The Merrill Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting their 3rd Annual Pork in the Park Ribfest on Saturday, Sept. 19 outside on the MARC grounds beginning at noon until sold out.
Pork in the Park is a rib cook-off that will feature eight plus area cooks and restaurants competing for the title of best rib in the area. The returning featured grill masters are Geiss Meats, Merrill Sheet Metal Works, Dickey’s BBQ, Kurt-n-Joe’s Eats-n-Treats, Kim’s BS Sauce, The Wellness Center at Gress Chiropractic, Porchy’s Bar-B-Q and Dustin McNeil. Each grill cook/team will be competing for the top three cash awards and a People’s Choice award will also be awarded based on votes by those consuming the ribs. New this year, there will be three certified rib judges joining the local celebrity judges.
“We are very excited to be hosting the 3rd Annual Pork in the Park in Merrill,” said Debbe Kinsey, chamber CEO. “Last year’s ribfest drew more than 3,000 people and we ran out of ribs! This year we have increased the ribs again, so we are hopefully prepared for all the rib lovers.”
The ribfest is also the most affordable in the area – ribs will be sold for only “two buck a bone” and will include sides sponsored by Park City Credit Union. In addition to the ribs, steak and chicken sandwiches, corn-on-the-cob and ribbon fries will also be available for purchase. Ed & Sharon’s Wagon will be there too, selling cheese curds and Trinity Lutheran Church will have pies. There will also be a beverage tent selling beer, soda and water.
Major “Boss Hog” sponsors of this year’s event include Church Mutual Insurance, Bell Tower Residence, RTL Electric, River Valley Bank, North Central Technical College, Wisconsin River Pro Rodeo and the Foto News. Pork in the Park tee-shirts are now available for sale at the Chamber office for $15 each.
For more information on Pork in the Park contact the Chamber office at 705 N. Center Ave., by telephone at 715-536-9474 or visit their website www.merrillchamber.org.