LEYDEN — Rather than cancel because of the coronavirus, an annual Mother’s Day breakfast hosted by the Leyden Firefighters Association was converted to a drive-through.
The breakfast is also a fundraiser for the Firefighters Association, and typically is one of the Association’s more popular ones, said firefighter Tony Velez. Breakfast is $10, or $5 for mothers and children under 12. Each meal is made up of scrambled eggs, French toast, bacon, sausage, home fries and a choice of pancakes — plain, chocolate chip or blueberry.
“We’re in Leyden — there’s a lot of blueberries,” Velez said.
Most years, the breakfast is a buffet, Velez said. But this year, when planning began in April, the Firefighters Association had to decide, considering the coronavirus crisis, whether it still made sense to hold the breakfast, and if so, how to do it safely.
In a vote, members decided to hold it as usual (it’s a tradition, Velez said) but to turn it into a socially distanced drive-through instead of a sit-down buffet.
Like usual, cooks from the Firefighters Association worked in the Leyden Town Hall kitchen. But rather than come into Town Hall to eat, guests stayed in their cars and formed a line snaking around Town Hall. At one end, a volunteer took orders on a clipboard, then relayed them to the kitchen. By the time a car got to the end of the line to pay, its order was just about ready, and a cook would bring it out.
“It’s more to do. It’s difficult for us,” said Velez, who was taking orders at the entrance end. “It’s definitely difficult to keep up with the flow of traffic.”
Still, everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Guests chatted happily with attendants at either end of the line, and in the kitchen, the cooks worked fast to keep up with the orders. All said that the traffic had been steady since soon after opening at 7 a.m. Velez guessed that this year’s breakfast seemed at least as busy as last year’s.
“We won’t have the ability to sit down and chat like normal,” said Fire Department Office-in-Charge Brian Pelletier, “but at least we’ll get to see them.”
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.