Pork in the Park 2009 photos

Fair warning: this may be part one. In truth, it is already one of at least two parts because many more photos will be featured in the upcoming Weekend of local rock volume 23 post that I'll do later this week. But I'm also looking forward to seeing all the photos my companion took (more on that later.)

To make a long story at least somewhat shorter, I spent my day Saturday amongst a large number of people who entertained the same notion as this bumper sticker adorning a competitor trailer:

Perhaps you recall that I had a lot of fun with some of the competitors' signage last year. Well, this year it was my lady friend who enjoyed taking the pictures in the back lots so I let her have at it for the most part - she may account for that third PitP-related post. But I did find this example one of the most amusing:

This shot was one I took while wandering around back in the competitors' area.

What intrigues me about this whole KCBS enterprise is the lengths some of those who were there go to to secure the top prizes. Check out this trailer for example:

Here's some of what they were playing for. I noticed after I took the pictures that I didn't get the entirety of the Grand Champion trophy in the frame, which was sort of a shame.

In case you're wondering, the Grand Champion was an outfit called I Smell Smoke! The remainder of the contestants stacked up this way, with Florida Skin and Bones placing second and Who Are Those Guys crowned as Maryland State Champion as the top-finishing Maryland team. The next picture is some of those I Smell Smoke! grillers getting their hug in after they were declared the winner.

By the way, the recipient of the hug is the woman who runs the show, Sandy Fulton of the Wicomico Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism. Hopefully she's not too ashamed of being a photo subject here but she deserves a picture of her own because it's a tough job putting this together and she does it well.

One thing to consider about this event is the economic impact it has for the community. Take for example the entry fees alone.

Each entrant of the 92 who were involved (which is a record once again) paid at least $250 for the opportunity to compete - right there that's $23,000. That balances nicely with the $18,000 in prizes given out. And out of those 92 entries, just 18 managed to earn back their entry fee in prize money with the I Smell Smoke folks making the best return at $2,750. However, practically all of these participants spent at least some money in the local economy - perhaps not for their lodging but certainly in a number of other ways.

Nor can one discount the draw of perhaps 15,000 to 20,000 attendees over the course of three days. Sure, many of those who ate at the event went to the out-of-town vendors but many chose local names too.

Speaking of which here were two new rib vendors I hadn't noticed before this year.

I had my lunch ribs at Jacked Up and dinner from Jack's. Hands down, there was no comparison.

To me, ribs are good when they are meaty and all you have left in your hand afterward is a practically clean bone. Jacked Up BBQ filled that bill. Damn, those were good ribs and it was saddening for me to see them out of food by dinnertime - especially since it made other lines longer.

By the way, Famous Dave's was new too, but since they have a restaurant here I can eat at anytime I went with the aforementioned two. This is how the food court looked about noon, it was already pretty busy.

Farther down the way, I took a couple shots of the midway. They were from roughly the same area, with the first one looking west about noon and the other looking east about 7 p.m.

The next shot is not one I borrowed from the Autumn Wine Festival, but it's good to see a local vendor taking their chances on a more down-home event. I'd be curious to know how sales were.

My last shot was one taken from where I was sitting to enjoy the music. With the exception of grabbing supper and a beer run or two, that's where my lady friend and I were camped out from about 3:30 until after the Battle of the Bands ended.

One more thing. By my count I have fourteen photos in the post. With the exception of Sandy Fulton, who helped to organize the event, and the bands that will appear in a future post, having someone in more than one shot as a subject would purely be coincidental. Considering I spent about 12 hours there it's to be expected that I took a wide variety of photos, as did my girlfriend. (I'm hoping to see those later this week when we next meet.)

Apparently that wasn't the case on some other blog. I suppose if people didn't know I have Kim as a girlfriend they would now, not that I'm ashamed to admit it (hell, just go to my Facebook page if you don't believe me.) And I appreciate those who defended me; however given my checkered past with this photographer it's no surprise I'm the somewhat "random" photo subject - I actually joked with Kim about this very prospect before we even went to Pork in the Park.

Anyway, since my plan is to spend more time with Kim I suppose I'll warn my friends not to be surprised to see us as a featured piece from the Salisbury Festival. I guess it goes with the territory of having a website read by "83 people."

Let's hope that 2010 brings more vendors, more entrants, more good weather, and more chances to see good pictures from one of the signature events of our area's annual calendar.