2nd Annual Family Barbecue & Gumbo Festival to End Hunger
Giving Thanks
by Craig Hickman
For two hours, the line that stretched around the giant tent didn’t seem to move. On August 17, 2013, the weather was perfect. From the football field in the valley behind the Winthrop Grade School, smoke billowed and the aroma of good, good food filled the air.
More than 350 people attended the Rotary Club of Winthrop Area’s 2nd Annual Family Barbecue & Gumbo Festival to End Hunger presented by Charlie’s Family of Dealerships. The menu featured a Pig Roast; Spareribs, Smoked Chicken, and Roasted Pork Loin with Homemade Barbecue Sauce; Grilled New York Sirloin; Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo; Vegetarian Gluten-Free Gumbo (yes, you can do that and it was so good, thanks to Farmer Kev’s Organic’s divinely sweet summer squash and sweet rice flour from Lynn Reed); Collard Greens; Grilled Summer Squash; Roasted Mushrooms; Macaroni & Cheese; Asian Green Bean Salad; Hamburgers and Hot Dogs (just because); Jerry Casey’s Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cornbread; Marcia Walls Simmons’ Smokin’ Beans, Vegetarian Beans, and Creamy Coleslaw; Kristin Guerette’s Famous Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes, Kerry Wilkins-Deming’s Decadent Brownies, Trudi Woolston’s Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies, and several other desserts. By the time the grills exhausted their coals, we had served more than 500 meals, including takeouts.
On behalf of the Club, I offer a whole-hearted thanks to all who made this year’s festival another success. We couldn’t do it without the generous support Charlie and Nancy Shuman, our presenting sponsors. Wholesome Homestead, the Trenholm family farm, raised, arranged for slaughter, and donated the pig for the roast. Rick Harvey donated his services as pig roast master chef extraordinaire. People are still talking about how perfectly cooked and sweet that pork was. Ricky Dosedlo provided live music free of charge. Apple Valley Books, the Flaky Tart Café, and Paris Farmers Union sold tickets that Fuller Ink generously designed and printed at its expense. Markham Tents gave us the giant tent and tables at a discount. Winthrop Fuel donated the propane that fueled one of the five grills billowing smoke. We are also grateful for the generosity of Annabessacook Farm, Lakeside Motel, Levey, Wagley, and Putman, Bill McKenna, and Peter Rosenberg. And Rotarian Lefty McIntyre went door-to-door and raised $1,000 simply by asking. We give thanks for his tireless efforts and all the families who answered his call to support the cause.
We also give thanks to Past President Eric Thoreson, who co-chaired the festival, oversaw the line, and without whom we’d never even have attempted this again; Ed Simmons, who showed up at 7 in the morning to cook breakfast, help execute the day’s plan, and serve expertly as grill chief; Club President Patrice Putman and Jerry Casey, Vice President Jeff and Trudi Woolston, Past President Priscilla Jenkins, Bill McKenna, Sarah Fuller, Charlie Gove, Jop Blom, Sandy Lizotte, Connie, McIntyre, JoEllen Cottrell, Mike Sienko, Steve and Margy Burns Knight, Cathy Leonard, Allison Johnson, Issac Johnson, Nate Rudy, Kerry Wilkins-Deming, William Grimes, Alex Gibson, Kathy Walley, Rita Moran, Erin Dow, Steve Dodge, Kyle Bell-Colfer, Louis “Pops” Weber, Liberty Rashad, and anyone else who, in the true spirit of community, helped to harvest, prep, cook, set up, haul, troubleshoot, serve, breakdown, clean up, and wash dishes.
Finally, we give thanks to everyone who came out to break bread with this community and help us ensure that no one among us goes hungry for a single day.
All in all, we raised more than $7,200 gross and more than $3,600 net. Funds raised will be distributed to the Winthrop Food Pantry, the Winthrop Hot Meal Kitchen, and other programs that work to end hunger in the Winthrop Lakes Region. If you missed this year’s festival but want to support our efforts, you may make a donation to the Winthrop Area Rotary Foundation, P.O. Box 453, Winthrop, Maine 04364.
Yes, we’ll do it again next year. Please contact us if you want to join our list of sponsors so we can make the 3rd Annual Family Barbecue & Gumbo Festival even better.
Oh, yeah. We may ask to borrow some of your grills for a day. Might help to move the line.
Take care of your blessings.
We hope you enjoy this collection of photos.
by Craig Hickman
For two hours, the line that stretched around the giant tent didn’t seem to move. On August 17, 2013, the weather was perfect. From the football field in the valley behind the Winthrop Grade School, smoke billowed and the aroma of good, good food filled the air.
More than 350 people attended the Rotary Club of Winthrop Area’s 2nd Annual Family Barbecue & Gumbo Festival to End Hunger presented by Charlie’s Family of Dealerships. The menu featured a Pig Roast; Spareribs, Smoked Chicken, and Roasted Pork Loin with Homemade Barbecue Sauce; Grilled New York Sirloin; Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo; Vegetarian Gluten-Free Gumbo (yes, you can do that and it was so good, thanks to Farmer Kev’s Organic’s divinely sweet summer squash and sweet rice flour from Lynn Reed); Collard Greens; Grilled Summer Squash; Roasted Mushrooms; Macaroni & Cheese; Asian Green Bean Salad; Hamburgers and Hot Dogs (just because); Jerry Casey’s Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cornbread; Marcia Walls Simmons’ Smokin’ Beans, Vegetarian Beans, and Creamy Coleslaw; Kristin Guerette’s Famous Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes, Kerry Wilkins-Deming’s Decadent Brownies, Trudi Woolston’s Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies, and several other desserts. By the time the grills exhausted their coals, we had served more than 500 meals, including takeouts.
On behalf of the Club, I offer a whole-hearted thanks to all who made this year’s festival another success. We couldn’t do it without the generous support Charlie and Nancy Shuman, our presenting sponsors. Wholesome Homestead, the Trenholm family farm, raised, arranged for slaughter, and donated the pig for the roast. Rick Harvey donated his services as pig roast master chef extraordinaire. People are still talking about how perfectly cooked and sweet that pork was. Ricky Dosedlo provided live music free of charge. Apple Valley Books, the Flaky Tart Café, and Paris Farmers Union sold tickets that Fuller Ink generously designed and printed at its expense. Markham Tents gave us the giant tent and tables at a discount. Winthrop Fuel donated the propane that fueled one of the five grills billowing smoke. We are also grateful for the generosity of Annabessacook Farm, Lakeside Motel, Levey, Wagley, and Putman, Bill McKenna, and Peter Rosenberg. And Rotarian Lefty McIntyre went door-to-door and raised $1,000 simply by asking. We give thanks for his tireless efforts and all the families who answered his call to support the cause.
We also give thanks to Past President Eric Thoreson, who co-chaired the festival, oversaw the line, and without whom we’d never even have attempted this again; Ed Simmons, who showed up at 7 in the morning to cook breakfast, help execute the day’s plan, and serve expertly as grill chief; Club President Patrice Putman and Jerry Casey, Vice President Jeff and Trudi Woolston, Past President Priscilla Jenkins, Bill McKenna, Sarah Fuller, Charlie Gove, Jop Blom, Sandy Lizotte, Connie, McIntyre, JoEllen Cottrell, Mike Sienko, Steve and Margy Burns Knight, Cathy Leonard, Allison Johnson, Issac Johnson, Nate Rudy, Kerry Wilkins-Deming, William Grimes, Alex Gibson, Kathy Walley, Rita Moran, Erin Dow, Steve Dodge, Kyle Bell-Colfer, Louis “Pops” Weber, Liberty Rashad, and anyone else who, in the true spirit of community, helped to harvest, prep, cook, set up, haul, troubleshoot, serve, breakdown, clean up, and wash dishes.
Finally, we give thanks to everyone who came out to break bread with this community and help us ensure that no one among us goes hungry for a single day.
All in all, we raised more than $7,200 gross and more than $3,600 net. Funds raised will be distributed to the Winthrop Food Pantry, the Winthrop Hot Meal Kitchen, and other programs that work to end hunger in the Winthrop Lakes Region. If you missed this year’s festival but want to support our efforts, you may make a donation to the Winthrop Area Rotary Foundation, P.O. Box 453, Winthrop, Maine 04364.
Yes, we’ll do it again next year. Please contact us if you want to join our list of sponsors so we can make the 3rd Annual Family Barbecue & Gumbo Festival even better.
Oh, yeah. We may ask to borrow some of your grills for a day. Might help to move the line.
Take care of your blessings.
We hope you enjoy this collection of photos.