Lobsterfest

A Success…Again

By Kendra Bobowick

Clattering across the stainless steel, lobsters fresh from the pot slid within reach as Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company members snared a leg or a claw and made neat slices along the undersides of the tails.

Wave after wave of roughly 1,800 red hot lobsters made their way to serving tables inside the company garage where — dressed in red and white plastic table cloths — open tables awaited the crowds during the weekend’s 21st annual Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Lobsterfest on Friday and Saturday evenings, June 6 and 7.

Co-chairs Karin Halstead and Anthony Capozziello kept busy as firefighters from the Sandy Hook company, among others, and even some former company members, worked to make the yearly fund-raising event fun, and as cool as possible. “It was one of the first hot years in a while,” said Mr Capozziello. Despite the heat, he said the weekend went “very well.”

The growing line of guests filling plates at the serving tables kept volunteers busy from the lobster pots out back and through to the last bite when the tables were cleared. As firefighter John Will opened the lid on a cauldron stuffed with boiling lobsters, a burst of steam rushed past him. From there the lobsters soon landed on a cutting table where as many as six men at a time prepared them for the dinner table. Beneath an awning providing at least a patch of shade during the weekend’s 90-plus degree weather were Ryan Clark, Quinn Fontaine, Richard Liska, Chris Padula, and Brian Cullinan, to name just some of the busy hands at work. Making trips from the cutting table to the serving line indoors, Mr Padula hardly had a moment to get a bite of lobster for himself.

Making certain that enough melted butter was within reach of hungry guests waiting to crack open a lobster tail and swirl the plump meat through the butter were volunteers including Carol Lockwood, Sue Shpunt, Marge Costa, Kelly Burton, and Joyce Staudinger. 

As diners found spots at the tables, friends Brianna Piccirillo and Briana Richardson pulled on purple rubber gloves, grabbed trash bags, and helped clear tables as more residents squeezed past one another for a clear spot to sit and eat. Some residents were arriving for the first time, while others enjoyed yet another annual feast by filled up on corn, hot dogs, steak, and of course, bright red lobster.

Just 18 months old, but with a big appetite, Frederick Scinto sat at the head of one table and worked on a slick and salty ear of corn. At a nearby table Jiordano Fodera and Michelle McDonald were quick to unfold their plastic lobster bibs and fasten them loosely around their necks. Across the table Jillian Becht — a newcomer to the firehouse’s annual lobsterfest — sipped a cold beer and waited for her lobster to cool.

 Who were the annual $1 ticket raffle winners taking home the 10-pound lobsters? Dina Walsh won Friday’s raffle, and Sherry Powell won on Saturday.