The Mountain Grannies are at it again in bringing one of the Valley’s favourite and tastiest fundraising events to the community; the sixth annual Eat the Chili – Keep the Bowl.
The event brings together local potters who donate their wares, to be made even more beautiful by being filled to the brim with gourmet chili donated by local restaurants. Proceeds go to the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign.
“You know, it’s been fun. I think we originally approached the Borrowmans and then a number of other potters and John (Borrowman) talked to a number of other potters and they came on board,” said Mountain Grannie Georgia Bell.
“John and Katie (Borrowman) still make the bulk of the bowls, but we have a number of other potters as well. I think it provides them with an opportunity to contribute to the community as artists and it also provides us an opportunity to host a supper for the community.”
The event is looked forward to by the community, with local restaurants ready for high demand.
“It makes for a scramble getting the chili there, but it’s a wonderful donation because we have vegetarian chili and bison chili, real hot chilies and we offer gluten-free corn bread and desserts, so there are a variety of chilies from all the restaurants, which is really nice,” Bell said.
“Canmore is an artist and foodie kind of town, and luckily we have about 60 people in our grandmothers group and a lot of them are really good bakers, so we have the most delicious dessert table.
“It brings together the community and I also think that by the end of March people are getting kind of tired of winter and it’s just nice to come together in the community hall and have a dinner together.”
The Grannies have had members of their group go to Africa in the past to see first-hand the impact the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign has.
“This year, Marilyn Wilson and her husband Phil went to Africa, and we usually bring back some crafts that we’ve found from the place the Grannies are working at. We have a chance to meet and get to know some of the grandmothers in Africa who are supporting their orphans,” Bell said.
“It (funds) goes to many areas in sub-Saharan Africa. The Stephen Lewis Foundation works in a number of countries there and since the Grandmothers were formed in 2006 we’ve sent $19 million dollars from across Canada to all these projects in Africa. Here in Canmore, we’ve raised about $110,000 with our walks or chili bowl supper and other events and we’ve been able to be successful because of the support from the community.”
“I’ve known Pat and some of the ladies for quite some time,” said Mayor John Borrowman on the relationship between Cabbages and Kings Pottery and the Mountain Grannies. “They’d come up with this fundraising idea and coincidentally Katie and I had been talking for at least a year prior to that about doing a similar sort of event and Pat and her friends had the same idea, but with money going ultimately to Africa.”
Eat the Chili – Keep the Bowl will take place at St. Michael’s Anglican Church on March 14, with seatings at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $40 and available at Kitchen Boutique in Banff and Canmore.
