Adding barbecue to Feast in the East worked well
By Winkie Lee
Published in News on November 16, 2004 1:59 PM
Adding its annual pig cook-off to Feast in the East activities worked well for the Arts Council of Wayne County. A profit of more than $4,000 was made from the barbecue meals the organization sold.
The Arts Council's board of directors was told of the results Monday at its meeting.
The gala party on the evening of the cook-off was also profitable. After expenses, about $2,700 was made, said Alice Strickland, council executive director.
Ven Faulk, who headed the cook-off, said most of the comments he heard were positive.
But there is room for improvement. The Arts Council ran out of barbecue at 1:30 p.m. and purchased chicken dinners from the Mar Mac Fire Department for people who showed up with pre-paid dinner tickets.
Some of the tickets had to be refunded.
Faulk said he would like to have more teams next year so there would be more barbecue.
A local team, the Goldsboro Exchange Club, won the cook-off. The showmanship award went to the P.I.G.S., a team of local women headed by Norma Pondrier.
The past couple of months have been busy ones for the Arts Council, Mrs. Strickland said. In addition to the Feast in the East and gala party, there were two opening exhibits, the annual juried art show, the holiday art market and continuing work in the garden.
Although Mrs. Strickland was pleased with the amount of activity, she was concerned that it might be too much too fast for such a small staff. The art market opened with fewer items than she would have liked and Sunday's opening reception and book signing for artist Robert Irwin had an embarrassingly small turnout.
The Arts Council and its board continue to look for a large artificial Christmas tree to place in its front window. So far, the trees found have either been too short or too narrow.