Annual Rib Burn Off Brings Community Together

August 29, 2013

By Victoria Bacon
An annual Rib Burn Off in Middle-field brings communities together, including the Amish, with family events and barbequed ribs every single summer.
Founded and hosted by Christ Covenant Church in Middlefield, the day-long festival — which was Aug. 10 this year — saw an estimated 1,000 people come and go.
Children flocked to the kids tent and inflatable slide while adults relaxed into conversation with old and new friends. Families from as far away as Guernsey County came to play in the softball tournament.
The 4-H Shooting Sports archery trailer was kept busy all day. Live bands such as Fort Huntsburg, Worship 101 and Gospel Echos drew an audience from those waiting in line for ribs or chicken.
Young and not-so-young came together for Banjo the Clown and Jungle Terry. Even the tractor-pulled train attracted the young-at-heart of all ages.
At the center of all the activity was the core group of 50 volunteers who are dedicated to serving and inviting the community to enjoy the day.
Welcoming people to the event, directing parking, cooking ribs, serving sides, handing out kids prizes, cleaning up tables, stopping to talk with people — volunteers worked hard with smiles on their faces.
“The whole reason we do the burn off is to connect with people,” said Rebecca Yost, volunteer and member of Christ Covenant.
Yost was reunited with a high school classmate she had not seen in years at this year’s event.
“We discovered we live pretty close to each other and didn’t know it,” she said.
The All-American Sport
Others at the event were busy cheering on the softball tournament teams at the E. Ray Miller commem-orative ballfield behind the church building.
Eighteen teams competed for first place, with The Troyers securing their third championship in a row.
Thirty-five games were played on Saturday, starting with a six division round robin to seed teams 1-18. The games were then played in a single elimination tournament.
Softball tournament coordinator Jason Karasek was kept busy all day, checking the games played on the ball fields behind Cardinal Middle School as well as the field behind Christ Covenant Church.
Karasek assisted Jim Riebe, the previous coordinator, with the softball tournament for two years before filling Riebe’s place in 2010. Interest in the tourney never seems to wane.
“The teams call me. I don’t have to call anybody,” Karasek said.
Teams begin contacting him as early as April to make sure they get into the tournament.
A large number of teams come from the Amish community, with 12 Amish teams in this year’s tournament.
“I already have some people willing to help out next year. We’re hoping to add more team slots. People look forward to this event,”?Karasek said. “Everyone on the winning team came up to me and said thanks for putting this on. The relationships go further than just softball.”
Target Practice
The Geauga County 4-H Shooting Sports presentation caught the eye of many first entering the event.
Coordinator Kirk Bacon, in full colonial costume, set up an archery range open to the public. Children lined up to pay $1 for all day shooting.
Bacon said there was a definite interest in 4-H from the families of about 40 children who participated in the display.
“(The kids) would line up, shoot and head to the back of the line to do it again the whole day. Our season starts in January and the slots are going fast,” he said.
To sign up for 4-H Shooting Sports, contact Kirk Bacon at kirk.bacon@
yahoo.com.
A Little History
The first Rib Burn Off took place in August of 2000 when Linton Sharpnak, previous senior pastor, visited a similar event held in Cleveland.
Sharpnak and the congregation of Christ Covenant decided to hold an annual event to serve the communities around Geauga County.
“(The burn off is still going) partly because of Linton’s iron-will obedience to what he believed God said to do,” said Senior Pastor Mike Southern. “He pushed through when some felt it was too hard.”
This year, the burn off once again proved to be a success. Ribs were sold out for the third year in a row, although more ribs were purchased from Byler’s Freezer Meats than last year in antici-pation of the turnout.
“People tell me they mark their calendars to attend,” said Southern. “They enjoy spending the day here; they say it’s peaceful.”
Although many of the traditions for the rib burn off have remained for over a decade, some improvements and changes are in the works.
In the past, proceeds from meal ticket sales have gone toward improving church grounds for community use, such as the baseball field, which is also used for Middlefield’s community soccer league.
This year’s proceeds will be more missions focused. Some will go to World Vision missions and some to assisting a local family with medical expenses.
Christ Covenant has always welcomed volunteer help from outside the congregation and next year, they hope to join with other local churches in order to continue reaching out to the community.
Other efforts to include greater community involvement include Geauga Park District and Geauga County Sheriff’s Office presentations, com-munity vendors and local high school community service volunteers.
“We want to be more than just a good event,” said Southern. “We want to encourage others that if God tells you to do something, then have faith to do it. We believe we’re doing this for God and we’re trying to do it well.”