From The Philadelphia Inquirer — When the Sweetwater Casino burned down this summer, Mullica Township residents grieved for the waterfront restaurant and the warm family feeling that had been its charm for 80 years.

Generations had gathered at the Atlantic County landmark for first dates, birthdays, anniversaries, wedding receptions and holiday parties. They watched sunsets at the marina and boats coming and going on the Mullica River.

Sweetwater was the beating heart of the sleepy Pine Barrens town, and the location of a fund-raising regatta held each August to benefit a local child with a life-threatening disease.

Would the June 30 blaze end the town’s Cheers-like sense of community?

“When a church burns down, the congregation still meets and prays, doesn’t it?” responded Alesia Shute, former owner of the restaurant and founder of the benefit, that will go on – as usual – this Sunday.

“It doesn’t take four walls for a community to help a family,” added Shute, of the town’s Sweetwater section.

While awaiting groundbreaking on a new restaurant, Sweetwater’s owners, employees, neighbors and businesses across the township have continued to plan the fund-raiser, which this year benefits 17-year-old Devin Waddell, of Mullica Township. Waddell is fighting non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Current Sweetwater owners Jeff Anastasi and Joe Cavalieri agreed to host the auction at the event, called Devin’s Day.

Sweetwater’s former banquet manager, Cathy Egan, arranged with owners of Kerri Brooke Caterers and Frog Rock Golf and Country Club in Hammonton to donate use of their catering hall.

And many other former employees, residents and vendors have volunteered their time. A local artist handed over an original watercolor of the Sweetwater Casino to be auctioned.

“The people who worked at [Sweetwater Casino] and the people who gathered there were a family,” said Anastasi, 37, who also lives in the Sweetwater neighborhood. “The regulars who came in knew each other. They had their own special seats. We want that back again, but [Devin's Day] is about the child.”

The fund-raiser will begin at 11 a.m. with a Ride for Life motorcycle run, followed by a carnival-like event from 1 to 5 p.m. at Kerri Brooke Caterers on the White Horse Pike.

“This is touching, but not surprising,” said Cavalieri, 36, of the Sweetwater section. “We’re setting up the Sweetwater Casino that day. Many of the employees and the customers – all the familiar faces will be there.”

The benefit will include rides, games, food and live entertainment, and will be followed by a buffet, cash bar and auction. Up to $50,000 has been raised at past events.

“I had my doubts this would happen after the fire,” said Linda Stanton, 61, who lives in the neighborhood and is chairwoman of Devin’s Day. “This solidifies for me why we liked going to Sweetwater. It was the employees, the way they interpreted their jobs. Their hearts were in the right place.”

“We only had about six weeks,” said Egan, 49, who is now a banquet sales representative at Kerri Brooke. “We’re doing the best we can.”

“It was an effort by our company to say, ‘Sweetwater doesn’t exist right now, but it’s time to come together as a community to help a child in need,’ ” said Kristin Colasurdo, vice president of Frog Rock Golf and Country Club and the caterer, which has offered work to many on the old Sweetwater staff.

George DiMatteo, 56, a diesel mechanic from Hammonton, took charge of the motorcycle run, which has a $10 entrance fee. “We had over 300 [riders] last year,” he said. “I wasn’t sure if we could be ready this year, but we’re giving it a shot.”

Artist and art instructor Kathy Johnston, 52, of the Sweetwater section, offered for auction her watercolor of scenes from the restaurant and marina. One of her students donated the frame.

“When the place is rebuilt, we don’t want a fancy, ultra-modern building,” said Anastasi. “We want something that fits the area, something rustic and quaint that uses pine and cedar.”

An investigation revealed that the fire was set by a lightning strike. A neighbor’s motion-detection sensors and cameras apparently caught the moment on video, Anastasi said. Kitchen utensils and a copy of the property survey somehow survived the conflagration.

“We were at the hospital when the fire occurred. Devin was getting chemotherapy,” said Renee Waddell, 44, Devin’s mother. “I was stunned; I felt bad” for the owners and employees.

Demolition of the Sweetwater Casino will wrap up this week, and the owners are interviewing architects.

“It was a landmark,” said Waddell, “and it has to be rebuilt.”

The fund-raiser – the community’s coming together to help a 17-year-old – now seems part of the healing.

“Everybody was determined to have it,” Waddell said. “It was important to them.”