By Doug La Rocque
While the first snowflakes of the season drifted down outside the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department, hundreds of people were enjoying their lobster dinner, all part of the Fire Department month of October fund raisers. [private]
Chairman Ivan Wager told the Eastwick Press 240 sit down dinners were sold, along with 50 take outs. All hands in the Department and the Auxiliary must be on deck for the event to be the success it has been for nearly 20 years. Lots of preparation work and Wager’s early morning trip to York, Maine to pick up the 520 fresh lobsters are just part of it. It takes two people to serve each table, lots of help in the kitchen, cleanup crew, and of course, those sweating away in the steamer room. George Shuhart has been running the steamers since the Lobster Fest was in its early years. He oversees the crew that keeps three different steamers, all made of former milk tanks, producing a fresh batch of 35 lobsters every 18 minutes.
The lobster dinner is the highlight of the Department’s fund raising. Wager estimates it brings in about 20 to 30 percent of their goal, the rest coming from donations from residents, businesses and property owners. The Fire Department has been serving the Berlin Community since 1904. [/private]