LIFE

First responders find support from breweries

Ryan Cormier
The News Journal
Wilmington firefighter Stephen Facciolo helps brew Iron Hill's Last Alarm IPA in October.

The benefits of having local breweries are many, especially for beer drinkers.

The beer is fresher, brewers buy local ingredients when they can and in many places, you can chat up the brewer yourself.

But there's another plus: they are part of the community.

Often times, owners, brewers and staff live near their breweries and are neighbors with their own customers. They are not a faceless beer giant in some far-off city.

It's those direct ties that have made some of these smaller breweries in Delaware a growing part of the communities they serve – especially emergency workers.

In that spirit, Crooked Hammock Brewery near Lewes is launching Beers for Bravery – a three-month fundraising campaign with 25 cents from every beer sold going to a trio of Sussex County emergency response organizations: the volunteer firefighter, ambulance and police chief associations.

In addition, anyone with a first responder ID will get 10 percent off their tab through March 31.

Annapolis, Maryland-based ska act Bumpin Uglies will perform at Crooked Hammock Brewery near Lewes Saturday night.

The goal is to raise $10,000 starting Friday, Jan. 13, kicking off a three-day Half-Way to Summer celebration that will also include $1 from each summer cocktail sold. Customers are encouraged to wear summer clothes since the brewery's heater will be turned up to help re-create a summertime vibe.

The idea originated following the July death of Lewes-based volunteer fireman Tim McClanahan, who was training with the Delaware Air Rescue Team when he fell from a helicopter.

Police officers from the motorcade escort that brought McClanahan from the Medical Examiner's Office to Parsell Funeral Homes & Crematorium stopped into Crooked Hammock for lunch. And when it came time to pay, their servers said the meal was on them. They had pooled together their tips to pay for the lunches.

So began their relationship with Charlie Arnold, vice president of the Lewes Fire Department, pastor of Lewes' Seaside Church and friend of McClanahan.

Arnold wrote a letter to Rich Garrahan, managing partner of Crooked Hammock, which read, "When one of the cops told me about it, I cried I was so touched by their kindness."

And with Crooked Hammock hosting a major fundraiser each winter -- their Beer for Books event last year to support the Lewes Public Library raised around $7,000 -- the idea for Beers for Bravery was hatched.

"This really happened organically," says Garrahan, whose restaurant group also owns beach spots such as Nage, Big Chill Surf Cantina and the Taco Reho food truck.

Brett McCrea, owner of 16 Mile Brewery in Georgetown, makes Responders Ale.

Fellow Sussex County brewery 16 Mile has been supporting firefighters through suds as well, selling their Responders Ale since 2011 with $3 from every case and $5 for every keg sold going to the National Fallen Firefighters Fund.

16 Mile's first hire was Mike Pfaffenhauser, who was a 21-year-old member of the Memorial Fire Co. in Slaughter Beach at the time. When he was elevated to chief of the fire company, the Georgetown brewery decided to create the special brew.

But the state's most recent firefighter/brewery collaboration came only a month after a Sept. 24 Wilmington house fire took the lives of firefighters Capt. Christopher Leach and Lt. Jerry Fickes. A third firefighter, Ardythe Hope, died last month from injuries sustained in the fire.

Firefighters, including Lt. John Cawthray who was injured in the fatal blaze, helped make a special Last Alarm IPA beer at Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant in Wilmington. It was released Nov. 1 at a day-long fundraising event that was attended by firefighters and their families, still shaken by the department's first firefighter deaths in 18 years.

A dollar from each beer sold and 20 percent of tabs through the brewery's Give 20 fundraising program that day went to the families, raising more than $4,500 and adding to the aid that already streamed in from all directions.

Tim Taggart, vice president of the Wilmington Firefighters Association, says his union was overwhelmed with support following the fatal fire, which authorities say was intentionally set. (Beatriz Fana-Ruiz, of Wilmington, is charged in connection with the deaths of Leach and Fickes. More charges are expected in connection with the death of Hope.)

Wilmington firefighters John Cawthray (left) and Stephen Facciolo brew Last Alarm IPA at Wilmington's Iron Hill brewery. Cawthray was injured in the Sept. 24 fire.

Texas Roadhouse in Bear delivered a lunch for firefighters planning the memorial one afternoon, also giving them all 10 percent off their bills when they dine there.

Newport's Cassidy Painting donated tents, generators, lights and more for the memorial service.

Wilmington's Grotto Pizza donated 25 percent of their entire business one day.

And the list goes on.

"My phone rang non-stop for a week with people just trying to give," Taggart says.

At a time of grief like that, every gesture to lend support to the families of the firefighters, both large and small, is comforting.

"Especially when you have a tragedy, the healing process starts with helping the families that are left behind," he adds. "And when a community has such a tremendous outpouring – not just financial, but with comfort and support – it means a lot."

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

IF YOU GO

What: Half-Way to Summer weekend, kicking off Beers for Bravery

When: Friday, Jan. 13, through Sunday, Jan. 15

Where: Crooked Hammock Brewery, 36707 Crooked Hammock Way, near Lewes

Details: There will be six acts playing throughout the weekend: Friday (Bettenroo at 4 p.m. and  Brixton Saint at 9 p.m.), Saturday (Live Seed Mama Jump trio at 3 p.m. and Bumpin Uglies at 9 p.m.) and Sunday (Beach Trip at 3 p.m. and Spokey Speaky at 9 p.m.)

Informationcrookedhammockbrewery.com