More than 100 people – members of P&H Elevator Preservation Society and supporters – braved gusty winds and sub-zero temperature to attend the 11th annual Christmas supper on Saturday evening, Jan. 7 at the Hub.
"We were expecting a few more people but the bad weather conditions and the flu doing its rounds have kept them indoors," said Stan Eicchorn, president of P&H Elevator Preservation Society. "But, even then the numbers have been great I think and we've been able to break even just about."
For 11 years, P&H has been hosting this annual get-together towards the first part of January.
"We've always held this after Christmas because during that time people are busy with family and are often away," Eichhorn explained. "January is the best time I believe as the frenzy of the holidays has ended and people are not as tired and stretched out."
As members socialized and caught up with one another, it was a fun and relaxed evening that gave way to a great supper, catered by Marie Bignell of Gadsby, along with her crew of helpers.
"This gives the members a chance to meet one another face to face and exchange holiday notes," Eichhorn said.
With a huge spread of three different salads, veggies, turkey, ham and gravy, and a wide spread of desserts, the crowd couldn't have asked for more.
There were door prizes that had been donated by various local businesses, organizations and individuals, along with a 50/50 jackpot of more than $200 for the evening.
At the end of the evening, cowboy poet, B.J. Smith took to the stage and shared some of his most cherished memories in the form of verse and rhyme.
As the crowd laughed heartily, Smith kept going till he ran out of steam, narrating stories that had actually occurred to him in a humorous, poetic form.
P&H looks to add on to the feed shed
The P&H Elevator facility will be receiving a new upgrade, an addition to the feed shed, which will create more space for the members to have their coffee stop.
"We're going to add on to the feed shed so that we can have larger space for our coffee stop as well as other functions," Eichhorn said. "Most importantly, more washrooms, especially needed for our larger functions and so forth, and these will be wheelchair accessible ones as well."
Eichhorn said that the new space will house the mechanical room for the new addition as well as heat the existing feed shed.
"This will enable us to use it year-long rather than only four months as we were doing because of no heating facilities," Eichhorn explained. "We've been fundraising and we have got a few smaller grants, besides we will be doing some active fundraising this spring, hoping to start construction around May when the frost is out of the ground."
Eichhorn said that the new space would be available to the public for rent at a nominal price or by donation.