SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, Pa. — This past week brought bad news for firemen’s picnic-goers in Susquehanna County.
Last Monday, the Union Dale Volunteer Fire Company posted on its Facebook page, they were canceling this year’s picnic due to COVID-19.
Clifford Township Volunteer Company followed suit on Wednesday, saying it too was forced to cancel until next year.
"We even realized in a green phase we can have more than 250. And we typically draw crowds that are going to be over that so we ultimately decided even if we're in green, it wasn't going to work,” said Union Dale Volunteer Fire Co. Vice President, Steve Ursich.
This cancellation was the first for both fire companies.
For more than half a century, these volunteers put together a summertime tradition for people to go and enjoy themselves while giving back to the firefighters who protect their communities.
"Seventy two years of tradition. I've never gone through a summer without the Clifford picnic in my lifetime so it was very hard, and we're not happy with it but we need to do it, and we need to, you know, just do the right thing,” said Clifford Twp Volunteer Fire Co. President, Al Fortuner.
With both volunteer fire companies canceling their picnics, it takes a toll on them financially; most of their annual budget is raised at the events, and that hurts their bottom line.
"This picnic represents over half of our operating budget. Every year, we don't receive money from any municipalities. We receive a little bit of grant money from the county and the state, but that's generally for debt and for other items," continued Urisch.
"We already lost fundraiser, our Ladies Auxiliary, they do a purse bingo and they lost that earlier in the year in April. This is by far our biggest fundraiser, so it hurts a lot," added Fortuner.
Clifford Township has rescheduled its chicken barbecue to July 12 and will do it as a drive-thru.
Union Dale is still planning to host its golf tournament in August with less than 100 people.