71st Manchester Chicken Broil serves 7,000 dinners!

71st Annual Chicken Broil. Photo courtesy of Colleen A. Schoenfeld.

by Sara Swanson

With perfect weather, a great turnout, and a huge number of volunteers, Manchester held its 71st Chicken Broil on Saturday.

Co-chairperson, Jeff Mann stated, “It was a great day yesterday! Our numbers were up a little from last year and were right around 7,000 dinners. We did have more people eating on the field and enjoyed the gelato after dinner and the kids really enjoyed the bounce house and the foam bubble machine area as it was busy most of the day.” He added that they had quite a few first-time attendees as well.

This year organizers working with the City of Manchester and the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department tried a new drive-through configuration to attempt to alleviate traffic back-ups. Mann said that his understanding is that the drive-through line seemed to work better and appeared to be moving a bit faster with the changes.

The 72nd Chicken Broil is already being planned for Saturday, July 19, 2025.

It takes hundreds of volunteers to make this community-wide event a success. If you enjoyed the Chicken Broil this year, consider volunteering next year! Mann says, “We are always still looking for more volunteers or groups of volunteers to help out.”

Three Chicken Broil volunteers take a selfie with Howie. Photo courtesy of Colleen A. Schoenfeld.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.