WHATELY — Scribbling down payments on a legal pad, patron after patron came through the doors of the church, passing by Jim LaSalle.
For around 50 years, he’s been selling tickets to barbecue fundraisers of some sort.
Now 89, LaSalle knows many who come through the doors, and for those who are coming from out of town or even out of state, he gets to know them pretty quickly.
It was another Labor Day at the Whately Congregational Church and another barbecue chicken event. This year, roughly 300 people came for a hearty meal of local food, made in-house — with ears of corn from Ciesluk Farm and potatoes from Szawlowski Farm and hundreds of chickens roasted by the town’s fire department.
It was, as usual, a fundraiser to help bolster the Chestnut Plain Road church, but it also has become a seasonal marker.
“It’s a fundraiser but it’s become something more than a fundraiser,” the Rev. Cynthia Crosson-Harrington said. “It’s something that the community looks forward to — an end-of-the-summer event.”
Some people come for the chicken, which the cooking duties were recently transferred over to the Whately Fire Department.
“It’s just to help people,” said Whately Fire Chief John Hannum. “It’s a donation. We do what we can do.”
And nothing has been lost in the transfer process between chefs, with the assistance of the teachings of Alan Thackeray. The key factor though?
“Our secret is,” Crosson-Harrington stated, “We have a secret marinade.”
Others come for the camaraderie. Families piled in and sat at communal tables, after getting plates of food big enough for two people.
On top of the fundraising for the church, this year’s 50-50 raffle went toward relief for those affected by Hurricane Harvey in Houston.
“We talked about it yesterday in church how we really are sympathetic to the victims,” Crosson-Harrington said.
The day remains a pillar to the community, though, as an essential fundraiser. One of the original people involved is Hazel Denehy.
“Number one is it brings the community together and it helps support the church,” she said.
As this community has aged, though, Denehy said it has become more difficult to run the event.
In future years, assistance to help everything run smoothly might be needed, but for now it “takes a lot of help and a lot of love.”
And for some of the seniors involved, like LaSalle of LaSalle Florist, it’s still a highlight of the year for them and the church.
“I just meet people. I love people,” LaSalle said. “A lot of them come back every year.”