Tough times undermine generosity at NY biker bar SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – After spending the past 1,500 or so Sundays making sure he had enough food to give a lot of people a free, hot meal, Don Birch took a Sunday off — a casualty of the same hard times he tried to make easier for others.
Last weekend, the longtime owner of the Sawmill Tavern served up what he said was the last of the free buffets he has offered every Sunday afternoon since 1980, two years after opening his biker bar in the Little Italy neighborhood in this economically depressed city on New York's Mohawk River.
Anyone who needed a meal — the homeless, the unemployed, the elderly, whole families struggling to make ends meet — could show up at the Sawmill, no questions asked.
"There are so many people out of work. They really have a tough way to go," said Birch, 73, perched atop a bar stool during a recent weekday afternoon.
Birch says he can no longer afford to pay for the free meals out of his own pocket, even with food donations from local businesses and a farmer who provided potatoes. He lost his job as an assistant plant manager at a locomotive factory when it shuttered two years ago amid a cratering economy and rising unemployment.
When the bills piled up to the point where Birch had to start dipping into his Social Security checks to cover the costs of each Sunday buffet, he knew it was time to pack it in.
"It cost me $350 a week, easy," said Birch, a strapping 6-footer with huge hands who's dressed this day in a black cable-knit shirt, blue jeans and boots.
As Schenectady's economy worsened, the number of people who showed up each Sunday rose to about 200. For the final meal, Birch served prime rib to about 170 people. A typical spread featured chicken, ribs, meatloaf or spaghetti and meatballs, vegetables and mashed potatoes. Birch's regulars pointed out that those showing up for the free eats didn't have money to spend on drinks, so Kool-Aid was given away.
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