
“We have, I believe, . . . hundreds of borscht recipes in our country,” she says. “This one will be the most popular one with red beets, carrots, onions, and some meat.”
Tykhonova says that there will also be a staple of the area — homemade chicken noodle soup. In her view, it’s also important to “honour” local cuisine. Fresh yeast buns, salads, homemade pickles, Ukrainian desserts, and traditional poppyseed treats will also be served. The latter is another important tradition in Ukrainian culture.
“We really do everything with poppy seeds, and so we will have a kind of roll with poppy seed filling and some poppy seed buns,” says Tykhonova. “We're also going to have some pies. They are not the kind of pies that you would see here, . . . so it will be a surprise for [diners].”
The details
The meal will take place from 4–6 p.m. on Saturday. Afterwards, there will be a musical performance by local musicians L Rae & J.
“The food will be Ukrainian, but the music will be country soul,” says Tykhonova. “I just want to highlight that we are combining our traditional [culture] with local music and . . . for us, it's really important [to] combine these two. [We want to be] open-minded.”
Tykhonova says that as of the 4th, there were only a few tickets left for the dinner, but fortunately, those who do not get a ticket can still participate with the take-out option. To get a taste of Ukrainian culture and help celebrate building community bonds, visit the Ukrainian Thanksgiving Fall Supper.
~With files from Jayme Giesbrecht~