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FREDONIA — Saturday’s Fredonia barbecue was a big success. Hundreds of people turned out. and lots of fresh-cooked food was served.

These community barbecues have been taking place for more than 70 years now. They started in the early 1950s and were held every year on the Saturday after Easter until the Covid outbreak happened in 2020. The annual spring barbecue was put on hold for a few years before resuming in 2023. The crowd coming on barbecue day is now getting back to where it once was.

The cooking started Friday afternoon. A total of 65 hams were booked in the covered grilling area behind the historic community clubhouse. Around 15 men were there to take on this chore. Some of them stayed all night, and some left when a rainstorm rolled through during the nighttime hours.

More than 100 people take part in some way to make the barbecue the success it is and has been for a long time. Someone has to put up the yellow banners at the county’s well-traveled places to get the word out. Tickets have to be printed and sold. On barbecue day, some truly dedicated people have to do the cooking. People start arriving for the barbecue at 5 p.m. EDT on Saturday. There are volunteers on duty who help with the parking on the big lawn in front of the community clubhouse. Some people go inside to eat on site in what was once a classroom in the Fredonia school. Others drive though to a big tent where they pick up to go plates. There’s a serving line inside the building where volunteers fill each plate with barbecue, stew and cole slaw. There’s plenty of drinks to go around, too.

Lots of people come to these community barbecues to socialize. Almost every elected official in the county comes to them. Among those there this year were State Senator Randy Price and wife Olene, who’s the revenue commissioner in Lee County.

“I’ve been here ever since Friday afternoon,” said one of the volunteers under the covered pavilion out back. “It’s a lot of work, but we do it only one time a year, and it’s for a good cause. The money that’s raised goes to the upkeep of the clubhouse and other worthy causes here in Fredonia. We take pride in what we do. We think we cook the best barbecue in the world.”

Anyone who had a plate of it on Saturday would find that hard to argue with.