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Community Corner

End the Summer with BBQ & Craft Beer at Monmouth Park

Enjoy Labor Day weekend at Monmouth Park Racetrack as they present the 2011 BBQ & Craft Beer Festival.

There is no better way to end the summer season than by enjoying a giant barbecue bash on Labor Day Weekend. It would be even better if you didn’t have to do the cooking and the cleanup! Well, guess what? You can have all of this by attending on Saturday, Sept. 3, and Sunday, Sept. 4, for the 2011 .

With over a dozen food vendors, the alluring aroma of barbecue brisket, chicken and ribs will fill the park as attendees will be able to vote for their favorites. A panel of judges, led by Pete Genovese (who will be in attendance with his Munchmobile), will also vote for their favorites.

Ben’s BBQ & Catering, based out of Newark, will be looking to defend their 2010 honors for Best Ribs, Best Pork, Best Brisket and Best Pit Master.

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“I was fortunate enough to be exposed to BBQ at an early age by my father who was raised in a sharecropper family, on the border of Virginia and North Carolina,” said Benson Goodwyn of Ben’s BBQ & Catering.

“I grew up in New Jersey and my father made BBQ Pits and was known for his skills as a pit master. During summers in the south, I fed hogs, helped to make sausage and ate barbecue and Southern cuisine.”

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“Four years at the University of Virginia on a football scholarship provided more opportunities to fall in love with Southern barbecue. Great barbecues take soul, time and patience.”

Goodwyn is also a judge of the Kansas City Barbecue Society.

Last year’s People’s Choice Best Pit Master Award winner Local Smoke BBQ will be returning to compete again. Also scheduled to compete are Chop Shop BBQ (Seaside Heights), Ocean County’s Jacked Up BBQ, Southern Smoke Cajun & Caribbean BBQ (Wall), Memphis Pig Out (Atlantic Highlands) and Dan’s Backyard BBQ (Flemington). The latter contestant will be introducing to the Monmouth Park crowd their famous barbecue sundaes.

If you are a vegetarian, don’t worry. A-maize-ing Roast will be on hand serving their tasty Jersey fresh corn and Portabella burgers. Green Light Food Service, as well as Kona Ice, are also expected to be vendors.

Craft brews, such as Spaten, Flying Fish and Long Trail, will be available for those 21 and over in the beer garden. For only $10, you will be able to purchase ten 2 oz. samples of your choice, along with a commemorative 2 oz. Pilsner tasting glass.

On Saturday, Rockin’ Country Thunder 106 will be presenting After The Reign and Nashville recording artist DJ Miller. Miller has received the honor of being a Billboard “Hot Shot Debut.”

Sunday will be Star-Ledger Family Fun Day with pony rides, clowns and face painting. Both days will be running from 11:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.

For more information about this great day of food, drink and racing, visit www.monmouthpark.com or call (732) 222-5100.  

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