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Community Corner

Contestants Sought for Smoke on Bay Rib Off

Only two contestants have signed up to compete in the Smoke on the Bay Rib Off event Aug. 13 in downtown New Baltimore.

New Baltimore Lions Club members are firing up plans for the second annual Smoke on the Bay Rib Off, but only two contestants have signed up for the Aug. 13 competition, an organizer said Monday.

The cook-off is slated to start at 9 a.m. on Washington St. between Front and Main streets in downtown New Baltimore. The Lions Club provides ribs and competitors bring their own equipment to cook the ribs “right there on the street,” said Mary Rutledge, a Lions Club member in charge of organizing the event.

Rutledge is hoping additional contestants will sign up to compete by Wednesday's deadline. Applications can obtained at the or by calling Rutledge at 313-610-5056.

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Local ministers will start judging the cooked ribs on their presentation, taste and tenderness at 4 p.m. The first-place winner will receive $300, second-place earns $200 and third-place will be awarded $100.

Those not interested in competing can still come down to enjoy other activities that club members have added to this year’s fundraising event.

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This year, there will be a baking contest, quilt display and a variety of entertainment. Two bands, "Doin’ Time" and "The Groove," will perform, and children can be entertained by Rosco the Clown or Roland James and his “amazing birds of paradise.”

McFat’s, a meat shop and catering company in Fair Haven, will be on-site providing food all day for spectators to enjoy.

Cooking Up Cause for Community

“We try to do this stuff to help better our community,” Rutledge said.

The Lions Club provides eyeglasses and hearing aids to area residents and supports Leader Dogs for the Blind, as well as other organizations.

“We also support the and the and the Goodfellows and the Boy Scouts–anything that’s going on in our community,” Rutledge added. “The money we bring in we give back to all of these various charities, and that’s our goal; that’s our job.”

Tomorrow’s Treasures Quilting of New Baltimore will host the quilt display along with help from New Baltimore Treasurer Jeanne Bade.

“I’m hoping we’ll have a lot of traffic and the quilt display brings out a lot of people,” Rutledge noted. “I think it’s nice to have something going on in downtown New Baltimore and that’s what the Lions are trying to do. It draws people downtown and brings people to the businesses downtown, so it’s a win-win situation for the city and the Lions Club.”

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