Alzheimer dinner a success despite poor weather

By Record Staff

It was mild enough that it rained on the Alzheimer Society’s parade Saturday. But the rain was not enough to dampen the spirits of the volunteers who ran it nor most of the people who supported it.
All the pieces were in place Saturday morning for the 7th annual Dinner to Remember, renamed the Linda Johnston Memorial Alzheimer Dinner to Remember three years ago. However, Mother Nature decided to send a Colorado low towards Rainy River and with freezing rain predicted to last most of the day, organizers conferenced that morning.
“I spoke to Kenora-Rainy River Alzheimer Society Executive Director Margaret Schonewille. We discussed moving the event a day later to Sunday but the weatherman was calling for ten inches of snow that day. It was pick your poison time and we chose to move forward with Saturday as planned,” said Ken Johnston, event volunteer.
Schonewille herself was in Fort Frances doing work for the Alzheimer Society all week, but due to the icy road conditions opted not to put herself in jeopardy travelling to Rainy River for the dinner and then back again that night to attend Fort Frances’ dinner Sunday. “I was so looking forward to your dinner,” said a disappointed Schonewille.
Penny table coordinator, Marlene McNally, had her end of the event well organized. When it was all set up the tables sported 79 items! The largest penny table in event history! She had it all set up on Friday and was ready for the event well in advance of the 4 p.m. opening. In fact she allowed card players at the Legion to start contributing a bit earlier in the afternoon. When all was said and done it raised more than $900.
Head chef, Uncle Bob Johnston, picked up the roasts bright and early Saturday, and started cooking them ever so slowly with his secret recipe!
A request was made of the Town to sand the Legion parking lot and the town crew did a great job! About a quarter inch of ice had frozen to everything by mid-afternoon. Then the rain turned to snow, making the surfaces more slushy than ice, which was a blessing as it was less dangerous for the people who attended the dinner.
While many came out to do just the penny table before the sold out supper was served, the crowds for both the penny table and the dinner was down slightly. “I think we had about 85% attendance over previous years,” said Ken Johnston.
With that in mind fund raising totals are expected to be lower than in previous years. “While we do not have the totals calculated out yet I would say with the way the weather was the event was equally successful as years gone by.”
The chairs for charity also was very successful again this year raising more than $400. Winning the chairs were as follows
Chair #1 by Patti Diebel: Lori Caul of Fort Frances, Ont.
Chair #2 by Vivian Locking: Grace Seguin of Pinewood, Ont.
Chair #3 by Gregg Armistead: Bruce Hanson of Rainy River, Ont.
Chair #4 by Patti Diebel: Dawn Jarvis of Rainy River, Ont.
Overall Ken Johnston had this to say about the event, “It almost brings one to tears how much this community and the business community support this event. Add the strong core of volunteers willing to do this year after year and we had a phenomenal dinner to remember again this year!”
All proceeds raised from the event will be used to run Alzheimer programs in the Rainy River area throughout the next year. Watch next week’s Record for final totals on money raised for the dinner.