One Sunday afternoon about 10 years ago, Dale Donovan suggested to his father-in-law, Wayne Garrett, in after-dinner conversation that a barbecue contest might be just the thing to draw folks to Riverside Park for the start of the Allen County Fair.
Garrett ran with the idea.
“The first year (2004) we had three cooks, set up around a tree,” said Katie Donovan, Garrett’s daughter.
Saturday morning 37 outdoor chefs, from several states and with a truckload of trophies from other competitions, will participate in the ninth annual Allen County Fair BBQ Cook-Off.
“Dad lived long enough to see us become affiliated with the Kansas City Barbeque Society,” Katie noted. “That was something he really wanted to do.”
Garrett died in a traffic accident west of Iola on U.S. 54 Sept. 28, 2008.
“One of his favorite things, once the cook-off got off the ground, was to drive over the levee into the park early on Saturday morning and see all the smoke” rising from cookers set up throughout the grassy area south of the Recreation Community Building, Katie recalled.
THE BBQ Cook-Off will be joined, as it has for years, by the fair’s car show, just to the south of the cook-off.
Most years the car show draws about 50 vehicles — cars, vehicles and hybrids — although the spike in gasoline cost to about $3.50 a gallon range and discomfort of heat and drought may cut into this year’s numbers.
Iolan Larry Richards, whose bright red 1968 Chevrolet pickup always is a fan favorite, said he would wait until Saturday morning to decide whether to join other car fanciers this year.
“With the heat, I probably won’t be there all day,” he said.
Registrations will be accepted throughout the morning and trophy winners will be announced at 4 p.m.
During the day owners and spectators will swap stories about “that ’57 Chevy I had” and just which powerplant is better, ones under the hoods of Fords, General Motors or Chrysler products. Several early 1900s cars usually are among those shown, a category that always prompts those milling through the show to stop for closer inspection.
Another Saturday activity is the annual dryland turtle race.
Entries for the race will be accepted starting at 10 a.m. north of the Baby Barnyard building. The race, sponsored by Mid-West Fertilizer, will start at 10:30, with turtles freed and encouraged by handlers to move quickly — as a turtle can — to the edge of a circle.
THE BBQ COOK-OFF winner gets a coveted invitation to the annual American Royal World Series of Barbeque in September.
“The winner here will get a spot and several of our competitors are ranked in the CBS standings,” which also determines American Royal eligibility, Katie Donovan said.
