by MERLE MONAHAN
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
merlemonah@aol.com

WINDSOR
The 41st annual Windsor Ruritan Pig Pickin’ held recently at Foster’s Pond was again a success, drawing just short of 1,000 visitors, according to longtime member, Wilson Holland.

“Everything went off just as planned,” Holland said. “There was plenty of food and beverages and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

“Even the weather cooperated,” he added. “It was a beautiful day.”

Holland said the barbeque is held to raise funds for the club, which enables it to help the community.  “We offer scholarships to deserving local college applicants and we also provide aid to families who may be in need, among other things.

“One of our main goals is to help the community,” he added.

The 40-member club tried several ways in the early days to raise funds, even tried raising peanuts, but this did not work — weather was too uncertain.

“Then we tried the barbeque,” Holland said. “We settled on this more than 40 years ago because it worked.”

He said every member has his own job, from cooking the pork overnight to cooking cornbread on site the day of the event. Some members are in charge of parking, while others help with the clean-up.

“It is hard work, though, so when the Windsor Women’s Club offered several years ago to help us serve, we accepted gratefully. This has been such a help,” he said.

The annual event has made few changes since the first barbeque was held in 1976. However, it was decided two years ago to hold a raffle at the end of the day. Holland said it was a highlight of the day.

“We awarded eight prizes this year,” he said, adding, “The prizes totaled $1,000 in value.”