Pansy kicks off fall supper season

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This article was published 07/09/2023 (608 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s a tradition as old as homesteading on the prairies. As harvest nears the end, and people begin to prepare for another long cold winter, they gather to enjoy a fall supper, featuring traditional dishes and the yield from the land around them.

Today it’s become an essential fundraiser for innumerable community halls that simply couldn’t exist without the funds that come from hungry people, eager to share in the annual tradition.

In southeast Manitoba, close to a dozen of these suppers take place, beginning in early September and going until the end of October.

For years the Pansy Fall Supper has signaled the start to a series of suppers that take place in communities such as Gardenton, Woodridge, Middlebro, Dominion City, Friedensfeld, Emerson, Sundown, Ridgeville and Rosa.

Leanne Germain is the organizer of the Pansy event and she said it’s crucial to maintain the Pansy Hall.

“This is our major fundraiser of the year,” she said, explaining funds are used to pay for heating costs, taxes and infrastructure improvements.

Billed as a “Ukrainian smorgasbord”, the Pansy Fall Supper kicks off the season on Sunday, Sept. 10. More than 20 dishes are on the menu including the popular chicken, rice and bacon cabbage rolls, perogies and cream sauce, perishky, nalysnyky (cottage cheese crepes baked with cream and cinnamon), beetneks (bread bun wrapped with dill, onions and a beet leaf), pompushky (fluffy donut with prune filling, served warm with icing sugar) and pumpkin slice.

“Everything’s homemade on the menu. Everything’s made from scratch,” Germain said. “There are lots of volunteer hours that happen way before the actual date.”

The Pansy supper is also known for wild mushrooms, gathered by their volunteers.

“I don’t even know how many five-gallon pails I’ve picked, but I try to do at least 15 to 20 just to feed the capacity that comes here,” she said.

While close to 200 people live in the immediate Pansy area, their fall supper sees their population swell considerably.

“We are planning to prepare for 1,200 this year,” she said, adding in years gone by they’ve had as many as 1,600 guests.

Germain said fall suppers are something that brings people together.

“People want to be together,” she said. “I think families want to come and sit and enjoy a meal together and they appreciate all the hard work that we’ve put into the meal so they can just come and celebrate a time with their families.”

Pansy’s fall supper, like many others appeals to people from far outside the area, attracting buses and groups from Winnipeg and guests from across Canada.

Prices do vary between fall suppers with Pansy charging $22 per adult, $10 for children ages 7-13 and six and under free. Like most, only cash is accepted.

The Pansy Fall Supper will be served from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 10 at the Pansy Hall.

A list of fall suppers in the Southeast can be found in The Carillon. To view fall supper listings from across the province search for Manitoba Fall Suppers on Facebook.