LSCO Whoop-Up barbecue feeds big crowd

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on August 27, 2022.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman Community members line up to get some sizzling cheeseburgers as part of the Whoop-Up Days Barbecue Friday at the Lethbridge Senior Citizen Organization.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

The Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization was able to offer members of the community a Whoop-Up Days barbecue once again on Friday after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Typically during Whoop-Up week we have a couple of events, so today we had the barbecue burgers and we had probably 400 people here for that,” said Rob Miyashiro, executive director of LSCO.

He said that the funds acquired from the barbecue will be used for multiple things they need to operate the LSCO.

“It’s also time for people to get together, we got good numbers show up, too, because we haven’t had many public events because of COVID,” said Miyashiro.

He said members of the community had the opportunity to gather outdoors and enjoy some food while listening to some entertainment from a singer.

“Just something we have a good venue for, we can do it outside, it’s just one of those things that my staff organizes in order to not just help our members but to bring community members together,” said Miyashiro.

He said the funds collected Friday will help the recovery process from lack of fundraising opportunities in the last couple of years.

“Every little bit helps. A lot of our revenue comes from things like people attending classes and groups and paying fees for those things, people coming into our dining room and having lunch and breakfast,” said Miyashiro.

He said those sources of revenue were also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as many members were reluctant to take part in those activities after the restrictions were lifted. So having over 400 people attend the barbecue Friday was a great help.

“We only prepared for 300 and we had over 400, so one of the staff had to get more hamburger buns, the cook had to cook up a bunch more burgers,” said Miyashiro.

He said they fried them in the kitchen until they were almost cooked and then they brought them out to finish cooking and keep them warm on the grill.

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