Members of the Plymouth Noon Rotary Club began making preparations for the traditional Fall Festival Chicken Barbeque back in March.
Gary Stoltz, chairman of the club barbeque committee, said they began organizational meetings months ago to ensure that the event will meet the expectations of the 8,500 or so guests who will purchase one of the dinners. As always, the dinners will include a half barbequed chicken, chips, a roll, an ear of corn, a cookie and a bottle of water. This year, due to supply chain and cost increases, the dinners will be priced at $13 if purchased in advance from any Rotary Club member and are now available. Tickets purchased on 'Chicken Sunday' will be $15.
The Rotary Chicken Barbeque was the beginning of the Fall Festival in Plymouth and the other weekend events have grown around the six-decades long tradition. The secret seasoning recipe remains just that, top secret, divulged only to a select few individuals trusted with the mixing of the special blend of spices which gives the chicken the unique and unduplicated flavor. The goal of the event also remains just as it was 66 years ago, sell the barbeque chicken dinners to fund civic projects and charities in the community.
While the first barbeque generated funds for playground equipment for a city park, the event now pays for scholarships, donates to multiple local charities and groups, and funds many services in the area through the foundation which is also involved in world-wide charitable efforts like the eradication of polio in third-world countries, the building of schools in underdeveloped nations and the installation of wells in areas devoid of clean drinking water.
Committee members, Stoltz said, are pretty confident they can make a success of the event, but are well aware of the pressure they face. There are a multitude of moving parts and tasks involved in producing each dinner. Committee members this year in addition to Stoltz include Andy Savage who is second in command and handling all the purchasing for the event; Eric Kostoff who is in charge of ticket sales and management; Jill Johnson who is organizing all the Rotary and non-student volunteers; Bari Livsey who is coordinating the volunteer groups from the high schools; Eric Joy, a past club president and former president of the Fall Festival committee, who is in charge of sponsors and marketing, along with Brandon Bunt, the past barbeque president who is helping with advice and obtaining sponsorships for the event.
In all, it takes about 50 to 75 volunteers from the Rotary Club along with 700-800 high school student volunteers to produce the thousands of dinners in about eight hours or so on Sunday.
“It is no small operation and there are a lot of moving parts,” Stoltz said. “We couldn't do it without the volunteers and the people who donate. The city is really helpful to us, too, with the tear down and security,” he added.
Stoltz, a Canton Township resident, said he is always surprised when people do not understand the real purpose of the barbeque and what it means to the community. “The good we are able to do with the funds raised is tremendous,” he said. Stoltz stressed that there are no administration or management expenses and that every dollar from the event, after supplies and food is paid for, goes back into the community.
“We are not the only group out there working for the community,” he said.
“The Kiwanis, The Lions, all those clubs really do a lot of good, too. People don't understand that there are a lot of people donating a lot of time to do good for the community.”
