ROCKWOOD – Teachers, students and parents at Sacred Heart Catholic School worked together to host two Shrove Tuesday pancake meals for the community on Feb. 21.
Special education resource teacher Andrea Stafford said the lunch and dinner will support the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church’s (SHJCC) initiative to build a new church.
Stafford served pancakes, maple syrup, sausages and coffee with help from students from the special education hub, including Kayden Stokman.
“I’m here to learn with my wonderful teacher,” Stokman said.
He confidently offered food and drinks, smiling and laughing with the guests. He said maybe he will run his own cafe one day – or maybe he will become a scientist.
Guests included elderly and community living residents from Guelph Wellington Community Living, Acton Christie Oaks Care Home, Rockwood Eramosa Non-Profit Housing, East Wellington Community Services, and Guelph Eden House Care Facility.
Admission was by donation, with all proceeds going to SHJCC.
SHJCC parish members Jane and Leyla Hosdil were two of the guests who attended the luncheon.
The mother and daughter agreed the pancakes were delicious, and said they especially enjoyed it when Kindergarten students sang a pancake day song.
“It was nice to see the kids,” said Jane, who served as a doctor in the area for decades before retiring.
Leyla added, “That was totally unexpected.”
Leyla said prior to the COVID-19 pandemic the SHJCC used to host an annual pancake meal at the church. This is the first time the event has happened since the pandemic and she noted “it’s nice to have it” at the school.
It was Rev. Patrick Ohl’s idea to host the pancake meals at the school this year.
Ohl has been pastor at the Sacred Heart church and school in Rockwood since October. He’s the youngest priest in the Diocese of Hamilton at 29 years old, and noted he’s amazed that he’s been entrusted with the responsibility. Stafford said “he’s been great.”
Shrove Tuesday is a “wonderful little opportunity to get together,” Ohl said, especially as it’s been “so long since we’ve been able to.”
Community pancake meals are “one of those things people have missed,” he said.
Ohl, also chaplain at the University of Guelph Newman Centre, said it’s been “quite a shift for him” splitting his time between the two.
The pancake meals were sponsored by Rockwood Foodland, Guelph Speedvale FreshCo, Acton Sobeys, Guelph Food Basics, Misty Meadows Market and Parkinson Farm.
Prior to the luncheon with guests, students from the special education hub served pancakes to over 300 students at the Rockwood school. About 25 people attended the luncheon, and organizers were expecting over 110 for the pancake dinner.
