68th Decatur Barbecue: Tradition lives on
DECATUR — It was a fabulous end to an extraordinary day when the night sky lit up with exploding red, white, blue, green and purple bombshells against background patriotic tunes such as “God Bless America” and Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”
The 68th Decatur Barbecue at Veterans Park in Decatur began with the 5K and Fun Run at Edmiston Park on Saturday. The Fun Run consisted of one lap around the Veterans Park Walking Trail. The 5K, on the other hand, started in the parking lot at Edmiston Ball Park and made its way to Old City Park, the site of the original Decatur Barbecue. From Old City Park, the runners made their way to Veterans Park, where runners, like the Fun Run contestants, made a lap around the walking trail before crossing the finish line near the second hole of the Frisbee golf course.
Meanwhile, the chicken flippers from Simmons got busy cooking the chicken halves their company donated to the event.
By 10 a.m. the first chicken dinners were packed with beans and chips and sold to visitors through the drive-through window.
By 11 a.m. all the vendors were set up and ready for the sales day ahead. Some local groups also began selling their wares, including the Decatur Volleyball program selling sodas and water.
Nearby First Baptist Church of Decatur ran the dunk tank. Pastor Justin White agreed to be “baptized” in the dunk tank during the morning. Toby Conrad, the Decatur High School principal, took the plunge in the afternoon.
At the entrance to Veterans Park near the Bunker Building, law enforcement officers from the Decatur Police Department, and also the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and the Highfill Police Department set up camp, keeping the peace. While the Decatur Police worked to raffle a few items, with the proceeds to be used for much-needed crime-fighting tools, Highfill Police put up its drones to demonstrate the many uses for this new technology.
Early in the afternoon, Mike Eckels and Brad Clayton began lining up the Decatur Barbecue parade in the parking lot of the Decatur car wash and along Third Street for a 1:30 p.m. start. People began lining the sidewalks on Main Street to get the best view of the entries and to catch as much candy as possible.
Then it was time to roll as three units from the Decatur Police Department led the way down Main Street and to Veterans Park.
While there were no floats entered in this year’s parade, there were still plenty of vehicles to form one of the longest parades in many years.
Decatur Mayor Bob Tharp and his wife Joy served as this year’s grand marshals and followed the Decatur Police escort.
In all, units from Benton County Sheriff’s Office, Highfill Police Department and BC Motorcycles, along with the Decatur Fire Department, made up a third of the parade, while the Decatur Barbecue contestants and court, and members from the car show made up the other two-thirds.
By 9 p.m. as the Blane Howard concert came to an exciting conclusion, the Decatur Fire Department supervised the launching of a 20-minute fireworks display.
Over a year’s worth of work by Kim Wilkins (chamber president), chamber members and volunteers went into this year’s event. It is their efforts that made the 68th Decatur Barbecue a huge success. Wilkins expressed her profound gratitude to those that made this all possible for the city of Decatur and for history.
“I can’t say enough about the many volunteers who came out to Veterans Park to park cars, sell water, pack chicken, and do other jobs associated with putting on an event of this magnitude,” Wilkins said. “Of course, we couldn’t have pulled this off without the help of our many sponsors this year. To all the sponsors and volunteers, I simply say, ‘Thank you!’”