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What an enjoyable meal we all had at our Weekly Chamber Luncheon held this past Thursday at the new Abner's BBQ, owned and operated by Abner Miller, at the old Badlands Smokehouse location.

Not only did we enjoy the barbecue specialties this past Thursday, including ribs, pulled pork, chopped and sliced brisket, smoked chicken and loaded baked potatoes, we also enjoyed the company of the following individuals: Budo Perry, David Perry, Mark Young, Justin Calvert, Valerie Ferguson, Gail Alter, Cheryl Hill, Kathy Perkins, Justin Young, with wife Lauren and son Westin and myself.

After having a great rib dinner, I have to agree with Mark young's earlier assessment — Abner's special seasoning makes them the best I've ever had. Give them a try, and plan on joining us each Thursday for the month of September at 11:30 a.m. for our Weekly Chamber Luncheon at Abner's BBQ.

We held another “BBQ and Bluegrass” planning meeting this past week with Brad Clinkenbeard, Tim Smith, Mike Williams, Alissa Gage, Cheryl Hill, Kathy Perkins and myself participating.

We are excited to say that many KCBS teams are already committing to being part of this year's festivities, and Mike has lined up some awesome bluegrass performers for that Saturday's music.

We should be able to announce their names in the next couple weeks. Much of the early excitement and response has come through the efforts of Alissa and the Facebook page she has created regarding the event.

If you haven't already, check it out and give it a "like." Being a competitor herself, along with Tim Ryals, she has also passed out many flyers at various competitions throughout the state.

We are also working on sponsors and supporters for this year's event. If you or your business are interested in helping promote this huge community event, give myself or any of the committee members a call and we can fill you in on all the details and benefits.

This year, our main event Oct. 27 will be covered live on Channel 8, with Kirsten Dickerson being here to do the coverage.

We are also hoping for a repeat appearance of Travis Myers from Channel 6.

Also, as last year, we are going to open up the kickoff portion of the event on Friday evening to any local church or civic group that would like to set up a fund-raising booth around Centennial Park for the Meet the Cooks and Street Dance portion of the festivities, beginning around 6 p.m. Oct. 26.

There is no booth charge for this Friday evening offer. Mailings will be going out this next week to food and merchandise vendors, church and civic groups and Taster’s Choice competitors for Saturday’s event.

Again, as in years past, vendors on Saturday cannot sell or give away any meat products or drinks.

That does not apply to the Friday evening offer as stated above.

In all, our 4th Annual Smokin' the Fort BBQ & Bluegrass Festival promises to be a super event, with plenty of food for everyone with the BBQ taster kits, additional sundry foods from the various vendors, neat merchandise and a brand new T-shirt design that everyone will want to take home with them.

Come join Beauregard the Bull as he's "gettin' down, in the oldest town," Oct. 26-27. Don't miss it!