The first weekend in August is here, and it’s time for one of the summer’s great parties and charity events — Smoke on the Water – Ribs for the Red Cross. Last year’s event raised more than $60,000 for the local Red Cross efforts and there are high hopes for this year with an expanded lineup of events and music.

For the tremendously low price of $5, you can visit the Promenade Park event to see rising stars Green River Ordinance on Aug. 5, ’90s superstars Tonic on Aug. 6 and country legend John Michael Montgomery (with opening act Rachel Timberlake) on Aug. 7.

Don’t worry if you haven’t heard of Green River Ordinance. They play great pop rock and sprinkle in cover versions of songs you’ll know by a wide range of classic artists. Tonic will rock its greatest hits, including “If You Could Only See.” John Michael Montgomery has several all-time favorites, including “I Swear.”

In addition to a dozen outstanding rib vendors who offer every flavor and variety of barbecue, there will be contests for eating pulled pork and spicy coleslaw, a cornhole tournament and a great Kids Day on Aug. 7. You will have an opportunity to vote which vendor will receive the coveted “People’s Choice” award and watch as a panel of celebrity judges chooses its favorite barbecue.

Toledo Free Press is proud to be in its fourth year as a media sponsor for the event, which draws together such big-league community partners as Columbia Gas of Ohio, KeyBank, FOX Toledo, Meijer, Cumulus Broadcasting, Healthcare REIT, SunChemical, Heidelberg Distributing, the UAW and the AFL-CIO.

This is Downtown Toledo’s only rib and music event and NW Ohio’s greatest and freshest charity rib event.

For full coverage of this weekend’s event, see the Aug. 3 issue of Toledo Free Press Star, which contains interviews with Tonic, Green River Ordinance, Timberlake and Montgomery.

We’ll see you there!

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.

Tags: AFL-CIO, Columbia Gas of Ohio, Cumulus Broadcasting, FOX Toledo, Green River Ordinance, Healthcare REIT, Heidelberg Distributing, John Michael Montgomery, KeyBank, Meijer, Publisher's Statement, Rachel Timberlake, Ribs for the Red Cross, Smoke on the Water, SunChemical, Toledo Free Press, Tom Pounds, Tonic, UAW

This entry was posted on Friday, August 5th, 2011 at 12:01 am and is filed under Opinion, Publisher's Statement.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.