Parkesburg resident Tom Smith's family usually got together at his grandmother's home for a New Year's dinner of pork and sauerkraut.

But for the first time this year, they traveled across the county line and headed to Kinzer Fire Company's 29th annual pork-and-sauerkraut dinner.

"We wanted to save her from having to do the cooking," Smith said, especially since she suggested going to the fundraising dinner.

The Smith family couldn't have been happier with the quality of the meal.

"It's good," Smith said.

Another Parkesburg couple ate the family-style meal with them, but it was their third year celebrating New Year's in Kinzers.

People her husband works with from Delaware County made it a tradition to come to the meal, "so if it was good enough for them, we thought we'd try it and we've been coming ever since," the Parkesburg woman, who declined to give her name, said.

Twelve members of the Nickerson-Pierce-Dilworth family from the West Chester and Downingtown areas have been attending the pork-and-sauerkraut dinner for the last four years.

"The food is delicious," one of them said, while another noted that it's also reasonably priced and supports a good cause.

Volunteers began arriving at the fire hall at 7 a.m. to cook the sauerkraut and potatoes.

"It's been quite busy since that time," Dwight Groff, the event chairman, said. "We prepared for 1,000 takeout meals and 1,300 eat-in family-style meals."

To accommodate so many people, Groff said, they sell out each table, 10 seats to a table. Then the diners are called to eat when their table is ready.

That gives people the opportunity to eat together and visit around the food, Groff said.

About 120 community volunteers — from junior firefighters 15 or 16 years old up through retirees — came out to help with this major fundraiser, he said.

The dinner, Groff said, required 900 pounds of cooked pork, 1,500 pounds of white potatoes, 150 gallons of sauerkraut and 40 gallons of ice cream. The community also supported the dinner with baked goods such as cupcakes, sheet cakes and whoopie pies.

The cabbage used to make the sauerkraut and the potatoes were grown on local farms, and the pork and hot dogs came from the Hatfield Co., while other items were from local food vendors, Groff said.

Kinzer Fire Company's pork-and-sauerkraut dinner began 29 years ago when a key leader in the fire company thought it would be a good opportunity for a fundraiser, he said. The crew also offers a buffet breakfast the first Saturday of every month except January and a pig roast the last Saturday of September.

"It's all used to keep the company — with 50 active firemen — in tune with the needs of the community for emergency response," Groff said.

lvaningen@lnpnews.com