A plate is loaded with ham and beans at the Alna fire station on Saturday, April 1. The supper event raised more than double the average profit of past dinners, according to Alna Volunteer Fire Department President Beth Whitney. (Elizabeth Walztoni photo)
A crowd of over 300 gathered at Alna’s firehouse to share a ham and bean supper for the first time since 2019 on Saturday, April 1, brought by local effort to revive the event.
Records for attendance, donations, and pie auction bidding were all broken by a healthy margin, according to volunteers.
The supper by donation raised $5,000 for the Alna Volunteer Fire Department, according to department President Beth Whitney, more than double most past events.
Families and friends filled the firehouse wall-to-wall, enjoying ham, beans, cornbread, salad, many sides, and a vast selection of pies at the potluck-style supper. Some arrived an hour before the event began, according to Capt. Stewart Rhine, to break an estimated attendance record of 180.
“There are literally people here I haven’t seen in 20 years,” Alna resident Connie Hayward said, sitting with her husband Gary and friends at one of many full tables. “Everybody’s happy.”
Greg Shute, also of Alna, said the supper was the first he had attended in years.
“The food’s great, the turnout’s great,” he said. “It’s a great cross-section of town.”
The biannual suppers went on hiatus in 2020 with the onset of the pandemic, according to Whitney. Last October, residents formed the Ham and Bean Revival Committee and requested the fire department bring the event back to life.
“We like seeing our neighbors,” Rhine said of the department’s response to the request. “We serve.”
Along with fire department members, more than 20 volunteers contributed to the event, Whitney said.
Donations from the supper will go toward replacing a 17-year-old utility truck, according to Rhine. Fundraising from suppers has long been used for purchases not made by the town, such as these smaller trucks and other needs.
“We didn’t know how well this would go,” Rhine said over the noise of the crowd. “This is well beyond our expectations.”
Fire Chief Mike Trask auctioned off donated pies throughout the event to the crowd’s enjoyment. Whitney said the bids “totally smashed all previous records.”
Elsewhere in the firehouse, visitors purchased tickets to raffles for three wood art pieces by local artists Bill Wood, Dick Picard, and Tom Aldrich, along with a 50-50 cash split.
“We are breaking all records,” volunteer and revival committee member Honor Sage said in a pause from her duties. “People are so eager to come out and see their neighbors.”
Whitney said that ham and bean suppers could be back in Alna to stay — if the department and volunteers are willing, after such a busy night.
Donations to the Alna Volunteer Fire Department can be mailed to P.O. Box 267, Alna, ME 04535.
