Fellow Westfield Police officers look on as Police Lt. Kevin Bard (standing, left) eats as many hot wings as he can at once. (Photo submitted by Larry Valliere)
WESTFIELD- The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Westfield and the 99 Restaurant teamed up this month to raise money for the club by hosting events and specials.
October is Boys and Girls Club Month at the chain restaurant across New England. On Oct. 13, the Westfield 99 on East Main Street hosted a Family Fun Day featuring carnival games, face painting, and some steep competition between the Westfield Police and Fire Departments.
Representatives from both departments faced off in a hot wing eating contest. The Boys and Girls Club had reached out to Fire Chief Patrick Egloff and Police Chief Larry Valliere about doing the contest to benefit the club.
Both agreed, and each department volunteered three contestants to take part in the hot wing eating contest. In the police department’s corner was Kevin Bard, Scott Schuster, and Terry Manos. Representing the Fire Department was Travis Lucia, Ryan Chenervertm and Keith Supinski.
Each person had 30 wings that they had to eat as many of in three minutes as they could, with each team sending one person at a time. The fire department came away victorious with a score of 46-45 wings eaten.
“The fire department generally wins a lot of these things,” Egloff joked.
The competition is part of a month-long special at the 99 where certain menu items can be selected and a percentage of the bill will be donated to the Greater Westfield Boys and Girls Club, according to the club’s Chief Advancement Officer Bo Sullivan.
Sullivan said that there are a couple more events in October like the Family Fun Day to benefit the Boys and Girls Club. On Oct. 21 the restaurant will be hosting a paint night, and on Oct. 25 there will be a celebrity bartender night. The celebrity bartender night will feature five well-known Westfield residents who will serve drinks to earn tips that will also be donated to the Boys and Girls Club. The five bartender captains will be Bo Sullivan, Marty O’Connell, Jeff Sarat, Dan Burak, and Police Capt.e and Mayoral candidate Michael McCabe.
Each captain will have a team of bartenders with them who will help serve drinks and to do fundraising for the Boys and Girls Club beforehand. Each team will also be backed by a local bank. Those banks include Westfield bank, United Bank, Polish National Credit Union, People’s Bank, and Easthampton Savings Bank.
The 99 did the same month long event last October across the region as well. That month, Westfield’s 99 Restaurant pulled in the most amount of funds for the club of any other, and Holly Carroll, the local restaurant General Manager, was invited to throw out the first pitch at a Red Sox game as a result. They pulled in $22,000 for the Boys and Girls Club last year.
“The goal for this year is to break $25,000,” said Sullivan.
