PLAINFIELD — Tickets for the Plainfield Fire Department’s annual chicken barbecue are on sale, and while inflation has significantly affected food costs this year, meal prices for this Labor Day weekend tradition are staying the same as last year’s.
Plainfield Fire Chief David Alvord said organizers didn’t want families to not be able to afford to participate in the celebration.
“This is Plainfield’s annual event,” Alvord said.
Prices rose last year to $15 for adults and $7 for children under 12. As always, very young children get to eat free.
Each meal consists of half a barbecue chicken, a baked potato, corn on the cob from Wolf Tree Farm, a dinner roll, homemade coleslaw, a slice of watermelon and a beverage.
The event will take place Sept. 4 behind the Shaw Memorial Library, with serving beginning at 1 p.m.
The barbecue is a fundraiser for the Fire Department, and it is organized by the Plainfield Volunteer Firefighters Association. This will be the 51st chicken barbecue, with the event not occurring in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The association will also be raising money via a silent auction, with Alvord saying that it’s as important as the meal for fundraising.
“People donate a lot of really nice stuff,” he said.
This year the fundraising push is looking to raise more than $6,000 to purchase equipment used by rapid intervention teams (RIT). These teams are called in to save firefighters when they get into trouble, and the firefighters recently completed RIT training.
“It’s all specialized stuff,” Alvord said.
The Curtis Rich Revue will also once again be playing at the barbecue, with financial support from the Plainfield Cultural Council. There will also be a tug of war, with teams competing to drag the other into water being sprayed from a tanker truck.
“Really good stuff,” Alvord said.
As usual, a number of events will be occurring surrounding the barbecue. These include the Shaw Memorial Library Book Sale and the Arts Feast, where arts and crafts displayed in the library’s meeting room.
There will also be the 46th running of the Plainfield Road Race, a 1.1-mile run around the center of town.
The association plans to sell 400 meal tickets this year, and every year the tickets are different colors. “It’s the year of the purple ticket,” Alvord said.
Sandy Morann and her husband, Ed, have been to every one of the past 50 barbecues, and are both involved in organizing this year’s event.
“It seems as though tickets are going well,” Sandy said.
Ed has helped to organize every one of the previous barbecues, and he was the chief cook for most of them.
He said he’s looking forward to this year’s barbecue and meeting all the people as he takes tickets.
“Saying thank you and all that stuff,” Ed said. “It’s a nice thing for the town.”
Those interested in buying tickets can get them from a Plainfield firefighter, or can arrange a purchase by calling 413-634-5470.