Planning a trip to St. Petersburg Florida this fall? If so, you might want to check out Ribfest, sponsored by the Northeast Exchange Club of St. Pete. The club was chartered in 1970 and started their version of Ribfest (borrowed from the Exchange Club of Naperville) around 1970.

Over the last 26 years, the club has raised $4.6 million dollars from the event. The supports 50 local organizations and was able to doante $1 million to the construction of All Children's Hospital in St. Pete.

This year's event will be held the weekend of Veteran's Day - November 11-13 in a waterfront park along the Gulf of Mexico. This year's music schedule features Huey Lewis & the News on Friday and the Doobie Brothers on Saturday, among others. Like the Naperville Ribfest, the event features two stages, with the biger "name" bands performing on the main stage and smaller and local artists performing on the secondary stage. 

A baker's dozen (that's 13) ribbers will compete for the title of Best Ribs (with our own Dennis Koch as one of the celebrity judges this year). The ribbers will also have their food available for sale throughout the event.

The Family Fun Zone features arts and crafts for the young ones, with most of the activities free to kids 12 and under. The exception is a number of "inflatables" that have a flat fee for the day. 

As with most of these types of events, the Exchange Club raises money through corporate sponsorship. Various packages ranging from simple ticket packages to naming rights offer both small and large companies the opportunity to support the Club. Sonny's BBQ is the title sponsor, along with the Fran Haasch Law Group as Main Stage sponsor.

Ticket prices range from $30-$35 for entry (discounted when purchased from one of the sponsors) to "Boss Hog" packages from $175-$200 for a one day pass to $500 for a three day pass. The Boss Hog package includes admission, reserved seating at the main stage, lunch and dinner, 4 drink tickets and private air conditioned restrooms.

So how did Dennis end up as a celebrity judge? The Northeast ST Pete Exchange Club (along with the Naperville IL and Santa Rosa CA Clubs) offered packages to their events as live auction items during the National Convention in Houston this year. Naperville offered a package to their Ribfest next July, while The California experience featured tours and wine tasting in California's wine country. Dennis and Teri were the successful bidders for the St Pete package, which included the judging opportunity for both Dennis and Teri.

Packages such as those, along with other events and promotions and challenge grants helped the National Exchange Club Foundation raise about $75,000 during the convention. Those funds are used to help support the National Exchange Club and our Programs of Service and represent about 15% of the Foundation's total budget for the year..