| On Saturday August 23rd the United Fire Company #1 and the Cutchogue Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary hosted their 68th Annual Chicken Barbecue.
This annual event has grown since it's beginning to serve over 3200 people each year.
Considered "Long Island's Largest Chicken Barbecue" the event takes place each year on the fourth Saturday in August, and for many families, this event has officially marked the end of the summer on the North Fork.
Perfect weather consisting of sunny skies and temperatures in the near 80's set the stage for another successful event.
Because of our new firehouse construction, this year's event was once again held at Peconic Bay Vineyards in Cutchogue.
This year,'s barbecue was hopefully better than ever. The Cutchogue Fire Department was pleased to serve well over three thousand two hundred smiling faces in person during the night under the "Big Tent" and in take-out.
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CFD members began their day at 8 o'clock in the morning finalizing preparations for the barbecue.
Volunteers over the course of the morning began husking nearly7000 ears of corn, preparing over 1000 pounds of potato salad, sliced peaches, and cucumbers for the homemade salads, prepared by the CFD Auxiliary.
Shortly after 12 o'clock the fires were lit to cook the over 3500 halves of chicken needed to serve the hungry barbecue goers. Throughout the afternoon the smell of BBQ chicken and smoke filled the air around Cutchogue.
At 3:30 p.m., chickens were served as the sold out crowd lined up to be seated under the tent. This would continue until the last ticket holder was seated at nearly 9:00 pm.
In what has now become a CFD tradition, the CFD Marching Band entered the tent for a special performance to close out the night to the delight of everyone attending.
The Officers and Members of the Cutchogue Fire Department and the CFD Ladies Auxiliary would like to thank our membership, the many volunteers, CFD Junior Firefighters, CFD family members, local businesses and members of the community for their continued support of this annual fundraising event.
Thank you to chairmen Richard Jernick III and Bryan Zissel and all of the CFD members for your hard work leading up to and throughout the week to make this 68th Annual Chicken Barbecue a huge success.
Thank you to the Peconic Bay Vineyard for allowing us to again have "Chicken in the Vineyard", along with thanks to your staff and the Soloviev family for your support. https://www.peconicbayvineyards.com/
Thank you to Stony Brook University Eastern Long Island Hospital for being the corporate sponsor of this years event, as well as all of our other banner sponsors and raffle supporters. Your continued support is greatly appreciated.
Thank you to the Mattituck & Southold Fire Departments who stood by providing Fire and EMS coverage during the event, as well as the Southold Town Police Department who assisted with traffic control and keeping us all safe.
Other organizations that assisted us with logistical help and donated equipment include:
Braun Seafood
A.W. Glover Trucking
Coastline Cesspool & Drain
Mattituck Lions Club
Suffolk County Fire-Rescue
Mattituck-Cutchogue School District
Southold Town Highway Dept.
Valero of Cutchogue
Thank you to the many community volunteers who helped by working the event. Some of our community volunteers this year included Cadets from the Southold Mattituck -Greenport NJROTC Unit and Kait's Angels.
We are truly grateful for the help and support from everyone.
Please check back, more pictures will be posted as they become available.
It great to have the community to celebrate this great summer event with us.
A North Fork Summer Tradition for 68 years!
We eagerly look forward to next year!
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Please check out the coverage and awesome pictures from our local media sites. The links are below. Thank you for your coverage. |
