Pig in the Park
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on April 10, 2016 1:45 AM
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News-Argus/ALAN CAMPBELL
John Kearney, left, of Haulin' Hog Catering, watches as teammate John Kantenwein adds barbecue sauce to their chopped pork Saturday during Pig in the Park at Old Waynesborough Park. The Haulin' Hog team won first place in the North Carolina Pork Council division.
Twenty-three cooking teams from across North Carolina gathered at the Old Waynesborough Park Saturday for the annual Pig in the Park barbeque festival.
Joined by dozens of vendors, two live bands and a crowd of hundreds, the chefs created their signature brands of barbecue and offered them up to be judged. Of the 23 groups, 16 were judged by the North Carolina Pork Council, with the other seven being rated by volunteer judges in the "backyard" division.
By the time the festival began at 9 a.m, the cook teams had already been at it for hours.
Joe Martikke, head chef of the Goldsboro Parks and Recreation team, said his team had been cooking their hog since 9:30 the previous night.
"We cook with wood, so we were constantly replacing the wood and getting new wood ready," Martikke said.
In the NCPC division, the Haulin' Hog team, led by head chef John Kearney, took first place for the second year in a row.
The team won $500, a trophy and will have their entry into the state competition paid for by the Boys and Girls Club.
"We're fortunate, we've got a good team," Kearney said.
Kearney was clear about why he thought his team took the victory.
"It's just good," he said with a smile.
The win marked Highland Hogs' fourth first-place finish.
The team from Tims Backyard Barbeque came in second place, winning $300 and Blue Pig Barbeque took third for a $200 prize.
Big Bellies Barbeque was the winner of the backyard division and won $100 and a unique platter created specifically for the event.
The cookers battled heavy winds all day, at times struggling to keep their tents and canopies upright. Many teams ended up electing to take them down and cook without them rather than try to combat the weather.
The festival also featured the annual "Boss Hog" fundraising competition, in which Goldsboro citizens and business owners competed to raise money by seeing who could get the most kisses on their cardboard cutout during the previous nights Barnyard Bar Bounce bar crawl event. The winner would be given the honor -- or perhaps the obligation -- of kissing a live, 3-week-old pig.
For the first time ever, the competition ended in a tie, with Ben Eskra and Anthony Russo both smooching the swine.
The goal of Pig in the Park is to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club of Wayne County.
Proceeds from the Boss Hog competition, which met its $5,000 goal, as well as barbeque plate sales at the event, all directly benefited the club.
Mary Ann Dudley, executive director, said that the overall fundraising goal was between $32,000 to $35,000.
The windy weather may have dampened turnout a bit, but Mrs. Dudley said she still estimated at least 1,000 people to have attended the festival.
Despite the windy weather, this year's Pig in the Park festival succeeded in bringing together hundreds of people from all over the state.