OWASCO - At precisely 1 p.m., the alarm over the Owasco Fire Department, Station 1, blared out through the sunny Fourth of July sky, not for an emergency call, but to announce the official start of the annual Owasco Fire Department Field Day.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Mary Funk holds Jake Sweeney, 2, as they dunk her husband Bob Funk into the tank at the Owasco Fire Department Field Day Friday afternoon.
Mary Funk holds Jake Sweeney, 2, as they dunk her husband Bob Funk into the tank at the Owasco Fire Department Field Day Friday afternoon.
The event has been a summer tradition in the area for the last 40 years, but was put on hold last year due to a low number of volunteers.
This year the summer celebration came back strong with the smell of barbecued chicken wafting through the air all around the firehouse.
The barbecue has become a fixture of the field day, and certainly one of its biggest attractions, as people were lined up as early as 11 a.m. and the line stretching out onto Route 38A and wrapping around the building.
Andrea Price, of Auburn, was among those waiting to partake in the feast.
“This is a Fourth of July tradition,” said Price, who brought along her son, Chris, 12.
“We come here to see the parade and everything every year. We've been coming here since he was really little. But the chicken barbecue is always great.”
Members of the fire department, like Angelo Messina and Mike Nye, were working in the kitchen, preparing things like beans and potatoes as well as some of the to-go orders of barbecue.
About 3,000 chicken halves were cooked, along with 180 pounds of baked beans, 500 pounds of potatoes and 30 pounds of bacon.
And by the end of the day there wouldn't be anything left.
“It's that Fourth of July picnic tradition,” Nye said. “A big barbecue with good foods, it gives people a chance to get together and have a good time and have some good food.”
The parade, complete with floats and, of course, fire trucks, began near Second Avenue before winding its way back to the firehouse. Hundreds of people lined the streets, setting up chairs in front of their houses to watch the parade.
Bob Weller, of Auburn, came to the field days for the first time in several years and said he was impressed with the way things had changed.
“The whole thing is bigger this year,” Weller said. “They've really done a nice job with everything. It is a really enjoyable time.”
Along with the food, fun and music provided by The Prison City Rockers, there were also numerous community organizations on hand such as IGNITE and the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, whose members were selling popcorn and cotton candy and running a dunking booth.
“I like the parade,” said Olivia Shields, 5, of Auburn. “But I really like the cotton candy.”
Also on hand was Leanne Kolczynski, who, along with several other friends, was selling pink ducks in an effort to help her team raise funds for a trip to Boston in August to walk in a 60-mile three-day breast cancer fundraiser.
This year the summer celebration came back strong with the smell of barbecued chicken wafting through the air all around the firehouse.
The barbecue has become a fixture of the field day, and certainly one of its biggest attractions, as people were lined up as early as 11 a.m. and the line stretching out onto Route 38A and wrapping around the building.
Andrea Price, of Auburn, was among those waiting to partake in the feast.
“This is a Fourth of July tradition,” said Price, who brought along her son, Chris, 12.
“We come here to see the parade and everything every year. We've been coming here since he was really little. But the chicken barbecue is always great.”
Members of the fire department, like Angelo Messina and Mike Nye, were working in the kitchen, preparing things like beans and potatoes as well as some of the to-go orders of barbecue.
About 3,000 chicken halves were cooked, along with 180 pounds of baked beans, 500 pounds of potatoes and 30 pounds of bacon.
And by the end of the day there wouldn't be anything left.
“It's that Fourth of July picnic tradition,” Nye said. “A big barbecue with good foods, it gives people a chance to get together and have a good time and have some good food.”
The parade, complete with floats and, of course, fire trucks, began near Second Avenue before winding its way back to the firehouse. Hundreds of people lined the streets, setting up chairs in front of their houses to watch the parade.
Bob Weller, of Auburn, came to the field days for the first time in several years and said he was impressed with the way things had changed.
“The whole thing is bigger this year,” Weller said. “They've really done a nice job with everything. It is a really enjoyable time.”
Along with the food, fun and music provided by The Prison City Rockers, there were also numerous community organizations on hand such as IGNITE and the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, whose members were selling popcorn and cotton candy and running a dunking booth.
“I like the parade,” said Olivia Shields, 5, of Auburn. “But I really like the cotton candy.”
Also on hand was Leanne Kolczynski, who, along with several other friends, was selling pink ducks in an effort to help her team raise funds for a trip to Boston in August to walk in a 60-mile three-day breast cancer fundraiser.
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