‘Flock Together’ raises more than $50k for Crescent Duck Farm workers
Chefs and businesses from all over Long Island gathered Friday at Teller’s in Islip for the Flock Together fundraiser to benefit the workers of Crescent Duck Farm, who have been laid off since January following the outbreak of H5N1, also known as bird flu. The tasting and silent auction event raised more than $50,000.
“Seeing these people that genuinely want to be here tonight, between the chefs and the people that are coming in and the donations, is an overwhelmingly wonderful feeling that I’m so grateful for,” said Doug Corwin, owner and president of Crescent Duck Farm. “I can’t thank Michael, The Teller Group and all these chefs enough.”
The event came together quickly, going from an idea circulating among local chefs to glamorous evening in just two weeks.
Photos by Cory Olsen
“It started with a small idea and then turned into calling this chef and that chef, and this restaurant person, calling this winery and then we got this. We got a whole lot of support for a really cool thing,” said Chef Francis Derby of Shands General in Patchogue, one of the event’s organizers. “It was very easy to get all these people to kind of just show their support.”
“We wanted to make sure we did it while it was still top of mind on the news and while some of the people were willing to dig in their pocket for. And really, Doug is trying to get from here to there, keep his employees fed, get their bills paid, until such time as he gets the farm up and running again, hopefully we’ll call next year,” said Michael Bohlsen, who owns and operates Tellers.
With the local baseball team named for the bird and the East End’s iconic mimetic building, ducks are part of the collective history of the area. According to Suffolk County, there were thirty duck farms operating in Moriches, Eastport and Riverhead when Crescent Duck opened in 1908. Now, Crescent is all that remains of the legacy.
Crescent ducks also have a unique composition that sets it apart from others: a premium ratio of meat to fat makes it ideal for restaurants. “I think we have restaurants all over the island here, and never at any point was there anything but, ‘What can I do? What can I bring? How can we support Doug?’ because everyone uses that duck. I mean, that’s the duck. So to support that, to make sure that that stays a thing, it really shows the community of the industry,” said Mr. Derby.
“We’re really impressed by how the restaurant community on the East End and Suffolk County in general came together for this. Between facilities, the wineries, the breweries, all the chefs, farms, it’s really been wonderful experience,” said Mr. Bohlsen.
By a stroke of fate, the farm confirmed that they had successfully hatched 3,700 ducklings the Tuesday before the fundraiser, making the mood even more celebratory. While there are many months before these new ducks will be able to produce another generation, and still more time before the farm returns to full operation, it was a bright glimmer of hope for those in attendance.
“It makes it feel like we’ll get there now. I hope that this will help in any way. You know, it’s going to support his staff. It’s going to whatever they need to get from here to there. I think that there’s a huge community of chefs that are willing to help,” said Mr. Derby.
Mr. Bohlsen stated that in light of how well-received the Flock Together event was, there may be more later on in the year: “We were amazed by the success of this, and I’m sure we’ll sit down next week as we can see what else we can do.”
