Fire/Rescue News - Fire Department's turkey dinner a tradition for thousands in Beach Haven
By DONNA WEAVER, Staff Writer | Posted: Sunday, February 14, 2010 | 0 comments
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BEACH HAVEN - It smelled like Thanksgiving for blocks in the borough Saturday as the Beach Haven Volunteer Fire Department held its 93rd annual turkey dinner fundraiser. The scent of turkey and all the trimmings wafted through the cold February air....Continue Reading
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The fire department was started in April 1883 and is the oldest in Ocean County, according to Fire Chief Matt Letts. The turkey dinner event began not long after the department's inception. Letts, 26, said his family has been active in the department since the beginning, and he is a third-generation fire chief.
"The fire company was started after the Perry House burned down in 1881. The Holy Innocents Church is there now. The community realized there was a need for a fire department," Letts said.
The department fought the famous blazes at the Baldwin Hotel in Beach Haven in the 1940s and in again in 1960, Letts said.
The popular turkey dinner began as a chicken dinner that was held at the Green Gables restaurant, which is now the Gables Bed and Breakfast on Centre Street, he said. "Back then, they cooked the chickens themselves. We get the turkeys precooked from a caterer, and we steam them."
In 2009, the department sold almost 2,500 turkey dinners. By 5:30 p.m. Saturday, almost 1,300 had been sold and the dinnertime lines were lengthening for takeout and sit-down dining at the fire hall.
"It's about fifty, fifty, the takeout and eat-in that is sold," Letts said.
Every year, the fundraiser is a time for good food, but also a chance for locals and homeowners who vacation on Long Beach Island to gather together and catch up. It's also the perfect long weekend for out-of-town homeowners to check on their summer homes.
"People usually come down on Presidents Day weekend to check on their homes, and then they usually come here for our turkey dinner. It's a tradition," said Letts.
Jane Swartz of Newtown, Pa., was celebrating her 23rd wedding anniversary this weekend, but also said celebrating at the shore was an excuse to check on her home on 28th Street in Ship Bottom.
"We came to get dinner here today because when we were married 23 years ago on Valentine's Day we had turkey dinner. We saw this and said, well, we have to get a turkey dinner for our anniversary," Swartz said.
It was a good thing that Heidi Larson and her husband, Tor, came from West Chester, Pa., for their annual turkey dinner and to check on their house in the Holgate section of Long Beach Township.
Although they shut the electricity and water off at their Scott Drive home after Thanksgiving, the Larsons said, the series of storms over the last few months have caused property damage.
"We had a few feet of snow sitting on our fiberglass deck, and we have a sunroom below it. We have some water leaking in our house," said Heidi Larson.
Henry Grinbaum of Ringoes, Hunterdon County, said he has been coming to the fundraiser for 13 years.
"It's great food. It's also a good weekend to check on your home, especially after the 30 inches of snow we had," said Grinbaum, who shared a table with the Larsons, whose Holgate home is one street away from the Grinbaums.
For others, buying multiple dinners at $12 apiece, it was simply about tradition on Saturday. Eighty-year-old Stanley Wasilewski of the Beach Haven Terrace section of Long Beach Township bought 10 dinners. He stood in line, patiently waiting for Beach Haven police Sgt. Thomas Medel, who is also a fireman, to pack up his family's dinners, desserts and side dishes.
"I was supposed to be getting 11, but one of my sons couldn't make it down. My children and five grandchildren come every year, just for this," Wasilewski said.
Contact Donna Weaver: 609-226-9198 DWeaver@pressofac.com
Posted in OCEAN on Sunday, February 14, 2010 2:23 am Updated: 11:12 am.
