The Ararat Ruritan Club held its 35th annual BBQ/Cruise-in on Saturday, October 22. The event was an overwhelming success as members cooked over 270 pounds of pork shoulders throughout the night. Nearly 1,000 people attended and bought all of the barbecue plates that were available. The food was sold out by around 5 p.m.
The Carolina blue skies created a majestic backdrop for the over 50 cars/trucks/motorcycles on display. Doris Bowman won the trophy presented by the Ararat Ruritan Club for her entry of a 1965 Chevrolet pickup.
The Ruritan motto of Fellowship, Goodwill, and Community Service, was on full display during the event.
This annual event began with the Wagon Train that stopped overnight for concessions and camp at the Ruritan building making their trek into Mount Airy, N.C. for the Autumn Leaves Festival. The Ruritan Club published an ad book highlighting advertisements from local businesses and this was incorporated into the annual Wagon Train. Once the Wagon Train stopped coming through, the Ararat Ruritan Club decided to continue a tradition of the Ad Book along with a fundraiser selling BBQ.
Last October, the Cruise-In was added to the BBQ to entice more folks to come to the building to find out all about Ruritan. Proceeds from this fundraiser and others throughout the year help to support the Ararat community and beyond.
The Ararat Ruritan Club invites anyone interested in serving its community to come to a meeting, held on the first Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. in Ararat, or contact a Ruritan in your area. If there is no Ruritan Club in your community, you can email AraratRuritanClub@gmail.com for information on how to start your own club. New members are welcome.