Blog
2017 Pig Cookin’ Contest Countdown!
-Written by Mary Jordan, Spencer Penn Centre Director
April 8th may seem a long way into the future, but planning for a big event begins long before the six-month range.
2017 will be our sixth annual Pig Cookin' Contest. For five years, the weather on April’s second Saturday had been absolutely beautiful: blue skies, warm temps, slight breeze….PERFECT! However, (did you feel it was coming?) the weather last year was the “coldest day since Ground Hog’s Day” and keep in mind that day is February 2nd! Not only cold temps, but it actually snowed, sleeted and the cold wind blew all day!
Our attendance was down somewhat (1,300 compared to 1,700) but we considered the event was hugely successful. All remaining BBQ was sold by Tuesday with an all-time profit so thanks to all who came and to those who bought BBQ after.
Now, getting back to the 2017 Pig Cookin’.
First, the weather is going to be gorgeous. Evidently, we forgot to preorder last year.
We are also getting ideas to expand the children’s activities. Any small organization needs to start small, perfect what they start with and then branch out. It is time to concentrate on expanding fun things for the children.
We challenged two event brains to help us get started. Here comes Sharon Shephard and Liz Secrest from the Chamber. These girls are sharp. Ideas were bouncing out of their pretty little mouths like lightning popping out of a thunderstorm. This was exciting!!!
To go along with our theme of pigs (of course, it’s a Pig Cookin!), farm, barn etc, our children’s area is going to be a “BARN-I-VAL” carnival atmosphere. Under the Big Top, (whoops that is a circus reference, right?)….under the Barn-i-val tent, we will have games, contests, craft activities, etc all with a Pig/farm/barn theme. It will be on the ballfield and hopefully maybe some real piggies will be squealing. Mary Ann Graham, Beta sponsor at Bassett High School has saved us students who will need community service hours to man the games.
We have ideas and volunteers, all is well, right? Beep…wrong answer if you were thinking yes. I need a volunteer who will be chair. This person needs to be creative, works well with children of all ages and a good organizer. We can supply materials for the games and most construction but tell us what you need.
Hope someone will call me because this is going to be great!
Please follow us with more plans for our 6th Annual Pig Cookin’ Contest on Saturday, April 8, 2017 when Spencer Penn Centre will be Bringing Neighbors Together in Spencer Virginia.
This is the first in a series of posts about the Spencer Penn Centre's annual Pig Cookin' and what 2017's event has in store.