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FALL FESTIVAL 2013
Page 3
Grill master
Chicken barbeque chairman spends 7 years in training
Paul Opdyke, chairman of the
Rotary Club Chicken Barbeque
Committee this year, knows exactly
when his volunteer tenure on the com-
mittee began.
“It wasHowardOldford. He actually
stopped his car across an intersection
so I couldn't drive by and said 'I need
your help with something, can you fol-
low me,'” Opdyke recalled. What the
late Mr. Oldford, a stalwart of the
Rotary Club, wanted was to convince
Opdyke to volunteer for the Rotary
Barbeque Committee, which is a
seven-year commitment, ending with
the chairmanship. He successfully
recruited Opdyke who started on the
bottom rung of the committee seven
years ago and who this year is in
charge of the famous Sunday after-
noon event when the Rotary Club
serves 10,500 chickendinners.
“That's our number this year,”
Opdyke said, “and I'm sure we'll make
it. After all, we've (the Rotary Club)
done this for 58 years, it's like a well-
oiled machine. We have systems and
processes in place that make it work
well.”
Opdyke noted that there are seven
members of the committee, each with
increasing responsibilities. “You start
at the bottom and work your way up so
that when you become chairman,
you've done everything,” he said. This
year, Opdyke estimated that each of the
committee members has already
donated about 100 hours of time to the
barbeque. “It's almost like a part-time
See
Barbeque,
page 4
Paul Opdyke