As the smell of grilling chicken filled the air and familiar faces gathered once again, the community came together Saturday for the 69th annual Cutchogue Fire Department chicken barbecue, a summer tradition that has kept generations of residents coming back year after year.

The barbecue returned to the Cutchogue Fire Department after construction of the new firehouse was complete. “We’re back in the original venue,” said firefighter and EMS volunteer Daniel Kaelin. “Everybody looks forward to the chicken.”

The event has become more than a fundraiser for generations of North Fork residents; it’s an annual opportunity to catch up with neighbors, share a meal and enjoy one of the community’s enduring summer traditions.

Fred Haas, has been attending for 13 years, and not just for the chicken, which is skewered and grilled on racks sending the aroma wafting through the hamlet.

“It’s just the community coming together and having a good time,” Mr. Haas said. “I look forward to it every summer.”

In 1957, it cost only $2.50 for half a chicken, potato salad, corn, veggies and ice cream with fresh peaches on top, opposed to $40 now — but people still lineup, single-file, down New Suffolk Road.

Some firefighters and EMS volunteers shared what makes this event so special, which is the camaraderie, seeing people they don’t see regularly, the delicious food, and the warm feelings of community involvement.

“They need to come, that’s the bottom line,” Mr. Haas says to those who have never attended.

1 | 8

Photos by Nick Mongiovi

The post Cutchogue chicken barbecue returns home for 69th year appeared first on The Suffolk Times.

Source link

24World Media does not take any responsibility of the information you see on this page. The content this page contains is from independent third-party content provider. If you have any concerns regarding the content, please free to write us here: contact@24worldmedia.com