Hundreds of Vancouver Island elders descended on Port Alberni’s Italian Hall on April 24 as Hupacasath graciously hosted the first Vancouver Island elders lunch since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Yes, it was crazy insane busy,” said Hupacasaht Youth and Elder Coordinator Carolina Tatoosh.
She went to say that she had planned for 350 elders and since their Hupacasath House of Gathering cannot accommodate that many people, they rented the Italian Hall on 6th Avenue.
But even then, it was standing-room only.
“The coordinators are supposed to tell how many elders are coming but that didn't happen,” said Tatoosh.
Following lunch, she reminded the guests that it is important to let the host community know how many are coming so that they can make sure there’s enough food and seats for everyone.
Tattoosh said there is a monthly Elders’ Society meeting and they had an idea of how many would be coming to the Hupacasath gathering based on information that came out of that meeting. But the luncheons are popular and when you add those who showed up after hearing through the grapevine about the event – well, there were a lot of elders in the Italian Hall that day.
Fortunately, Tatoosh had the help of Tom’s Food Truck, who provided soup and 100 pieces of fried bread. There was also other soups, sandwiches, shepherd’s pie and dessert.
“There were four people that came out when they could, to help,” said Tatoosh.
She was grateful to those from other communities that pitched in to help out and she thanks them all.
All in all, the elders had a great time socializing with old friends and family. Following lunch they took part in games like like Name that Tune and were happy to go home with door prizes
