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9th Orangeville Rotary Ribfest smokey, tangy and a lot of fun

July 26, 2018   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

It was time to break out the wetnaps and check your face for barbecue sauce before heading to the midway during the ninth annual Orangeville Rotary RibFest held last weekend on the grounds at the Alder Street arena.

Sticky hands are part of the whole deal when you chow down at a ribfest and that, of course, is part of the fun.

This year the festival had six international ribbers slow cooking on their barbecues and coating the ribs in their own secret sauce.

The sauces ranged from tangy to sweet, and they were all ‘finger lickin’ good.

In addition to a variety of foods on site with vendors that lined the grounds there was a fun midway and non-stop entertainment on the main stage.

The Classic Car show took place on Saturday afternoon with vintage automobiles rolling in from all around the region.

The RibFest funds Rotary Club projects around town and in the past have included the splash pad at Fendley Park, the Rotary gazebo on the Island Lake Trail, the Rotary Way bike route, the intergenerational GrandPals program Community Living Dufferin and the Orangeville Food Bank.

Last year around 21,000 people attended the event and the numbers from Friday of this year were trending towards an even bigger turnout for 2018. When the finally count was tallied, the event set new attendance records on Friday and Saturday.

Numbers didn’t peak on Sunday due to inclement weather that kept most people at home.

“We have three new ribbers this year. In addition to the ribbers we have corn, spuds, grilled cheese sandwiches, a local coffee shop, and a lot of vendors. We even have a masseuse in there somewhere,” said Rotarian and chair of the RibFest committee, Charles McCabe, of all the activities that were on site.

As a community based organization, the Rotary Club is continuously working on new projects both in the local community as well as helping other Rotary Clubs achieve their larger goals.

“We fund local initiatives. Last year we helped put in a new walk-in refrigerator for the food bank. This year we helped them renovate the kitchen. We helped renovate the kitchen at Lighthouse (community help organization), “McCabe explained. “There’s a couple of big projects down the road. The funds raised today give us budget for the following year. At the same time we’re planing in advance. We want to do some little things but we also want to do some big things. We have a few projects that could take two or three years of commitment. One thing we are doing for sure is building a gazebo at the hospital at the emergency entrance just to make it more pleasant for people coming in. We’re doing that in partnership with Devonleigh Homes and Whispering Pines. Ninety-five percent is spent in the town but once in a while we’ll see something external that we want to support. Rotary is an international organization.”

The Rotary Club also expressed a thank-you to the local residents who live in the area surrounding the park for experiencing the ‘loud enthusiasm’ that goes with the festival. Most, if not all, local residents realize the annual event supports a good cause and it’s only a couple of days so they are on board with the entire festival.

The Clubs also were quick to thank supporters who make the festival possible including, Orangeville Scout Group, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Dufferin County Waste Services, IODE, Optimist Club of Orangeville, Orangeville Lions Club, Orangeville Police Service, Rotary Club of Orangeville Highlands, and the Town of Orangeville Parks and Recreation.

While the music, midway, and on-site vendors are a lot of fun, the big draw is of course the ribs.

Visitors were able to vote on their favourite ribs on exiting the grounds.

Celebrity rib judging too place on Saturday afternoon with local media personalities and members of council tasting and voting on their favourites.

Camp 31 was awarded Best Ribs. Silver Bullet was honoured with the Best Sauce award.

Billy Bones BBQ was named the Peoples Choice Award voted on by members of the community.

It was time to break out the wetnaps and check your face for barbecue sauce before heading to the midway during the ninth annual Orangeville Rotary RibFest held last weekend on the grounds at the Alder Street arena.

Sticky hands are part of the whole deal when you chow down at a ribfest and that, of course, is part of the fun.

This year the festival had six international ribbers slow cooking on their barbecues and coating the ribs in their own secret sauce.

The sauces ranged from tangy to sweet, and they were all ‘finger lickin’ good.

In addition to a variety of foods on site with vendors that lined the grounds there was a fun midway and non-stop entertainment on the main stage.

The Classic Car show took place on Saturday afternoon with vintage automobiles rolling in from all around the region.

The RibFest funds Rotary Club projects around town and in the past have included the splash pad at Fendley Park, the Rotary gazebo on the Island Lake Trail, the Rotary Way bike route, the intergenerational GrandPals program Community Living Dufferin and the Orangeville Food Bank.

Last year around 21,000 people attended the event and the numbers from Friday of this year were trending towards an even bigger turnout for 2018. When the finally count was tallied, the event set new attendance records on Friday and Saturday.

Numbers didn’t peak on Sunday due to inclement weather that kept most people at home.

“We have three new ribbers this year. In addition to the ribbers we have corn, spuds, grilled cheese sandwiches, a local coffee shop, and a lot of vendors. We even have a masseuse in there somewhere,” said Rotarian and chair of the RibFest committee, Charles McCabe, of all the activities that were on site.

As a community based organization, the Rotary Club is continuously working on new projects both in the local community as well as helping other Rotary Clubs achieve their larger goals.

“We fund local initiatives. Last year we helped put in a new walk-in refrigerator for the food bank. This year we helped them renovate the kitchen. We helped renovate the kitchen at Lighthouse (community help organization), “McCabe explained. “There’s a couple of big projects down the road. The funds raised today give us budget for the following year. At the same time we’re planing in advance. We want to do some little things but we also want to do some big things. We have a few projects that could take two or three years of commitment. One thing we are doing for sure is building a gazebo at the hospital at the emergency entrance just to make it more pleasant for people coming in. We’re doing that in partnership with Devonleigh Homes and Whispering Pines. Ninety-five percent is spent in the town but once in a while we’ll see something external that we want to support. Rotary is an international organization.”

The Rotary Club also expressed a thank-you to the local residents who live in the area surrounding the park for experiencing the ‘loud enthusiasm’ that goes with the festival. Most, if not all, local residents realize the annual event supports a good cause and it’s only a couple of days so they are on board with the entire festival.

The Clubs also were quick to thank supporters who make the festival possible including, Orangeville Scout Group, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Dufferin County Waste Services, IODE, Optimist Club of Orangeville, Orangeville Lions Club, Orangeville Police Service, Rotary Club of Orangeville Highlands, and the Town of Orangeville Parks and Recreation.

While the music, midway, and on-site vendors are a lot of fun, the big draw is of course the ribs.

Visitors were able to vote on their favourite ribs on exiting the grounds.

Celebrity rib judging too place on Saturday afternoon with local media personalities and members of council tasting and voting on their favourites.

Camp 31 was awarded Best Ribs. Silver Bullet was honoured with the Best Sauce award.

Billy Bones BBQ was named the Peoples Choice Award voted on by members of the community.


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