KAMSACK — One thousand pounds of lamb was cut up, marinated in onions, barbecued on skewers placed on hot wood coals and sold at the 78th annual Veregin Shishliki Barbecue and Beer Garden on June 28 at the Veregin skating rink.
“It was good and attendance was about average,” said Caitlin Lucash, who works on the Veregin Recreation Board, which is the barbecue’s organizing committee, with fellow Veregin residents, her husband Scott Lucash, Jeff Bloudoff, John Bloudoff and Kendra Kerr.
But it’s a group of about 70 volunteers who donated time and effort to hold the event, Lucash said, explaining that people were needed for such jobs as bartending, cooking, serving, clean-up and sale of 50/50 tickets and T-shirts.
“We meet a couple times a year and then do the most work the last four weeks before the barbecue,” Caitlin Lucash said. The grounds must be groomed with grass cutting, new gravel was spread on the road, a snow fence had to be placed and firewood had to be sourced.
In addition to the lamb, the workers prepared 130 pounds of coleslaw, beans and bread, which were served with the lamb, she said. Tim Verigin was responsible for obtaining the lamb and cutting it up, while a crew of volunteers chopped onions.
The women at the New Horizons Senior Centre made 1,948 tarts, she said. The work was done in four sessions. After all the preparations were done, the tarts were rolled, pinched and baked. They had fillings made of strawberries and rhubarb, saskatoons, raspberries and cranberries.
Some people tended booths selling hot dogs, chips, ice cream and coffee, while independent of the barbecue, the supporters of the U15 provincial ball team from Canora sold slices of pie.
Team members said they made $1,000 from slices cut from 33 pies, she said.
Although there was a long line-up at times, a while later there was no line-up, she said. This year, two tour buses from Regina paid a visit and when they came, the lineup was long.
“We’re now busy with the clean-up,” Lucash said on June 30. All the lamb that was barbecued was sold.
Proceeds from the event go towards upkeep of the rink facility, although it is no longer flooded for ice in winter.
“We’re keen for the 79th barbecue,” she said, explaining that depending on what else is happening in the area, the barbecue is normally held on a day during the last two weeks of June or first week of July.
