Ronan Fire sends smoke signal at BBQ fundraiser

As people drove U.S. 93 through Ronan on Friday, they likely got a whiff of some mouthwatering aromas wafting from grills set up outside Harvest Foods. The Ronan Volunteer Fire Department was cooking up a feast of tri-tips for their annual fundraiser and calling people in with the smoky smell of the grilling meat.

The first meat went on the grill at 6:30 a.m. and lunch began to be served at 11:00. As in previous years, the event would continue until all of the tri-tips had been sold.

Chief Chef Dave Marmon kept a close watch on the meat as it slowly cooked while several fellow firefighters helped package and slice the tri-tips when they came off the grill. All of the food preparers were enjoying the day telling jokes and joking with each other behind the scenes while people lined up at the food truck to get served their special lunch. Dinners went for $12 per plate, but many contributed more in a boot set up for donations.

There was some debate over the number of years this annual event has been taking place, but the consensus was that it had been a summer fixture for at least 8 years. A big turn-out was expected at this popular tradition with funds raised going primarily to new equipment.

Harvest Foods provided the meat at cost and Coca-Cola provided the food truck as well as Coke products to compliment the meal.