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At Bobby’s Pit Beef stand, families lined up to grab sandwiches piled high with slices of tender beef, turkey or ham and fixings of chopped onion, relish and horseradish.

For Bobby Althoff, the stand’s namesake and creator, the atmosphere inside the fire department’s food stand was anything but sleepy on the first day of the Sykesville carnival.

Hunks of turkey, roast beef and ham smoked and sizzled on two large charcoal grills behind the stand with Althoff at the helm. There are no fancy grill seasonings or preservatives for the meat at Bobby’s Pit Beef stand, a carnival favorite for nearly 10 years. Instead, cooks let the charcoal do the work and infuse the meat with a smoky flavor.

‘‘We throw it on the grill and that’s it,” said Althoff, a volunteer fireman at the Sykesville Freedom-District fire department.

Inside the stand, members of the fire department and their families sliced, grilled, roasted and prepared Italian sausages, cheese steaks and chili dogs as orders were shouted from the front counter.

Steve Dunn of Eldersburg moved boiling hot dogs to the rotisserie and noted that the Sykesville carnival is simply a good week of camaraderie and family involvement for all who are involved.

‘‘It’s hectic but it’s really fun,” Dunn said.

Across from Bobby’s Pit Beef stand, Althoff’s wife, Donna, and Kay Barnes – both members of the Sykesville fire department – set up the department’s ‘‘Flower Wheel” fundraiser.

For 25 cents, a player picks a number on the wheel that the women spin. If the wheel stops on the chosen number, the player wins an outdoor flower basket. Fifty-five hanging baskets of pink, purple and white petunias, New Guinea impatients and foliage plants hung from the pavilion’s rafters.

Though Barnes said she expects to sell whatever baskets are left over by the end of the week, ‘‘as long as the weather holds out we’ll go through a few hundred.”

Inside the Ladies Auxiliary food stand, Eva Whiteman of Sykesville took a break from making barbeque and hamburgers and noted that generations of founding fire department families were working at the carnival Monday, including her family.

‘‘Most of us are family generations down the line,” said Whiteman, a member of the Ladies Auxiliary since 1961.

The Ladies Auxiliary began in 1943 and now has 27 members. Members of Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in Eldersburg also volunteered at the auxiliary’s stand.

Nancy Bowman, a Ladies Auxiliary member for 22 years, said her mother was working in the carnival office and that her husband serves on the carnival committee.

All week, the Ladies Auxiliary will serve hot platters of crab cakes, fried shrimp, fried chicken, roast beef and chicken salad – all served with two sides and a beverage.

Slices of pie and cake, including coconut cake, lemon meringue pie and peanut butter-chocolate pie are also on sale at the stand.

Only the coleslaw, three bean salad, sauerkraut, chicken salad and Sloppy Joes are homemade, Bowman said, adding the rest of the menu is bought from a local food vendor.

Linda Rosier’s mother, daughter and niece also joined her behind the counter at the Ladies Auxiliary stand. The Rosiers are one of several founding families at the Sykesville Freedom-District fire department, she noted.

Though her mother left early, Rosier said she’s a 60 year veteran of the Sykesville carnival. ‘‘She’s been doing it since before I was born.”

Carnival details

The Sykesville Freedom-District Fire Department carnival continues through Saturday.

6 – 11p.m., Sykesville Fire Department carnival grounds, 6680 Sykesville Road.

Free parking and admission

Ride discounts: today

Fireworks display: tomorrow

Call 410-795-9311 for more information or to volunteer.