'Grayslake loves ribs'

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Madison Martinez, 9, of Grayslake eats her share of ribs.

A rib with a dry rub, smoked, but sans barbecue sauce, won first place in Saturday's Grayslake Downtown Rib Throwdown, a fund-raiser for the Oasis Youth Center.

Packin' Heat, the winning team of five officers from the Grayslake Police Department, was headed by Matt McCutcheon, the department's operations manager.

Describing their ribs as neither spicy nor sweet, but with a distinctive natural taste, McCutcheon quickly gave credit to Richard Wood, owner of Wood Food Systems of Libertyville, who brought to the team a shining, propane gas-fired smoker on wheels called Southern Pride.

"We owe our success to Wood, the pit master. The smoker is our secret weapon," he said holding the plaque given to him by Joyce Campbell, Oasis president.

The inaugural throwdown, held downtown where Center Street was cordoned off, was all but rained out. Music provided by Down Home Sophisticates also helped to uplift the spirit.

"It dampened us a little, but we went ahead anyway," said Mike Pruitt, co-owner of the Vine restaurant and one of the organizers who started setting things up for the feast at 4 a.m.

He called the first annual throwdown "a huge success" and promised to have five times more ribs next year.

"We ran out of ribs because we didn't expect such a good turnout," he said.

Fourteen teams participated in the cooking contest, each paying a $100 registration fee. They came from Grayslake, surrounding communities and Wisconsin. Each team was given six slabs of ribs to cook in any way it wanted. Each member of the panel of judges was given a rib from each team. Among the judges were Grayslake Mayor Rhett Taylor and Lake County Board Chairman Suzi Schmidt.

Encouraged by the turnout despite the weather, Taylor declared that "Graylake loves ribs" and thanked the community for its involvement in the youth center. He promised that the throwdown next year will be bigger and better.

"This has potential to be a great feast," said Schmidt, who called herself "an experienced ribs judge" and applauded the tastiness of the samples.

The second place winner was the Rising Sun Lodge of Grayslake, a Masonic lodge, with James McArthur as the cook. The third place went to Mooses Barbecue of Salem, Wis., owned by Nick and Beth Schmidt.

But Smoken' Hot Fingers, captained by Catherine Finger, superintendent of Grayslake School District 127, became the People's Choice.

Campbell said she expected the event to raise $3,500 and was grateful. The Oasis, at 151 Hawley St., is funded by donations, and provides a safe, educational and fun place for teens, ages 12-18. Students use the center for activities including doing their homework, enjoying music and watching movies after school.