Barbeques and pancake breakfasts celebrate community—and raise dollars

Church and firehouse events are the perfect introduction to a community

By TOM KANE

RIVER VALLEY—When we first came to the Upper Delaware River valley from Manhattan in 1989, my ex-wife and I suspected that the “country” people would be unfriendly and even hostile to us “city” people.

After a short time here, we realized that our suspicions were not true. In fact, the opposite was the case. The people of the area were very friendly and welcomed us openly.

We experienced this hospitality whenever we attended a firemen’s barbeque or a church pancake breakfast. In fact, attendance at these homey events was the best introduction to what life was going to be like here for us.

Each fire company, church and social group used these events for fundraisers for their organizations. While the obvious purpose is economic, I can say that the social purposes seem to play an equally big role.

For instance, there was Clarence up in Callicoon Center, who was the unofficial mayor of the place and made us very welcome, introducing us to everyone at the breakfast and letting us in on the main events that would be held there that summer.

The big event that he championed was the free Monday night band concerts that had been going on at an old bandstand for years. The musical programs weren’t at all like the Lincoln Center concerts that we had been attending, but the small-town atmosphere was a lot more warm and welcoming.

Attending a firemen’s barbeque in Callicoon, we learned that a local musical group was going to perform excerpts from an opera and were urged to attend.

Not expecting a whole lot, we went anyway, and were blown away when we heard an incredibly talented soprano, named Cynthia Miller, a local fireman bass/baritone named Jeff Jensen and another talented spinto tenor. The voices were as good as any I heard in the New York City Opera.

At another breakfast in Damascus, PA, a couple we met invited us to attend a square dance. We teamed up with them to complete the square (four dancers comprised a square.) Fumbling around the dance floor—neither of us had ever done a square dance—we finally got the hang of it, aided by our partners, who guided every step.

Having realized how much fun we had at these events, we also saw that all of these groups needed money and used the events as a source of raising funds.

The Narrowsburg Firemen’s July 5th barbeque shown in the accompanying photo is an example of such an effort.

“We need a new roof and this is one of the ways we try to raise some of the money,” said Art Hawker, a member of the fire company. “We cooked and packaged 500 dinners with chicken, potatoes, a vegetable and a roll in each. It looks like we’re going to sell out like we do every year.”

Next Sunday, July 13, St. Mary’s Church in Obernburg, NY will hold its pancake breakfast, and on July 12 and 13 the Briscoe Dam Yard Sale will be held at the Jeffersonville Fire House in Jeffersonville, NY on the same day, with St. Mary’s breakfast in the morning and the Briscoe Dam Yard Sale in the afternoon. The United Methodist Church in White Sulphur Springs, NY will have a chicken barbeque on July 12 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.

More upcoming church and firehouse meals may be found in our event calendar (see pages 18C and 19C).

Take your pick or, better yet, go to a bunch and meet your neighbors.