It's not so much the culinary aspect of the job but also the organizational skills to put it all together that showcases the talent of the catering director at the Elder Citizen Rec Centre.
Jean Liversidge really likes to keep busy and there's no better way than to host 37 catered events over the course of a year that raised more than $26,000 to offset operating costs for the Elder Citizen Recreation Association that has more than 900 members.
Liversidge and her team of like-minded volunteers took on seven events in December and Liversidge said she's still feeling the affects of the busy month. Luckily, January is traditionally a slower month for the catering department, even though they've already got seven bookings from now until May on the schedule.
Birthday and memorial teas, luncheons, dinners and conferences all find their way to ECRA at 1692 Tenth Ave. Some are sandwich, pickle tray and dessert events accompanied by coffee and tea, while others feature a full course roast beef and baked chicken dinner with accouterments like the latest culinary delight offered at ECRA, fork-tender parsnip butternut squash with a crispy dressing topping, garnished with pecans on a bed of spinach.
"I think that's why we're getting more popular, because we don't just offer carrots and peas," said Liversidge. "It's good to experiment, change things and add new items to the menu."
Liversidge said the ECRA catering department is known far and wide for their goofy bun.
"I brought in the recipe for the goofy bun that's about 45 years old," said Liversidge.
The goofy bun is ham, cheese and everything but the kitchen sink placed on a half a hamburger bun and melt it in the oven, she said. It's the one hot sandwich offered at the teas.
"It's very popular," said Liversidge.
A lady visiting from down south was very excited about trying the goofy bun.
"She said 'I know about this centre and their goofy bun and I can hardly wait to taste it - it's all I've heard about'," said Liversidge, with a smile. "She wasn't disappointed."
Liversidge, who was raised on a farm where everyone started cooking at a young age, began volunteering in the kitchen at ECRA five years ago and still works the cash register and does some prep work about once a week. She became catering director four years ago.
"Sometimes it makes for long days," said Liversidge. "Being the director, at times you're here at 10 in the morning to get the meat in and you're here until 2 a.m. when the bar closes and everybody's gone. So I've had a couple of 16-hour days."
There's a catering committee of three and then there's as many as 15 other volunteers to make an event go smoothly. When there's a luncheon and a dinner, volunteers will take a morning or afternoon shift, depending on their preference, said Liversidge.
"It's a lot heavier job than I thought it was," she said. "But I love it."
It starts with the client making the request for catering services, a meeting to find out the details and make sure all the client's wishes are met. Then two members of the catering team go shopping for everything required to make the event a success.
"There hasn't been one group that we've worked with that hasn't been absolutely wonderful," said Liversidge. "And my volunteers? I just can't believe these people. They're always there."
Going down the four-page list of willing volunteers takes some time and coordinating them all can be a challenge. Some people want to do the food preparation, like peeling and chopping vegetables, while others will do the cooking, another set does the baking and some will serve and attend the event and do clean up. Some will even be there through the entire process from start to finish. It all depends on the volunteer.
"We're really blessed to have the volunteers we have," said Liversidge.
Flip through The Citizen's Volunteer City series, featuring stand-out volunteers in Prince George:
