VFD Chicken BBQ's

quikdraw67

quikdraw67

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The vast majority of fire companies in NEPA are volunteer. Only the larger cities/towns in the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valleys have full time paid firemen.

So the VFD's have to hold fundraisers to pay for their trucks and equipment.

Many of them hold chicken BBQ's during the summer months to bring in needed funds.

Maplewood Fire & Rescue had theirs today, and it was well worth the $15. Best chicken BBQ in NEPA IMHO. It was lunch and it will be dinner, that's how much we got in the box.

IDK if this is just a PA thing, or do your local VFD's do the same where you live?
 
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Where I grew up as a kid outside Cincinnati OH, all the local volunteer fire departments had fish fries on rotating Friday nights and big chicken BBQs as you described for special occasions.
Where I have lived for the past 40+ years in west central OH, I haven't seen any of the VFDs do either, except maybe a tent at the county fair.
Like everywhere else these days, they probably are having trouble recruiting volunteers for fire fighting & training, much less getting enough help to show up for extra events.
 
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There was a VFD on Eastern Shore of Va. that had BBQ chicken every weekend in the summer, where Rt.13 split in this small town. Some of the best BBQ chicken I’ve had. Very fresh as in the middle of chicken raising area.
 
mckenney99 said:
Where I grew up as a kid outside Cincinnati OH, all the local volunteer fire departments had fish fries on rotating Friday nights and big chicken BBQs as you described for special occasions.
Click to expand...

Those and the three day church festivals peppered in and around I-275 could keep you busy and well fed all summer.
 
Ohio, Kentucky, SE Penn., and South NJ all have lots of fish fries. Covid put a STOMP on that. I'm just now seeing a comeback to that form of Fund Raising.

The Lions of Sunbury, Ohio do an Ox Roast on the square for the three summer holidays. Used to be a pretty wild time when I was a kid. Now a nice flea market and lots of Roast Beef sandwiches.

The VFD's in Minitola and Buena, NJ seems to have a self-sustaining tax base. They give away more than basic emergency services. (As do the surrounding VFD's)

One example: When storms knock out the power grid, they go house to house for two things: Wellness Checks, and to pass out free bags of Ice. They do this every day until the crisis has passed!

Ivan
 
Hayfield VFD has one each summer, very good although it is inevitably a hot day to sit in the fire house garage. In RI Hope-Jackson VFD had steak frys each year followed by a fireworks show. Enjoyed it each year that I was COP, the PD was across the street. Volunteers are difficult to find these days, but the experience can be helpful for those seeking full time FD employment.
 
We used to do steaks on the grill at my old department. Was always a long day, but always fun.


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We have a volunteer fire dept. Our county went on taxes. The fire tax is added on the property tax. Before we went on taxes we had a fund drive every year which took a lot of time for the firemen and many large property owners did not give their fair share. We also had chicken bar-b-ques which also was a lot of work and time for the firemen. We had to be very frugal with the money.
I was one of the people that pushed going on taxes and I think that time was well spent. Some of the big landowners wanted forest and farmland to be exempt. When asked if they would call the fire Dept. if their field or woods was on fire they said yes. We said no exemption. Now everyone pays the same rate but the more you own, the more you pay. I think that is the fairest and it's much easier on the volunteers. Larry
 
Ours has a big pancake breakfast on the 4th of July.
 
In Ashtabula County and surrounding counties you can get a fish fry, Swiss steak dinner, pancake breakfasts, ox roasts, spaghetti dinners and a couple other I am forgetting. Each weekend is something different in a different department.

Kevin
 
StrawHat said:
In Ashtabula County and surrounding counties you can get a fish fry, Swiss steak dinner, pancake breakfasts, ox roasts, spaghetti dinners and a couple other I am forgetting. Each weekend is something different in a different department.

Kevin
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good menu plan!

Ivan
 
Following my 30+ year LE career, I became a volunteer EMT/firefighter where we now live. After a few years I became chief of the two VFDs in the area.

Various types of fund raisers were (still are) how we stayed in business. While we had two separate districts, and thus two VFDs, we were (are) one community. Besides our fund raiser events we are blessed to have a very supportive community for both VFDs (which I ran as a single dept with two stations) so we have done well with donations.

I also wrote a lot of grants.

I think VFDs are similar all over the country in that it takes work, resourcefulness and hustle to stay afloat.
 
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