The guys behind Gilroy’s annual Rock n’ Ribs competition will
try their hands at turkey Saturday, aiming to provide holiday meals
to needy families.
The guys behind Gilroy’s annual Rock n’ Ribs competition will try their hands at turkey Saturday.
Along with the Downtown Business Association and the California Barbecue Association, the showy chefs organized this weekend’s charity event to take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Gilroy, near the intersection of Fifth and Monterey streets.
“This is not just a group of weekend warriors cooking a turkey on a Weber kettle. These are serious BBQ competitors that you see on The Food Network cooking on pits so big they are trailer mounted,” wrote Rock n’ Ribs promoter Ric Gilbert in an e-mail.
Teams from all over the state will compete in the turkey cook-off, the culinary results of which will feed needy individuals and families from Elliot Elementary School and Rucker Elementary School.
“These families would not normally have turkey on the holidays and especially cooked in this manner,” Gilbert wrote.
St. Mary Church, Wheeler Manor and the Gilroy Armory will also receive food, and after the cooking, the annual downtown holiday parade will take place. The event will start with live music on a stage at the corner of Fifth and Monterey streets at 4 p.m. and the parade, with more than three dozen groups including Santa Claus, will start at 5 p.m. and will culminate at the corner of Eighth and Monterey streets with the Christmas tree lighting.
“We are doing this because we believe in the community and helping others in need, and … we love the BBQ,” Gilbert wrote.
