The Plum Coulee Community Supper is set to get underway for another season, but there's some uncertainty as to where the monthly feast will take place. Residents had been gathering for the free meal at the Plum Coulee Hall but a fire in May and subsequent repairs and renovations have forced the facility's closure until further notice.
    
Organizer Jill Friesen says there are plans in place for the first two dinners of the season. Access Credit Union will host the September meal, as it has in the past, with a hot dog barbecue at Heritage Square and the Plum Coulee Bergthaler Church will host the October meal.

"We're going to see how that goes over and then after September/October we'll look at what our options are."

Friesen says the challenge will be to find a venue that can hold, on average, 200 to 250 people at each meal.

"A lot of people have asked me about it and are hoping it'll continue on. The community loves it, we get lots of volunteers and people looking forward to it so we are going to try to keep it going."

With a few hundred people attending the monthly meal, she says it takes a lot of volunteers to pull it off.

As for the food, Friesen says the cost is usually covered by monetary donations through individuals or local business. The menu is also planned using items that have been donated like potatoes and meat. She notes deciding what to make has taken some tweaking over time.

While the community supper is already put on by dedicated volunteers and donors, Friesen says she's been toying with the idea of having other groups sponsor a meal.

"We would love to have groups, whether it's a club or a business or just a group of friends or another church, just to kind of take on and sponsor a meal. Whether that's just supplying volunteers or taking over the whole meal and doing the cooking and planning."

Last year a 4H came in and provided all of the volunteers for a single meal.

"It was just really nice and took some work off of us not to have to prepare so much and plan and find volunteers."

Interested groups can contact Friesen at friesenjill@hotmail.com