THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 2, 1994 TAG: 9409300255
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 160 lines
IT STARTED IN a farm field as a humble barbecue. Now, 15 years later, it's one of the best attended gatherings in the city.
What was originally called around town as simply ``the sheriff's barbecue'' has now gone up-scale now christened ``The Great American Food Fest.''
The event has grown so much that now it can only be held at Chesapeake City Park on Greenbrier Parkway, where the annual Jubilee is held, in order to accommodate the thousands, yes thousands, of participants.
``Those were the good old days,'' said John Downs, public information officer for the Sheriff's office, reminiscing about the event's beginnings. ``We had about 700 people and thought we had a pretty good turnout.''
In those days, Downs said the event was simply known as the ``EVAP Barbecue'' or known throughout the city as ``the sheriff's barbecue.''
EVAP is the Elderly Victims' Assistance Program, the recipient of the event's funds along with the co-sponsoring South Norfolk Ruritan Club.
The early events took place at what was then known as Cahoon Farms, a site right across the street from the Cedar Road Chesapeake campus of Tidewater Community College.
``Little by little, we evolved,'' said Chesapeake Sheriff John R. Newhart.
Newhart conceived of the idea of a community barbecue while searching for a way to fund his office's victim assistance program.
``I attended a conference in New Orleans and learned about a fund-raising program started by Sheriff Charlie Foti,'' Newhart said. ``I thought that would go over well here. And right at that time the South Norfolk Ruritans had just formed and they were looking for a project to latch onto. So we combined forces and have been doing this together since.''
For the very first barbecue, New-hart said he wore out quite a bit of shoe leather selling tickets and soliciting sponsorship and backing from area businesses. Now sponsorship offers roll in and tickets are in great demand.
After its formative years at the Cedar Road spot, the event moved onto the Volvo-Penta site off of Volvo Parkway.
``We outgrew Cahoon Farms. We got logistically too big for the site, especially the parking,'' Downs said. ``Then we stayed for about two or three years at the Volvo-Penta place, and soon we got too big for that, too. Finally, when we were looking for a new place, the Jubilee was in full swing and Chesapeake Parks and Recreation had been developing the site and adding on improvements.''
Chesapeake City Park is ideally suited for the event, Downs said.
``It's level, it has free and plentiful parking, and the city manages to add improvements to the park each year,'' he said.
In fact, planning parking for the upcoming Food Fest has been like formulating a battle strategy: Everything must be carefully planned out.
``We have a special deputy who has been working many hours planning just the parking,'' Downs said. ``We always have uniformed personnel out to assist with parking, and we've opened a few more roads to the park to make it easier. We want to make it as easy as we can for people to go in and out. And we will have plenty of handicapped parking.''
The event, which once offered only the down-home fare of barbecued pork, hush puppies and coleslaw, now features a spread of many, many other food items.
``Each year we began to add other items,'' Newhart said. ``First, we added clam chowder, then chili, then fish, and so on. And finally, since we were offering so much we decided to change the name to reflect what we had. A lot of folks these days are more diet-conscious and would like more types of foods. We think we've added more gourmet items to reflect what we now have in Chesapeake.''
``We felt the word barbecue didn't convey the totality of what we have encompassed,'' Downs added. ``We needed a more sophisticated name.''
So now ``the sheriff's barbecue'' has officially become the Great American Food Fest, complete with its own snazzy logo. The event features not only the requisite and traditional barbecue items such as pork, coleslaw, hush puppies, baked beans, fried chicken and fish, chili, corn dogs, but other fancier gourmet treats including prime rib, chicken fajitas, baklava, sugar cane chicken, pasta e fagioli soup, seasoned beans and rice, pastrami cured salmon, bread pudding and cheese nachos.
``We feel our food list now reflects the diversity of tastes and good restaurants we now have in Chesapeake,'' Newhart said.
``Once a person buys a ticket and gets through the gate, everything is all-you-can-eat, there's no other extra charges,'' Downs said. ``It will be quite a food fest. We really have grown.'' MEMO: [For a copy of a related story, see The Clipper on page 15 for this
date.]
ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
GREAT EATS
[Color Photo of Brian Riddick]
Staff photos by STEVE EARLEY
Ruby Tuesday Restaurant is sending a team of chefs to the Great
American Food Fest. Clockwise, from top: general manager Brian
Hambright, Brian Kirkby, Yolanda Mebane and manager Jeff Cook.
Billee Watkins, executive chef at Carver's Creek, will prepare the
prime rib that the restaurant will serve at the fest.
Brian Riddick, a chef at The Olive Garden, will fix soup and
breadsticks.
FEST FACTS
What: The Great American Food Fest
Who: Chesapeake Sheriff's Office and the South Norfolk Ruritans
When: Wednesday, 3-7 p.m.
Where: Chesapeake City Park, Greenbrier Parkway (Jubilee site)
Tickets: $15 advance and $20 at the door. Available from any
member of Sheriff's office; any South Norfolk Ruritan member;
Chesapeake Sheriff's office, 401 Albemarle Drive, suite 103;
Commerce Bank, 3113 Western Branch Blvd.; Jerry's Restaurant, 1104
Sparrow Road; Crestar Bank, 1122 N. George Washington Highway;
Double Deuce Restaurant & Lounge, 4027 Bainbridge Blvd.; and any
Bank of Hampton Roads location.
Call: 547-6159 for ticket information.
WHO'S SERVING WHAT
Here is a list of the participating restaurants, caterers and
businesses who will be offering traditional barbecue and gourmet
food items at this year's Great American Food Fest:
Carver's Creek Restaurant - prime rib.
Grand Affairs - potato corn chowder.
Ruby Tuesday - chicken fajitas.
A&B Propane - spiced bean soup.
Hole in the Wall - cheese nachos.
Tritronics - baklava.
The Olive Garden - pasta e fagioli soup and breadsticks.
Ryan's Family Steakhouse - sirloin tips, chicken drumettes,
chocolate chip cookies.
Maxwell's Tavern - baby back ribs.
Greenbrier Country Club - pastrami cured salmon and
chocolate-covered strawberries.
The Black-eyed Pea - black-eyed peas.
Chesapeake Holiday Inn - bread pudding with blueberry sauce.
Pizza Hut - Big Foot pizza.
Pennsylvania Dutch Funnel Cakes - funnel cakes.
Smokin' Joes - four-alarm chili.
Hassell & Folkes - corn on the cob.
U.S. Termite and Moisture Control - corn dogs.
Positive Vibes Tropical Dining - sugar cane chicken, grilled
pineapple and seasoned beans and rice.
Talbot Group - SPUDS French fried potatoes.
Golden Corral Restaurant - beef tips.
Bar-B-Cue Barn - pork barbecue.
South Norfolk Ruritans - baked chicken, baked beans and hush
puppies.
ABL Food Service - fried fish.
Chesapeake Shrine - clam chowder.
Marva Maid - coleslaw.
Jerry's Restaurant & Lounge, Aard's Screenprinting, Harrison
Moving and Storage, Chevy's, Chesapeake Repair Service, Great Bridge
NAPA Auto Parts, Animal Glamour, All Area Affordable Advertising,
CRH Catering, The Double Deuce Restaurant & Lounge, The Country Club
Restaurant & Lounge, Mid-Atlantic Coca-Cola, Virginia Beach Federal
Savings Bank, First Colony Coffee and Tea and Commonwealth H2O -
adult beverages and soft drinks.
by CNB