Island groups look to brighten Thanksgiving despite ongoing power outages
CBC
Thousands of Maritime Electric customers have had their power restored this long weekend, but many Islanders are still expected to spend Thanksgiving Monday in the dark.
Nearly 5,000 customers were still without power on Sunday, 16 days after post-tropical storm Fiona knocked out electricity across the Island. That's down from 11,000 Friday afternoon.
In a tweet on Sunday, Maritime Electric said over 240 crews were working to restore power, adding that some jobs will "require several crews and multiple hours, or even days, to complete."
The utility had said earlier this week it could be three weeks before some customers get their power back.
Despite that, some Islanders are taking steps to make Thanksgiving less gloomy.
The Kings Playhouse in Georgetown has organized a community Thanksgiving dinner that's free for members of the community. Organizers will also offer takeout and delivery for residents.
Executive director Haley Zavo said most Georgetown residents got their power back in the first five days after the storm, but it took as long as 11 days for some in the outskirts.
She said some people in the community still remain without power.
"We've been through such a sort of a grueling few weeks," Zavo said.
"The opportunity to sit down and share a meal together and maybe provide people with just a nice, free hot meal -- it just seemed like a really good opportunity to gather our community together, to celebrate Thanksgiving and also to enjoy each other's company."
Zavo said they're expecting a full house and have already reached capacity for their dinners.
The Salvation Army Charlottetown Community Church is also preparing a meal.
Corps officer John Burton said it was a "last-minute" decision amid many relief efforts undertaken by the organization.
"Thanksgiving snuck up on us, but we wanted to obviously continue what we were doing to help the community," he said.
