Canada volunteer firefighters to host barbecue, cakewalk

By Lynn Hotaling

Preparing one of the grills for the Saturday, Sept. 16, Canada Volunteer Fire Department Barbecue are, from left, Chief Steve Luker, firefighter Hayward Galloway and former Chief Denver Ashe. Luker's son Chad, 11, front, was on hand to help. The annual event generates funds to pay for fire department equipment, Luker said. Neil Dawson of Tuckasegee will supervise the cooking of five whole hogs and prepare the barbecue sauce. The event will feature a cakewalk and live music by the Fiddling Dills Sisters and Cullowhee Valley Boys and several Canada community church groups.

This year's barbecue marks the fund-raiser's 10th anniversary, and the event gets larger every year, said Canada Fire Chief Steve Luker. All proceeds are used to fund fire department equipment needs.

"We started with one pig 10 years ago and now we're up to five," said Luker, who raises the pork for the barbecue at his home on Cold Creek in Canada community. "Last year we cooked four hogs and sold out in three hours."

Firefighters will slow-cook the meat all night long in four big cookers, Luker said, using a combination of charcoal and hickory wood. This year's pig-roasting will be enhanced by a shed roof volunteers built on the back of Canada's fire station/community building. With the new roof, the cookers and men manning them will be protected in case of rain.

Neil Dawson of Tuckasegee will direct the cooking and make the sauce; his wife, Peggy, will prepare the hush puppies.

Dawson said he is carrying on a family tradition of "cooking pigs to help the community." When he was growing up in LaGrange, in Lenoir County, his father was the chef for various local fund-raisers.

"Dad cooked for the church, the fire department and the Ruitan (rural-based community development club), and he cooked 10 pigs for each one," Dawson said.

Canada's dinner will feature "whole-hog, hand-chopped, Eastern-style barbecue," the head cook said. The sauce will be patterned after that popular "down East" variety, which is vinegar based. "We like it hot," Dawson said.

The hush puppy recipe that Peggy Dawson will use is another old family recipe that has been handed down through the Dawson family. "I didn't get a copy until I married a Dawson," she said.

For last year's dinner she made five batches for a total of about 1,500 hush puppies. "And this year she'll have to make more," her husband said.

Live music will be provided by the Fiddling Dills Sisters and Cullowhee Valley Boys and several local church groups. The Rev. Jim Ed Powell will direct the cakewalk.

The menu will include pork barbecue, baked beans, coleslaw and hush puppies, with takeouts available.

Donations of cakes for the cakewalk will be appreciated, Luker said. For more information, call Luker at 293-3686.

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