Shrine Club pork barbecue will return in 2024

Tillsonburg Shrine Club’s Pork Barbecue, with its ‘mouth-watering pork, signature sauce, and buttery corn,’ will be coming back in 2024.

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The 63^rd annual fundraising barbecue, which had been planned Wednesday, Sept. 13 at Memorial Arena, was canceled by the club in August due to venue complications – the ice was going in early this year due to increased ice rental demands.

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Proposed options included use of the Lions Auditorium at the Tillsonburg Community Center and/or outdoor tent, and alternative dates were presented.

None of them met their capacity needs, said Cedric Tomico from the Tillsonburg Shrine Club, or they presented logistical problems.

“There have been some years when we’ve had 1,000 people,” said Tomico. “Our average numbers are around 700.”

The Shrine Club looked for other venues in town, but found nothing suitable.

“In the end, we chose to cancel the barbecue. It was our decision and I wanted to make that very clear. We have a barbecue committee that made a recommendation to the Shrine Club as a whole, and it was voted on by 20-25 club members.”

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The Town and the Shrine Club have already started working on a solution for 2024.

It might mean changing the date, but the Shrine Club would like the mid-September tradition to continue.

It might be installing a floor covering over the ice, something Tillsonburg Springfest did at the Colin Campbell Community Arena from 2015-2019. A lot of ideas are on the table.

“It was never a council decision,” Tomico stressed. “It was an internal, operational decision… and I respect that decision. I understand the position they were put in, and every municipality, we’re not alone in this. They had to make some tough decisions and I get it.”

“The demand for ice has increased as our population has grown,” Julie Columbus, director of Recreation, Culture and Parks explained in a Sept. 12 media release from the Town of Tillsonburg. “Usually the ice in Memorial (arena) is ready for use by Oct. 1. This year, user groups requested it to be installed earlier to allow for ice time by Sept. 18. Given that ice installation is a multi-day process that is affected by variations in weather, we were required to make a decision to begin the process earlier and would be unable to accommodate the Shrine Club’s event on the Memorial pad.”

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Mayor Deb Gilvesy said she heard from many, many people in the community regarding the cancellation of the long-standing fundraiser, which benefits Shriner and local hospitals, and shares their concerns and disappointment.

“The barbecue is a cherished annual fundraising event in Tillsonburg that generates a great deal of money for a variety of community causes, including our local hospital,” Gilvesy stated in the media release. “While I can appreciate the desire of Town staff to accommodate all user groups, I believe more dialogue was required in this instance. The barbecue is an event with more than 60 years of history.”

“The Tillsonburg Shrine Club has been a part of the social and philanthropic fabric of Tillsonburg for generations, and is a valuable community partner,” CAO Kyle Pratt stated in the release. “Our staff try to accommodate the needs of all user groups. Sometimes there are conflicting schedules and unfortunately this time staff was unable to find suitable alternatives that worked for the Shrine Club. I want to assure the residents of Tillsonburg that we’ll be reviewing our policies and processes to ensure this kind of situation never happens again.”

Service clubs are important to Tillsonburg, Gilvesy added.

“They are absolutely critical partners who provide tremendous emotional, physical and financial resources into Tillsonburg. I have asked staff to review this matter and to take the appropriate steps to ensure that issues like this are avoided in the future.”

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