SACO — At 5:15 a.m. Saturday, it’s dark outside and the streets are quiet, but there’s barely a parking spot left at the North Saco Congregational Church.
The church was nearly an hour into its Hunter’s Breakfast, held Saturday and next Saturday from 4:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Think 4:30 a.m. is early?
“I was here at 3,” said volunteer Joyce Poulin, whose been organizing the breakfast since its inception 38 years ago. “Some get in at 2:30.”
Volunteers were serving up plates of bacon, eggs, home fries, toast, baked beans and pancakes, served with coffee, juice, muffins and a piece of pie.
“That’s what they call ”˜the works,’” said Poulin.
Hunter’s orange and camouflage were the fashion that morning, with hunters coming to the church to fuel up before heading out into the woods.
Despite the early hour, breakfast patrons were alert, with friendly banter and good-natured ribbing between the hunters.
The breakfast is an annual tradition for local hunter Nick Metayer, his father and their friends.
“It’s a good deal for $7,” he said, adding that it’s also a good way to support the local church.
Not everyone enjoying the hunters breakfast was going out to later that day to pursuit wild game. Jane Havu said she’s an early riser, and she and her family, though not hunters, have been going to the annual breakfast for close to 20 years.
“It’s excellent,” she said. “It supports the church, and you get a piece of homemade pie for breakfast.”
Minister Gerry Scribner said the church has a team of dedicated volunteers who make the breakfast happen every year, including one woman they can count on to make six to eight strawberry pies. He said one parishioner was going to be out of town over the weekend, and made sure to stop by his house Thursday to drop off some homemade pies.
Poulin said she expected the church would serve about 150-170 people. Scribner said the hunters typically get there early, and at about 7 a.m. is when many of the families start coming in.
“We’re a small church, and functions like this are essential to our budget,” said Scribner.
The Hunter’s Breakfast will be served again this Saturday, Nov. 8, from 4:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.
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