 This first-time event
in Lincoln is being planned to coincide with
the 40th annual Abraham Lincoln National Railsplitting Festival, and
it is hoped that the cook-off will draw visitors to the downtown
area to watch, enjoy some really tasty barbecue and perhaps do a
little shopping on the square while they are there.
Anytime anyone is planning a first-time event, there is a pretty
steep learning curve, but Main Street director Wanda Lee Rohlfs said
Friday afternoon that while there are still a few loose ends to tie
up, she feels the planning is going very well.
Rohlfs said the idea for a barbecue cook-off came from Main
Street board member Doug Board, who has participated in such events
in the past and will be participating in this one as well.
She said that Board has been the driving force behind getting
everything organized, and she certainly appreciates all he has done.
Eight teams are signed up to compete in the cook-off. The team
names and participants are listed as follows:
-
Black Betty BBQ
-
Derek Cooper
-
Chris Hanson
-
Mike Morecraft
-
Bonaparte BBQ
-
Chicago Street Rentals
-
Perry Winebrinner
-
Chuck Fink
-
The Chilly Water Smokers
-
Fat Boy's BBQ
-
Flying Pink Pigs BBQ
-
Doug Board
-
Regina Board
-
Rick Jansen
-
R.J. Bow Tie BBQ
-
Smokin' Smith BBQ
-
Kevin Smith
-
Judy Smith
-
Bill Hill
-
Gail Liesman
Friday evening, the teams will bring in their grills and other
equipment for setup on South Kickapoo, west of the courthouse, on
the east side of the block. They will attend a brief meeting in the
Main Street office, where they will draw numbers for their meat
boxes, which will be available from Lincoln IGA.
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Each box is to contain ribs, chicken, a raw ham butt and a Boston
butt. Once meat is received, it cannot be removed from the
contestant area. Grillers are to bring refrigeration, which can be
coolers or actual refrigerators, whichever they prefer.
All the grillers will have a one-day food permit issued by the
Logan County Department of Public Health and must practice safe food
handling.
Judging will be done in a double-blind method where grillers will
take their entries to a checkpoint and turn them in, marked with
their own team number. The food will then be given another number
unrelated to their team and sent out to the judges.
Eight judges will be involved in the contest. Each one will score
their individual samples, and the highest scores will be the
winners.
During the Saturday afternoon event, food will be offered for sale
by most of the vendors. Food purchases will be via tickets, which
will cost $1 each. For one ticket, would-be diners can purchase a
tasting sample of their choice.
Right now the only exception is that the Flying Pink Pigs will
sell pulled pork sandwiches at a cost of four tickets.
Judging will commence with chicken at 1 p.m., ribs at 1:30, ham
butt at 2, Boston butt at 2:30, and winners will be announced at
3:30 and prizes given.
In addition to the cook-off there will be at least two other
sources of entertainment on the square: hamster races at 9 a.m. and
a presentation by the clogger troupe from Audra's Studio of Dance at
10:30.
Other events scheduled for Saturday include the festival
ribbon-cut at the Logan County Fairgrounds, the beginning of the
railsplitting competitions and three heritage sign dedications,
beginning at 10:30 at the State Bank of Lincoln, then moving on to
Carroll Catholic School and Veterans of Foreign Wars Cronin Brothers
Post 1756.
To see a complete schedule of Railsplitter events, visit this link:
http://www.tourlogancounty.com/railsplitter/
Schedule.html
[By NILA SMITH] |
