Richard Froese
South Peace News
The popular Big Lakes County Barbecue returns June 16 after the event was cancelled the past two years by COVID-19 restrictions.
Council approved the event and scheduled the date at its regular meeting April 13.
The barbecue will be held on the lawn at the main county office from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., suggested Pat Olansky, director of planning.
“It is proposed that the county once again host the barbecue,” she said.
Before the pandemic, the event was traditionally held the third Thursday of June and featured a ceremony to unveil the names of the volunteer[s] honoured on the Wall of Fame.
The barbecue has attracted up to 700 in some years.
Over the past years, council has served beef-on-a-bun, hotdogs and salads, with watermelon and cake for dessert.
As usual, council will also have giveaways and an information table where the annual Big Lakes County report will be available.
Reeve Robert Nygaard again suggested the barbecue be held in Kinuso, instead of always in High Prairie.
“This is a county barbecue,” said Nygaard who represents Faust and suggested the idea several years ago, only to be turned down by council.
His motion to hold the barbecue in Kinuso was defeated at the recent meeting.
“We plan to close the Kinuso office,” Nygaard said.
“It would be a good thing to have the barbecue in Kinuso for people to see the office.
“Let’s do something in the county.”
Joussard Councillor Richard Mifflin agreed with Nygaard.
“Maybe we could have smaller barbecues in the hamlets, rather than just one large event.”
Until about 2015, council hosted smaller barbecues in other parts of the county after the main barbecue in June.
However, they were poorly attended and discontinued.