The new Opportunity Campus homeless shelter being built on Columbia’s Business Loop will be the primary beneficiary of Saturday afternoon’s 67th annual Olivet Christian Church BBQ.
The drive-through only event is from 3-6 pm at the church, which is just east of Columbia’s Old Hawthorne. Barbecue organizer Joe Reeder, an Olivet Christian Church member, tells 939 the Eagle that the grilled chicken is very popular:
“All my friends and I (that) sell tickets to every year say that’s the best chicken they’ve ever had. We get it locally and we buy the chicken locally,” Ms. Reeder says.
Green beans, potatoes, applesauce and pie are also on the menu. Tickets are $15 in advance and $17 at the door.
Saturday’s barbecue just east of Columbia’s Old Hawthorne is a generational event. Mr. Reeder tells 939 the Eagle that kids who grew up working at the barbecue return to Columbia to work it:
“More than anything, I love to see my own kids, other friend’s and member’s kids, just giving it their all and working the event. And we couldn’t do it without them,” Mr. Reeder says.
Another barbecue organizer says it’s rained many years either before, during or after the barbecue. Rockie Alden tells 939 the Eagle that one year the rain was so intense that the entire operation had to be moved to New Haven school. Rockie also says that rain was so heavy one year that they used shuttles from the Elks Lodge because the ground was too wet to park cars.
