LobsterFest 2011 Emerges From The Steam To Feed A Hungry Town

By Shannon Hicks

Despite a swift but strong storm that moved through the area on June 9, disrupting the final work session for the members of Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue who were setting up for their 24th Annual LobsterFest, event co-chair Karin Halstead called the annual event and fundraiser a success.

“It was an excellent weekend,” Ms Halstead said. “Even despite rain and cooler temperatures on Saturday, and the fact that we had members respond to a mutual aid call to help Southbury [which took a handful of firefighters away from Sandy Hook for a few hours], everything worked out well.”

The volunteer fire company welcomed a few thousand people to its main station on Riverside Road on Friday and Saturday, June 10 and 11. Following a menu that has worked for years, lobster and/or steak dinners (some ticket holders do opt for surf & turf) included potato salad, homemade Manhattan-style clam chowder and corn on the cob. Non-seafood lovers as well as those with smaller appetites again had the option of purchasing hamburger or hot dog dinners. And a raw bar was again operated, offering clams, steamers, and shrimp for a separate charge.

The crowd was larger on Saturday than it had been on Friday, which is typical for the event.

“It was steady though,” said Anthony Capozziello, the company’s assistant chief and co-chair of LobsterFest since 1998. “We were able to keep up with the crowd.

“Everything went well all weekend, in fact,” he added.

Ms Halstead, who was serving as co-chair with Mr Capozziello for the fourth year, reported this week that at least 1,600 lobsters were cooked over the two nights and more than 600 steak dinners were served.

“Our to-go area was very busy, also,” she added.

Betty Stohl and Kelly Richardson coordinated the packing of hundreds of dinners for ticket-holders who chose to take their dinners home. For the second year, these dinners were packed up and delivered from one of the bays of the station’s new addition. Patrons were able to drive into the fire company’s back parking lot and pick up their dinners with relative ease. In years past, those wishing to take dinners home had to park, make their way into the bays where dine-in dinners were being served, and wait for their dinners to be packed before heading back out to their vehicle with their food.

Those who chose to stay on site for dinner either ate at one of the tables that had been set up inside the bays or under one of the large party tents that had been set up in the front parking lot last weekend. Members of the fire company, including its Ladies Auxiliary, took care of cooking, serving, and steadily cleaning up the tables for the next diners. While some members were constantly clearing tables and emptying garbage cans, others were washing trays and other dishes on the edge of the grilling area set up behind the firehouse. Further behind the scenes, Colleen Poundstone kept things moving in the kitchen with help from Aggie Jensen, Kevin Gilroy, and Katherine Will.

Outdoors, George Lockwood, Sr, George Lockwood, Jr, and Matt Dobson staffed the grills, while Bill Shpunt and John Will had the unenviable task of loading trays of lobster into a steamer. Other volunteers — members as well as friends of the volunteer company — took care of cracking open the lobsters and running trays of the cooked food in to the serving line.

Two-plus decades into LobsterFest, it was a steady process that kept members of all ages busy all weekend.

Firefighters also raffled off a pair of huge lobsters. Engineer Rob Sibley sold tickets, at $1 each, for an 11-pound lobster on Friday night and a 10-pound lobster on Saturday.

“We’ll even cook it for you,” he said quite a few times, making the decision a little easier for those who wanted to buy one of the crustaceans but could not fathom how they would handle the preparation of such a large animal.

When dinner was finished, there was entertainment to enjoy both nights. On Friday the fire company welcomed the return of The Hollister Thompson Band, who performs music from the 1950s to today, as well as their own originals. On Saturday the music came courtesy of The Penfield Reefers Band, offering their take on classic and Southern rock.

The ladies auxiliary also offered desserts and sold tickets for a raffle, the proceeds of which will benefit the fire company as much as LobsterFest does. LobsterFest is one of three public fundraisers the fire company conducts annually, the others being a golf tournament in July and Christmas tree sales in December.

For additional photos from Sandy Hook LobsterFest 2011, visit www.NewtownBee.com.