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Willows Tea Room winds down for the season

Kiwanis volunteers cook up final Sunday breakfast April 7
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Sunday breakfasts at the Willows Beach Tea Room are run by Kiwanis members and volunteers. Coun. Hazel Braithwaite jumped in to help cook this morning and Janet Morningstar, vice-president of the Kiwanis Pavilion Foundation, helped serve. (Keri Coles/Black Press Media)

Two more opportunities remain for breakfast at Oak Bay’s 70-year-old tearoom.

Oak Bay Kiwanis Club members and volunteers serve breakfast every Sunday from January through April 7 from 9 a.m. to noon at the tea house on the shores of Willows Beach. Guests select a meal of eggs with bacon or ham, toast, coffee and juice; or French toast or pancakes with bacon or ham and coffee and juice for $12 per person.

Funds raised through the Sunday breakfasts directly benefit residents of the Kiwanis Pavilion on Cedar Hill X Road. The 122-unit residential care facility in Saanich, owned and operated by Kiwanis Club of Oak Bay, offers compassionate care to people living and dying with frailty and dementia.

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“As times change we want to make that care even better,” said Janet Morningstar, vice-president of Kiwanis Pavilion Foundation. That means supporting extra items, particularly the music therapy program. “We lost our grant for music therapy… now we’re trying to catch up on that.”

The club hosts three events a year to raise funds for the pavilion, the Sunday breakfasts, the recent Shred-it event and this year a dance planned for Nov. 9 at Naden. “We’re committed,” Morningstar said, adding they just gave the pavilion $100,000.

Sundays are also just “a good time” with Kiwanis members, volunteers including council members and Rotarians and the guests themselves.

“We enjoy it and we enjoy seeing people have the best view,” Morningstar said.

On April 27 the tearoom shifts into summer gear with the longstanding tradition of hamburgers and ice cream cones that helped the local Kiwanis club give $60,000 to charities in Oak Bay last year. “The tearoom is a piece of heritage for Oak Bay. It has long served to raise money to give to charities,” Morningstar said.

The Kiwanis Willows Beach Tea Room marks a milestone this year, turning 70 on May 24. While Oak Bay Kiwanis has served the community since 1946, the club built the teahouse in 1949.



c.vanreeuwyk@blackpress.ca

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Christine van Reeuwyk

About the Author: Christine van Reeuwyk

I'm dedicated to serving the community of Oak Bay as a senior journalist with the Greater Victoria news team.
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