Shelter Island Reporter Editorial: A great tradition continues

The old saying, “No rest for the weary,” should be, “Little rest for the bravest,” when it comes to putting together one of summer’s greatest traditions for our community, the Shelter Island Fire Department’s Chicken Barbecue.

It’s ironic that the firefighters, who must drop everything to respond to emergency calls and work hard for the community all year, don’t even get a Saturday off in August. They work at the barbecue, along with the department’s Women’s Auxiliary and a host of other volunteers for all the rest of us.

It’s estimated that all of the effort to bring off the great feast, including getting permits and filings completed, setting up the event at Fireman’s Field for deliveries, parking, cooking and serving, along with cleaning up and tearing down the site, takes — are you ready? —2,060 man and woman hours. That comes to about 86 days.

The firefighters cooked about 2,200 chickens and 1,900 ears of corn, with leftover food donated to Camp Quinipet and several charities.

But the volunteers made it seem like the opposite of work. If you were there on Saturday — and lucky you because the chicken was fall-off-the-bone tender and the corn was sweeter than ever — you saw that our Fire Department’s men and women and those of the Emergency Medical Services were all smiles down to the last chicken grilled and eaten.

The same can be said for all the Islanders and their guests who went home with full bellies and warm memories of a splendid community gathering.

Estimates of the attendance were inconsistent, but a good bet is that more than 1,800 people chowed down, and tens of thousands of dollars were raised. The Fire Department will put the money to good use for equipment and training to keep our Island safe.

Beyond the funds raised, the department raised spirits and a sense of community connection that will last long after the memory of a great day begins to fade.