Ribs for Kids continues despite pandemic

This year’s Ribs for Kids fundraiser was a bit different than those I have judged in the past but was a great reminder of how charitable organizations, such as host Petaluma Active 20-30 Club, can and will roll with the punches still be doled out by the pandemic.

The Petaluma Active 20-30 Club is a group of “youngsters” between the ages of 20 and 39 who encourage and support friendship, networking and leadership skills through charitable work in the community. They host fundraisers to help less-advantaged children prepare for each new school year with their Children’s Shopping Spree each summer. The psychological benefit of starting with brand new clothes, a backpack and a haircuts is often forgotten by those of us no longer in school, but can make a huge difference our local kids.

Ribs for Kids was started in 2015 with exactly this cause in mind and has been growing ever since, until the pandemic canceled the tasty event last year. This year the club was able to put together a small, take-home event. With only nine teams competing, it was a bit different than others years, but remained chock full of charitable giving, from the donors to the sponsors.

Judging

I have volunteered my services to help judge Ribs for Kids every year since its inception. I certainly missed being shoulder to shoulder with my fellow judges this year, but picked up my ribs and judged them from home to do my part. Other judges this year included local food legend Laurie Figone (TV personality and World Dessert Champion), Jacob Dunn, Ken Quinto and Rick Foote.

Laurie and I have judged a lot of food competitions together, so it was nice to see her as we passed each other in the parking lot during our judges’ pick-up. I was especially sad to have missed getting to judge with Rick Foote for his first time as he is a barbecue pro in his own right. Rick co-owns War Wagon BBQ, a local caterer and first got involved with Ribs for Kids in 2019. Rick wanted to compete this year, but his rig was in Southern California so instead, he helped make extra sides and did some rib judging.

In 2019, War Wagon BBQ had just launched, mostly serving from their impressive custom-built barbecue trailer in the north parking lot of Maselli & Sons’ hardware as they started to build their catering business. They had planned to participate in the Ribs for Kids event that year but missed it due to a family emergency. Even though they had nothing to make up for, War Wagon BBQ held a special Father’s Day fundraiser and donating all the proceeds, which amounted to $600, to Ribs for Kids.

Due to that positive experience and the contact he and his crew had with the Petaluma Active 20-30 Club, Rick’s daughter Vanessa Maselli ended up joining the club and has been a valuable member ever since.

“Even with a brand-new baby, Vanessa still gets in there and gets stuff done,” said past 20-30 Club president Matthew Larrabure. “She is one of those people we can put on a task or be in charge of something and trust it will get done and, if an issue arises, she can figure it out and make it work.”

Back to the judging, the 20-30 Club even figured out a way for “guests” to participate in this year’s judging by offering “People’s Choice” award judging through a QR code printed on the receipt. Everyone could vote for their favorites online, from the comfort of their own home, while enjoying some great barbecue.

Sides dishes are always interesting to judge because they run a wider range of flavors than the ribs themselves but are always an added bonus to any barbecue competition, both for judging and for pure dining pleasure. This year’s selections included several chilis, a mac and cheese and a cornbread concoction. All were great and went well with the barbecued ribs, which is one of the main judging criteria for sides.

How to become a BBQ judge

For those who are wondering how you can get into food judging without being a food writer, the Kansas City Barbeque Society is a great place to start. They are the main barbecue competition governing body and offer half-day judging classes. Once certified, you can travel the world judging competitions, on your own dime, of course. Whenever we travel, we always check their website for competitions and often squeeze in some judging while on the road. It is a great way to meet local, while tasting some finger-linking good barbecue (do note: finger-licking is actually not allowed while judging). And although the Ribs for Kids competition is not a sanctioned KCBS event, being a certified judge certainly helps one prepare and understand some of the intricacies of food judging.

The competitors

This year’s competitors included Deputy Dawg BBQ, who have been big supporters and always cook as much food as the event asks for. Charbay Distillery competed and took third place from the judges for their ribs, along with cooking however much extra food the club asked for too. Big Boiler BBQ earned first place from the judges for their chili side, a mildly spicy chili which went well with the barbecue ribs. Other teams included Yes Dear BBQ, Butler Auto Glass, Throwing Smoke and two first-time competitors who both took home awards – Porkasaurus (second place ribs from the judges) and Sonoma Sparkies (People’s Choice Awards for ribs.)

Grand Champion

Last, but certainly not least was team Saucesquatch, who have competed and improved every year since the first and this year finally got called up as Grand Champion – taking home first place in the judges’ category for their excellent ribs. Matt Hundley, a founding member of the current Petaluma Active 20-30 club, has led this team each year since the first year of competition.

We judges distinctly remember Matt’s first year competing as he went with a coffee rub that certainly caught our attention for uniqueness although, to be honest, the execution left a bit to be desired. In fact, they ranked towards the bottom, just ahead of one entry that was still raw inside and another that smelled like cigarettes. However, Matt and his team were never discouraged and always focused on the camaraderie of the event and the organization over their actual place on the judges’ list.

“It was easy to get hooked on competing at Ribs for Kids for several reasons,” Matt said. “The camaraderie with teammates and other competitors, and the connection with the community, and especially the cause.

Using an “open pit” style barbecue trailer for several years, Saucesquatch always faced the additional challenge of trying to get enough smokiness in their ribs, resorting to creating tinfoil tents over their ribs in an attempt to trap some of the wafting smoke. In recent years, they have found greater and greater success with an electric smoker, as evidenced by this year’s win. With so many ribs to consider, we judges usually take just one bite, do our scoring and then move on. However, it is usually easy to tell who the winner will be by looking around the judges’ table and seeing which ribs are cleaned down to the bone. Saucesquatch’s was one of those ribs this year.

“The event is so much fun, and, as a competitor, you can be as creative as you like,” Matt said. “Over the years with Wade Call and Jennifer Hundley (Matt’s wife), we always tried for something different and unexpected, as a way to overcome our minimal experience, compared to other competitors. It has always been ‘learn as we go’ – find what worked and didn’t work, and build off of it. This year, with Jorge Servin as partner, we simply drew from those experiences, and finally put something together that impressed the judges. It sure was great hearing our names called as Grand Champions.”

The best BBQ around?

Although there are certainly the odd anomalies at any barbecue competitions, I have written repeatedly that even though I judge national and international barbecue competitions, I rarely taste as high a quality of ribs as I do at Ribs for Kids, even though most of these are backyard, not professional competitors. One might say that the secret ingredient to this event’s excellent flavors is that the “competitors” are all actually giving for a great cause.

Pandemic Challenges

One of the big challenges when holding a food event like this is making sure that a proper balanced is reached between the number of competitors and the amount of food need for guests’ orders. This was even more of a challenge this year, when “guests” had the option to donate meals to families in the community. This is where the sponsors really stepped up to ensure that there was plenty of food to go around. Of special note, War Pig BBQ, who did not compete this year, still participated by cooking plenty of extra ribs offsite for the 20-30 club to supplement their gift orders with.

“The change to a pick-up preorder only was a big shift yet a blessing because we knew we were all sold,” Larrabure said. “We could prep everything out and it made our pickup efficient and we didn’t have to worry about ‘is anyone going to show up?’ However, we felt we were low on sides Tuesday before the event, so we reached out to several companies and they stepped up and donated.”

“What was incredibly important to us this year was that the event would occur in some format,” said Breanna Weaver, Active 20-30 Club member and one of the main chairs for this event. “Like so many other organizations, cancelling our signature event [last year] was a huge disappointment for many reasons. First, it’s our largest fundraiser of the year and provides the majority of the funds needed for us to serve children in the community. Second, this is our sixth year running the event and have built a wonderful community of competitors and attendees. We were so disappointed to not be able to see them last year.”

Big things planned for 2022

This fundraiser is usually held at the Lucchesi Center, where judges are sequestered inside while guests enjoy being able to walk around and try all the great barbecued ribs, side dishes, desserts and live music.

Next year brings big news for the Ribs for Kids event with a new location and expanded competition. On Saturday, May 21, 2022, the event will be held at the fairground’s Herzog Hall (and surrounding areas) and will revive Petaluma’s lost chili cook-off, along with continuing the rib competition. There will also be plenty of breweries on hand as well as live music and other fun and games. If you have missed the Great Petaluma Chili Cookoff, mark your calendar because this should be bigger, better and tastier than ever before as it will also include the barbecue competition.

You can still give

For those who missed the event but would still like to support this great local organization help our youth, you can continue to donate at ribsforkidspetaluma.com. There is a donate link at the top of the page. “All the money stays local and 100% of donations go to kids.”

The club organizers expressed their deepest appreciation to all the Petaluma Argus-Courier readers who showed their support. “The community stepped up and sponsored/donated over 30 meals that we delivered to families in the community,” Larrabure reported. “We also received multiple straight up donations both before the event in the presale and the day of.”