For many, this St. Patrick’s Day the tradition of eating corned beef and cabbage had to be enjoyed at home this year, if one had the recipe.

The doors of the old Deborgia Schoolhouse remained closed on March 17 as the annual Irish dinner was canceled.

During their monthly meeting, the Deborgia Schoolhouse Foundation considered the facts and concerns of the current public health crisis, the Coronavirus.

“This was a hard decision being that it is one of the few fundraisers that we hold throughout the year, but we felt it was better to err on the side of caution out of concern for members of the community,” Foundation vice president Lynette Walters said.

At the time of the meeting, no confirmed cases of the virus were present in the state.

“A lot of people that have criticized our decision say that no one in Montana has yet contracted the virus, and they feel we are being influenced by ‘hype’ and have no reason to be concerned,” Walters said.

But for the most part, it has been very supportive.

“I think people, once they look at the demographic of the people who come to our dinners, and of those who work to provide the dinner, realize that even though it was hard to make this decision, that we did it out of concern for all of us,” Walters said.

Only a few supplies had been bought for the dinner, most of the fresh food items were going to be purchased a few days before the event. So nothing has gone to waste.

The St. Patrick’s Day dinner has been put on for 10 years at the Deborgia Schoolhouse through the hard work of volunteers and board members. They look forward to seeing everyone soon at upcoming community events this spring and summer.