COVID-19 changing Lethbridge’s New Years Eve celebrations – Lethbridge | The Canadian News

Tables and chairs are set up at the Lethbridge Italian Canadian Club, but will remain empty on New Years Eve.

What was supposed to be a meeting for 2022 is now a dinner in the car, after the mounting of COVID-19 cases and new restrictions forced the Italian-Canadian Cultural Center to change its plans.

“Everybody was prepared and ready to go and now everything has to go ahead,” said the club’s treasurer, Lina McNab. “But we did a drive-thru and it’s working really well.”

Last week, the province announced new restrictions for the hospitality sector, which included a limit of 10 people per table, alcohol service ended at 11 p.m. and dancing would no longer be allowed, a great success for the president of the club Lindy Horvath and other members of the club.

“When people come to the Italian Canadian Club, they don’t always come for the entertainment or the food, they come for the dancing,” Horvath said. “Stopping them from dancing is like tying their hands behind their backs.”

The current restrictions even caused some events to go completely offline, including the LA Chefs New Years Eve party.

The Italian Canadian Club said it wanted to make sure people still had a chance to celebrate.

“People who come here come here no matter if it’s New Years, but they always look forward to the New Years; We wanted to have the opportunity for them to at least get the good food and go home and share it with their families, ”Horvath said.

And as plans continue to run smoothly heading into 2022 amid the ever-changing COVID-19 situation, groups like the Italian Canadian Club will remain flexible until they can welcome their members in person.

“They were really looking forward to getting back to the hall and attending the events again, so hopefully if things really move forward and get better, we can do it again,” Horvath said.