Dozens of people poured into Reverie Brewing Company last Sunday afternoon to help raise funds for a Hawleyville family whose home was lost to fire in early May.

Within 30 minutes of the start of Neighbors Helping Newtown Neighbors: a fundraiser for the Stevens family, the gathering room of the Church Hill Road craft brewery was absolutely teeming with people. Guests of all ages were greeting each other, shaking hands, hugging, and talking. Children were eating pizza, while other guests were scooping up raffle tickets, taking advantage of a table filled with items that had been donated for the three-hour event.

Members of the Stevens family were asleep in their circa 1900 Farrell Road home on Tuesday, May 7, when a fire broke out around 1 am.

In a note on the eventbrite page to promote the June 23 fundraiser, Lauren Johnson — who is engaged to Alex Stevens, one of homeowner Lori Stevens’s sons — said the fire spread within minutes, and those inside the house were awoken by “a very loud noise.”

The house was destroyed that morning, one family member received burns severe enough to require hospitalization, and one of three family pets died as a result of the fire.

While an online fundraiser was launched within a few days of that blaze, Ms Johnson and Ryan Bosworth, who is engaged to Ms Stevens’s daughter, Sable, also began working on the fundraiser that was presented last weekend. Additional family members and friends soon joined the effort.

Donations of goods and services from local residents, businesses, and musicians meant that more funds collected on Sunday all went toward the rebuilding efforts.

“We had pizza from Big Y and ice cream from Holy Cow Ice Cream,” Ms Johnson said, mentioning two of the many businesses that made donations for Neighbors Helping Newtown Neighbors. “Everyone was able to eat, dance, and have fun.”

On Sunday, entry fees provided each guest with a pint of beer, pizza and ice cream, soft drinks, and their first five raffle tickets. Dean Snellback & The BluesyLand Band started their first set right at 6 pm, adding music to the festive air. The upbeat music carried right out to the parking lot, welcoming guests before they event stepped into the event.

Just inside Reverie’s door, Ms Johnson, Mr Bosworth, and Sable Stevens were busy collecting entrance donations, selling additional raffle tickets, and answering questions going at them from all directions.

Lori Stevens was right there in the thick of everything, greeting friends and thanking guests for their support. The slight woman was steadily surrounded by well-wishers, some catching up for the first time since the fire, others asking about updates.

While she declined to have her photo taken, Ms Stevens did say she and her family were “doing OK,” and that they appreciated everything that was being done for them.

Other guests were attending just to do what they could to help, without even knowing the Stevenses. Kerry McCarthy and Kristi O’Brien were seated at a table just inside the brewery, overlooking its patio. The two had been in Sandy Hook for a baby shower earlier that afternoon.

“We heard about this and thought it would be great to come support it,” Ms McCarthy said.

Ms Johnson was very pleased with the event, she said this week.

“It went amazingly well,” she said. “We were able to raise money for my mother-in-law, and everyone had a great time.”

The host venue and staff were a large part of the fundraiser’s success, Ms Johnson mentioned.

While the Stevenses went home with “more than we thought we would,” Ms Johnson said, it was the feeling of a supportive community that was a bigger benefit of Sunday’s efforts.

“It means a lot to me and to the family that there [are] so many people out there willing to help,” Ms Johnson added. “It’s refreshing to see, with all the sad things you see on the news or read on the internet. I was nervous that we wouldn’t have a big turnout, but we definitely did.

“It means a lot,” she reiterated.