Rockin Ribfest
Newcomer tickled with top honors

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By Joey Ferres | Sunday, August 27, 2006 11:26 PM CDT | () comments

Rondell Adams is really glad the Rhythm City Rockin’ Ribfest had an open spot for him this year.

“We’d been trying to get here for a couple of years,” said Adams, owner of Rib-Bins, a Pennsylvania-based rib house. “We’re in Council Bluffs the week before and back in Pennsylvania the week after, so this was a perfect place for the off-week in between.”

Rib-Bins not only made its debut along the Mississippi River, but it also walked away with the 2006 honor of best ribs and pulled pork at the eighth annual Rockin’ Ribfest.

About 20,000 people attended the DavenportOne event this weekend. Because of a wet Saturday and overcast Sunday, crowds were down this year, said Mark Holloway, director of downtown events and promotions. Muddy grounds didn’t help, either.

“We had a little bit of a problem with the rain, but we had great entertainment, great food and squeezed every bit of fun we could out of these four days,” he said.

The rain didn’t keep rib enthusiasts Dana Taylor and his wife, Dianne Nelson-Taylor, away from LeClaire Park. Armed with umbrellas and a couple bottles of killer hot sauces, the Davenport couple were satisfied with the new selection of barbecuers to choose from this year.

“We had to come get the ribs even in the rain,” said Nelson-Taylor, carrying the prized jars of super hot sauce the duo can’t find around here. “We always try to hit the new ones every year.”

Of the seven national and two local vendors, almost half were new to the festival. That made the Sunday afternoon judging a little harder. Five judges go into the blind competition judging tenderness of the meat, appearance, texture and taste.

With Rib-Bins winning first for the national competitors, the local People’s Choice award went to Damion Overton, owner of Jim’s Rib Haven II, Moline.

“It’s nice to see where we stand in the Quad-Cities,” said Overton, who had won the People’s Choice award for the last five years. “The people with smiles and sauced-faces make it fun.”

Overton said on a busy fest weekend, he’ll go though 40 or 50 cases of ribs. This year he went through about 25.

“It was a little slower because of the rain, but that’s OK,” Overton said.

The $20,000-$30,000 that comes in from the annual Ribfest goes toward the development of downtown Davenport, organizers said.

The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2245 or newsroom@qctimes.com.