Norwich - Remember Bid's Tavern?

The Combo? The Supreme? Or how about an Astro?

They all will return to Norwich Saturday for one day only in the parking lot at the Yantic fire station on Yantic Road.

The Bid's Tavern Luncheon Reunion will be open from noon to 6 p.m., along with an antique car show, a DJ with music from the 1960s, '70s and '80s. The event will celebrate decades when Bid's Tavern in Greeneville was the place to meet for doctors, lawyers, teachers, blue-collar workers, teenagers and retired folks shooting a game of pool.

"They're getting me out of retirement after 23 years," said Tom LaFreniere, former Bid's owner. Tom and Betty LaFreniere ran the restaurant for 22 years after Tom's parents, Wilfred "Bid" and Helen LaFreniere, retired from running the popular tavern they opened in 1933.

Saturday's reunion is a fundraiser for exterior renovations at the Yantic fire station, including a planned memorial courtyard. People who purchase tickets in advance get a $5 special for a sandwich and a cold drink. At the door, items will be sold "off the menu." To purchase tickets, contact event chairman Ray O'Connell at (860) 887-6460.

As a side treat, a TV inside the fire station will run the 16-minute Bid's Tavern movie filmed in 1978 showing a slice of life with the regulars. There's even an old familiar stray dog outside the door.

The idea for the reunion started with a near tragedy. Tom left their home on Scotland Road early one Sunday last August when Betty saw thick black smoke outside a house window. The smoke was billowing out of their chimney. She called 911 but hung up before anyone answered. Of course, the emergency dispatcher called her right back. She told him she didn't want screaming sirens coming to the house.

The dispatcher ordered her to leave the house immediately and called for the screaming sirens of the Yantic Fire Engine Co. to respond to what turned out to be a furnace malfunction. A few weeks later, in gratitude, the LaFrenieres sent a donation check to the station.

That got firefighter Ray O'Connell thinking about the need for a major fundraiser for the planned renovations. He asked Tom LaFreniere if he would run a Bid's Tavern day at the fire station to help raise money.

"He said 'a lot of people have asked me to do that, and I always said no. I don't want to do all the work,' " O'Connell said.

He quickly responded that he had 20 or 30 fire department volunteers willing to do the work and even learn how to make Bid's signature sandwiches and specialty sloppy Joe meatball grinders. So the LaFrenieres agreed, and they spent Saturday teaching nearly two dozen Yantic volunteers the secrets to making the Combo, the Supreme and the Astro.

The Combo has Italian sausage, Provolone cheese, peppers, onions and a thin slice of ribeye steak. The Supreme is a salami sandwich with Provolone cheese, tomatoes, steak, peppers and onions. And the Astro is loaded with pastrami, Virginia ham, melted Provolone cheese and mustard.

There's also the New York Dog, a grilled hot dog topped with the famous sloppy Joe sauce and chopped raw onions, if desired.

Of course, Bid's Tavern featured more menu items, but Tom LaFreniere wanted to keep the lessons simple for the volunteer cooks. Betty LaFreniere recalled the popular side dishes, including her pickled hard-boiled eggs. She would cook 80 eggs each Monday and dump them into a large glass jar of vinegar solution. She's considering adding them to Saturday's offerings.

"And chips," Tom LaFreniere said. "Don't forget chips."