The golden deciduous leaves and tamarack needles have fallen since my last blog post, and given way to muted shades of brown, rust, grey, and the forest green of evergreens. The sun has been hiding behind clouds for days, and if it is not pouring rain, then it is at least drizzling and damp. It is "classic" Cape Breton November weather (except the daily high is 5 degrees above the average for this time of year).
What better way to cheer up than to drop in to "Toast & Tea" at the Hillsborough-Glendyer Hall on Highway 252?? The Tuesday morning drop-in has been nourishing community in Hillsborough for almost a year now.
The "Open" sign on the door felt inviting — "open the door and come on in!" For $5, anyone can help themselves to - not just "toast and tea" - but locally roasted SWIG coffee; black, green, or herbal tea from the Cape Breton Tea Company, bagels from Brook Village Grocery, and the most amazing homemade treats, including THREE varieties of gluten-free sweets, donated by a regular patron. I poured myself some tea, took a gluten-free oatcake, and sat at an empty table. The hall was about 2/3rds full when I arrived — people in earnest conversation at tables or standing around the baked goods table, chatting. My heart felt full and warm with the simple magic of this gathering.
Toast & Tea is the inspiration of my dear friend, Kit, who LOVES food—growing, cooking, baking, and eating food. But her favourite thing to do with food is to share it and use it to nourish and build community. In the dead of winter 2024, after a monster snow storm had her stuck at home for a week, Kit was inspired to do what she loves best—and Toast & Tea was born. She wanted to keep things simple, and really, what is more simple than toast and tea? She also wanted to make it affordable and accessible to everyone. The entrance fee is $5 but Kit says many people give more, and there has been enough surplus to buy new, comfortable, and easy-to-clean chairs for the hall. There's a kids' area too, on the elevated platform where the muscians play on Saturday nights. It is visible from anywhere in the hall, so parents can keep an eye out while also enjoying some adult company.
Kit makes the scones (from scratch) on Monday, and gets up at 4:30 AM on Tuesday to bake them. This week, the scones were maple apple. Yum. A regular patron, Alan, brought gluten-free chocolate cake, fruit cake, and the delicious oatcakes I enjoyed. Michelle stands near the door to collect the fee and make change. Kate helps at the baked goods table, while Kit keeps the dishes clean and the coffee pot full. Usually between 40 and 70 people show up. Recently, after the provincial election was called, local political candidates showed up to chat up the patrons.
It is a simple but brilliant idea. Kit is already starting to field calls from people in other rural Cape Breton communities, wondering how to set up something similar in their areas.
Kit and her friends have created what sociologist Ray Oldenburg has termed a "great good place" or a "third place," where people can gather, hang out, and have conversations away from home (the "first place") and work (the "second place"). There aren't many of these third places in rural areas, especially with the decline of church-going. In larger centres, people use coffee shops, mall spaces, or fitness centres, but none of these have the warmth and simple charms of Toast & Tea.
The advertising for the new, updated version of Oldenburg's "The Great Good Place" describes how third places "have a vital role to play in solving the big challenges of climate change, loneliness, and political polarization." Whew - that seems like big expectations for a little volunteer run drop-in, but it is fun to think about how our collective life and politics might shift if there were more drop-ins like Toast & Tea, where everyone is welcome, in communities across the country. It would be a great start on the task of restoring "the lost art of conversation," the subject of this year's CBC Radio's Massey Lectures, by the creative and generous novelist and poet Ian Williams.
I hope you can stop by Toast & Tea on Tuesday morning. If that is not possible, consider inviting some neighbours over for tea. Or, as Williams might advise, muster the courage to strike up a conversation with a stranger, out of sheer curiosity to understand another.
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