Chicken and tractors bring a crowd to Bakersville
BAKERSVILLE – Julie Murray lives in Columbus now, but she still comes back whenever she can for the annual Bakersville Volunteer Fire Department’s chicken barbecue and antique tractor pull.
“My dad (Gerald Hothem) grills the chicken and I like to come back to see people and visit,” she said.
The yummy barbecued chicken is Phyllis Harstine’s favorite part of the event that was held on June 16 at the park in Baskerville.
“It’s just delicious, tender and really good,” said the Fresno resident.
Her husband Ben agreed with her.
“All of the barbecue places have good chicken, but this is the best,” he said.
While they were waiting for the tractor pulls to begin, Ben shared memories of participating with his own tractors.
“I did it years ago when I was younger,” he said. “The first time I came I brought a Moline U. I left and went home at 9 p.m. to go to bed. I got up at 4 a.m. to come back and when I got here they were just introducing when I could go.”
George Finton from Newcomerstown also was at the event with his wife.
“Our daughter (Cindy Mizer) is selling snow cones here so we came to spend time with her,” he said.
She had a steady line of customers who came over after enjoying their chicken dinner that was served by volunteers. Two of those volunteers were Amiyah Barthalow and Tom E. Hawk.
“My stepdad volunteered me to help,” Barthalow said. “It’s pretty hot back here.”
Hawk, who has been with the fire department for 40 years, said it’s a long day of being around chicken.
“I’d rather you (the customer) get the chicken instead of me because I’ve been around it when it was raw, cooked and served,” he said with a smile and a laugh.
The chicken barbecue and antique tractor pull is one of four major fundraisers for the fire department this year. The next fundraiser will be an Ohio Mod-Rod tractor pull on July 14. This features garden tractors from stock up to V-8 and diesel. The Bakersville Homecoming is also a fundraiser for the fire department and is a three-day event from Aug. 10 – 12. The Ohio Mod-Rod will be back for the fire department’s last fundraiser of the year on Sept. 8.
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