On September 11th, 2001, co-directors Mark Dyken and Catherine Lambie prepared and served the first community meal at the BMCYF center. The date had been picked long before the tragic events in New York that most of us now remember that day by. We decided to go ahead with the meal, and getting together to share food as a community seemed to ease the sorrow and anguish of the day.
Since that day, we have served hundreds of free, delicious community dinners ( two a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays) to our kids, their families, neighbors, friends, and guests. We went from primitive cooking conditions to a new cozy kitchen. We have a large dining room table in a bright, comfortable space built by community members. We ban sodas, we cook with organic ingredients, a lot of them harvested directly from a thriving community garden on our property. Bringing kids and their families together around the dinner table to enjoy a balanced meal prepared with care is central to the BMCYF approach of modeling healthy habits and building strong community ties. We have had many a lively conversation around the table, and are often entertained by local musicians.
Several talented cooks have run our kitchen over the years, each bringing their own favorite recipes: after Catherine and Mark, who cooked for five years, Gloria Rousseau took over the kitchen and delighted us with many fabulous meals. Gloria also single-handedly prepared many community feasts for several of our events. Her moving out of the area left us distraught for a minute- until we got Laurel Lickteig to do the job. Laurel has proven to be a creative and capable cook that is fazed by nothing. She can also do the Macarena with gusto while the food is cooking- much to the pleasure of our kids! The funding for these meals comes from private foundations as well as the generous donations of community members and BMCYF supporters at large.
Please come and help us celebrate 10 years of community meals! On Saturday September 10th, we will also give out our fifth annual Teamagic Award to honor one of our community champions. The award was created to recognize Ted Toren, who led us through the construction of the addition to our center, generously donating his time and expertise, never losing his patience with us, and entertaining us with the coining of wordsas the weeks went by- one of these words was Teamagic. Ted remains an
inspiration for all of us at BMCYF, and we are grateful for his steady and invaluable support.
This year’s recipient of the Teamagic Award is Kaaren Maines. When Kaaren’s children were frequenting the BMCYF center she was always a supportive and attentive parent, bringing by donations and checking in. A few years later, Kaaren started attending some of our mask-making workshops with Sharon Strong, creating beautiful masks, enjoying the process of making art with a group, and getting really interested in the BMCYF mission. In Kaaren’s fashion, she has always donated what she could, made many friends, and volunteered several times to be a helper at workshops for both kids and adults. Her no-nonsense presence, her sense of humor, her storytelling talents and her huge heart soon made her a favorite at BMCYF. She decided to involve herself further by becoming an ECHO member (Ex Convicts Having Opportunities, a support group for families of prisoners), faithfully attending the meetings and becoming an important and respected voice of the group. Her generosity, her wisdom and her humility are remarkable and an inspiration. This year, she began leading a weekly women’s group at our center, a gathering “for women, by women” of all ages who share their experiences. We are proud and honored to count her as part of our BMCYF team and community. We hope that you can join us in saying a big THANK YOU to her.
Celebration of 10 years of Community Meals at BMCYF and Teamagic Award
Saturday September 10th at BMCYF on Main Street
We will serve dinner at 5pm; desserts and award presentation at 6pm. Music by Clan Dyken to follow. This is a free event- please bring a friend.
Remember this is a tobacco and alcohol free event. For more info please call 293 4500.
