SIDNEY — The annual Labor Day Chicken Bar-B-Que Dinner held by the Kiwanis Club of Sidney was a success this year, thanks to an outpouring of community support.
“On behalf of all the members of the Kiwanis Club of Sidney, we would like to thank the community for its outstanding support of this year’s annual Labor Day Chicken Bar-B-Que,” Club President Rikki Unterbrink said. “With all of the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, we really did not know what to expect.”
Despite not knowing what to expect, Unterbrink said the club prepared 2,000 dinners, which is generally what the club has been ordering for the past several years.
“The turnout ended up being the best in over 10 years. It was so good that we ran out of dinner at 3 p.m.,” Unterbrink said.
John Coffield, who was working his 42nd straight BBQ said, “We have never run out of chicken so early in the afternoon”.
Unterbrink also wanted to apologize to those supporters who bought tickets but were unable to get their dinners due to the shortage. Refunds were given to those people who requested one.
“We are very sorry that those people were unable to enjoy their dinners with their families,” Unterbrink said.
The club also wishes to thank everyone who brought canned food donations. All food items collected were given to the Shelby County Veterans Services for their food pantry.
“We want to thank everyone for their continued support of this great event. The Kiwanis Chicken Bar-B-Que and been a Labor Day tradition for 67 years. We hope next year’s support will surpass this year and we will be sure to order more chicken,” Unterbrink said.
Proceeds from Chicken Bar-B-Que help fund many of the community service projects the Sidney Kiwanis participates in. Some of these projects include college scholarships to local high school seniors, the All-Inclusive Playground, Cribs for Kids Project, Key Club sponsorship at Sidney High School, sponsorship of the Shelby County Aktion Club, bell ringing for the Salvation Army, Adopt-A-Highway, Sidney’s Adopt-A-Park, support of local food pantries, the Imagination Library, the Little Free Library and the Teen of the Month/Year. The Sidney Kiwanis awarded over $14,000 in scholarships this past year.
