In 1961 Hugh Light, a member of the Calverton

In 1961 Hugh Light, a member of the Calverton Ruritan Club, contacted a friend in Amissville and persuaded him to gather a group together in a club. This club’s purpose would be to create better understanding between rural and urban people and, through volunteer community service, make Rappahannock a better place to work and live. Light’s friend was Aubrey Curtis. He remembers that only eight guys showed up for that first meeting, but by the next gathering 22 people had joined (satisfying the Ruritan National requirement of 20).

That same year the club began what has become a tradition in the county: the Ruritan’s Beef Bar-B-Q. This year the barbecue will be held on Saturday, July 5th, at the Amissville Fire Department hall. This is the Ruritan’s major fundraiser, and with the money they offer scholarships, help the needy, and make donations to causes such as aid for the flood victims in West Virginia last year.

“Our barbecue is rather unique because we use a pit instead of a grill, or open fire,” says vetem Ruritan Terry Terhune of Viewtown. The Ruritan’s pit Bar-B-Q is very similar to a New England Clambake and involves about 130 man hours of work. The pit is three feet long, eight feet wide, and four feet deep. At 10 a.m. the day before the feast three members of the Ruritans start the fire and cover it with about 500 pounds of stone. At nine or 10 p.m. that night after a bed of coals has started to glow7, the tips of sirloin wrapped in aluminum foil and burlap sacks are placed into the pit. The pit is then covered with plywood and dirt and left overnight. Then the following morning the meat is removed and prepared for the 300-400 guests expected that afternoon. Mr. Terhune explains that even after 25 years of barbecuing “we still have a lot to learn.” He says they use basalt rock because it gives the meat a wet cook w'hich tenderizes it. But last year they couldn’t get the gray rock so they used an available pile of quartz. The conductivity of the rock