Santa’s annual Christmas Dinner, which has endured for almost four decades did not disappoint as this year volunteers served up 439 piping Christmas dinners.
The dinner, which takes place on Christmas Day, was once again hosted at Yavis Family Restaurant. It began as a way for friends to gather to celebrate the season with a home cooked style turkey dinner with all the fixings.
It has expanded and is a great option for those who may not be able to host a dinner or those who are alone over the holidays. Volunteers also delivered meals for those who were not able to join them for dinner.
Volunteer Kim Suntjens was elated with the success.
‘It is an event that when I ask for help from the community, I get overwhelming support,” she tells the Mail. “The community dinner has become a part of our family’s tradition. It is something that we all look forward to helping with.”
This year’s dinner had 28 volunteers take on the task; everything from cooking and serving to bussing and doing the dishes. The dinner was also supported by 12 gracious donors from the community dedicated to making Christmas a little bit brighter.

Grade 11 students at St. Anthony’s School had the opportunity to learn more about job hunting through the You’re Hired! interview contest.
The program has been going for four years and it is a partnership among the school, the Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce and local businesses.
The program took place in Mr. Easter’s Grade 11  Career and Life Management (CALM ) class. The students were tasked with going through a complete job hunting exercise. They each crafted a cover letter and résumé, and each applied to the participating business.
Partners from the Chamber, Chinook Credit Union, Canadian Tire,  Canalta, and the Drumheller Institution then came to the class and conducted interviews with the students. Each student was scored on their performance and the top three went into a final interview.
Executive director of the Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce, Heather Bitz, says the program began in 2015 and typically takes place in the fall semester. Not only is its a great experience for the pupils, but there have been times that the students e have left such an impression, it has lead to employment.
This year’s winner was Ian Pedregosa, he says was a valuable experience and helped him with his interview skills. It helped him learn what to say and areas he could improve.