Every year in late August, the Milton Engine Company hosts a Lobster & Clambake dinner fundraiser. It is so popular that people even change their summer plans just to attend.

First Assistant Chief Matt Kneeter said the event was revived in 2008 after being dormant for about 30 years. He said profits from the dinner are donated back to the community for such projects as clearing the Milton Landing Park and rehabilitating its northern pier. More recently, the Sarah Hull Hallock Library was the recipient of a donation from the fire department.

This year, Kneeter ordered 280 lobsters, “and hopefully 280 leave here.” He said his uncle is a salesman for Ginsberg Foods, which was founded in 1909, and has grown to be the largest independently owned food service distributors in the Hudson Valley.

“They have a warehouse in Hudson, NY and I call my uncle and say I need this, this and this and they deliver it right to Locust Grove Brewing in Milton,” he said.

Kneeter said this year everyone missed the presence of Jimmy Van Vliet who passed away on December 2, 2022.

“He was the heart and soul of the firehouse. He was a past Chief and a Fire Commissioner,” Kneeter said. “He was usually the one behind the grill yelling at everybody, keeping everybody in line, and this is our first year of not having him. You can tell already that he is missed.”

Chief Todd Werba said the lobster and clambake brings the whole community together.

“Everybody actually looks forward to this event; they come back and you get to see all of the smiling faces at the end of the day. That’s the biggest part of it; it’s not for us, it’s for them,” he said. “It’s definitely fun time and that is what we look forward to the most.”

The band Chosen Adolescence provided music all afternoon with Michael LaFalce Jr. on guitar, Jeff Sherban on drums and John Larocomda on bass.
Third Assistant Chief Gael Appler Jr. was pleased with the turnout and how lucky they have been with good weather over the years.

“I think is a great event; we shut Main Street and have live music and people love that,” he said.