Kidron Volunteer Fire Dept.’s annual BBQ day set for Aug. 6
Once a summer a 67-year-old secret smell starts to permeate out of Kidron in the morning, and by the afternoon, the community has gathered to eat the chicken barbecue.
This year on Aug. 6, the Kidron Volunteer Fire Department’s chicken barbecue will start to sell chicken halves at 3:30 p.m. at the Central Christian School parking lot, and if it’s anything like years past, it will sell out within 45 minutes. The serving of chicken halves and chicken meals to support the KVFD will start at 4:30 p.m. in the back of Kidron Evergreen Park until sold out.
“Since 2020 we have seen the drive-thru flourish. People seem more inclined to pick up their chicken and take it home for parties and picnics,” KVFD Fire Chief Jon Peters said. “We have cars sometimes sitting in line as early as noon, wanting to be the first to taste the freshly made chicken.”
Meals consist of a half chicken, a dinner roll, a pickle, chips, apple sauce and a cookie. Attendees also will find homemade ice cream, doughnut vendors and coffee. Live music will be outside, and for the kids, there will be pony rides, pedal tractor pulls and many other activities.
“Barbecue day is definitely more than just a day. It starts over as soon as the fires in the pits have gone out. It starts with critiquing — how everything went from the setup, to the cooking, to how efficiently we were able to serve thousands of customers,” Peters said.
Peters said on Aug. 6 volunteers will eat breakfast together at the fire station, then scatter in a number of different directions to get last-minute supplies and to get ready to light the pits. Cooking will start at 9 a.m. on long rows of stainless steel pits in the parking lot at the back end of Kidron Park. The chicken is brought in from Gerber’s Poultry in a semi truck that is left onsite to keep the meat cold until ready to put over the fire. The sauce is mixed in 55-gallon barrels and pumped directly out of the barrels onto the sizzling chicken.
“I’ll admit I never was much of a fan of chicken until I had the Kidron Fire Department chicken,” Peters said. “We currently have 28 on our roster, but it takes upward of 70-100 people to make this happen, and we could never do this without the volunteers. All our members are volunteers. Everyone takes the day off of work to make this happen. When interviewing prospective members, we literally tell them, ‘No matter how many calls you make or how much training you do, one day a year you will be here to help with the barbecue.’”
When the event first started, firefighters would drive around town with their pickup trucks and collect picnic tables for the event. They would set up pits made out of cinder blocks and serve several hundred halves of chicken.
For years it was held in downtown Kidron. Locals sweltered in the direct sun at long wooden tables and listened to live music. When the facility was built at Kidron Park and the event could be held in air-conditioning, the location changed.
Today, 6,200 halves will be barbecued and sold as chicken only at the drive-thru and with meals at the park.
Many community members take the day off of work to help. Firefighters, spouses and children all pitch in. Many bring their friends as well. A local church group assists with parking.
“It takes an army, but many hands make light work,” Peters said. “The chicken is served by firefighters, friends, family members and just about anyone willing to help. And you start to recognize faces from miles away that come back every year. From Columbus to Cleveland, they just keep coming back.”
The proceeds from this year’s barbecue will go toward hydraulic rescue tools, commonly referred to as the Jaws of Life. With the metals in cars being made with harder materials to protect the passenger compartment in a crash, it also takes stronger tools to cut someone out.
“It is very rewarding to see the generous donations that come in for a chicken dinner. It’s not uncommon to hear, ‘That’s the most I’ve ever spent on a meal,’” Peters said. “Our community definitely understands what our mission is and is very supportive. There is no set price for the chicken, but I’ve witnessed in excess of $100 for one or two halves of chicken. It’s unbelievable.
“It is a hard day; it is a long day, but it is a very rewarding and fun day. To be able to interact with the citizens we serve is just awesome.”
