The weather last Saturday for this year’s lobster & clam bake fundraiser for the Milton Fire Department can be described in one simple word – perfect.

This annual event was started about 15 years ago and has become such a permanent fixture on the last Saturday in August that many people plan their lives and vacations around it just so they can attend.

This year the fire department ordered 275 lobsters along with 30 bushels of clams from Ginsberg’s Foods from Hudson, NY.

Chip Kent said the lobster bake is a great community event.

“It draws so many people who look forward to it,” Kent said.

In the past the Fire Department donated $4,000 to the Sarah Hull Hallock Library in Milton from proceeds they collected from their annual cocktail party that is held at Buttermilk Falls.

Kent said despite an increase in the cost of clams this year, he is hoping that overall event sees a profit so they can make donation. He offered his thanks to Crew 39, “because it’s a lot of work and they put a lot into it.”
Stephen Kneeter said the lobster bake has been “15 good years but we were off the one year in 2020 because of the pandemic.” He said if there are leftovers they will have an in-house linguine and clam dinner on their next drill night.

Kneeter has been a member of the department for 35 years and was the Fire Chief for 16 years of those years. He is now serving as a Fire Commissioner for the department.

Kneeter is appreciative of the hard work of the fire department’s membership for putting this event on and making it a success.

“We have a lot of hands-on and also thanks to the community for the support they give us,” he said. “We’re here serving at the table and people are saying thank you and in return we’re saying no, thank you.”
Todd Werba is presently the Fire Chief of the company. When he was 16, he worked for a local farmer who had a pager that would sound off during the day because he was a volunteer fireman. Before a month passed, Werba found himself signing up to be a member of the department, “and never looked back ever since.” He said today the department has about 60 active members and a number of new young members in their 20s who will be coming up the ranks.

Werba said the membership always puts in, “an inordinate amount of work, heart and pride into this event every single year.” He said company member Alan Koenig, “brought this event back to life and Matt Kneeter took over to chair the event and it has just been a seamless process ever since. It has been something that everybody talks about every single year; everybody knows when it is and it’s great when you look out and see an entire sea of people coming out to support us.”

Werba said if anyone is interested in joining the department they can come to any Tuesday evening meeting at the Milton Fire House at 7pm. Information is also available on the internet at miltonenginecompany.com.

First Assistant Chief Matt Kneeter said they began selling tickets in June. On the Tuesday before the event he had 20 department members helping to clean the fire house bays and the evening before another 18 members helped prepare by cleaning the clams twice in order to get the sand out of them and to lessen the salt water taste.

The trio All Too Real was back again and provided music all afternoon.

Singer Anthony Jeffries laughs, saying, “We seem to be the ‘house band’ for the Lobster bake.” He was joined by Jimmy Palmer on lead guitar and Kevin Lyons on acoustic rhythm guitar.

Jeffries added that the lobster bake is his favorite event.

“Of any gig I do, it’s the best food; where do you get lobster and steak at the same place. I also get to play, which is also my favorite thing to do. I want to thank Matt [Kneeter] for bringing us back every year. I play darts with him too, so I get a few extra compliments at the dart board.”