Muskrat.

That's what was on the menu at the Lower Alloways Creek Township Fire Hall.

The South Jersey dinner, which benefits the fire company and its ladies auxiliary, has been a tradition for nearly eight decades and played out once again to a sold-out crowd on Saturday.

Muskrat. Marsh rabbit. 'Rat. The little critters that inhabit the local marshland have long been harvested for their pelts and their meat.

Sure, muskrat might not be for everyone. A taste that's somewhere between roast beef and duck? That's how one first-time 'rat eater described it.

Add some good side dishes to the muskrat -- pepper cabbage, potato salad, beets and a few other things -- and you've got a fund-raising dinner.

At one time many of the locals farmed in the summer and trapped in the winter to support their families. Some still carry on that tradition.

With a plentiful supply of muskrats from the local marshlands, dinners were held to support the fire company based in Hancocks Bridge.

Life changed in the rural community when it became home to second-largest nuclear generating station in the U.S. in the late 1960s. When the nuclear plants began going into service in the 1970s, came millions in revenue that helped Lower Alloways Creek modernize its infrastructure.

Luckily younger generations are continuing the traditions of the generations who came before them.

In the far southwestern corner of New Jersey where the Delaware River meets the Delaware Bay, much has changed, but much has stayed the same and it's a heritage to be proud of.

Once old traditions are lost, they are gone forever and the book closes on another rich chapter in American history.

Muskrat dinners? That's just one rural tradition that's been kept alive in South Jersey.

We all need to celebrate the past and learn from the lessons it teaches us. That's even when it involves the lowly muskrat.

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