Jeff Green | Apr 29, 2020


Spaghetti fans from Ompah to Parham, Maberly to Arden, and all points in between, enjoyed a spaghetti and Caesar salad

dinner from the Sharbot Lake Country Inn on Sunday night, taking a break from those endless home-cooked COVID meals.

At a price of $15 per person for pickup or free delivery, 170 people jumped at the opportunity, to the benefit of the North Frontenac Food Bank.

“We were hoping to raise about $2,000,” said Sandra White, co-owner of the inn, “and we had a really good response, but what surprised me was how much extra money people donated to the food bank, on top of the price of the meal.”

With $1075 in donations, and the revenue from the meal $3,200 was raised for the food bank.

“It was a really solid response, and it fits in well with everything else we have seen, the kind of business we have been doing in our two takeout nights each week and the desire people have to help out. We didn’t know it when we decided to do this fundraiser, but it was national volunteer week last week, and Sunday night was also the night when the Stronger Together TV concert took place, and it was raising money for food banks, so all of that might have helped,” she said.

Sandra and her husband, Frank White, have now owned the County Inn and Crossing Pub for 10 years.

When dine in service at restaurants was shut down as part of the COVID-19 lockdown, they closed the Inn for a few weeks before starting up Wednesday and Friday Night takeout a few weeks ago.

“We have a smaller than normal menu of course, mostly focussing on wings Wednesday and fish on Fridays, but we are selling between 60 and 80 meals each night, which would be pretty good in the restaurant for this time of year, so we are happy with it has gone,” she said.

Although no one knows when restaurants can re-open, Sandra said that since the takeout window is in place and is adjacent to an outdoor patio space , there may be an opportunity to have people use the patio this summer without opening the restaurant itself.

“We will look at whatever the new rules are and then figure out what makes sense for us. The important thing is for everyone to remains safe.”

For now, the Crossing Pub takeout continues, with delivery being provided, for free, by Frontenac Transportation Services.

 

 

 

 

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