Few things in life are certain, but the residents of a North Vancouver cul-de-sac know they can count on a home-cooked meal, a tacky gift exchange and good, neighbourly fun at the end of each December.
Saturday, Dec. 20, marked the 25th consecutive year the families on Theta Court have gathered for a progressive Christmas dinner. The quiet street, tucked behind Dorothy Lynas elementary in Deep Cove, is lined with just 16 houses, most of them built in the late 1980s.
Christine Thomas and her husband John moved into their home in 1989. She recalls the first time she and her new neighbours met up for an impromptu Christmas party. "We sat at the bottom of the street and had hot chocolate and a big bag of pressies for the little ones on the street," Thomas says.
Ellen Muirhead and her husband Peter had also just moved in. The couple previously lived in an area of Waterloo, Ont., where all the homes had identical floor plans. The residents there would hold progressive dinners, a style of party that moves from house to house over the course of the evening.
"We just really liked that idea and we came out here and we didn't have any immediate family out here and so it's just a really nice way to connect with our neighbours," Muirhead says. "Everybody was really keen on it."
The Theta Court dinners started out as three-house safaris: appetizers at one residence, a sit-down dinner at the second, and coffee, dessert and a cheesy gift exchange at the third. For the last decade, though, the parties have been scaled back: a buffet dinner at one house and an after-party at another. But last Saturday, to mark a quarter century of keeping the tradition alive, the party on Theta Court returned to a three-house affair, complete with a sit-down feast for an expected 26 guests. Former neighbours and grown-up children who have moved away were also invited to drop in.
"Of the neighbourhood, we've got 16 homes on Theta Court and there's still 12 original families living here," says Thomas, who quickly adds that new residents have all eagerly joined in the annual celebration.
There have been countless memorable moments over the years, like the time all the husbands on the street decided to give their wives a break from cooking and prepared salmon Wellington.
"It was fantastic," Thomas recalls, noting that same dish was on the menu this year too.
Meanwhile, during the hectic transition from house to house, it's not unusual for Christmas ornaments and illuminated lawn decorations to go "missing" from one residence and mysteriously appear down the street later on in the evening.
Asked what has kept this Christmas tradition going for 25 years, Thomas says she and her neighbours just like each other's company.
"We've helped each other out and always been there to watch out for our kids as they grew up," she says. "Even so, we haven't been on each other's door steps all the time. We're close friends, but we're not living out of each other's pockets," she adds with a laugh.
By Thomas's count, 39 children have called Theta Court home since the cul-de-sac was built, and while most of them are grown up and moved out, she is buoyed by the recent arrival of a young family across the road from her with three children under the age of six. "We're starting again now with the little ones on the street, which is great."
