The Lake Orion Boat Club hosted their 11th annual Rib-Off competition on July 22, with 10 cooks competing in categories of presentation, tenderness and taste.
This year’s winner, cook Anthony Savage of Lombardo’s in Oxford, had his name inscribed on the annual trophy, and this year also received a trophy of his own to take home.
Whiskey’s Steakhouse in Lake Orion took second place with cook Johnny King, and Wagon Wheel was third with cook Russ Hurley.
The winners were determined by five judges: Joanna Ingoglia of the Village of Lake Orion, Mike Vincent of Hamlin Pub of Lake Orion, Todd Koski of CJ’s Village Cafe of Lake Orion, Charles Ingoglia, culinary arts student, and Eva Kumpf of the Catalina Lounge of Lake Orion.
The event is a social for LOBC members. The club has existed in Lake Orion since the early 1900s, and the headquarters is on what was formerly known as Sweet’s Island, purchased by the club in 1962.
The LOBC hosts twice-monthly membership meetings there, as well as breakfasts, two of which were held this year to raise money for the Lake Orion Fireworks Association.
The club currently has 47 members, and can accommodate up to 50 at a time.
Potential members must be sponsored by two existing club members, and must purchase two shares of LOBC stock, at $100 a piece, refundable when and if they leave the club, explained Dick Moller, who has been in the LOBC for 45 years.
‘Members from off the lake can’t exceed a third of the membership,? he said. ‘We elect a commodore every two years.?
The LOBC expected the Rib-Off to draw nearly 200 people, and the event included musical entertainment by the band Justice.
The club will host a pot luck dinner and poker tournament on Aug. 12, and their next big event is a Corn Roast on Sept. 3.
The LOBC hosts a Poker Run on Sept. 16, and winds down the season on Oct. 8, with removal of the club docks.