Indian Creek High School FFA members cook pork chops served during last year’s Jim Rhoades Memorial Hog Roast. This year’s event will be Dec. 2.
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Vehicles lined the county fairgrounds, waiting patiently for a chance to take part in one of the county’s best-laid traditions.
Each car that pulled out to Scott Hall came away with carry-out containers filled with pulled pork, fried chicken, sides and other items.
Though this was a Jim Rhoades Memorial Hog Roast like none before it, organizers were still able to raise more than $48,000.
The Rotary Club are expecting another great turnout to fight hunger in the community. For the past 25 years, the event has brought people together to ring in the holidays, while also raising money to be split evenly between the Good Cheer Fund food distribution and the Interchurch Food Pantry.
While a drive-thru option remains in place for those who want their food to go, people will once again be able to gather in-person for food, camaraderie and great causes.
“We raised $10,000 more money than we ever had in the past,” said Eric Leugers, organizer of the event for the Franklin Rotary Club. “Rotary in general is all about service above self, so the goal of the organization is to help those in need in the community. With food insecurity being on the rise in Johnson County, knowing that we’re going to help thousands of families with this one event means a lot.”
Every year since 1996, the Johnson County community has come together in early December to feast, all while helping their neighbors do the same.
The hog roast was the idea of Rhoades, a former county commissioner and rotary member. Rhoades was a well-known character in the community. He hosted the hog roast in the parking lot of his business, Rhoades True Value Hardware in Franklin. Eventually, a heated tent was erected outside his hardware store on Jefferson Street to give people a place to sit.
To support the dinner, Rhoades would canvas the community asking for in-kind donations. Farmers would donate hogs or chickens. Vendors would provide massive grills. Dozens of other businesses would provide drinks or sides or other supplies.
Rhoades was involved in the hog roast until his death in 2005, at which point the Franklin Rotary Club decided to carry it on. The first year Rhoades held it, the hog roast raised $3,500.
In 2019, the event raised more than $38,000, a record until last year’s haul.
The pandemic forced organizers to alter the hog roast in 2020 in the name of safety. Initially, the decision was a disappointing one, and Rotary Club volunteers hoped they’d be able to raise as much as they had in the past.
Those concerns proved to be unnecessary, as the community turned out in droves to support the hog roast.
“It was so successful, we felt we had to keep the drive-thru going in order to raise the most money possible,” Leugers said. “But at the same time, we love the dine-in event. It’s like the kick-off to our holidays. We get to sit down and see people we maybe only see once a year. The Franklin Community Band is playing. It’s just a festive event we wanted to be sure we brought back.”
All the food for the event is donated. Malone’s Catering of Greenwood provides the pulled pork, fried chicken, sides and other items, and Indian Creek FFA serves up pork chops.
After last year, those groups have all increased the amount of food they’re bringing, Leugers said.
“Since this is the 25th annual hog roast, and we’ve been doing this for so long, we want to keep the tradition alive,” he said.
